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How to form a diminished chord

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

A diminished chord has -like a minor chord- a minor 3^rd interval from the first note (the root) to the second note of the chord. The difference with minor chords lies within the 3^rd chord note as we will see below. Like with minor chords and major chords, we can have diminished triads and diminished 7^th chords.

If you want to hear sound samples of the different chords, please refer to the lesson ‘What is a chord? How do different chords sound?’.

Diminished triads

A diminished triad is made of the root, the minor 3^rd and the flattened 5^th. So, in the case of the C diminished triad, this would be:   C   Eb   Gb

Another example is the G diminished triad: G   Bb   Db

The notation for a diminished chord is (in this case C diminished):     C ^O or Cdim. And in the case of G diminished: G ^O or Gdim.

Half diminished chords

As with major and minor chords, we can add the 7^th. When we add the minor 7^th to a diminished triad, we get a half diminished chord. Let’s see how that works in the key of C. The C diminished triad is C   Eb   Gb. The minor 7^th in the key of C is the Bb, so C half diminished is: C    Eb    Gb    Bb

The notation for the C half diminished chord is: C^Ø or Cm7b5.

C^Ø is a nice and short notation, but Cm7b5 actually shows better what’s going on in the chord:

• The ‘m’ stands for minor, since we have a minor 3^rd
• The ‘7’ stands for the 7^th in the chord, in this case a minor 7^th
• The ‘b5’ stands for the flattened 5^th in the chord

The G half diminished chord is: G   Bb   Db   F

So we can write G half diminished as: G^Ø or as Gm7b5

A half diminished chord can also be considered as a minor chord (but a minor chord with a flattened 5^th).

Diminished 7^th chords

Perhaps you noticed that a diminished triad is made of 2 stacked minor 3^rd intervals. Look at the C diminished triad: from the root (C) to the minor 3^rd (Eb) is a minor 3^rd interval and from Eb to Gb is also a minor 3^rd interval. Well, why not adding another minor triad? So, let’s do that!

What is a minor 3^rd up from Gb? A minor 3^rd consists of 3 semitones and 3 semitones up takes us to A. The only problem is that the 3^rd note in the Gb minor scale cannot be an A.  Ab is the 2^nd note, so the 3^rd note must be written with the letter ‘B’ (see the rules in the major scale lesson). The only way we can do that, is with a double flat: Bbb (which is of course the enharmonic equivalent of A).

So, the C diminished chord is: C   Eb   Gb   Bbb

G diminished is a bit easier because it doesn’t contain any double flat: G   Bb   Db   Fb

The notation for diminished chords is as follows:

C diminished: C ^O7, Cdim7 or C ^O

G diminished: G ^O7, Gdim7 or G ^O

Even though diminished chords have a minor 3^rd, they are, in contrast to half diminished chords, not considered as minor chords.

All the other diminished chords

Diminished 7^th chords

And here comes the good news: there are only 3 different diminished 7^th chords! Not 12, as was the case with minor and major chords (but this is only for diminished chords, not for half diminished chords since there are 12 different half diminished chords!). Only 3? Let me explain:

Look at the Eb diminished chord:

• From Eb, up a minor 3^rd to Gb
• Then, from Gb, a minor 3^rd up to Bbb
• Finally, from Bbb, a minor 3^rd up to Dbb (which is a C)

So, Eb diminished is: Eb   Gb   Bbb   Dbb (or C)

Compare this with the C diminished chord: C   Eb   Gb   Bbb

Even when not written totally the same (Dbb instead of C), the chords are exactly the same! And, indeed: a diminished chord of a note of the C diminished chord has the same notes as the C diminished chord itself. So this means that Cdim7, Ebdim7, Gbdim7 and Adim7 all are the same chord!

(Btw, notice that I wrote Adim instead of Bbbdim, because it would be a bit ridiculous to talk about the Bbbdim chord when we can simply say Adim.)

