Definition of a Chord

A chord is defined as 3 or more notes sounded together. Any 3 different notes is a chord. Chord types are determined by other factors. There are lessons in the lesson area with more detailed explanation of chord types.

Chord Progressions

A chord progression is a self-defined term. It's simply a progression of chord changes. There are no rules regarding what you are 'supposed to do' where chord progressions are concerned but most educated musicians have learned an organized approach for categorizing them.

The Numbering System for chord progressions

Major, Minor and Diminished chords are built using the notes from any major scale very easily. By stacking every third note of the scale, you'll see the resulting notes of each chord.

Below is an example using the C major scale. The notes of the C major scale are:

C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C

Click the "NEXT" button to see a brief animation.

The above shows the C major scale and the resulting chords formed by stacking every third note. The numbers, 1 through 8, correspond to the major scale. So, you can see that in the key of C, the 1, 4 and 5 chords are naturally major chords and the 2, 3 and 6 chords are naturally minor chords. The 7 chord is a diminished chord.

In fact, in every major key that is the case. So, let's say you are playing a song in the key of C that is a 1, 6m, 2m, 5 progression and it's just a little too high for you to sing along with. All you need to do in order to find the chords that correspond to that in the key of A, for example, is to select the A root note in the Progressionator and reload the chord progression. The notes in the A major scale are:

A    B    C#    D    E    F#    G#    A

So, the chords in the key of A are:

A    Bm    C#m    D    E    F#m    G#dim

Hope that helps to give you a really high-level view of chords and chord progressions.