Piano chords for beginners: major and minor triads, inversions and progressions

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Chords open up a different side of the piano. Once you know a handful of them, you can accompany songs from a chord chart, play along with friends, and understand what is going on underneath the melodies you read. This guide covers the basics.

What a chord is

A chord is three or more notes played together. The simplest chords, triads, have three notes built by stacking the alternate notes of a scale: a root, a third and a fifth. In C, that means C, E and G, skipping D and F in between. Counting in half steps (semitones, the distance from one key to the very next key, black or white) makes it easy to build any triad.

Major triads

A major triad is:

the root
4 half steps up to the major third
3 more half steps up to the fifth

Examples:

C major: C, E, G
F major: F, A, C
G major: G, B, D
D major: D, F sharp, A

Major chords tend to sound bright and settled.

Minor triads

A minor triad lowers the middle note by one half step:

the root
3 half steps up to the minor third
4 more half steps up to the fifth

Examples:

A minor: A, C, E
D minor: D, F, A
E minor: E, G, B
C minor: C, E flat, G

Minor chords tend to sound darker or sadder. Play C major and C minor one after the other and you will hear the difference immediately.

Fingering

In root position, a common choice for the right hand is fingers 1, 3 and 5 (thumb, middle, little finger). For the left hand it is 5, 3 and 1. Keep the hand curved and relaxed, and press the three notes at exactly the same time.

Inversions

An inversion is the same chord with a different note at the bottom.

Root position: root at the bottom, e.g. C E G.
First inversion: third at the bottom, e.g. E G C.
Second inversion: fifth at the bottom, e.g. G C E.

Why bother? Inversions let you move between chords with very little hand movement. Going from C major (C E G) to F major, you can play F in second inversion (C F A): the C stays where it is and the other two fingers move up by a step. This is called smooth voice leading, and it sounds better as well as being easier.

Chords in a key

In any major key, the chords built on each note of the scale follow the same pattern. In C major:

I: C major
ii: D minor
iii: E minor
IV: F major
V: G major
vi: A minor
vii: B diminished

Roman numerals let musicians talk about progressions without naming a key: "I–IV–V" means C–F–G in C major, G–C–D in G major, and so on.

Common progressions to learn

I–IV–V–I (C–F–G–C): the backbone of countless folk, blues and rock songs.
I–V–vi–IV (C–G–Am–F): heard in a great many pop songs.
ii–V–I (Dm–G–C): a staple of jazz and a good way to hear how a chord "resolves".
vi–IV–I–V (Am–F–C–G): the same chords as number 2, starting somewhere else, with a more wistful feel.

Practise each one with inversions so your hand barely moves between chords, then try it in another key.

Accompanying songs

A simple way to accompany a song from a chord chart:

Left hand plays the root note of each chord, low down.
Right hand plays the triad, in whichever inversion is closest to the previous chord.

Start by playing one chord on the first beat of each bar. Once that is steady, try repeating the chord on every beat, or splitting it into a pattern (left-hand root, then right-hand chord on the other beats). Keep the rhythm steady even if you have to play slowly; listeners notice a broken rhythm far more than a simple pattern. If you want to read the chords from standard notation as well as chord symbols, our guide "How to read sheet music" in the Music room is a good companion to this one. Which chords or songs are you working on? Ask about a progression or share a favourite pattern in the comments.