This enables us to finally make the table with the 3 different diminished chords:

Diminished chord:	Chord notes:
C O7, Eb O7, Gb O7, A O7	C    Eb    Gb    A
Db O7, E O7, G O7, Bb O7	Db   E   G   Bb
D O7, F O7, Ab O7, B O7	D   F   Ab   B

Some remarks concerning this table:

• Notice that the roots of the chords listed in the left column are the same as the notes of the diminished chords in the right column.
• Instead of writing the correct notes for each individual diminished scale (like Bbb for Cdim), I wrote the easiest enharmonic equivalent (A instead of Bbb).
• For the diminished chords with a black note root: I didn’t list the enharmonic equivalents, but you can find the notes of for example D# ^O7 at Eb ^O

Half diminished chords

Here’s the table with half diminished chords:

Half diminished chord:	Chord notes:
CØ	C   Eb   Gb   Bb
DØ	D   F   Ab   C
EØ	E   G   Bb   D
FØ	F   Ab   Cb   Eb
GØ	G   Bb   Db   F
AØ	A   C   Eb   G
BØ	B   D   F   A
DbØ / C#Ø	Db   Fb   Abb   Cb  /  C#   E   G   B
EbØ / D#Ø	Eb   Gb   Bbb   Db  /  D#   F#   A   C#
GbØ / F#Ø	Gb   Bbb   Dbb   Fb  /  F#   A   C   E
AbØ / G#Ø	Ab   Cb   Ebb   Gb  /  G#   B   D   F#
BbØ / A#Ø	Bb   Db   Fb   Ab  /  A#   C#   E   G#

Please tell us what you think of this lesson about diminished chords by leaving a comment below.

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Chord inversion: different ways to play the same chord

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

Let me start with a simple C major triad. You can play the C major triad in 3 different ways on the piano. All you need is a chord inversion. Let me explain…

Chord inversion in a triad

I will continue with the C major triad: C   E   G.  On the piano keyboard, it looks like:

You can see that the C, the root of the triad, is at the bottom. We call the C major triad in this position the root position.

When we move the lowest note, the C, to the top, we get: E   G   C.

Or, on the piano keyboard:

We call this the C major triad in 1^st inversion.

When we move now the lowest note (which is the E) to the top, we get: G   C   E.

We call this the C major triad in 2^nd inversion (see next figure).

When we move now the lowest note (which is the G) to the top, we’re back in root position, with the root (the C) at the bottom.

You can see that it’s possible to make three different ways to play a major triad:

• Root position
• 1^st inversion
• 2^nd inversion

Now, you can imagine that all triads, whether they are major, minor, diminished or whatever, can be played in those 3 positions.

Chord inversion in 7^th chords

We can apply the same ‘trick’ in 7^th chords: always move the bottom note to the top to get to the next position.

Let me illustrate this with the C7 chord. In root position, this is: C   E   G   Bb (see figure)

Let’s move the root to the top to go to the C7 chord in 1^st inversion: E   G   Bb   C (see figure)

Move the bottom note (the E) to the top, and we’re in 2^nd inversion:

Again, move the bottom note (now the G) to the top, and we’re in 3^rd inversion:

And, as you guessed already, when we move now the bottom note (the Bb) to the top, we’re back in root position.

This means that the 7th chords have 4 possible positions:

• Root position
• 1^st inversion
• 2^nd inversion
• 3^rd inversion

And, of course, you can apply the same trick to all other kind of 7^th chords (minor 7th, major 7th, …).

It takes some time to really master the inversions of all kind of chords, that’s why it is important to practice a lot with it. You can do this by doing the exercises that are accesible via the links below. Do them in the order as they appear in this list, because they go from easy to more difficult. Do an exercise for about 5 minutes and then come back at the same or a next exercise later (or the next day).

Recommended exercises for chord inversions:

Place the notes of the major triad on the piano (all the inversions)

Place the notes of the minor triad on the piano (all the inversions)

Place the notes of the dominant chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Place the notes of the minor 7th chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Place the notes of the major 7th chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (all the inversions)

Please tell us what you think of this lesson and the exercises by leaving a comment below.

