Easy Chord Theory - Triads and Intervals

So what is a

chord

? It is a group of notes played together at the same time. Technically, a

chord

has to have three notes to be considered a real chord, but a chord can also have a lot of notes, in fact, a chord can even have all 12 notes. Sounds good, no, but my point is that chords They can have much more than just three notes, a chord has two parts, the first half is called the root, it is the note from which the chord is built. the second half is called chord quality, this tells us all the information about what type of chord it is, just to quickly make sure we know the difference between the two parts.

I'm going to write down some random chord names, okay, let's draw a line. between the root and the chord quality for each of these chords just to make sure we know which is which, so to determine which is the root, we're just going to look at the first note of the chord and if there are any sharps or flats. attached, that's also part of the note, so, for example, in this first chord, this F sharp minor seven flat five the F sharp is the root. I'm going to draw a line like that and then the minor seven flat five is the quality of the chord. about this d minor d is the root and minor is the quality of the chord, what about d flat minor?

These are two different symbols for lowercase minor m or minus sign so what's the root note here? It's D flat, so B flat half diminished. this is a half diminished sign the b flat is the root and the half diminished is the quality of the chord what about e7 sharp five alone the e is the root note the seven sharp five is the quality of the chord what about c 13 the root is c okay, what about E flat major 9 the root is E flat by the way, a triangle means major? what about g major 7 sharp 11 g is our root note?

What happens to a6 adds 4 what is the root? the root is just a for f the root is just f and every time you see a letter written alone um like a chord, it's supposed to be a major chord, so the chord is f major, so the quality of the chord is major, the root is f for a flat major 7, what is the root? It's a flat, what about B flat? It says 4 B flat is the root and sus4 is the quality of the chord. As you can see, just look for the first note and if there's a slightly higher flat right next to it and that's the root note. and then everything else, even if there's a sharp or a flat later, is part of the quality of the chord.

Now in this video we will focus on a very specific type of chord called a triad which, as you may have guessed from the word. The triad only has three notes. Later on I'll be doing much more advanced videos on chord

theory

and covering all sorts of chord related topics and as I create them I'll add them as links in the description of this. video, so come back and check back later to see if there's any new content there. Also, if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, I post one video a week and I'd love to have you on board.

There are four main types. of

triads

major minor diminished and augmented chords have what I like to think of as simple little formulas that I've written down right here, so let's pretend I want to figure out what the notes are in a C major chord a C minor chord a C diminished chord and a C augmented chord and let's use these simple little formulas to figure it out. So to know what notes are in these chords, we first need to look at the root note and think about the major scale of that note, so what is the root note of a C?

C major chord minor chord C diminished chord and C augmented chord is of course so let's write a C major scale now let's think of the scale as numbers so I'm going to give each of these notes a number so Now we go back to the formulas and we're just going to plug the numbers into the formulas, for example, a C major chord is made up of a three and a five, so if we go to our C major scale, what is the first third and fifth note of the scale c e? and G, so our C major chord has a C major chord, so I'm going to write C and G, that's our C major chord, how about a C minor chord?

We have a one, a flat three and a five, so we have what it is. the one that will be one will be our C so what about the flat three? Well, three is an E, so it's going to be an E flat because we're just going to take that third note and flatten it out so that C, E flat, and G are pretty

easy

. Well, what about a C diminished chord? We have a one, a flat three, and a flat five, so what's ours? Our one is c, so we know that one, then a flat 3 will be an E flat and then what about a flat 5? well the 5 is a G so we're going to flatten it out to be G flat and what about our c chord augmented one three and five sharp so we have a one for the C right for the three we just have a three normal? so it's an e and then we have a five sharp so we're going to take the fifth degree and tune it so that it becomes a G sharp G sharp makes sense if you think about these words diminished and increased decrease means to make something smaller so in our diminished chord we have a one, a flat five and a flat three, so we flatten two of the notes in that chord, um, so we're making the notes smaller and closer together and with the augmented chord to increase. is making something bigger, so with our sharp five we're making it, uh, we're taking these notes and moving them further away from each other, we're making it bigger, so it increases, okay, it's pretty simple to work this out in the key. . of C, but let's try some keys that are a little more complicated and have some sharps and flats, okay, so we're going to try a different root note now, so let's say we want to figure out an E major, E minor, and diminished. and e augmented chord so we're going to look at the root note of those chords which is e and first we're going to think about our E major scale so I'm going to write it down and we're going to number it like this First, what are the notes in an E major chord?

