Easy Piano Lessons

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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The piano teaching “establishment” has been around for hundreds of years, and although there are new technology and teaching methods, the basic approach hasn’t changed all that much. Why?

Maybe they think it’s somehow required that you go through years of lessons, exercises, scales, blah, blah, blah before you should be allowed to sound good on the piano.

If all you want to do is make songs sound REALLY GOOD on the piano, with professional chords and smooth chord progressions, why in the world should you have to wait years, if you could learn to do it in a week or two.

“Professional Piano Chords For Everyday Pianists” is a digital e-book. You’ll instantly download it as an easy-to-use PDF file.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll learn in “Professional Piano Chords For Everyday Pianists”:

The absolute fastest way to learn any new chord, so you can play it the instant you see the chord symbol.

The single 3-chord progression found in 70-90% of all popular music that just might change the way you listen to and play music on the piano forever.

The very special chord that can open the doors to a whole new world of piano playing (it did for me) – and exactly how and when to use it.

Exactly where to play chords on the keyboard so they sound the best – not too muddy, and not too thin, but just right.

A VERY simple method for adding bass notes to your beautiful new chords – it may look overly simple, but it can make your playing sound like a true professional in no time.

How to play a chord progression so that it sounds good – it’s called voice leading, and it is one of the secrets to professional-sounding piano that very few people learn how to do properly – except for you!

Clear, Simple Chord Charts Show You Exactly
How To Play Like The Pros – OBVIOUSLY, These Are The Beginning Chords Just To Show You How I Illustrate Chords In The Book – We’ll Move WELL Beyond These Basic Chords

What ARE piano chord inversions? The term “chord inversion” refers to changing the order of the notes in a chord. There are as many positions of a chord as there are notes in the chord. That is, a triad has 3 positions, a dominant 7 chord has 4 ipositions, etc.

Root Position

This is the term used to indicate that the ROOT (or name) of the chord is the lowest note in the chord. For example, a C Major triad in root position would be spelled

C E G. A C Dominant 7 chord in root position would be spelled C E G Bb. Root position triads are probably the easiest to learn and should be mastered in all 12 keys before you branch out into chord inversions.

First Inversion

A First Inversion chord is formed when the 3rd of the chord is the lowest note. For example, a First Inversion C Major chord is spelled E G C. A First Inversion C Dominant 7 chord is spelled E G Bb C.

Second Inversion

Chords in the Second Inversion have as their lowest note the 5th of the chord. A C Major triad in Second Inversion would be spelled G C E. A second Inversion Dominant 7 chord is spelled G Bb C E.

Third Inversion

A chord in Third Inversion can occur ONLY if a chord has 4 or more notes. In this case, the lowest note in the chord is the first note above the 5th of the chord. For example, a C6 chord in 3rd inversion is spelled A C E G. As you can see, this looks exactly like an Am7 chord. What differentiates the two chords is the root note.

USING CHORD INVERSIONS

There are several reasons to invert chords. One is to make the transition between chords smoother. A chord progression played with root position chords ONLY tends to be jumpy and difficult to play.

Another reason to use chord inversions is to make a smoother sounding bass line. The use if First inversion chords also allows the bass line (where the left hand plays single note roots) and the chords to move in opposite directions, which often is more desirable than parallel motion.

When accompanying a vocalist, it is often useful to play the melody note as the highest note in the chord in order to add support to the vocalist’s melody.

Another important use for chord inversions is to devise “chord melodies” in the right hand. In playing a chord melody, you use an inversion of the chord so that the melody note is the highest note in the chord. This produces a melody that is already harmonized in the right hand, leaving the left hand free to develop an interesting bass line. This is a common practice among jazz players.

LEARNING TO USE CHORD INVERSIONS

First, you must become totally familiar with the inversions of each chord. These can be practiced by playing the root position, first inversion and second inversions in order and then going back down in reverse order. Here are the fingerings:

Right Hand–135, 125, 135 Left Hand–531, 531, 521

After you have become familiar with the inversions, you can practice using them in this manner:

Play the first chord in your progression. Then determine which notes you need to play the second chord. If any of these notes are in the first chord, keep them and substitute the rest of the notes to make the second chord.

For Example: Moving from C Major to E Minor:

Keep the E and the G and change the C to B. This gives you a second-inversion E minor chord. Continue this process throughout the chord progression. The result will be that you will be able to play the entire progression with a minimum of hand position changes. Please be patient–it takes time to learn to be comfortable using piano-chord-inversions.

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