Chords on Piano: The Complete Beginner’s Guide

By Jade Bultitude
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Chords are such a vital part of music theory and indeed piano playing. Whatever genre of music you are playing, you will always see chords! In this blog post we will explore basic chords on piano and how to learn to play them.

What is a piano chord?

So what exactly are piano chords in music?

In music, piano chords are when three or more notes are played simultaneously. So anytime you sit at the piano and play more than two notes you are playing a piano chord! Two notes played together can be called a ‘partial chord’ or an interval.

You can split the chord between two hands or simply play using one hand. There are some key concepts that apply to make chords sound nice. Let’s look into it!

For a general overview of chords in music theory, check out our complete guide to chords.

Here are the most common chords on piano:

  • C Major – C, E, G
  • C Minor – C, Eb, G
  • D Major – D, F#, A
  • D Minor – D, F, A
  • E Major- E, G#, B
  • E Minor – E, G, B
  • F Major – F, A, C
  • F Minor – F, Ab, C
  • G Major – G, B, D
  • G Minor – G, Bb, D
  • A Major – A, C#, E
  • A Minor – A, C, E
most common piano chords
most common piano chords

Common parts of piano chords

The most common type of chords on piano are triads. A triad is a three note chord.

The first note in the triad is called the root note, then we play the third note above the root and then the fifth note above the root.

Let’s take the note C for example. The third note above C is an E and then the fifth note above C is a G.

c major chord

Each triad has a quality that is important to know if you are to understand chords on piano. The way to work this out is to identify the root note and then use the interval of a third to see whether you have a major triad or a minor triad. A major triad has an interval of a major third and a minor triad has an interval of a minor third.

All of these piano chords could include black keys, read on to find out how.

Major chords On Piano

The chord above has the notes C E G. This is a C major chord, we know this because the root note is a C and then we have a major third from C-E. E is in the C major scale which is how we know this is a major third.

c major scale with c, e and g highlighted

Take a look at the chord below. We have the note G B D.

g major chord

As you can see, the root note is a G and the interval between G-B is a major third, making this a G major chord. B is in the G major scale and this is how we know that this is a major third.

Using this you can work out all major chords, D major chord, E major chord, F major chord, A major chord and B major chord.

C major, D major, E major, F major, G major, A major, B major chords

Minor Chords on piano

We can work out minor chords on piano in very much the same way. Make sure to look at the root note and then look at the interval of a third. In a minor chord this will be a minor third.

The chord below has the note E G B. This is an E minor chord, we know this because the root note is an E and then the interval between E B is a minor third. B is the third note of the E minor scale and this is how we know that this interval is a minor third.

e minor chords

Let’s try one more example. Take a look at the chord below, we have the note C E G, with the E being flattened.

c minor chords

As you can see, the root note is a C and the interval between C and Eb is a minor third, making this a c minor chord. We know this because Eb is the third note of the C minor scale.

Using this you can work out all minor chords c minor chord, D minor chord, E minor chord, F minor chord, G minor chord, A minor chord and B minor chord and more.

diminished and augmented chords on piano

The fifth of a chord also provides a certain quality to these common piano chords.

In your basic major and minor chords, the fifth will always be a perfect fifth. However, you can also have diminished piano chords and augmented chords and this is determined by the fifth note.

If the chord has a diminished fifth then the chord will be a diminished chord. If the chord has an augmented fifth, then the chord will be an augmented chord.

c diminished and c augmented chords

Ear Training and Chords

To develop as a musician you’ll want to be able to recognise chords by ear. This is where ear training comes in. My recommendation for this is Tonegym as they have a comprehensive and fun program for training your ears! It’s what has gotten the best results with for my own students.

In the ‘tools’ section of their site, Tonegym even have a chord player that allows you to listen virtually any chord.

For an in-depth look at ear training, here’s my full review of Tonegym.

chordelius opt tonegym

The most important chords to know

Although there are many different chords you can learn, it is important to focus on the most common chords that you will see. The easiest way to see this is by looking at which chords occur in a major scale. Let’s take the C major scale. If we write a triad above each note in c major we will create some of the most important chords.

c major chords labelled

A typical major scale includes three major chords, three minor chords and one diminished chord. You can apply this to every major scale and achieve a slightly different variation.