So I know that the major chord is a one, three and a five, so what are our one, three and five in the key of E major? Well, the one is E right, the three is a G sharp and the five is a B, so those three notes when you play E G sharp and if together you are playing an E major chord, E G sharp and if now, what What about an E minor chord? So for a minor chord, we have a one, a flat three, and a five. So which one is the one? The one is the e.

I can write that now. What about a three flat? So what is the third degree? The third degree is G sharp. So if I flatten a G sharp, what happens to flattening any notes? We just move it down. half a step, so if I have a G sharp note and I move it down a half step, it just becomes a G, so a flat three won't be a G sharp but just a normal G, and what about the fifth degree? The fifth grade is just yes. Now, just as a side note, the third degree of the minor chord is what makes it a minor chord, so that third degree is actually very important because it tells us if the chord is major or minor.

You may have heard of a suspended chord before in a long time. a sus 2 and sus 4 chord we actually take the three out of the chord and replace it with the second degree or the fourth degree if it is a sus 2 chord we replace the third with the second degree and if it is a sus4 chord we replace it with the fourth degree and when we do that, when we remove the three and replace it with the four or the two, we can no longer tell if the chord is major or minor anyway, that was a side note. in suspended chords later in another video, let's go back to these

triads

, so what about an E diminished chord?

We have a one, so the one is e. What about the three flat? It's the same as in the minor chord, the flat 3 will be alone. a regular G on the right and then we have a flat 5. So we're going to take that fifth degree that b and we're going to turn it into a B flat, so B flat, these are the notes in our E diminished chord, now what? over an E augmented chord, so we have a one, so e is the right one, we have a normal three, not a flat three, but a normal three, so it's just going to be a G sharp and what about our five sharp?

Let's take this one. b and we're going to sharpen it, so we're going to get a sharp B. Now some of you might be saying, wow, I thought there was no such thing as a B sharp and then my teacher told me, you know, there's no note on the piano. between B and C, so there is no B sharp and yes, it is true, there is no single separate tone that is entirely dedicated to being a B sharp note, however, we can tune and flatten any note so that we can refer to a note like b sharp, but actually when we say b sharp, we are playing a c note since there is no note between b and c and if we sharpen that b it just goes to c, you can even sharpen a note that is already sharp and then we have a sharp double note, you can also flatten a note that is already flat and have a double flat note, so don't get too hung up on these rules right now, but basically, yes, you can have a sharp b, it's not bad, okay , let's do another example, let's say I want to find an f. major chord f sharp minor f sharp diminished chord and an augmented f sharp chord so first what is our f sharp major scale so this is our f sharp major scale just like when we were talking about that b sharp some of you You might also be looking at this E sharp and saying wait I thought there was no E sharp I thought there was no note between E and F it's true there is no different note between E and F but E sharp is technically an F note it's called inharmonic equivalent actually when you have only one note but several names for the same note, so E sharp and f are inharmonic equivalents, so you can refer to an F as an F or you can refer to an F as an E sharp and since we are in the key of f sharp, technically we refer to it as e sharp again, don't worry too much about these details right now, but that's what's happening so let me list real quick, what are the notes in my triad F sharp major?

I have a one. three and five, so that's F sharp, A sharp and C sharp, what about an F sharp minor chord, so I have a one, a three flat and a five, so what's the F sharp now? , what is the three flat, so me? I'm going to find my third, which is a sharp, and I'm going to flatten it, so what does it become if I flatten a sharp? It just becomes a regular a, so it's f sharp a and then what about the fifth degree? It's C sharp, so C sharp, so F sharp a and C sharp is an F sharp minor triad, okay, what about an F sharp diminished chord?

