Understanding Chords

A chord is three or more notes played together. Chords give a song its emotion: the same melody can feel joyful over one chord and heartbreaking over another. In this lesson you'll learn how chords are built from simple formulas, which chords belong in a key, and how to voice them so they sound great in a mix.

Intervals: The Building Blocks

An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones (one piano key = one semitone; see Notes & Scales). Every chord is just a stack of intervals, so learn these first.

IntervalSemitonesFrom CFeel
Unison0C – CThe same note
Minor 2nd1C – D♭Very tense, clashing ("Jaws" theme)
Major 2nd2C – DMild tension, step-like
Minor 3rd3C – E♭Sad, dark
Major 3rd4C – EHappy, bright
Perfect 4th5C – FOpen, slightly unresolved
Tritone6C – F#Unstable, eerie
Perfect 5th7C – GStrong, stable, neutral (the "power chord")
Minor 6th8C – A♭Bittersweet
Major 6th9C – ASweet, warm
Minor 7th10C – B♭Bluesy, wants to move
Major 7th11C – BDreamy, tense against the octave
Octave12C – CThe same note, higher

Intervals that sound smooth and stable (unison, octave, 5th, 4th, 3rds, 6ths) are called consonant. Intervals that sound tense (2nds, 7ths, tritone) are dissonant. Dissonance isn't bad: it creates tension that makes the next consonant chord feel like a release.

Triads

A triad is a three-note chord: a root (the note that names the chord), a third and a fifth. Changing the size of the third or fifth gives four types.

TriadFormula (semitones)Built asOn CSymbolSound
Major0 – 4 – 7major 3rd + minor 3rdC E GCHappy, stable
Minor0 – 3 – 7minor 3rd + major 3rdC E♭ GCmSad, serious
Diminished0 – 3 – 6minor 3rd + minor 3rdC E♭ G♭C° or CdimTense, unstable
Augmented0 – 4 – 8major 3rd + major 3rdC E G#C+ or CaugDreamy, suspenseful

Building any major or minor chord in the piano roll

Major: root, count up 4 rows, then 3 more → e.g. F major = F A C Minor: root, count up 3 rows, then 4 more → e.g. D minor = D F A

The only difference between major and minor is the middle note: one semitone lower makes the chord minor. Try it: play C E G, then move the E down to E♭.

Seventh Chords

Add one more third on top of a triad and you get a seventh chord (four notes). Sevenths sound richer and more colorful. They're the backbone of jazz, R&B, neo-soul, lo-fi and deep house.

ChordFormulaOn CSound and use
Major 7 (Cmaj7)0 4 7 11C E G BLush, dreamy. Lo-fi, R&B, chillout
Dominant 7 (C7)0 4 7 10C E G B♭Bluesy, wants to resolve. Blues, funk, the V chord in jazz
Minor 7 (Cm7)0 3 7 10C E♭ G B♭Smooth, mellow. Deep house, soul
Half-diminished (Cm7♭5 or Cø7)0 3 6 10C E♭ G♭ B♭Dark, searching. The ii chord in minor jazz

Sus and Add Chords

Suspended chords

A suspended chord replaces the third with a 2nd or a 4th. With no third, it's neither major nor minor: it sounds open and unresolved.

A classic move is Csus4 → C: the F drops to E and the tension resolves.

Add9

An add9 chord is a triad plus the 9th (the 2nd, one octave up), with no 7th. Cadd9 = C E G D. It sounds like a major chord with extra sparkle and is very common in pop and acoustic music.

Producer tip

Stuck with chords that sound plain? Turn a major chord into a maj7 or add9, or a minor chord into a m7 or m9. One extra note often takes a progression from "school exercise" to "record".

Inversions and Voice Leading

Inversions

The notes of a chord don't have to be stacked root-first. An inversion puts a different note at the bottom.

C major and its inversions

Root position C E G (root at the bottom) 1st inversion E G C (third at the bottom) 2nd inversion G C E (fifth at the bottom)

All three are still C major. They just have a different color and sit in a different range. Inversions are written as slash chords: C/E means "C major with E in the bass".

