Major Scale Chords: What they are and how to build them
Knowing the major scale chords sets the foundation for writing and understanding chord progressions, knowing what key you’re playing in, transposing to other keys, and developing your ear as a guitarist. In this lesson we’re going to look at the chords of the major scale, the major scale chords formula which can be used to derive the chords for any major scale, and how the major scale chords are built. Let’s dive in.
Major Scale Chords Formula
The chords of the major scale follow a set formula of chord qualities:
Major – Minor – Minor – Major – Major – Minor – Diminished
The major scale contains three major chords, three minor chords, and one diminished chord. The chords are built from each degree (note) of the scale. For instance, using G major as an example and following the chords formula from above we can easily derive the chords of G major.
| Notes | G | A | B | C | D | E | F# |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chords | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F#° |
All major scales follow this chord formula, which is described in the table below.
| Scale Degree | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Chord Quality | Major | Minor | Minor | Major | Major | Minor | Diminished |
| Chord Number* | I | ii | iii | IV | V | vi | vii° or vii♭5** |
*In music, Roman numerals are used to notate chords by scale degree. For example, vi represents the chord at the 6th degree of the scale. Capital numerals are used to denote major while lowercase is used to denote minor. **You see the 7th chord referred to as diminished and/or minor flat 5. Although referred to differently, they’re both the same chord as a diminished chord is a minor chord with a flattened 5th. | |||||||
With this table, we can now see which numbered chords are major in the major scale, which numbers are minor and which is diminished.
- Major Chords: I, IV, V
- Minor Chords: ii, iii, vi
- Diminished Chords: vi°
Now that we know what the chords formula is for the major scale, let’s take a look at how the chords are built to understand how the formula is derived.
Chord Theory
Before we get into building chords from the major scale, you need to understand the basic building blocks of chords, the triad.
Triads
Triads are a group of three notes that are all a 3rd apart. You’ll also see this referred to as “stacked” in 3rds.
Specifically, triads are made up of the root, 3rd, and 5th degree of the scale. For instance, if we consider the G major scale (G-A-B-C-D-E-F#), the triad built from the first degree of the scale (counting from G) would be G-B-D.
Triads can be of four qualities:
- Major – a triad with a major 3rd and perfect 5th
- Minor – a triad with a flattened 3rd (minor 3rd) and perfect 5th
- Augmented – a major triad with a raised 5th
- Diminished – a minor triad with a flattened 5th
To further explain the above, major 3rds are formed when the interval between 3rds is 4 semitones (2 whole steps). Minor 3rds are formed when the interval between 3rds is 3 semitones (1 1/2 steps). A perfect 5th is 7 semitones from the first note, while an augmented 5th is 8 semitones and diminished is 6 semitones.
| Quality | Stacked 3rd Intervals | Semitones | 5th Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | Major 3rd + Minor 3rd | 7 | Perfect |
| Minor | Minor 3rd + Major 3rd | 7 | Perfect |
| Diminished | Minor 3rd + Minor 3rd | 6 | Diminished |
| Augmented | Major 3rd + Major 3rd | 8 | Augmented |
The quality of the triad built from each degree of a scale determines the quality of the chord for that scale degree.
Building Major Scale Chords
With an understanding of chord construction under our belts, how do we find the chords of the major scale? To build the chords of the major scale, you build triads from each scale degree. As stated above, the quality of the triad formed by each scale degree determines the quality of the chord. Below we build triads on each degree the G major scale to form the chords in the key of G major.
1st Degree – G
Starting with the 1st degree, G, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| G – B – D | From G to B is a major 3rd (4 semitones) From B to D is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) | Major | G Major |
2nd Degree – A
Starting with the 2nd scale degree, A, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| A – C – E | From A to C is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) From C to E is a major 3rd (4 semitones) | Minor | A Minor |
3rd Degree – B
Starting with the 3rd scale degree, B, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| B – D – F# | From B to D is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) From D to F# is a major 3rd (4 semitones) | Minor | B Minor |
4th Degree – C
Starting with the 4th scale degree, C, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| C – E – G | From C to E is a major 3rd (4 semitones) From E to G is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) | Major | C Major |
5th Degree – D
Starting with the 5th degree, D, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| D – F# – A | From D to F# is a major 3rd (4 semitones) From F# to A is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) | Major | D Major |
6th Degree – E
Starting with the 6th degree, E, you get the following:
| Triad | 3rds | Triad Quality | Chord Formed |
|---|---|---|---|
| E – G – B | From E to G is a minor 3rd (3 semitones) From G to B is a major 3rd (4 semitones) | Minor | E Minor |
7th Degree – F#
Starting from the 7th degree, F#, you get the following triad:
Mapping the Chords to the Fretboard
By applying the major/minor pattern created by building chords of the major scale to the fretboard, we can easily map out the relative positions of the chords of a key. This is particularly useful when writing chord progressions, transposing to another key, playing with other musicians, and easily identifying the chords of a key on the fly.
If we map out the chords of the major scale to the fretboard, there are a couple of patterns that emerge that make it easier to visualize and pick-up chord progressions. Note the solid note markers indicate major chords while the hollow markers indicate minor chords. The root note of the scale is orange.
Rather than referring to chord progressions by name (G – C – D), you may hear them referred to by degree (ie. I IV V). This allows musicians to easily transpose a progression to any key.
To learn how these numbers can be used to describe chord progressions, check out my lesson Applying the Guitar Number System to Chord Progressions.
Wrap Up
In this lesson you learned about the major scale chords, the chords formula for the major scale, and how the chords are built. Triads (root, 3rd, 5th) are the basis for chord building and determines the chord quality for each scale degree. Using each degree of the major scale, you can create chord progressions in any given key. Playing by number easily allows you to transpose chord progressions to any key. This same process is used for building minor scale chords as well.
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