How Chords Are Built

A chord is not a shape your hand makes. It is three or more notes sounding together, and the standard recipe is simple: take a note, skip one, take the next, skip one, take the next.

From C, in the C major scale, that gives C, E and G. Those three notes are a C major chord, and every C chord you have ever played is those three notes in some arrangement, some of them doubled.

The skipping is what stacks thirds. And the lower third is the one that decides everything. C to E is a major third, four half steps, so the chord is major and sounds bright. Lower that E by a half step to E flat and the bottom interval becomes a minor third, three half steps — the chord is now C minor and sounds sad. One note moved by one fret changes the entire emotional content.

A C major chord, built one note at a time

C, then E, then G, then all three together, then the full open C chord — which is the same three notes with C and E doubled.

e
B
G
D
A
E

----------------------0---|
----------------------1---|
----------0---0-------0---|
------2-------2-------2---|
--3-----------3-------3---|
--------------------------|

The clearest demonstration on a guitar is A major against A minor, because the difference really is one finger moving one fret. Play them one after the other and listen to what that single half step does.

A

A major. The three notes are A, C sharp and E.

Am

A minor. One finger drops one fret, C sharp becomes C, and the chord turns sad.

This track is in D major and mixes major and minor chords freely — D, A and G are major, while E minor, F sharp minor and B minor are not.

Don't play along yet. Watch the chord names as they go past and, before you hear each one, predict from its name whether it will sound bright or sad. Then check yourself against the music.

Getting that reliable is worth more than learning ten new shapes.

D major, with majors and minors side by side. Predict the mood from the name before you hear it.