Piano chords for beginners: how to build any chord

A piano chord is three or more notes played together, and the beginner chords are built by a simple rule: start on a root note and stack every other white or black key according to a fixed count of semitones. A major chord is the root, four semitones up, then three more; a minor chord is three, then four. Learn those two counts and you can play all 24 major and minor chords. The piano chord chart shows any of them on a keyboard with the notes spelled correctly.

Finding your way round the keys

The black keys come in groups of two and three. The white key just left of each group of two is C, and the white keys then run C, D, E, F, G, A, B before the pattern repeats. The C nearest the middle of the keyboard is middle C, written C4. A semitone is the distance from one key to the very next key, black or white; from E to F and from B to C there is no black key between, so those white keys are a semitone apart. Counting semitones is the only arithmetic chord building needs.

Major and minor triads

A triad is a root plus the notes a third and a fifth above it, written as the formula 1-3-5.

• Major: root, up 4 semitones, up 3 more. C major is C, E, G. G major is G, B, D.
• Minor: root, up 3 semitones, up 4 more. C minor is C, E♭, G. A minor is A, C, E.

The only difference is the middle note, the third, which is why a minor chord is often described as a major chord with a flattened third. Notice the spelling: the third of C minor is E♭, not D♯, because a triad uses every other letter name (C, E, G). The chart tool keeps to that rule, so F major shows F, A, C and B♭ major shows B♭, D, F.

Diminished, augmented and sus

Three more triads complete the basic set:

• Diminished (dim): 3 + 3 semitones, formula 1-♭3-♭5. B diminished is B, D, F.
• Augmented (aug): 4 + 4 semitones, formula 1-3-♯5. C augmented is C, E, G♯.
• Suspended: the third is replaced by the 2nd (sus2, C, D, G) or the 4th (sus4, C, F, G), giving an open sound that wants to resolve.

Seventh chords

Add one more third on top and you get a seventh chord. The three you will meet most are:

• Dominant 7th (G7): 1-3-5-♭7, so G, B, D, F. It pulls strongly towards the chord a fifth below, here C.
• Major 7th (Cmaj7): 1-3-5-7, so C, E, G, B. Soft and jazzy.
• Minor 7th (Am7): 1-♭3-5-♭7, so A, C, E, G.

The chord chart covers eighteen chord types, including sixths, half-diminished, add9 and ninths, and shows each one as a formula in scale degrees so you can rebuild it in any key without the tool.

Inversions

You do not have to play the root at the bottom. Moving the lowest note up an octave gives an inversion: C, E, G becomes E, G, C (first inversion) and then G, C, E (second inversion). All three are still C major; on a chord sheet the first inversion is written C/E, meaning C with E in the bass. Inversions matter because they let your hand move as little as possible. Going from C major to F major, the second inversion of F (C, F, A) keeps your thumb on C and moves the other two fingers up by a step or a semitone. That smooth movement, called voice leading, is how pianists make chord changes sound connected rather than jumpy. Pick an inversion in the chart tool to see and hear the difference.

What to practise first

Start with the three major chords of C major, C, F and G, then add A minor; those four cover a surprising number of songs. Play each with fingers 1, 3 and 5 of the right hand, then try the same chords with inversions so your hand stays in one place. The chord progression generator gives common sequences in any key, and the virtual piano lets you try them without an instrument, though its two octaves and synthesised tone are no substitute for real keys. When you find a chord on a song sheet you cannot name, the chord finder works backwards from the notes, and How to identify a chord from its notes explains the logic. If you want to know why these particular chords belong together, Major vs minor scales: what actually differs is the next step.