Voice leading

Voice leading means moving from one chord to the next with as little movement as possible in each note (each "voice"). Instead of jumping every finger to a new root-position shape, keep shared notes still and move the others by a step.

C → F → G, jumping vs smooth

Jumping (all root position): C E G → F A C → G B D Smooth (using inversions): C E G → C F A → B D G

In the smooth version, C stays put going to F, and every other note moves by 3 semitones or less. It sounds more connected and professional, and the chords stay in one range so they don't jump around the mix.

Chords in a Key

If you build a triad on every note of a scale, using only notes from that scale, you get the seven diatonic chords of that key. These chords always fit together.

Musicians label them with Roman numerals: uppercase for major, lowercase for minor, and ° for diminished. This lets you describe a progression in any key.

DegreeIiiiiiIVVvivii°
C majorCDmEmFGAmB°
G majorGAmBmCDEmF#°

The pattern in every major key: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished.

Click through the seven chords in order. I, IV and V sound bright and strong; ii, iii and vi sound softer and sadder; vii° sounds tense. Switch "Chord size" to seventh chords to hear the richer versions.

Minor keys

In a natural minor key the pattern is minor, diminished, major, minor, minor, major, major: i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI, VII.

Degreeiii°IIIivvVIVII
A minorAmB°CDmEmFG

These are the same seven chords as C major, because A minor is C major's relative minor. Only the home chord changes.

Note

In minor keys, many songs swap the minor v for a major V (E major instead of Em in A minor). That borrowed note (G#) pulls strongly back to the root. It comes from the harmonic minor scale. You'll use it in Chord Progressions.

Voicing Tips for Producers

A voicing is the exact way you arrange a chord's notes: which octave, which order, which notes are doubled. Good voicing matters as much as choosing the right chord.

Close vs spread voicing of C major

Close (muddy if low): C3 E3 G3 Spread (open, clear): C2 (bass) · G3 E4 C5
Try it in your DAW
  1. Create an instrument track with a piano or pad and open the piano roll.
  2. Draw a C major triad (C4 E4 G4), 1 bar long. Next to it draw C minor (C4 E♭4 G4). Compare.
  3. Draw the four bars C – Am – F – G in root position. Then rework them with inversions so each note moves as little as possible.
  4. Add the 7th to each chord (Cmaj7, Am7, Fmaj7, G7) and listen to how the mood gets richer.
  5. Move the whole progression down two octaves and hear the mud. Move it back, and put just the root notes on a separate bass track instead.
  6. Tip: many DAWs have chord tools [Ableton: the Chord MIDI effect · FL Studio: the Stamp tool in the piano roll · Logic: the Chord Trigger MIDI effect].

A major triad is built from a root, a note semitones up and a note 7 semitones up.

The three notes of A minor are A, C and .

In any major key, the chord built on the 6th note (vi) is .

1. What is the formula for a minor triad, in semitones from the root?

  1. 0 – 4 – 7
  2. 0 – 3 – 7
  3. 0 – 3 – 6
  4. 0 – 4 – 8

A minor triad has a minor 3rd (3 semitones) and a perfect 5th (7 semitones). 0 – 4 – 7 is major.

2. Which chord has the notes C E G B?

  1. C7
  2. Cm7
  3. Cmaj7
  4. Cadd9

B is a major 7th above C (11 semitones), so it's Cmaj7. C7 would use B♭.

3. E G C is which inversion of C major?

  1. Root position
  2. 2nd inversion
  3. It isn't C major
  4. 1st inversion

The third (E) is at the bottom, which makes it 1st inversion. 2nd inversion has the fifth (G) at the bottom.

4. In C major, which chord is the V?

  1. G major
  2. F major
  3. A minor
  4. G minor

Count up the C major scale: C(I) D(ii) E(iii) F(IV) G(V). V is always major in a major key.

5. Your pad chords sound muddy. What's the best first fix?

  1. Add more notes to each chord
  2. Move the chords lower
  3. Move the chord notes above about C3 and let the bass handle the low root
  4. Make every chord diminished

Close chord notes in the low register blur together. Keep chords higher and spread out, with the bass on its own below.