Luckily for you I’ve already compiled a list of the most popular chords: The system from above can be applied to all chords to work out their formulae. Remember natural just means the note is normal and has not been sharpened or flattened the chord is Major.
Since we only need 3 notes to make our chord we can stop here. We get a G so our notes for the chord are now C, E and G. If we repeat this step from the E in our chord: To find the next note of each of the chords we would then count along 3 notes from the root note including the root note as one so: If we were using the key of C Major the root notes of the chords would be: Each note in the scale can be considered the starting point or root note for one of the chords.
The notes that create the chords for a key come from the scale of that key. In this reference guide we'll look at where chords come from, how they differ from each other and how the notes within the chord change it's sound. Each has it's own unique soundĪnd there are many more types than are listed there. You probably already know that there are several different types of chords, such as: Major, minor, dominant and suspended chords. The 1st note of the chord is the root note and the distance between the notes gives the chord its overall sound.