We have the right one, so it's just an F sharp now we have a three flat, so what's our three flat? it's a right one, just a normal old a, like the minor chord and a flat five, what's our flat five? Well, the fifth degree is C sharp and if we flatten this t sharp, what does it become? becomes a cool C, so that's your F sharp diminished chord. It's an F sharp an A and a C Now what about an F sharp augmented chord? We have the one that is F sharp, right, we have the three that is sharp.

Well, this one is going to be interesting, so we need a sharp five and our fifth. The grade is a C sharp, so how can we sharpen a C sharp? Well, actually we're going to write C double sharp. Now, when you see the double sharp note written on a staff sheet, you'll see a little well, what if we're in c sharp and we go up a half step, just a note of d, actually, so a double c sharp is the same as the note d, yet we refer to it as double c sharp to stay true to the key we're in, let's do another one, okay, let's do a flat key now, how about a flat?

So let's say I want to find a flat major. flat minor, flat diminished and flat augmented chords, so first I'm going to write down my flat major scale, so here's our flat major scale, a flat B flat C D flat E flat F G hey quick side note, Have you ever noticed that? in a flat major scale, the three notes that are not flattened are c f and g, but then in an a major scale it is not a flat major scale, but in a major scale, c, f, and g are the only notes that are sharpened.

Very cool, there are so many fun little patterns like that scattered throughout all the other major scales. Okay, so what's our flat major chord? Which one is going to be a right flat? Oh no, my marker is dying. I need to do it. buy more this is my only what is the third degree c correct and what is the fifth degree the fifth degree is E flat nice and simple now what about our flat minor triad? So we have a one, a flat three and a five, so which one is ours? heour is a flat, okay, our third flat is a C flat and what's our five, our five is just E flat, now here's the C flat, which is another one of these notes where you could say hey, I didn't think that there was a C flat because there is no note. between B and C, well a C flat is actually just a B flat note, it's an n harmonic equivalent of B, so when you say C flat, it's actually a B flat, you're not, but we call it C flat now, what about our A flat diminished chord? one is going to be a flat what is our flat three is going to be a C flat again now our five flat this will be interesting again so what is our five our five is E flat so if we flatten E flat what happens to it is turns into a The double flat I chose crazy keys so we could see this kind of thing.

What is the harmonic equivalent in n of E double flat? So what is the pitch we hear when we play an E double flat? Well, let's think about it so we can see these kinds of things. flat and then we go down another half step and it becomes a D, so E double flat is the same note as a D, but we call it E double flat and last but not least, let's figure out our augmented flat chord for that we have a one. It's a flat, what is a three? the three is a correct c, just a normal c because it is not a flat three and then a sharp five, then e flat we sharpen e flat what does it become so that it is an e flat and we raise it half a step, it simply becomes a normal e, hopefully, and a quick side note when you see this double flat symbol on the staff paper, um written with music. notation you're going to use, they look like two little flat symbols written in front of the note, so I think you get the idea that most keys don't have these double flats and double sharps.

I chose them specifically to show as an example. so you can see the more confusing things, but I don't need to go over each key with you because this video would be an hour long, but I want to quickly talk about the

intervals

in these kind of four triads. Okay, so an interval is just the distance between two notes and we measure this distance in semitones or whole steps. Now a half step is the smallest interval we have, so a half step would be from C to C sharp, that's a half step or C sharp to D that's a half step, so if I were to go up and play every note on the keyboard I would now be going up half steps if I was playing it on a ukulele or guitar if I wanted to go up half steps I could go up one fret so when you go up one fret you move half a step, now a full step as you may have guessed , it's just two half steps so between c and d it's a full step because I have two semitones from here to here is a semitone and from here to here is a semitone so from c to d right here is a full step what's up from day to day? a full step or half step is a full step, what happens from e to f?

