Learn to play major and minor piano chords | MusicRadar

Learn to play major and minor piano chords

Once you know how to construct major and minor scales on the piano , you can take the notes within them and start stacking them up together to play chords. While it’s possible to form simple two-note chords, the most basic form of chord in common usage contains three notes, and is known as a triad. Like scales, triads come in major and minor flavours, depending on the scales their notes (also known as chord tones) are taken from. 
Take the C major scale as an example. It contains the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. If we use numbers to label the notes (or degrees) in the scale from 1 to 8, we can use these numbers to do formulas to build chords from. For instance, in a C major scale, C=1, D=2, E=3 and so on, until B=7. So, to build a C major triad, we need the notes numbered 1, 3 and 5 from the major scale; in other words, C, E, and G = C major. The same idea works when building minor triads from minor scales, too. Take the scale of A natural minor (which uses all the white notes too, from A to A): A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A. Taking the notes numbered 1, 3 and 5 from this scale – A, C and E – gives us an A minor triad.
Looking at it from the indicate of view of the intervals between the chord tones, the formulas are root + 4 semitones + 3 semitones for a major triad, and root + 3 semitones + 4 semitones for a minor triad. Using a combination of major and minor triads, it’s possible to play thousands of popular songs, so they’re pretty useful things to know!

Step 1: So far, we’ve only been playing single notes, so let’s try some chords. We’ll start with a C major triad - a chord made up of three notes from the C major scale, namely the root (C), major third (E) and fifth (G). This can be played from our basic starting position: thumb on middle C, middle finger on E and pinky on G.

Step 2: Once you’ve got the hang of pressing down these three keys without your other two fingers getting involved, move the whole thing up so that your thumb is on D and play D, F, and A. That’s D major, right? Wrong! Hear how it sounds sadder somehow? That’s because you’re actually playing a D minor triad, made up of D (root), F (minor third) and A (fifth).

Step 3: It sounds different due to the minor third interval between the D and the F. The quality of the third - major or minor - determines whether the triad is a major or minor chord. Here, the minor third between D and F produces that sad, minor sound. To make it a major third, move the third finger a semitone up to F#. Try it now to play D, F#, A - that’s D major!

Step 4: So, major triads consist of root, major third and fifth, while minor triads are made up of root, minor third and fifth. Try it with an F chord: F major is built from F, A and C, while F minor is made up of F, Ab and C. The only change is that third going from major (A) to minor (Ab).

Step 5: There are three ways to play each triad, depending on which note you put your thumb on. Go back to our C major triad for a second. As played in step 1, with our thumb on C, middle finger on E and pinky on G, we’re in root position - so called because our thumb is on the root.

Step 6: To get the first inversion of C major, we move the thumb to the next chord tone up: E. The G is now covered by the index finger, and the pinky moves to the next C note up: E, G, C. Move up again, with the thumb on G, middle finger on C and pinky on E, to get the second inversion: G, C, E.

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