Major and Minor Chords

What you’ll learn

A chord is notes played together. The simplest, a triad, stacks three notes a 3rd apart: pick a root, skip a letter, take the next, skip again. C, E, G. On the staff a triad sits on three lines in a row, or three spaces in a row.

The bottom 3rd decides the sound. C major starts with a major 3rd (C to E, four half steps), then a minor 3rd on top (E to G, three). A minor turns it round: a minor 3rd first (A to C, three), then a major 3rd (C to E, four). Major chords sound bright; minor chords sound darker. That’s the whole difference between a major and a minor chord: which 3rd comes first.

Move just the middle note a half step and the chord flips. D, F, A is D minor; with F sharp it’s D major.

How the lesson works

Every chord plays as a broken chord, then all three notes together. There are three tasks:

1. Build it. The root is on the staff: tap where the 3rd goes, then the 5th. Six chords, one on each of C, D, E, F, G and A. A chord built after a slip comes round again.
2. Major or minor? Count the half steps in the bottom 3rd on the keyboard: four is major, three is minor. Ten right.
3. Name the chord. Choose major or minor, then the root. About one chord in three has a sharp or flat on its middle note that flips it. Ten right.

To keep every major and minor chord in front of you while you practice, print the free piano chord chart: all 24 on the keys, with the half steps counted.