Major

Notes and formula

The formula is 1 – 3 – 5, or 0 – 4 – 7 in semitones from the root. Stack a major third (four semitones) and then a minor third (three): C to E, E to G. Reverse the order of the two thirds and the chord becomes minor; the outer perfect fifth stays either way, which is why both are stable.

The three notes sit almost exactly on the ratios 4:5:6 — the first distinct partials of a single vibrating string. That is why a major triad fuses into one sound rather than three, and why it can end a piece without leaving anything unfinished.

How to play it

On piano C major is three white keys, C–E–G, and the shape transfers to any root by counting: four semitones up, then three.

On guitar the open C is x32010. The other four open major shapes — A at x02220, G at 320003, E at 022100 and D at xx0232 — are the whole of the CAGED system: move any of them up the neck with a barre and you have that same major chord at five places, which is how guitarists cover the fretboard without learning new chords.

Where it sits in a key

In a major key the first, fourth and fifth degrees are major triads — C, F and G in C major. Those three carry most popular music unaided; the I–V–vi–IV loop that runs under a large share of the charts is three major chords and one minor.

In a minor key the major triads land on the third, sixth and seventh degrees — E♭, A♭ and B♭ in C minor — and on the fifth as well once the leading tone is raised. A major chord is therefore never a sign of a major key on its own.

Inversions and voicing

A major triad can be stacked three ways: C–E–G in root position, E–G–C in first inversion, G–C–E in second. The chord keeps its name and its job; what changes is the bass note, and therefore how smoothly it joins whatever comes next. A chart asks for this with a slash — C/E means a C chord with E underneath.

Doubling matters as much as order. The open guitar C sounds C–E–G–C–E, with the third heard twice, and that is what makes a strummed major chord ring bright. Jazz voicings that carry one third and no doubling sound noticeably plainer on the same chord.

Major or minor

One note separates them. C major is C–E–G, C minor is C–E♭–G: lower the third by a semitone and the chord changes name and colour while keeping root and fifth.

Chord symbols treat the two unequally, and the asymmetry is worth memorising. A bare letter always means major — there is no maj marking for a plain triad — while minor is always written out with m, min or a dash.

Scales that contain it

Three modes hold a major triad without altering a note: Ionian, which is the major scale itself, Lydian, which raises the fourth degree, and Mixolydian, which lowers the seventh. The choice decides what the melody may do above the chord, not whether the chord is right.

The major pentatonic scale contains it as well and omits the two degrees the three modes disagree about — the fourth and the seventh. That is precisely why it fits over any major chord and why it is the first scale most players are handed.

Frequently asked questions