What Is a Chord?
What Is a Chord?
A chord is three or more different notes sounding at once. (Two notes is technically an interval or "dyad" — even the mighty power chord isn't a full chord by the strict definition.) Chords are built by stacking intervals, usually thirds, on top of a root note: the root names the chord, the intervals above it determine its quality — major, minor, seventh, and beyond.
The recipe view
Every chord type is a formula measured from the major scale:
| Chord | Formula | Example (root C) |
|---|---|---|
| Major triad | 1 3 5 | C E G |
| Minor triad | 1 ♭3 5 | C E♭ G |
| Dominant seventh | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C E G B♭ |
| Major seventh | 1 3 5 7 | C E G B |
All the suffixes on chord charts — m, 7, maj7, dim, add9 — are compressed formulas; the decoder ring is Guitar Chord Symbols Explained.
Chords on guitar
A guitar chord shape is one arrangement (voicing) of a chord's notes that fits under four fingers. The same chord has many shapes — open, barre, triad fragments — and reading them starts with chord diagrams. Where chords come from (and why keys have the families they do) is covered in How Chords Are Built from Scales.
Related terms
- Triad — the three-note core of chords
- Voicing — one specific way to play a chord
- Chord extension — stacking past the seventh