Common Piano Chords Chart

Below we have created two chord charts to help you learn beginner piano chords. The major and minor triads have been shown in different colors to help you play piano chords easier.

Each chord has three notes and can be played in either the left hand or the right hand. Typically, in the right hand your thumb will be placed on the root note, your middle finger will be placed on the middle note and your pinky finger (fifth finger) will be placed on the top note.

For example, in a C major chord (C E G), your thumb will be on the C, middle finger on the E and your pinky finger on the G.

c major right hand

If you are using the left hand this will be the other way around. Your pinky finger will be placed on the root note, middle finger on the middle note and your thumb will be on the top note.

For example in a C major chord (C E G), your pinky finger will be on the C, middle finger on the E and your thumb on the G.

c major piano chart left hand

This will be the same when you play chords that are minor. The only note that will be different will be the third as we saw earlier, the third will be one half step smaller than the major chord. For example, in the C minor chord, your middle finger will be on an Eb.

c minor piano chart right hang
c minor piano chart left hand

Piano Chord Chart

Below you can see the most common major chords on piano.

  • C Major – C, E, G
  • C# Major – C#, E#, G#
  • D Major- D, F#, A
  • Eb Major – Eb, G, Bb
  • E Major – E, G#, B
  • F Major – F, A, C
  • F# Major – F#, A#, C#
  • G Major – G, B, D
  • Ab Major – Ab, C, Eb
  • A Major – A, C#, E
  • Bb Major – Bb, D, F
  • B major – B, D#, F#
common major piano chords
common major piano chords

Below you can see the most common minor chords on piano.

  • C Minor – C, Eb, G
  • C# Minor – C#, E, G#
  • D Minor – D, F, A
  • Eb Minor – Eb, Gb, Bb
  • E Minor – E, G, B
  • F Minor – F, Ab, C
  • F# Minor – F#, A, C#
  • G Minor – G, Bb, D
  • Ab Minor – Ab, Cb, Eb
  • A Minor – A, C, E
  • Bb Minor – Bb, Db, F
  • B Minor – B, D, F#
common minor piano chords
common minor piano chords

Turn the major chords into minor chords

There is a very simple way that you can turn major piano chords into minor chords. To do this very easily, you simply need to move the third (middle note of the chord) down by one half step. The interval of a minor third is a half step smaller than a major third.

Take a look below, we can turn a D major chord into a D minor chord, simply by lowering the F# down to F natural.

d major and d minor piano chart

Turn the minor chords into major chords

As with moving piano chords from major to minor, we can also easily change piano chords from minor to major. We do this by moving the third of the chord (middle note) up by one half step.

Let’s take an F minor chord which has the notes F Ab C. To turn this into an f major chord, we simply need to raise the third by a half step to A. The new notes will be F A C

f minor and f major paino chart

How Chords on Piano are notated in music

Once you know how to play these basic chords, it is important to know how to recognise them in sheet music. There are many different ways to notate chords and below you can see two of the most common ways. These can be written out with notes or simply labelled with the root and the quality. Chord symbols are very useful when learning major and minor chords. The three most common ways you will see a piano chord notated are:

  • Written out with notes
example staff notation of chords
  • Root note labelled and quality labelled with either a capital letter to indicate a major chord or a capital letter with a lowercase ‘m’ to indicate a minor chord.
G, g major label
  • Roman numeral chord symbols – With Roman numerals, capital letters means major chords and lower case means minor chord.
chords in the key of c major roman numerals
  • Note that diminished chords are labelled with a small circle
diminished chord romand numeral symbols

By using these different chord labels you can easily see whether you should be playing a major or minor chord.

Chord Progressions

The next stage is to put these chords together to create chord progressions. Chord progressions are extremely important if you would like to play popular songs, rock music, classical music and more. In fact all of your favorite songs are made up of chords and chord progressions.

If you would like to know more about the most popular chord progressions make sure to check this out.

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AUTHOR
Jade is a flute player and music educator with a passion for educating the next generation of musicians. She is a Masters Graduate from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Jade has been helping people learn music theory for more than 10 years from pre school children all the way to degree level studies.