Now that I have covered the basics of scales, I wanted to cover some chords. A chord is a set of at least three different notes that are played simultaneously. Thusly, a Major chord is a chord that contains the root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. The root is simply the starting note of the chord. The other intervals have been explained previously, but for easy reference a Major scale has the a semitone pattern of 4:3 (ex. CEG) note that these are the required notes, additional ones may be added. Major chords are often written as CMaj, CM or CMajor.
A minor chord in comparison is made up of the root, a minor third and a perfect fifth. This gives it a semitone pattern of 3:4 (ex. CEbG.) This chord, much like the minor scale, has the tendency of having a darker sound. Minor chords are written as either Cm, Cmin, C-.
Then there is the Augmented chord. It is essentially a major chord with a raised fifth, making it a root, major third and a raised fifth. (ex. CEG#.) This gives it a pattern of 4:4. This is often written as CAug or C+
In comparison, a diminished chord is essentially a minor chord with a lowered fifth. This gives it a pattern of 3:3, using a root, a minor third, and a diminished fifth. (CEbGb.) This chord is seen as dissonant because of its lack of a tonal center. Diminished chords are demonstrated as either Cdim or C* (the asterick is actually supposed to be a small circle.)
Lastly I want to mention the suspended chord. Using the same root and perfect fifth seen in the major and minor chords (C and G in the examples) we drop the third. It is then replaced with a perfect fourth or a major second (CFG and CDG respectively.) These are shown as Csus4 and Csus2. This chord because of its lacking of the third, tends to sound more open which allows itself to suggest either a major or minor tonality depending upon the circumstances. A good example of this is the verse in Pinball Wizard by The Who.
Note that all chords used as examples are triads, a chord using three notes. More complex chords using more notes will be covered in the next lesson, until then learn the differences between these basic chords and experiment with how they sound.
