What Are Chords?
Multiple notes together and the feeling they create.
Stack two or more notes — that's a chord. Stack the right ones — that's harmony.
// WHAT IT DOES
A chord is two or more notes played simultaneously. The most common chord type is the — three notes stacked in 3rds (skip one scale note each time). A C major is C-E-G: count C, skip D, take E, skip F, take G.
Three things define how a triad sounds. The bottom note (the root) names the chord. The middle note (the 3rd) decides whether it's major (bright) or minor (dark). The top note (the 5th) gives it weight and stability.
Almost every song you've heard is built from a sequence of chords. Pop usually moves between 3–5 chords for the whole song; jazz might use 50. Choose the chords well and the song writes itself — your melody gains an emotional context the moment a chord plays under it.
Chord families: major triads sound happy, minor triads sound sad, diminished triads sound tense and unresolved, and augmented triads sound dreamy or unsettling. These four flavours are the entire colour wheel of basic harmony.
- • Chords carry emotion — major = bright, minor = dark, diminished = tense, augmented = floating.
- • Most progressions reuse a handful of patterns (I-V-vi-IV, ii-V-I) across thousands of songs.
- • Chords give a melody its context — the same notes feel triumphant over a major chord and melancholy over a minor one.
- • Knowing chords unlocks reading chord charts, accompanying singers, and writing without having to invent everything from scratch.
// SEE & HEAR IT
Click cells to draw notes. Press Play to hear them.
▸ HOW IT WORKS
- • Major vs minor flipping the entire mood with one note change.
- • changing the bass line without changing chord function.
- • 7ths adding 'jazz' colour without changing the chord's name.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (5 steps)
- 1. DO: Play C-E-G (C major triad).▸ LISTEN: Bright, resolved, complete.
- 2. DO: Play C-E♭-G (C minor triad).▸ LISTEN: Dark, sad — one note changed the whole emotion.
- 3. DO: Play E-G-C (1st inversion C major).▸ LISTEN: Same chord, lighter feel because of E in bass.
- 4. DO: Add the 7th: play C-E-G-B (Cmaj7).▸ LISTEN: Jazzy, dreamy — same chord with a glow added on top.
- 5. DO: Voice it open: C in the bass, then E-G-B an higher.▸ LISTEN: Wider, more orchestral than the close .
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Always playing chords in root position — bass becomes static.
- ✗ Doubling the 3rd in major triads.
- ✗ Skipping voice leading — chords sound disconnected.
- ✗ Stacking dense voicings low in the register — turns to mud.