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Chord theory can send even the manliest of men into fits of cold sweats and shivers.
Fortunately, once you know the basics, you're set, and all clamminess and convulsions will surely cease.
Chords are made up of certain notes of a scale, and a scale is made up of specific scale degrees.
In other words, a scale starts with the root note, also called the 1st degree, followed by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th degrees.
So if we write out a scale (in this case the C major scale) and then number the degrees, it’ll look like this:
C D E F G A B (notes of the scale starting with the root note C)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (scale degrees)
As you can see, in the example above, C is the 1st degree, D is the 2nd degree, E is the 3rd degree, and so on.
major chords
Chords are made up of three or more notes. The formula for major chords is 1-3-5. This means that a major chord consists of three notes – the 1st, 3rd and 5th degree of a major scale.
Using the C major scale and the chord C major, we see that the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees are the notes C, E and G. So – if you play the notes C, E and G together, you’re playing the C major chord.
minor chords
The chord formula for minor chords is 1-3b-5. This means a minor chord consists of three notes which are the 1st, flattened 3rd (“b” indicates the note is moved one fret lower – “flattened”) and the 5th degrees.
Using the C major scale and the C minor chord, you can see the 1st, flattened 3rd and 5th degrees are the notes C, Eb and G. So if you play the notes C, Eb and G together, you’re playing the C minor chord.