It is a full step or a half step which is just a half step. Look how there's no note between them, we're just going up half a step now, what's going on from e to g? full step or half step, that's a full step, what happens from G to G sharp, that's half a step? Now you get the idea in a major triad like let's say C major, so ce and g we have the one, three and five here, ce and g now the distance between the one and the three is what we call a major third, so we have a major third and then the distance between the three and the five, the e and the g is a minor third, so we have a major third and then a minor third now in a minor triad, so ce flat and g is our minor triad, the correct distance between the one and the three-flat, so c and E-flat is a is a minor third, so we have a minor third at the bottom and then the distance between the three-flat and the five between that three-flat and the five that E flat in that G is a major third and the total distance between them is what we call a perfect fifth and the distance between these is also a perfect fifth, so what I mean by that is in my C major chord, so C and G, then one and five, if we measure that distance, it's called a perfect fifth, so this distance is a major third, this is a minor third, everything is a perfect fifth from one to five now an interval of a major third is four semitones and a minor third interval is three semitones and a perfect fifth interval is seven semitones.

You could also think of those seven semitones as three full steps and one semitone. So here's my major third interval, I'm going up one, two, three, four, that's four semitones and to get from E to E to G, I said it's a minor third, so one, two, three, that's just three semitones up and then E perfect. fifth from C to G one two three four five six seven is seven semitones now it makes sense what I'm showing you these

intervals

these intervals are the same no matter what key you're in or what root note you're playing in a major The chord will always be a major third interval and then a minor third interval, so if I wanted to play a flat major triad right now, let's say I don't know what my flat major scale is and I'm trying to do that.

Find out what the third is in a flat major chord. Well, I can think of the interval and I know it's four semitones up, so one, two, three, four, so C will be the third, the third degree, and then I need to move. I go up three half steps from there to get to my fifth, so one, two, three, so E-flat will be the fifth, so I know my flat major triad will be a C-flat and E-flat like that, so this is another one. way to find the notes in a chord, if you really don't know what your scales are, you can start with the root note and calculate them based on the intervals.

Okay, I know I need to go up four semitones and then three semitones or three semitones. steps and then four semitones uh to create my chord now we have a diminished triad, do you think it's a minor third from this to this flat three or a major third? Remember I said that a flat three is a minor chord, right? So if there's one thing you can remember from today's lesson it's that the flat three is minor, so this will be a minor third of what the one is to the flat three, so the e flat is a minor third of the same way as our in our minor. triad, so we start with a minor third and then what happens from this flat three to this flat five?

What is a minor third interval or a major third interval? Let's count it and find out to know that my c diminished chord. It's a C E flat and a G flat is fine, so I need to figure out if this distance between the E flat and the G flat is a major third or a minor third, so starting at E flat I'm going to count how many semitones there are. one two three is just three semitones go up three semitones is a minor third remember because four semitones is a major third, so I know it's going to be a minor third, so a diminished chord is like two minor thirds stacked on top of each other, now the total distance of this is not actually a perfect fifth because a perfect fifth would be from C to G to the right and we go from C to G flat, so this is called a diminished fifth, actually the tritone is not too hard to remember. is a diminished fifth for a diminished chord right now a diminished fifth interval has three full steps or six semitones.

I'll show you, so remember it's C to G-flat like a diminished fifth to the right, so let's count it one, two, three, four, five, six, six. semitones, which is also the same as three full steps, the last one we're looking at is our augmented triad, so with our augmented triad from this to three is like C to E is a major third or a minor third. let's count it right one two three four is four semitones so it's four semitones a major third interval or a minor third interval is a major third interval so I have a major third and then on top of that from E to G sharp to the right because it's a sharp five, what is that distance?

Let's figure it out: we have one, two, three, four, four semitones, what are those four semitones? It's another major third, so we have two major thirds stacked on top of each other so you can Really think of these triads as just two intervals of thirds stacked on top of each other right now the total distance between the one and the sharp five in an augmented triad called an augmented fifth and how many semitones or whole steps are there in an augmented fifth, well, let's count it, so we'll start with c one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight semitones, which is also four full steps, so four full steps in our augmented fifth interval, okay, and I think that's enough for this lesson, like I said, I will post more videos on chord

theory

that will become more advanced.

I hope you understood everything in this video if you don't let me know in the comments or if you just want to say hey please don't. Forget to like this video if you liked it and don't forget to subscribe if you also enjoyed it. I post a video every week, so stay tuned for more content. Thank you all so much for watching and have a wonderful rest. of your day