Let’s Play Music #1

Learning the C Major Scale Chords

The Major Scale

Most people start learning formal music with the C Major Scale for many reasons. While I could go on and on about how well the Major Scale works for us, I’ll stick to the basics so we can all start with the same concept and build from there.

The Major Scale is a series of steps or tones depending on where you are from. Americans tend to describe the distance from one note to the next, such as C to C# (aka C sharp), as a half-step. Europeans tend to call this a semi-tone. So the distance from C to D is a whole step or a tone.

To create the Major Scale we start at one note and go up two individual whole steps, one half-step, three individual whole steps, and another half-step. Starting at C we can go up two individual whole steps to D and then E. We can then go up a half-step to F. Next are three individual whole steps to G, A, and B. The final half-step then takes us up to C, which is where we started.

Learning The Chords

On the piano we’ll use just the white keys. On the guitar it is a bit different as we use “shapes” to help describe what to play. Regardless of the instrument, they are the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B. There are no sharps or flats. We also have degrees, which can be thought of as numbers for the order of our notes. In the diagram below all of the notes are listed for the C Major Scale on piano and guitar. I have also colored the notes on the guitar for each octave, which is a set of notes from the starting note of our scale to the same note as we repeat the scale. The red C1 is the same note and pitch in both locations on the guitar, while the piano has one key per pitch.

When we build our basic chords, we start on any note and simply skip the next note. So, to make a C major chord we play C-E-G and skip over D and F. We can continue using the piano “shape” shown below to get all of our basic triads or three-note chords.

The guitar uses the same notes but relies on the concept of “shapes” to help make chords. Below are all the same seven chords listed above, but for guitar. Notice how the lowest pitch is the note used in the chord’s name. The other notes simply exist above C and can even be doubled with exception to the third degree note. The third degree is the middle of the three notes in these examples and is used only once. Using two different third degrees can cause an unnecessary balance.

Think of it like this, the third degree is what makes a chord major or minor. If you have two notes in a chord that are both thirds, then it is hard to tell if the major or minor note is close to the root note or if it is somewhere else. Check out these examples of a C Major triad on the guitar. Each uses the third degree note only once EXCEPT for the shape used in the C major chord. This is a very common chord to use on the guitar, but contradicts the rule of only using the third degree note once. You’ll find many contradictions like this in music and that is perfectly fine. The rules of music are there to help you, and not to hinder. We could fix the C major chord below by playing a G note on the string at the far right of the diagram, but I’ll opt to keep the contraction because you’ll find many ways to bend the rules as you learn the various aspects of music.

Major VS Minor

The majority of our chords so far are either major or minor triads. The only real difference is the middle note. So far, we’ve been skipping notes but what’s really going on is that we are “stacking thirds”. Looking at the diagram below we have all the major and minor chords from the C Major Scale. What’s important to focus on right now are the Major Third (3) and Minor Third (b3) intervals. These intervals between the root note and either “third” is what defines the chord as being either Major or Minor.

If we take a C Major chord and simply lower the note E to Eb (E flat), then we have a C Minor triad. Notice how the Major chord is built with a Major Third followed by a Minor Third, while the Minor chord is a Minor Third followed by a Major Third. Keep in mind that we have a perfect fifth interval in both chords. This interval is implied in the major and minor chord, so it is not mentioned in the name of chords like C and Cm. We only mention the fifth degree note when we do something to it, which will happen when we get to the diminished and augmented chords.

We can extend this idea across our C Major Scale chords and turn any Major chord into a Minor by flattening our third degree note. The same goes in reverse by turning a Minor chord into a Major by sharpening the third degree note.

On the guitar we can also modify our shapes if we know where the third-degree note is. Check out the diagrams below which point out the Major Third or Minor Third.

The Diminished Chord

B Diminished or Bm b5 (B Minor flat 5) is built using two Minor Third intervals. Just like our formulas above that use degrees 1-3-5 for a Major triad and 1-b3-5 for a Minor triad, we will always get a Diminished Triad when using 1-b3-b5. We can also use the symbol “°” and write B Diminished as B°, but I’ll stick with Bm b5 for this article so that we can focus on the flattened fifth degree at all times.

Since stacking two Minor Third intervals result in using degrees 1-b3-b5, we can modify our chord shapes to find other Diminished triads. A D Minor of D-F-A uses degrees 1-b3-5, and can be turned into D Diminished by flattening the fifth degree note: D-F-Ab / 1-b3-b5. Therefore, a D Diminished chord can be written as Dm b5 because it is literally a minor interval (1-b3) with a flattened fifth degree (b5).

We can also turn a chord like C Major into C Diminished by flattening the third and fifth degree notes. C-E-G / 1-3-5 becomes C-Eb-Gb / 1-b3-b5.

The Augmented Chord

There are no Augmented chords in the Major Scale, but it is worth knowing what an Augmented chord is because it is the last basic triad that uses stacked thirds. An Augmented chord is simply two Major Third intervals and is notated with a plus symbol. C+ is C-E-G# or 1-3-#5. Just like with the Diminished chord in the way we flatten or diminish the fifth degree, the Augmented chord sharpens or augments the fifth degree.

While this chord is not part of the Major Scale in any way, we will be using it later when we start adding in chords found in scales like Harmonic Major to help add interest to our compositions.

What To Practice

No matter what you think your level of musical knowledge is, it is important to understand your degree formulas and the order of the chords in the Major Scale. Below is a chart for just the chords of the C Major Scale along with their formulas. While this may look like a lot to work on, it’s just three formulas.

Major: 1-3-5

Minor: 1-b3-5

Diminished: 1-b3-b5

From there we have the order of the chords, which a chord like C Major is simply notated as “C”.

1: C, 2: Dm, 3: Em, 4: F, 5: G, 6: Am, 7: Bm b5.

Now let’s put this order and the formulas together. As you play each chord be sure to call out which chord this is in the numbered order, the notes used, and the formula degrees used. I would do this by playing the C Major chord and literally saying out loud, “One: C Major.” Then I would play each note in the chord and call out the letter, “C, E, G.” I would then play the same three notes and call out the degrees, “One, three, five.”

By practicing a chord this way, you can learn the chord, the notes, and degrees all at the same time. Whatever you do, DO NOT rush. Start in C Major and say out loud, “One: C Major. C, E, G, One, three, five” as many times as you need to. Feel free to do that a dozen times and then walk away from your instrument. Later you can come back and recall the same thing, “One: C Major. C, E, G, One, three, five.”

When YOU are ready, move on to Dm and do the same thing. “Two: D Minor. D, F, A, One, flat three, five.” Before moving on to Em, be sure that you are confident with C and Dm. Building on what you know will help you to reinforce your knowledge so that when you get to Bm b5 you can play and call out all of the chords, notes, and degrees used as follows.

“One: C Major. C, E, G, One, three, five.”

“Two: D Minor. D, F, A, One, flat three, five.”

“Three: E Minor. E, G, B. One, flat three, five.”

“Four: F Major. F, A, C. One, three, five.”

“Five: G Major. G, B, D. One, three, five.”

“Six: A Minor. A, C, E. One, flat three, five.”

“Seven: B Diminished. B, D, F. One, flat three, flat five.”

The exact order of these notes and degrees can change on the guitar, so playing the C Major chord below would be “One: C Major. C, E, G, C, E. One, three, five, one, three.”

If any of this seems daunting, then be sure to take your time as knowing the order of these chords, the notes, and the formulas are a great foundation for learning any other concept in music.

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