Piano chord chart

How piano chords are built

A chord is three or more notes played together. Most chords are built in thirds: start on a note, the root, skip a white key, play the next, skip one, play the next. C, E and G is a C chord; D, F and A is a D chord. The letters always go every other one, which is why a chord's notes sit all on lines or all on spaces of the staff.

What makes a chord major or minor is the size of those thirds, counted in half steps: one half step is the very next key, black or white. A major third is 4 half steps (C to E) and a minor third is 3 (C to E♭). Both triads share a perfect fifth of 7 half steps from the root (C to G).

• Major: a major third, then a minor third on top (4 + 3). C E G.
• Minor: a minor third, then a major third (3 + 4). C E♭ G. Only the middle note changes.
• Diminished: two minor thirds (3 + 3). C E♭ G♭. Augmented: two major thirds (4 + 4). C E G♯.
• Seventh chords stack one more third on a triad: C7 is C E G plus B♭, a minor third above G.

Because the shape is fixed, a chord type sounds the same from any root. Count the same half steps from D and you get D F♯ A, D major. The spelling still follows the letters: E♭ minor is E♭ G♭ B♭, not E♭ F♯ B♭, because a third always skips exactly one letter.

Piano chord types and their formulas

A chord formula numbers each note by its place in the root's major scale: 3 is the major third, ♭3 the minor third, ♭7 the note a whole step below the octave. Here are the 14 chord types in the chart, on C. Click a chord to open it above and play it in any key.

Chord inversions, and why pianists use them

An inversion plays the same notes with a different one at the bottom. In root position the root is lowest (C E G). Move the root up an octave and the third is lowest: the first inversion (E G C). Move the third up too and the fifth is lowest: the second inversion (G C E). Seventh chords have a third inversion, with the 7th at the bottom.

Pianists use inversions to keep the hand still. Play C, F and G all in root position and your hand jumps a fourth and back; play C (C E G), F in second inversion (C F A) and G in first inversion (B D G) and each finger moves a step at most. That is called voice leading, and it is how chords are written in hymns and played in pop accompaniment. Inversions also give a different note in the bass, which lead sheets ask for with slash chords such as C/E.

Fingering changes with the shape. For triads most method books teach 1 3 5 in the right hand and 5 3 1 in the left for root position, 1 2 5 and 5 3 1 for the first inversion, and 1 3 5 and 5 2 1 for the second, counting fingers from the thumb (1) to the little finger (5).

Common chord progressions to practise

A progression is a sequence of chords. Roman numerals name each chord by the note of the scale it starts on, so the same progression works in any key: in C major, I is C, IV is F, V is G and vi is A minor (lower case means minor). Each one below is voiced the way a pianist plays it, left hand on the root and right hand in the nearest inversion. Change the key and listen.

How to read chord symbols on lead sheets

A lead sheet gives the melody on one staff and the harmony as chord symbols above it; you make up the accompaniment. The letter is the root. Anything after it says the type, and a slash names the bass note. A common way to play one: left hand on the root (or the note after the slash), right hand on the chord in whichever inversion is nearest.

Sevenths with a sharp or flat are read the same way: B♭7 is B♭ D F A♭, F♯m7 is F♯ A C♯ E. When a symbol has a number you don't know, count it up the root's major scale, then apply any ♭ or ♯ written next to it.

Keep learning

• Piano notes chart: every note from C2 to C6 on the staff and the keys, with a note-reading quiz.
• Easy piano music: free easy arrangements to practise chords in real pieces, with playback.
• Free piano library: more than 300 public-domain pieces to open, hear and print.
• How to read piano sheet music, step by step, including reading a chord as one shape.
• How to get better at sight reading: seeing chord shapes instead of single notes.
• How to transpose music: moving chords and melodies to another key.