Building Chords Made Simple | Easy Major & Minor Chord Theory

Learning the basic music theory of how to build chords is really important for musicians and directly helps us to find and memorize chords on the piano. When we label the notes in a type of chord as intervals, it tells us how far to space the notes out so we can see those shapes starting from any note!
Get your PDF - How To Build Common Chords
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Get your PDF - All 12 Major Scales with Fingerings & Graphics
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Get your PDF - All The Minor Scales with Fingerings & Graphics
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Get your PDF - Intervals
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WATCH NEXT 🎹
Major & Minor Chord Finding Guided Practice (Playlist)
👉 • Major and Minor Chord ...
Understand & Finding Chord Inversions (Playlist)
👉 • Chord Inversions For B...
Going Through Every Major Chord (Notes, Spelling, Playing)
👉 • How to play every majo...
Going Through Every Minor Chord (Notes, Spelling, Playing)
👉 • How to play every mino...
Finding Intervals Guided Practice (Playlist)
👉 • Interval Finding on th...
Half Steps & Whole Steps
👉 • What is a half step an...
How to Spell Chords & Scales (When To Use Flat & Sharp)
👉 • Easy Theory When To Us...
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VIDEO CHAPTERS/TIMESTAMPS
0:00 About Building Chords
1:15 Building Chords With Intervals
5:30 How To Build Major Chords
8:48 How To Build Minor Chords
11:10 Now You Need To Learn Them All
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Thanks for watching!

[@joshualove287]

Myman, I've been searching for a teacher that breaks it down in a way that I can comprehend. You Sir, are the motherfunkin shnittle Bam snip-snack Sack. Muchas gracias señor! From Albuquerque New Mexico.

[@TuppyMSM]

Say. My. Name.

[@rlotts6607]

I’ve been in music for so long and not once have seen half steps and intervals named together and put on a graphic. This is far and away the best presentation of that information and this has helped a lot towards actually learning piano instead of just note names with positions. Huge thanks

[@craigbernthal307]

You have taught me a lot! Thanks.

[@LuCish]

I love these in-depth tutorials. It's really easy to understand because of how well it's explained, thank you :)

[@yasmine1235]

ikr!

[@SvenFx-22]

Absolutely the best piano videos I’ve found on KZbin after years of looking. Thank you

[@PianoFromScratch]

Thanks! Glad you find the helpful

[@steven4217]

Your in depth PDF study guide is so reasonably priced. I was astounded and joyful. The video has surely helped clear some things up for me 👌

[@abdeljabarelgueddari735]

Yes! Major and minor thirds are the intervals par excellence. They are just the base to the main chords qualities. Thanks for the video!

[@GaryBook]

Absolutely brilliant. You simply explain “it” so clearly. I subscribed!

[@timweinheimer1]

Thank for this video it unlocked a great understanding how to move chords faster and more fluidity

[@AubrynneCharis]

This is so well articulated, thank you!

[@marshasmith4300]

Your efforts in making sense of music theory is much appreciated!

[@Mrtanweerkhan1]

Hi...as always meticulous & detailed but simplified...ders no way one shud fail to comprehend...thanks ...u r so good @it

[@gaill7314]

Thank you..great description of major vs minor chords!

[@roystonbailey1321]

Very good, easy to understand. Thank you.

[@mikegreen573]

Great explanation. Thank you

[@rebazork4242]

Wow just starting playing by ear with my left hand and this really helped me know what to do thank you so mutch!

[@JamesMyddelton]

Extremely useful, thanks

[@INTJames]

Nice refresher from the music theory days

[@Novvadiaries]

Thank you very much for all your content . It´s really helping me to learn music . This explanation of chords is awesome , I understood everything , thank you really !!

[@LeeRichardson808]

Loved this introduction - very well explained and fun to watch

[@CrittendenIV]

You RULE! Thank you!

[@rdsginia7499]

Thank you!

[@marianolen4214]

Wonderful way of explaining chord building! Thank you from El Paso, Texas!

[@tran-vm3uu]

Excellent!

[@yasmine1235]

tysmm i learned ALOT

[@Gaddidishaan]

Nice one 👍

[@timburdsey]

Absolutely fantastic presentation. Clear and straightforward. Just what I was looking for. Thank you. 🎹👏🏻

[@tonyrodriguez7261]

This is awsome

[@larrykubiayk5746]

Simply great lesson. I love your courses. Thanks

[@van8000]

Thanks!

