A chord is a series of notes stacked on top of one another. Below is the C major triad.

The major triad is made up of the 1,3 and 5 of the major scale

Lets look at these three notes. The 1 determines the name of the chord. In this case C major. The 3rd determines if the chord is major or minor. In this case major, remember we're working with the C major scale here. The 5th is neutral.

Let's take a look at the C minor triad.

The minor triad is made up of the1,3 and 5 of the minor scale

Lets look at these three notes. The 1 determines the name of the chord. In this case C minor. The 3rd determines if the chord is major or minor. In this case minor, The 5th is neutral.

Note: How do you make a major chord minor? By lowering the third one half step. How do you make a minor chord major? By raising the 3rd one half step.

Is that it? Of course not, we have more blocks to build with here. The next interval in line would be the 7th. Let's take a look at C major 7.

The 7th shows if the chord has a major or minor 7th.

All in all, the 3rd and 7th are the most important notes in the chord. They let you hear if the chord is major, minor or dominant. What about the tonic note (1)? The tonic can be played with your left hand or by a bass player or even not at all. More on that later;)

Question: Can a major chord have a minor 7th? Sure can, refer to your staff sheet and circle the 1,3,5 and 7 of the dominant scale. The dominant 7 chord has a major 3rd with a minor 7th.

In the Interval section, I mentioned that the scale intervals continue after 8. I've seen chords with thirteen's but haven't come across anything higher. The 9 on the other hand are very common. Let's take a look. Again I'll use C major for the example, the same applies to the minor and dominant scales.

C Major 9 The 9 and the 2 are the same note except the 9 is an octave higher than the 2.

Like the 5th the 9 is neutral but sure sounds sweet. Go ahead on your own and try adding an 11 and 13th.

Note: When reading chord charts there are symbols used to tell you the type of chord to play. Here is a list of chord types and how they might be abbreviated.

Chord name	Chord symbol
C major triad	=	C	Cmaj
C major 7	=	CM7	Cmaj7	7
C minor	=	Cm	Cmin	C-
C minor 7	=	Cm7	Cmin7	C-7
C dominant 7	=	C7
C diminished	=	C dim
C half diminished	=	Cm7b5

Altered Chords - When reading chord charts you will come across chords where the interval has been altered. C7#5 for instance, or C7b9. Apply the alteration to the interval.
Let's look at the C7#5.

C 7#5 or C7+5 Here we have a dominant 7 chord with a sharp 5.

Here we have a C dominant 7 with a raised 5th. Remember the dominant chord has a major 3rd with a minor 7th. To add the #5, raise the 5th a half step. let's try another.

C 7b9 Again we have a dominant 7 chord but now with a flat 9

I hope you're playing these on a piano so you can hear what's going on here. Like the example before, your playing a C7 chord but with a b9 insted of the #5.

Try altering major 7 chords, and minor 7 chords as well.

Now imagine this, what would you get if you stacked a chord on top of every interval of the scale? Or built scales from each interval? Curious, good lets move forward. Modes

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