Chapter 13

Building Chords
In This Chapter
! Getting a grip on major, minor, augmented, and diminished triads
! Looking at all the different kinds of seventh chords
! Listening to all the chords so far
! Inverting and changing voicing for triads and sevenths

A chord is, quite simply, three or more notes played simultaneously. Using
this definition, banging a coffee cup or your elbow on top of three or more
keys at the same times makes a chord — it probably doesn’t sound particu-
larly musical, but it is still technically a chord.

To the uninitiated and experienced performer alike, chord construction can

sometimes seem like magic. There is something absolutely beautiful and
amazing about the way the individual notes in a chord work to enhance one
another. Most people don’t appreciate that until they hear the way the “wrong”
notes sound against each other — for example, our coffee cup pushing onto
the piano keyboard in a poorly constructed chord.

In most Western music, chords are constructed out of consecutive intervals

of a third — that is, each note in a chord is a third apart from the one
before and/or after it (review Chapter 10 if you’ve forgotten your intervals).
Figure 13-1 illustrates two stacks of thirds to show you what we mean.

With chords based on intervals of a third, all the notes are either going to be
line notes or space notes, resting one on top of another like the examples in
Figure 13-1.
162 Part III: Harmony: Fleshing It Out

Figure 13-1:
Two stacks
of thirds,
one on the
lines, and
the other in
the spaces.

Triads
Triads consist of three pitches and are the most common type of chord used
in music. There’s a good chance that if people were born with bigger hands
or more fingers, this would not be the case. However, because we’re stuck
with only five fingers and a range of roughly one octave on each hand, chords
built with only three closely-spaced notes — that is, triads — have become
the basic unit of Western harmony.

Roots, thirds, and fifths

The term triad refers to chords that contain three notes and are built of
thirds. The bottom note of a triad is called the root; many beginning music
students are taught to think of a triad as being a tree, with the root of a triad
being its, well, root. The root carries the voicing of the chord, and chords
carry the letter name of the root note, as in a C chord, shown in Figure 13-2.

Figure 13-2:
The root of
a C chord
(either
C could be
the root).

Play Track 64 on the CD to hear the root of a C chord.

The second note of a triad is the third. The third of a chord is called that
because it is a third interval away from the root of the chord.
 Chapter 13: Building Chords 163
Figure 13-3 shows the root and major third of a C chord.

Play Track 65 on the CD to hear the root and major third of a C chord.

Figure 13-3:
The root and
major third
of a C major
chord.

The third of a chord is especially important in constructing chords, as it is

the quality of the third that determines whether you’re dealing with a major
or minor chord.

A chord is called a minor triad if there’s a minor third interval between the
root and third. A chord is called a major triad if there’s a major third interval
between the root and third.

The third and last note of a triad is the fifth. The fifth is called that because it
is a fifth interval from the root, as shown in Figure 13-4.

Figure 13-4:
The root and
fifth of a C
major chord.

Play Track 66 on the CD to hear the root and fifth of a C major chord.

Put them all together, and you’ve got the triad shown in Figure 13-5.

Figure 13-5:
C major
triads.

Play Track 67 on the CD to hear a C major triad chord.

164 Part III: Harmony: Fleshing It Out

Building major triads

Because they are made of intervals, triads are affected by quality (see
Chapter 10 for a refresher on quantity and quality). The quantity of the notes
that make up the triad are intervals of first, third, and fifth, but it’s the inter-
val quality of each note that changes the voicing of the triad.

A major triad, as we mentioned, is made up of a root, a major third above the

root, and a perfect fifth above the root. But there are two ways to build major
triads.

Half-step counting method

You can count out the half steps between notes to build a major triad, using
this formula:

Root position + 4 half steps + 3 half steps (or 7 half steps above root)

Figure 13-6 shows C major on the piano keyboard.

1 23 4 5 6 7
Figure 13-6:
C major on
the key-
board.
Notice the
pattern of
half steps
between the C E G
root, the Root 3rd 5th
third, and

C Major
the fifth.

The pattern stays the same no matter the root, but it looks trickier when you
move away from C. As you will see.

First, major third, and fifth method

The second way to construct major triads is to just take the first, major third,
and fifth notes from a major scale.

For example, if someone asked you to write down an F major chord, you
would first write out the key signature for F major, as shown in Figure 13-7.
(Review Chapter 11 for more on key signatures.)
 Chapter 13: Building Chords 165
Figure 13-7:
The key
signature
for F major.

Then you would write your triad on the staff, using F as your root position, as
seen in Figure 13-8.

Figure 13-8:
Add the F
major triad.

If you were to build an A flat major, you would first write down the key signa-
ture for A flat major and then build the triad, as shown in Figure 13-9.

Figure 13-9:
The A flat
major triad.

Building minor triads

A minor triad is made up of a root, a minor third above the root, and a perfect
fifth above the root.

Half-step counting method

As with major triads, you can count out the half steps between notes to build
a minor chord, using this formula:

Root position + 3 half steps + 4 half steps (7 half steps above root)

Figure 13-10 shows C minor on the piano keyboard, and Figure 13-11 shows it
on the staff.
166 Part III: Harmony: Fleshing It Out

E≤
1 23 4 5 67
Figure 13-10:
C minor on
the key-
board.
Notice the
pattern of
half steps
between the C G
root, the

E≤
third, and
the fifth.
C Minor

Figure 13-11:
C minor on
the staff.

As you can see, a minor chord and a major chord have the same root and the
same fifth — the only difference is the interval quality of the root to third
positions.

First, minor third, and fifth method

The second way to construct minor triads is to just take the first, the minor
or flat third (which means you lower the third degree of the major third one
half step), and fifth intervals from a major scale.

For example, for an F minor chord, you would write down the key signature
for F and the notes of the minor triad, as in Figure 13-12.

Figure 13-12:
The F minor
triad lowers
the third one
half step.

If you were to build an A flat minor, you write the A flat key signature and add
the notes, flatting the third, as shown in Figure 13-13.