Before we talk about the difference between major and minor chords it’s important to have a talk over what a chord is.
It is a combination of three voices that creates a certain musical impression. In this article we’re going to talk about the difference between major and minor chords, theoretically speaking, and about the sound they create.
Major and Minor Chords
In order to define a major chords we have to be familiar with the name of two intervals. If a chord is a combination of three voices an interval is basically the distance between two voices.
If the distance between the lowest note of the interval and the upper note is of 2 tones – you’re playing a major third.
If the distance between the lowest note of the interval and the upper note is of 1 1/2 tone – you’re playing a minor third.
We’re going to use both these intervals to create the major and minor chords.
Chords can be played in various positions but we’re going to play major and minor chords the root position in this piano lesson. What do I mean by that? Well, The letter that states the chord name should be the lowest voice in the chord.
If we play a C major chord for example, we already know C would be the first out of three voices in the chord.
What would be the next two? That’s quite easy. You should follow the following formulas.
Major Chord = Major 3rd + Minor 3rd
Minor Chord = Minor 3rd + Major 3rd
So here’s something interesting; It’s the first interval of the chord that defines the character of the chord. If a chord starts with a major third it will always be some kind of a major chord (Even if it has 4 voices or more).
Same goes for the minor chord.
So if we take C as the root note and would like to create a C major chord we would get: C-E-G.The distance between C and E is of 2 tones and then 1 1/2 between E-G.
C minor would be C-Eb-G. We switched the order of the intervals simply by lowering the middle note in half a tone. Now we’ve got 1 1/2 tones between C and Eb and 2 tones between Eb and G.
You can find a free piano chord chart of all major chords in here. There’s a free minor piano chord chart in here as well.
And the sound? Well, the major chords are often interpreted as happy or optimistic chords while their melancholic brothers come in the form of a minor triad. It is not written in stone but when understanding that a major chord derives from a major scale (which is often used in bright and joyful pieces) helps to realize the difference between these two chords.
Wonder how they derive from these scale? Well, A C major scale is built out of the following note: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. If you start building the first chord degree from C major in thirds you play the C note, skip the D to E, then skip the F note to G. Altogether you get the C-E-G.
Do the same with C minor which has these note: C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C and you’ll get the notes C-Eb-G.Play both this scales to review their character and you’ll understand how the chord is connected to its scale.
So to conclude, both the major and minor chords share the same intervals only the major chord starts with a major third while the minor chord starts with a minor third. The major chord in considered to be more optimistic than the minor chord which is often interpreted as the melancholic one.
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