Diminished and augmented refer to the quality of the fifth in a chord. Major and minor as terms refer to the quality of the third in a chord. An augmented chord (noted as 1 - 3 - ♯5) has a Major Interval (of 4 frets) placed on top of a Major Interval (of 4 frets). A diminished chord (noted as 1 - ♭3 - ♭5) has a minor Interval (of 3 frets) placed on top on another minor Interval (of 3 frets). A minor chord (noted as 1 - ♭3 - 5) has a Major Interval (of 4 frets) placed on top of a minor Interval (of 3 frets). A Major chord (noted as 1 - 3 - 5) has a minor Interval (of 3 frets) placed on top of a Major Interval (of 4 frets). Three note chords made from the root, third and fifth are described by their quality Major, minor, diminished, and augmented. Two or more Intervals played together make a chord. Any two notes played together make an Interval. The chords in a Major Key are chords which are comprised of notes in the key. ← A - B - C♯ D - E - F♯ - G♯ - A - B - C♯ D - E - F♯ - G♯ A → There are seven octaves of A Major on a 88 Key piano. From the root note they are spaced a whole step (2 frets) to the 2nd note, a whole step to the third note, a half step (1 fret) to the fourth note, a whole step to the fifth note, a whole step to the sixth note, a whole step to the seventh note, and a half step into the octave. Stay tuned for much more discussion on the many different types of chords and how we make them.The Key of A Major is comprised of seven of twelve possible notes in an octave. If we look at the notes that make up a C major triad (C-E-G) versus the notes that make up a C minor triad (C-E flat-G), we can see that it is the first third (the second note in the triad) that determines whether we have a major triad or minor triad.ĭid you notice that the top note, G, did not change? Good eye! This is important to know and saves time when constructing chords. From there, we move up a major third to reach our last note, G. So if we start on C, we move up to E-flat as opposed to the E natural in the major triad we discussed above. Remember, a minor third is a whole step plus a half step. This means, instead of moving up a major third from your root note (let’s stick with C), we first move up a minor third, and then we add a major third on top of that (or a perfect fifth above the root) to complete the chord. We make a minor triad or minor chord in much the same way as a major triad, except the thirds are reversed. (And yes, moving up a perfect 5th from C also lands you on G!) The interval of the major third is two whole steps, so if we want to create a C major chord, we have C as our root, then we move up two whole steps to our major third, E, for our second note in the chord.įrom there, we can think of adding the final note in two different ways: either move up a minor third from the E or move up a perfect 5th from our root, C.Ī minor third consists of a whole step plus a half step (as opposed to two whole steps in a major third), so if we want to move up a minor third from E, we move a whole step up to F#, then a half step to our last note in the chord, G. A perfect fifth is simply a major third plus a minor third above a root note, (or the 5th note in a major or minor scale). We create a major triad or major chord taking some root note, say C, and then moving up a major third, followed by a minor third (or a perfect 5th from the root). The first third above the root (the lowest note in a chord) determines the chord quality (major or minor). How we organize these thirds will determine whether a triad (and in turn, a chord) is major or minor. These notes are separated by intervals: either major or minor thirds. In part one of this series on chords, we will start with the basics: major triads and minor triads.Ī triad can be thought of as the simplest type of a chord it is simply a set of three notes stacked on top of one another. Chords are some of the building blocks of harmony, and they make up pretty much every song you’ll ever hear or play. Any musician comes across chords whether they realize it or not.
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