4

How to form a minor chord

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

Minor chords

How are minor chords formed? The most important characteristic of a minor chord is the minor 3^rd interval from the root (starting note) to the second chord note. We can have minor triads and minor chords with a 7^th.

If you want to hear sound samples of the different chords, please refer to the lesson ‘What is a chord? How do different chords sound?’.

Minor triads

A minor triad is made of the root (1^st), 3^rd and 5^th note of the minor scale. For example, the C minor triad is formed by the root, the 3^rd and the 5^th note of the C minor scale. So, the notes of a C minor triad are: C, Eb and G. Notice the minor 3^rd interval between the root (C) and the Eb. The Eb is therefore called the minor 3^rd in the key of C.

Two more examples:

• The A minor triad: the root, minor 3^rd and 5^th in the key of A are A, C and E, so the A minor triad is: A    C    E
• The Db minor triad: the root, minor 3rd and 5th in the key of Db are Db, Fb (enharmonic equivalent of E) and Ab, so the Db minor triad is: Db    Fb    Ab

Minor 7th chords

Minor 7^th chords are formed by a minor triad with an extra note: the minor 7^th. The minor 7^th is the note that makes a minor 7^th interval with the root note. The minor 7^th in the key of C is Bb. So, the C minor 7^th chord consists of the notes C, Eb, G and Bb.

We write the C minor 7^th chord as Cm7, Cmin7 or C-7

I will take the 2 other examples from above to give you 2 more minor 7^th chords:

• The A minor 7^th chord: the A minor triad (A C    E) with the added minor 7^th (G) gives us the A minor 7^th chord:    A    C    E    G
• The Db minor 7^th chord: add the minor 7^th in the key of Db to the Db minor triad to get: Db    Fb    Ab    Cb   (Cb being the enharmonic equivalent of B)

Minor major 7^th chords

Minor major 7^th chords are almost never used in rock/pop/blues music, but a lot in jazz.

A minor major 7^th chord is made of a minor triad with an added major 7^th note. At first sight, the name is a bit confusing: is it a minor chord or a major chord? Well, it is a minor chord because of the minor 3^rd (it’s built on a minor triad!). The ‘major’ in the chord name refers to the 7^th because it is a major 7^th note.

We write a C minor major 7^th chord as C-∆7 or Cm^∆7.

A minor major 7^th chord is easy to find when you know the minor 7^th chord: just raise the minor 7^th by a semitone.

Taking the same examples as before, we get:

• The C minor major 7^th chord: C    Eb    G    B
• The A minor major 7^th chord: A    C    E    G#
• The Db minor major 7^th chord: Db    Fb    Ab    C

All the other minor chords

With the information in this lesson, you can now find out all the other minor chords. Start with all the 12 triads, and then put the minor 7^th or major 7^th on top to find the minor 7^th and minor major 7^th chords. If you don’t remember well all the minor scales, then have a look at the lesson about minor scales. For the minor chords that have a ‘black key root’: take the roots that have a minor scale with not more than 6 sharps or 6 flats (see ‘How to form a minor scale’). For the sake of completeness, I will also add the enharmonic equivalents with more than 6 sharps or flats in parentheses.

When you’re finished, check your answers with the solutions below.

Triads

Minor triad	Chord notes
Cm	C    Eb    G
Dm	D    F    A
Em	E    G    B
Fm	F    Ab    C
Gm	G    Bb    D
Am	A    C    E
Bm	B    D    F#
C#m (Dbm)	C#    E    G#    (Db    Fb    Ab)
D#m / Ebm	D#    F#    A#  /  Eb    Gb    Bb
F#m (Gbm)	F#    A    C#    (Gb    Bbb    Db)
G#m (Abm)	G#    B    D#    (Ab    Cb    Eb)
Bbm (A#m)	Bb    Db    F    (A#    C#    E#)

