What are major chords and minor chords ?

Chords are actually collection of notes being played at the same instant of time. In western music there are various types of chords. In our present explanation we will only focus on what are major and minor chords.

                                         Major chord

A major chord consists of the 1st, 3rd and the 5th note of a major scale. 

Let us take an example. Suppose for C major chord, the notes will be C  E  G  as "C" is the 1st note, "E" is the third note and "G" is the fifth note of the C major scale  :  C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C^/

Similarly, D major scale will be :

                        D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#  D^/

Thus taking the 1st, 3rd and the fifth notes, ie:- D  F#  A, the D major chord consists of D  F#  and A.

In this way a basic major chord is formed. 

                                         Minor chord

A minor chord consists of  the 1st, flat-3rd and the 5th note of a MAJOR scale.

Suppose let us take an example, the E major scale :-

                         E  F#  G#  A  B  C#  D#  E^/

Taking the 1st note, the flat-3rd note and the fifth note, ie:-  E ,   G(as G is the flat note of G#)  and B

Thus this forms the E minor chord : E  G  B

The C major scale :

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C^/

Thus the notes of the C minor chord will be  C  D#  G

The main point of difference between the major and the minor chord is, in major chord we take the 3rd note whereas in a minor chord, we take the flat-3rd note.

This is all about the major and the minor chord used in western music 

Thank you !

What is a major scale and a minor scale?

In our last post, we came to learn about what is a scale. There are different ypes of scales. Eg:- Major scales, minor scales, etc.

So, here in this topic we will highlight on what are major and minor scales. First let us take a look at the 12 universal notes of music.

  C  C#  D  D#  E  F  G  G#  A  Bb  B

Here first we will learn two new terms , Semi note and the Whole note.

Semi note:- The next adjacent note is known as the semi note.
Example :- The semi note of C is C#.

Whole note:- The next adjacent note of the semi note is the whole note.
Example:- The semi note of C is C#. Now the next adjacent note of the semi note(C#) is D. Thus, the whole note of C is D.

                                     Major Scale

The formula of a R-major scale is: -  

                              R  W  W  S  W  W  W  S

                         where, R : Root note

                                    W: Whole note

                                     S:  Semi note.

Example: The C major scale will be 

                 C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C^/

Here , C is the root note(R). After R comes W (whole note). The whole note of C is D. The third note is W. The whole note of D is E. So the third note will be E.  And similarly the scale is formed using this manner. 

D major scale: D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#  D^/.

                                                            

                                    Minor Scale

   The formula of a R-minor scale is: -  

                              R  W  S  W  W  S  W  W

                         where, R : Root note
                                    W: Whole note
                                     S:  Semi note.

Example: The A minor scale will be

                 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  A^/
Here , A is the root note(R). After R comes W (whole note). The whole note of A is B. So B is the second note of the scale. The third note is S. The whole note of B is C. So the third note will be C.  And similarly the scale is formed using this manner.

Example:
D minor scale: D  E  F  G  A  Bb  C  D^/





So we get a clear idea about the major and the minor scale of western music.

Thank You.

                                                   

                                                         

What is a scale and a chord ?

In music, we often come across the terms scale and chords. So, what are these?

1) Scale:-  A scale is a collection of notes played in a specific sequence. There are different types of scales in western music. As, we know there are 12 universal notes in western music, so there are different scales for each and every note. There is a C scale, a D scale and so on....
Example of a scale :-

      C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C/

2) Chords:- A chord is a collection of a few notes which is played at the same instant. There are different and different types of chords also.

Example of a chord :-

  C  E  G

If we play these notes "C","E", and "G" at the same time, this will result in the playing of a chord. Similarly for every 12 universal notes there are chords for each and every note. Example : -  There is a C chord, a D chord and so on....

The 12 Universal Notes of Music

Music is a part of everyone's life and western music has gained popularity regarding the playing of guitar, keyboards etc. Today we are going to discuss the basic roots of western music, ie:- the universal notes used in western music.
 In our everyday life we often come across the terms, notes, scales, chords etc. So what are these, so before you come to know these terms you got to get the idea about the 12 universal notes of music. When we were very small, first, we learnt, A,B,C,D, etc letters. From letters, we came to form words and from words, we created sentences. Same for music also.....
There is also an ABCD part of music. the are known as the universal notes of Music.

The universal notes are:
                                                                 
C  C#  D  D#  E  F  F#  G  G#  A  Bb  B

These are the 12 universal notes used in music. Starting from C to B. The are the basic notes used to create and represent music. AFTER "B" AGAIN COMES C  C#  D  D#  AND GO ON...........
Now, lets get through these notes . "#" sign represents a sharp and "b" sign represents a flat. What are these sharps and flats. In music, the sharp note of a note is the next adjacent note , eg:- If C is the note so the next adjacent note will be C#. Similarly the flat note of a note is the adjacent previous note, eg:- If  D is the note the flat note of D will be C# (D-flat).
Follow these examples:
Sharp note of D# is E
Sharp note of G is G#
Flat note of C# is C
Flat note of A is G#.
So, you get an idea of the sharp and the flat notes.
Now, there are some rules and conventions regarding these 12 universal notes . They are :=
1) No sharp note for "E" and no sharp note for "B".This means that there is no note called E# or B#. If someone says What is the sharp note for E? The answer will be "F" but not E#, similarly for "B" it will be "C" but not "B#".
2) The sharp note of A is called "Bb"  but not  "A#" , though both means the same.

So,

What is the sharp note of D#?  Its E.
What is the flat note of D#? Its D.
What is the sharp note of C#? Its D.

Similarly for others.........................

So hope you got an idea about the basic notes used in music. Stay tuned for more successive music theories, scales, chords etc and all....

Wish you all the best !
Be a great musician.