Music Theory

Introduction

Over the past two days I have begun to teach myself music theory. I figured the best way to solidify my knowledge would be to teach other people what I have learned so far in as simple a way possible.


If you can memorize 7 patterns, you can learn most popular songs on piano. These patterns are not even that challenging to memorize! All they require is the ability to count to 12. So, without further ado, let's learn some chords!

1. Major Chords

A major chord is one of four types of triads. A triad is a chord containing three notes. A major triad consists of:

  • A Root note


  • A Major 3rd


  • And a Perfect 5th


  • Root Note
    A Root Note is the identifying note in a chord. As an example, an F, or F major chord will be written like this:

  • F


  • Fmaj

  • Note that an F is the same thing as an Fmaj, these are just two different ways to write the chord. The first way is short-hand, and the second way contains the chord quality (maj, or major). On a piano, an F major (or F) looks like this...

    Play Chord

    Major 3rd
    As I said in the introduction, I will only be teaching you seven patterns. Our first pattern comes from the chord quality of an F major. Any time your chord quality is major, there is a pattern for the interval between the notes. The interval between the root note and the next note in the chord is referred to as a major 3rd. Every major chord's major 3rd is four notes above the root note (including the black notes!). Again, this works for EVERY ROOT NOTE!

  • Major 3rd = 4 notes above Root note.



  • For practice, try and determine the root and major 3rd for a G major chord below. Hovering over the correct notes will change the color so you can know if you are correct. Additionally, feel free to click the keys! I am awesome and made all the pianos interactive.

    Another way to think of intervals is with whole steps and half steps. A whole step is simply an interval of two notes, and a half step is an interval of 1 note.



  • Half step = 1 note


  • Whole step = 2 notes


  • Perfect 5th
    The final interval you have to memorize is called a Perfect 5th. A perfect 5th is 7 notes above your root note, and therefore 3 notes above your major 3rd.

  • Perfect 5th = 7 notes above Root note.


  • Now that you know all the notes in a major chord, try to find the root note, major 3rd, and perfect 5th of a G major by hovering over the piano below.

    Play Chord

    Congratulations! You now know the pattern for EVERY major chord.

  • 1: Find Root note.



  • 2: Find Major 3rd (4 notes, or 2 whole steps above the Root note)




  • 3: Find Perfect 5th (7 notes, or 3 whole steps and a half step above the Root note)



  • Just to solidify the pattern, try to find the notes for a G Sharp Major chord (G Sharp is a half step, or 1 note, above G).

    Play Chord

    2. Minor Chords

    There is actually only a 1 note difference between a Major and Minor chord! Minor chords have the same Root note, a Minor 3rd, and the same Perfect 5th as a Major chord.

  • Root Note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Perfect 5th

  • For example, an F Minor would look like this...

    Play Chord

    Minor 3rd
    A minor 3rd is one note below a major 3rd. Or, 3 notes above the root note. To find a minor chord, you simply need to remember the pattern for a major chord, and drop your major 3rd down one note. Try to determine the notes in an A minor on the piano below.

    Play Chord

    Congratulations! You now know the pattern for EVERY minor chord.

  • 1: Find Root note.



  • 2: Find Minor 3rd (3 notes, or 1 whole step and a half step above the Root note)




  • 3: Find Perfect 5th (7 notes, or 3 whole steps and a half step above the Root note)



  • Just to solidify the pattern, try to find the notes for a G Sharp Minor chord.

    Play Chord

    3. Diminished Chords

    Major and Minor chords are the most common chords you will find. Diminished chords are a little more rare, but just as easy to create. A diminished chord consists of:

  • A Root note


  • A Minor 3rd


  • A Diminished 5th

  • Diminished 5th
    A Diminished 5th is simply one step below a Perfect 5th. I find it easier to make a minor chord first, then just drop the Perfect 5th down a half step, or 1 note, but you may also think of a Diminished 5th as 6 steps above the Root note. Try and create a F Sharp Diminished chord, or F#dim, on the piano below.

    Play Chord

    By now you should see a pattern emerging with 3 note chords. So far, each one is made of a Root note, a Major or Minor 3rd, and a Perfect, or Diminished 5th. That leaves us with one more type of 3 note chord, and as you probably guessed, it is made by raising the Perfect 5th up by one note. This pattern comes from the fact that in ANY chord, the maximum interval between any two notes is a major 3rd(4 notes), and the minimum interval between any two notes is a minor 3rd (3 notes)!

    4. Augmented Chords

    We just stated that the maximum and minimum distances a note can be from it's neighbors is 4 or 3 notes. Therefore, if we raise a Perfect 5th up by one note, it stands to reason that our 3rd will be major. If we had a Minor 3rd with an Augmented 5th, the 5th would be 5 notes away from the 3rd, breaking the rule (and creating another chord that would simply be inverted, a topic we may cover later). Therefore, an augmented chord consists of:

  • A Root note


  • A Major 3rd


  • An Augmented 5th

  • Try to play a F aug on the piano below using these rules. Remember, you can simply play an F maj and raise the 5th up by one note, or a half step.

    Play Chord

    That does it for 3 note chords!!! Even better, most 4 and 5 note chords are just going to be built on top of the ideas that we have already covered. To recap:



    Major Chords

  • Root Note


  • Major 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Minor Chords

  • Root Note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Diminished Chords

  • Root Note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Diminished 5th


  • Augmented Chords

  • Root Note


  • Major 3rd


  • Augmented 5th

  • Now let's take a look at some common 4 note chords.

    5. Major 7th Chords

    As you may have guessed by the name, a Major 7th chord is built on top of a major chord. Before we continue though, it will be beneficial to bring up the concept of an octave. An octave is simply a note 12 notes above the root note, or, the same note! The piano below shows an octave. Both of the notes are F.

    Play Chord

    A major 7th chord consists of four notes:

  • A Root note


  • A Major 3rd


  • A Perfect 5th


  • A Major 7th


  • Major 7th
    A major 7th is 11 notes above the Root note, or, 1 note below an octave. Try to figure out a F maj 7 on the piano below. It is helpful to simply play a F major with the octave added, and then drop the octave down 1 note.

    Play Chord

    6. Minor 7th Chords

    As you can infer from the chord above, a minor 7th is a minor chord with a Minor 7th added in. A Minor 7th is simply 2 notes below the octave, or 10 notes above the root. To reiterate, a minor 7th chord is:

  • A Root note


  • A Minor 3rd


  • A Perfect 5th


  • A Minor 7th


  • Try to identify an F minor 7 on the piano below.

    Play Chord

    7. Dominant 7th Chords

    If you were to examine the distance between each note in a major 7th chord and minor 7th chord, you would notice that there is enough room to fit a Minor 7th with a Major 3rd. This type of chord is referred to as a Dominant 7th, or sometimes just simply a 7. As an example, an F 7 would look like so:

    Play Chord

    That wraps up the most common chords! For practice try to suss out a G 7 chord on the piano below.

    Play Chord

    Further practice

    To continue practicing, you should find the chords to your favorite song and start playing! Most songs will use the chords I have gone over. Here is a list of the seven patterns we have learned for convenience.



    Major Chords

  • Root Note


  • Major 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Minor Chords

  • Root Note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Diminished Chords

  • Root Note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Diminished 5th


  • Augmented Chords

  • Root Note


  • Major 3rd


  • Augmented 5th


  • Major 7th Chords

  • Root note


  • Major 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Major 7th


  • Minor 7th Chords

  • Root note


  • Minor 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Minor 7th


  • Dominant 7th Chords

  • Root note


  • Major 3rd


  • Perfect 5th


  • Minor 7th