Minor 7^th chords

Minor 7th chord	Chord notes
Cm7	C    Eb    G    Bb
Dm7	D    F    A    C
Em7	E    G    B    D
Fm7	F    Ab    C    Eb
Gm7	G    Bb    D    F
Am7	A    C    E    G
Bm7	B    D    F#    A
C#m7 (Dbm7)	C#    E    G#    B    (Db    Fb    Ab    Cb)
D#m7 / Ebm7	D#    F#    A#    C#    /    Eb    Gb    Bb    Db
F#m7 (Gbm7)	F#    A    C#    E    (Gb    Bbb    Db    Fb)
G#m7 (Abm7)	G#    B    D#    F#    (Ab    Cb    Eb    Gb)
Bbm7 (A#m7)	Bb    Db    F    Ab    (A#    C#    E#    G#)

Minor major 7^th chords

Minor major 7th chord	Chord notes
C-∆7	C    Eb    G    B
D-∆7	D    F    A    C#
E-∆	E    G    B    D#
F-∆7	F    Ab    C    E
G-∆7	G    Bb    D    F#
A-∆7	A    C    E    G#
B-∆7	B    D    F#    A#
C#-∆7 (Db-∆7)	C#    E    G#    B#    (Db    Fb    Ab    C)
D#-∆7 / Eb-∆7	D#    F#    A#    C##    /    Eb    Gb    Bb    D
F#-∆7 (Gb-∆7)	F#    A    C#    E#    (Gb    Bbb    Db    F)
G#-∆7 (Ab-∆7)	G#    B    D#    F##    (Ab    Cb    Eb    G)
Bb-∆7 (A#-∆7)	Bb    Db    F    A    (A#    C#    E#    G##)

It’s really important to practice a lot in order to be able to quickly come up with the right minor chord when you’re play a song for example. The exercises below are an excellent way to practice your minor chord knowledge.

Recommended exercises for minor chords:

If you don’t know what chord inversions are, then do only the exercises in root positions. Otherwise, you can follow the lesson about inversions.

Minor triads:

Place the notes of the minor triad on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the minor triad on the piano (all the inversions)

Minor 7th chords:

Place the notes of the minor 7th chord on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the minor 7th chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Mix of all chords (also major!):

If you know how major chords work, you can do also the following exercises. If not, look first at the major chords lesson.

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (all the inversions)

I hope you learned a lot about minor chords. Please let us know what you think of this lesson and the exercises by leaving a comment below.

0

How to form major chords

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

Major chords

How are major chords formed? The most important characteristic of a major chord is the major 3^rd interval from the root (starting note) to the second chord note. We can have major triads and major chords with a 7^th.

If you want to hear sound samples of the different chords, please refer to the lesson ‘What is a chord? How do different chords sound?’.

Major triads

A major triad is made of the root (1^st), 3^rd and 5^th note of the major scale. For example, the C (major) triad is formed by the root, the 3^rd and the 5^th note of the C major scale. So, the notes of a C major triad are: C, E and G. Notice the major 3^rd interval between the root (C) and the E. The E is therefore called the major 3^rd in the key of C.

Let’s try another example:  the A major triad. The root, 3^rd and 5^th in the A major scale are A, C# and E.

OK, one more example: the Eb major triad. The root, 3^rd and 5^th are Eb, G and Bb.

We write the major triad just with its root note, so the C major triad is simply written as C. The context will tell you if the symbol C refers to the single note C or to the C triad.

Major 7^th chords

Major 7^th chords are formed by a major triad with an extra note: the 7^th note of the corresponding major scale. In the scale of C major, the 7^th note is a B, so the C major 7^th chord consists of the notes: C, E, G and B. Note that the interval of the root (C) to the 7^th note in the scale (B) is a major 7^th interval. That’s why we call this chord the C major 7^th chord. So the word ‘major’ in the chord name refers to the major 7^th (the B) of the scale, not to the major 3^rd (the E). We write the C major 7^th chord as: C∆7, CMaj7 or CM7.

