Chord structure

A chord is the root plus degrees above it, most often stacked in thirds. Major and minor differ only in the lower third: a major third (M3) sounds bright, a minor third (m3) sounds sad. Pick a chord and a root to see its degrees and intervals, and its shapes.

• Major triad: 1 – 3 – 5 (M3 + m3)
• Minor triad: 1 – ♭3 – 5 (m3 + M3)

m — minor, M — major, P — perfect, A — augmented interval; the number is the degree count. m3 is 3 semitones, M3 is 4, P5 is 7

C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B

C Cm C5 C7 Cm7 Cmaj7 Csus2 Csus4 Cadd9 C6 Cm6 C9 Cdim Cdim7 Cm7♭5 Caug