How to play any major or minor chord on the piano
There’s no way around it
No matter if you play classical music, pop/rock, contemporary, or jazz, it’s virtually impossible to get by without some knowledge of basic chords. But for many people, taking those first steps into studying music theory can be very intimidating.
In this article, I’ll give you a foolproof way to build and identify ALL major and minor chords just by memorizing a few simple formulas!
Preliminary definitions
Take a moment to review these peliminary definitions before reading on.
half step = the smallest interval used in Western music. (From one key to the very next key on the piano.)
triad = a chord consisting of 3 notes stacked in intervals of a third.
root position = when the notes of a triad are arranged so that the root of the chord is the lowest note.
close position = when the notes of a triad are arranged so that they are as compact as possible (i.e. not spaced out).
Every note of the triad has a name
When a triad is in root position, close position, each note of the triad will be a third apart.
We can confirm this by simply counting the letter names from one note to the next, not worrying about sharps/flats or counting each individual half step.
So, to count the interval from C to E we would simply count “C, D, E…1, 2, 3” to discover that they are a third apart. Similarly, we can confirm that E to G is a third by counting “E, F, G…1, 2, 3".”
For every root position, close position triad…
The BOTTOM note is also called the “root.” The rest of the chord is built from the root.
The MIDDLE note is also called the “third” because it is positioned a third above the root note.
The TOP note is also called the “fifth” because it is positioned a fifth above the root note.
So to summarize, every root position, close position triad will have a root, third, and fifth.
The problem of quality
The interesting thing about major and minor triads is that the thirds we looked at are actually not the same size!
Some of the thirds are 4 half steps apart, and some are 3.
We will look at specific examples of major and minor triads to see this property illustrated, and to ultimately uncover the formula to spell ANY major or minor triad.
Major triads
To create a major triad, the distance from the root note to the third (the bottom note to the middle note) must be equal to 4 half steps.
To count the number of half steps, begin on the lower note and simply count the number of keys it takes to reach the upper note.
For example, here we begin on C. To reach E, we must travel to…
C#
D
Eb
E
I want to reiterate that we do NOT include the starting note when counting half steps. It’s best to pose the question as “starting from the lower note, how many half steps must we travel to reach the upper note?”
From the third of the chord to the fifth (the middle note to the top note), the distance must be equal to 3 half steps.
In this example, we are traveling from E up to G. To reach G, we must travel to…
F
F#
G
To summarize, every major triad measures 4 half steps from the root to the third, and 3 half steps from the third to the fifth.
Minor triads
To create a minor triad, the distance from the root note to the third (the bottom note to the middle note) must be equal to 3 half steps.
For example, here we begin on C. To reach Eb, we must travel to…
C#
D
Eb
From the third of the chord to the fifth (the middle note to the top note), the distance must be equal to 4 half steps.
In this example, we are traveling from Eb up to G. To reach G, we must travel to…
E
F
F#
G
To summarize, every minor triad measures 3 half steps from the root to the third, and 4 half steps from the third to the fifth.
It’s as easy as that!
With these two formulas for counting half steps, you can easily spell a major or minor triad starting on any key on the piano!
For some practice, try playing a random note on the piano and then spelling either a major or minor triad above it using only these formulas.
See if you can tell just by the sound of it whether or not you succeeded!