Let me take the 2 other triad examples to show you 2 more major 7^th chords:

The A major triad was: A, C# and E. Add the major 7^th of the A major scale, and A∆7 consists of the notes A, C#, E and G#.

When you apply the same thing to Eb, you can see that Eb∆7 consists of the following notes: Eb, G, Bb and D.

Dominant or 7^th chords

Instead of adding the major 7^th to the major triad, we can also add the minor 7^th to the major triad. The minor 7^th in the scale of C is Bb (the minor 7^th is the note that makes a minor 7^th interval with the root). So the C dominant (or C seventh) chord consists of the notes C, E, G and Bb.

We write this chord as: C7.

Note: a major 7^th chord is a major triad with a major 7^th, but a 7^th chord is a major triad with a minor 7^th. So we don’t call this a minor 7^th chord. A minor 7^th chord is a chord based on a minor 3^rd interval between the root to the second chord note. So here, the word ‘minor’ doesn’t refer to the 7^th, but to the 3^rd. A bit confusing, I admit, but things are like that…

So, A7 consists of the notes A, C#, E and G (since G is the minor 7^th in the key of A). And Eb7 consists of the notes Eb, G, Bb and Db.

All the other major chords

With the information in this lesson, you can now find out all the other major chords. Start with all the 12 triads, and then put the minor 7^th or major 7^th on top to find the dominant (7^th) and major 7^th chords. If you don’t remember well all the major scales, then have a look at the lesson about major scales. For the major chords that have a ‘black key root’: take the roots that have a major scale with not more than 6 sharps or 6 flats (see ‘How to form a major scale’). For the sake of completeness, I will also add the enharmonic equivalents with more than 6 sharps or flats in parentheses.

When you’re finished, check your answers with the solutions below.

Triads

Major triad	Chord notes	Number of sharps/flats   in the major scale
C	C   E   G	0
D	D   F#   A	2 sharps
E	E   G#   B	4 sharps
F	F   A   C	1 flat
G	G   B   D	1 sharp
A	A   C#   E	3 sharps
B	B   D#   F#	5 sharps
Db (C#)	Db   F   Ab   (C#   E#   G#)	5 flats (7 sharps)
Eb (D#)	Eb   G   Bb   (D#   F##   A#)	3 flats (9 sharps)
F# / Gb	F#   A#   C#   / Gb   Bb   Db	6 sharps / 6 flats
Ab (G#)	Ab   C   Eb   (G#   B#   D#)	4 flats (8 sharps)
Bb (A#)	Bb   D   F   (A#   C##   E#)	2 flats (10 sharps)

Major 7^th chords

Major 7th chord	Chord notes	Number of sharps/flats   in the major scale
C∆7	C   E   G   B	0
D∆7	D   F#   A   C#	2 sharps
E∆7	E   G#   B   D#	4 sharps
F∆7	F   A   C   E	1 flat
G∆7	G   B   D    F#	1 sharp
A∆7	A   C#   E   G#	3 sharps
B∆7	B   D#   F#   A#	5 sharps
Db∆7 (C#∆7)	Db   F   Ab   C   (C#   E#   G#   B#)	5 flats (7 sharps)
Eb∆7 (D#∆7)	Eb   G   Bb   D   (D#   F##   A#   C##)	3 flats (9 sharps)
F#∆7 / Gb∆7	F#   A#   C#   E#   / Gb   Bb   Db   F	6 sharps / 6 flats
Ab∆7 (G#∆7)	Ab   C   Eb   G   (G#   B#   D#   F##)	4 flats (8 sharps)
Bb∆7 (A#∆7)	Bb   D   F   A   (A#   C##   E#   G##)	2 flats (10 sharps)

