Chord Construction
Chords are usually made up of combinations of major and minor third intervals. The simplest chords are made up of three notes and are called triads. There are four basic types of triads: major, minor, augmented and diminished. Examples of each of these triads are shown as follows, along with the formula for each one.
C Major Chord
C Minor Chord
C Augmented Chord
C Diminished Chord
By using the formulas shown on the previous page, you can easily work out the notes for any type of triad beginning on any note. E.g., to form an A major chord you would begin with the note A and then add a major 3rd above it (C#) and then a minor 3rd above that (E).
To form a D# diminished chord, you would begin with a D# note and then add a minor 3rd above it (F#) and then another minor 3rd above that (A). To help you become more familiar with the four types of triads, write the required notes above the root notes in the following exercise to create the triads indicated.