[@PianoFromScratch]

Thanks, appreciate it!

[@lonniemorgan7569]

1:50 ❤

[@AlicatMusic101]

Thank you for this lesson. It contains plenty of good foundational information, and is expertly presented. I'll be reviewing it regularly.

[@PianoFromScratch]

Thanks for the feedback , I’m glad it’s helpful!

[@natneedle610]

Good work! I'm going to solicit feedback from my students.

[@marloncolville9303]

Tank you from Limon Costa Rica

[@torigomx]

Best tip

[@goran1822]

keep going please and love you

[@UbiDoobyBanooby]

Just to make sure, at 10:13 theres a graphic in the bottom. You say the Minor Triad is a minor 3rd followed by a major 3rd. But the graphic shows the opposite as I would follow it from top to bottom. Just making sure your graphic is right. IDK just want to help. Great video though! Very cool tricks for interpreting chords. It made a lot of things make more sense.

[@gidmosia7065]

I’m parking here great teacher

[@dianalynn3453]

Thank you for breaking this all down. I found this extremely helpful. I am not able to purchase any of your products from your website ... as the links are not working. It errors out.

[@PianoFromScratch]

Get your PDF - How To Build Common Chords 👉 pianofs.com/downloads/

[@millenniumchristianacademy3916]

Excellent… can you put lessons numbers to your videos. It will keep easier to follow your order. Thanks!

[@kathyvermander4409]

Do you give lessons on line? Private lessons?

[@christopherlyons7613]

Not seeing the link to the free Chord chart download? Can you please let me know what it is? Thanks for the great chord tutorial.

[@PianoFromScratch]

pianofs.com/every-major-and-minor-chord-free-4-page-pdf/

[@cairozulu6700]

When do I use both hands when playing?

[@yongchaozhao1437]

❤❤❤

[@wiseisbest1990]

What does it mean to “stack thirds” if a third is the third note of a given scale? What defines a third when it is added to a third? Three letters away from the previous note on the scale or in the chord correct? Also is a chord always limited to a scale? Thank you!

[@PianoFromScratch]

Yes, a 3rd is 3 letters away but there's more than one type. Major 3rds are 4 half steps and minor 3rds are 3 half steps. So C to E is a major 3rd and C to E flat is a minor 3rd. So you can look at these kinds of chords (in root position) as being made of stacked 3rds. More specifically, a major chord is a major 3rd with a minor 3rd on top E.G a C major chord is C E G - C to E is 4 half steps then C to G is 3 half steps. A minor chord is the other way around, a minor 3rd with a major 3rd on top. A C minor chord is C Eb G - C to Eb is 3 half steps then Eb to G is 4 half steps. A diminished chord is 2 stacked minor 3rds and an augmented chord is 2 stacked major 3rds. No chords are not limited to scales but it's useful to know what chords fit inside a scale, by that I mean which chords we can build using the notes from a scale. Hope that helps!

[@wiseisbest1990]

@@PianoFromScratch yes that helps a lot! You are a very good teacher! The major and minor formula I understood. It was the third business that I wanted clarification on. Also you mentioned in your video that in a C minor chord we would call the third Eb and that’s because it would have to be the third letter right? I’m trying to establish certainty as this will really help me ground my understanding of music theory! Thank you for your patience!

[@PianoFromScratch]

Yes it's an Eb, you wouldn't call it D#. Think of it as the letters and interval numbers just fitting together neatly. The interval number always links with how many letters of the musical alphabet have been spanned. 5 letters = a 5th, 6 letters = a 6th etc. You can also find the C minor chord by playing the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes in the C minor scale. All these things fit together.

[@wiseisbest1990]

@@PianoFromScratch got it! Yes it all fits well and it works and makes sense especially when it’s understood! This really is like math as you said! Thanks so much for your effort to help and your patience and your reply! It means a lot!

[@kdahata]

I clicked the like, just like you asked

[@1214shell]

Still can't figure this out!!!

[@PianoFromScratch]

What part are you not sure about? Let me know and I’m sure I can help

[@BarYemini]

im the only one noticed? 2:45

[@sudarshaninanayakkats158]

I know to play the piano Prefer to learn by ear

[@TonyNguyen-ej4vf]

You got too long for intro cut little bit more will be nicer

[@johnbell913]

Very good explanation, thank you.

[@Xtianu]

Thank you!