Chord Construction

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Once the construction of the major scale is thoroughly understood, building chords is the possible. A major chord is simply the 1st, 3rd, 5th and occasionally the 7th notes of the major scale played together. Let’s look at the C major scale. Following the whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step pattern, the C major scale is made up of the notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Numbering the notes, C is the1st., D 2nd., E 3rd., F 4th., G 5th., A 6th., B 7th.. (There’s no need to count C twice.) Following the 1st, 3rd and 5th note arrangement for chord construction, C, E and G played together make up the C major chord.

All major chords are constructed this way. As with scales, when the root note (the first) carries a sharp (#) or flat (b), the chord type (major) is unaffected. The term major refers to the 1, 3, 5 construction from a major scale, not whether the root note is sharp or flat. Using the major scales, construct the major chords. See below.

Minor Chords

Now, we’ll look at minor chords. Like major chords, minor chords are constructed using the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and sometimes the 7th. out of the major scale; however, in this case the third is flatted. For practical purposes, this b3rd is the definition of minor. Any chord, scale, arpeggio or anything else with the third flatted is minor. It is important not to confuse minor (b3) with flatting an entire scale or chord. We only flat the third. (Note: when using the 7th. in a minor chord, it is usually also flatted. But, it’s the flat third that defines it as minor so it is not absolutely necessary to flat the 7th. also.) Look at the examples. To the left is the C major chord. C minor is to the right. The only difference is that the E (third) is flatted in the minor chord.

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Seventh Chords

As it’s name implies, a 7th. chord is a chord with the seventh degree of the scale included in it. There are different types of 7th. chords. These are Major 7th., minor 7th., and Dominant 7th.. The term “7th.” is often assumed to mean “dominant 7th.” This may be true but the 7th. is frequently added to major and minor chords as well, giving us the other types of seventh chords.

The 7th. refers to the seventh note of the major scale. When this note is added to a major or a minor chord, it becomes a 7th. chord. One becomes the major 7th. the other, the minor 7th. (though, if minor, we usually flat the 7th..)

So far, we’ve constructed major and minor chords using 1, 3 and 5 from the major scale and looked at the possibility of adding the 7th. When we add the seventh, we can create all three basic musical sounds rather than just major and minor. The three sounds can be constructed using formulas. The formula for a major chord is 1, 3, 5. The formula for a minor chord is 1,b3, 5. Now, lets add three more. First, the major 7th. chord formula is 1, 3, 5, 7. The minor 7th. chord formula is 1, b3, 5, b7. And, the Dominant 7th. formula is 1, 3, 5, b7.