Dominant (7^th) chords

Dominant chord	Chord notes	Number of sharps/flats   in the major scale
C7	C   E   G	0
D7	D   F#   A	2 sharps
E7	E   G#   B   D	4 sharps
F7	F   A   C   Eb	1 flat
G7	G   B   D   F	1 sharp
A7	A   C#   E   G	3 sharps
B7	B   D#   F#   A	5 sharps
Db7 (C#7)	Db   F   Ab   Cb   (C#   E#   G#   B)	5 flats (7 sharps)
Eb7 (D#7)	Eb   G   Bb   Db   (D#   F##   A#   C#)	3 flats (9 sharps)
F#7 / Gb7	F#   A#   C#   E   / Gb   Bb   Db   Fb	6 sharps / 6 flats
Ab7 (G#7)	Ab   C   Eb   Gb   (G#   B#   D#   F#)	4 flats (8 sharps)
Bb7 (A#7)	Bb   D   F   Ab   (A#   C##   E#   G#)	2 flats (10 sharps)

And now it’s time to practice all that you’ve learned in this lesson. The exercises below are an excellent way to practice your skills.

Recommended exercises for major chords

If you don’t know what chord inversions are, then do only the exercises in root positions. Otherwise, you can follow the lesson about inversions.

Major triads:

Place the notes of the major triad on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the major triad on the piano (all the inversions)

Dominant chords:

Place the notes of the dominant chord on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the dominant chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Major 7th chords:

Place the notes of the major 7th chord on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the major 7th chord on the piano (all the inversions)

Mix of all chords (also minor!):

If you know how minor chords work, you can do also the following exercises. If not, look first at the minor chords lesson.

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (only root positions)

Place the notes of the chord (dominant/minor 7th/major 7th) on the piano (all the inversions)

I hope that you learned a lot in this lesson about major chords. Please tell us what you find of this lesson and the exercises by leaving a comment below.

0

What is a chord? How do different chords sound?

You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.

What is a chord? How do the different chords sound?

So, what is a chord?

A chord is a group of notes (typically 3 or more) played simultaneously. When a sequence of different chords is played, we speak of a chord progression, like for example in a blues chord progression.

Different types of chords

Below, you can find a short description of the most widely used chords in Western music. For a more detailed description of all the types of chords, please refer to the articles about major chords, minor chords and diminished and augmented chords.

Triads

A special type of chords that we often use in Western music is the triad. A triad is simply a chord that consists of 3 notes: the first note (the first note is also called the root), the 3^rd and the 5^th note of a scale. This scale can be a major scale, a minor scale or another sort of scale.

Seventh chords

A seventh chord in its basic form consists of 4 notes:  the root, the 3^rd, the 5^th and the 7^th note of a scale (minor, major , …). So it’s actually a triad with an added 7^th.

How do the chords sound?

It’s important to give you an idea of how chords sound, and to hear the difference between the different sort of chords. Therefore, you can listen to the sound examples below:

The root of all the chords in the sound samples below is a C. Because in this way, it’s easier to compare the different chords.

Triads

• C major triad, notated as: C chord or C triad or mostly just simply as C:
• C minor triad, notated as: Cmin or Cm or C-:
• C diminished triad, notated as Cdim or as C°:
• C augmented triad, notated as: C+:

Seventh chords

• C dominant, or C seventh chord, notated as: C7:
• C minor seventh chord, notated as: Cmin7 or Cm7 or C-7:
• C major seventh chord, notated as: C∆7 or CMaj7 or CM7:
• C minor major seventh chord, notated as: C-∆7:
• C diminished seventh chord, notated as: C^O7 or C^O or Cdim7:
• C half diminished chord, notated as: Cm7b5 or C^ø:

Listen well to the difference of the chords. So, start to listen to the difference between the major, minor, diminished and augmented triads to get a feeling for the major, minor, diminished and augmented sound. Then listen to what the 7^th and the major 7^th do to the sound by:

• comparing a major triad with a dominant (or 7^th) chord and with a major 7^th  chord (so compare C with C7 and C∆7)
• comparing a minor triad with a minor 7^th chord and with a minor major 7^th chord (so compare Cm with Cm7 and C-∆7)

Did you like this lesson on how different chords sound? Please tell us what you think of this lesson by leaving a comment below.