4.1 · Chords of the Key

A chord on every step

Start with the C major scale and build a triad on each note. To make each triad, choose a starting note and add every other note in the scale until you have three notes. Seven starting notes give you seven chords. These are the diatonic chords, the chords that naturally belong to the key.

The seven chords of C major

On each mark, the outer arc counts the degree in the root's color, the center fills warm red for major and stays empty blue for minor, and vii°'s dashed ring is the diminished odd one out. The dashed card is I again, an octave up: like the scale, the row of chords closes where it started.

Game · Build the seven chords

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Build the chord on degree 1: tap C, a key numbered 1.

The C major scale is numbered on the keys. Each chord takes three of them: root, third, fifth. They earn their color as you tap them.

One scale in, seven chords out

Every major key hands you seven chords the same way. To build the chord on a degree, play every other note in the scale starting on that degree until you hold three notes.

In C major that gives C · Dm · Em · F · G · Am · B°. Different letters, same pattern: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished.

Quiz

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Where do the seven diatonic chords come from?

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson. A perfect run sticks: a later miss never undoes it.Chords from the scale →