What a chord is: root, third and fifth

A chord is several tones at once

When one tone sounds, that is a note. When three or more tones sound together, we get a chord. The simplest chord is a triad - three carefully chosen tones that sound full and stable together.

The three parts of a triad

• Root: the main tone that gives the chord its name. A C chord has the root C.
• Third: decides whether the chord is major (happy) or minor (sad).
• Fifth: adds fullness and stability to the sound.

How we build a major chord

We find chord tones by counting semitones up from the root. A major chord follows the pattern 0 - 4 - 7: the root, a tone 4 semitones up (a major third) and a tone 7 semitones up (a perfect fifth).

Example - the C major chord:

• root: C
• major third (4 semitones up): E
• perfect fifth (7 semitones up): G

The tones C - E - G, played together, are the C major chord.

And the minor chord?

For a minor chord we lower the third by a semitone - the pattern becomes 0 - 3 - 7. So C minor contains C - E♭ - G. The only difference is the third, yet it turns the mood from cheerful to wistful.

On chord.si you can see the tones of every chord and compare them. In the next article we turn those tones into fingers - learning to read chord diagrams.