If you’re a beginner and you want to start playing some butt-kickin’ songs, then this article is for you. We’re gonna cover all 12 major and minor basic piano chords in less than 10 minutes. Sweet right?

Now, I know that there is so much information out there, they’re confusing and all you want to know is where to start or what to start with ammarite?

Don’t worry buddy, I’ve got you covered. In this article, I want to show you how to play all of the basic piano chords which are perfect for you to begin with.

However, if you’re completely new to this field and have no idea what are the fundamentals of music that make music, music, I strongly recommend that you check out my free course on the 4 essential fundamentals of music that will gear up for this fun adventure!

The basic piano chords that we’re gonna talk about today is known as the triad chord. I will use the terms basic piano chords and triad chords interchangeably throughout this article. This piano chords, although they are basic, dude, trust me, you can play ALLOTT of songs with them. Oh yeah! Sounds good right?

If you prefer to watch this topic, scroll all the way down for the video but if you can’t play sound right now, or you’re afraid of my voice (no hard feelings here), then read on ;-).

Alrighty, let’s dive in.

WHAT IS THE BASIC PIANO CHORDS?

The most basic piano chord is known as a triad chord. A triad chord is a chord built on three notes of thirds. But what the heck does this mean?

Now, a triad chord consists of 3 notes known as the root, the 3rd, and the 5th note of its scale.

An interval is the distance between two notes. The distance between the root and the 3rd note is third and from the 3rd to the 5th note is another third. This is why a triad chord is known as a chord built on three notes of thirds.

Let’s understand this deeper by looking at how a basic piano chords, the major key triad chord is formed on the piano.

THE BASIC PIANO CHORDS IN MAJOR KEYS

The major keys often associated with the sound of happiness or joyfulness and there are 12 major key basic piano chords that can be formed.

Let’s look at how a triad chord in a major key is formed on the piano by using the key of C major as an example.

The scale of C major consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C.

The triad chord consists of the root, 3rd and the 5th note right? So, the triad chord of the key C major consists of the root note which is C, followed by the 3rd note, E, and the 5th note G. These are circled in orange.

The interval between the root note, C, and the 3rd note, E is 3rd and from the 3rd note, E to the 5th note, G, is another third. Now, this is the reason why a triad chord is named as chords built on three notes of thirds.

You’ll also notice that, in between C and E, there are 3 keys (2 black keys and 1 white key), identified in blue dots and in between E and G, there are two keys (1 black key and 1 white key), identified in green dots.

Knowing this is pretty helpful if you want to quickly work out what are the notes that make up the chords you’re trying to play.

There will always be three keys in between the root and the 3rd key (regardless black or white) and two keys in between the 3rd and the 5th key (regardless black or white) in a major key triad chord.

Let’s use another example with the key E major.

First, the key signatures of E major are F#, C#, G#, and D#.

Similar to the example that we’ve used with C major, there are 3 keys in between the root note, E and the 3rd note, G#. There are also two keys in between the 3rd note, G# and the 5th note, B.

From the example above, although the key E major has 4 key signatures which are F#, C#, G#, and D#, playing the triad chord of the key E major does not require all of the key signatures to be played, obviously, you may already know this but just sayin’ ;-).

The sharps or flats in a triad chord are there because it so happened that the root, 3rd and the 5th note have sharps or flats in them.

Now, the basic piano chords for all of the major keys can be categorized by the number of sharps or flats that they have. To help you remember them better, I have sorted them out like what you’ll see below.

You may also download all of the 12 major and 12 minor basic piano chords chart by clicking on the button below. They are free yo’.

Triad chords with no sharp or flat

C major (C – E – G) G major (G – B -D) F major (F – A – C)

Triad chords with one sharp or flat

D major (D – F# – A) A major (A – C# – E) E major (E – G# – B) Bb major (Bb – D – F)

Triad chords with 2 sharps or flats

B major (B – D# – F#) Eb major (Eb – G – Bb) Ab major (Ab – C – Eb) Db major (Db – F – Ab)

Triad chord with 3 sharps or flats

F# major (F#, A#, C#)

THE BASIC PIANO CHORDS IN MINOR KEYS

Now, let’s switch gear and let’s talk about the minor keys triad chords. A minor key, when played on the piano, sounds melancholic or solemn.

Now, just to recap, the major triad chord consists of the root, 3rd and 5th note of its scale. Similar to the major triad chord, the minor triad chord also consists of the root, 3rd and 5th note of its scale.

Let me give you an example with the key C minor.

C minor has the key signatures of Bb, Eb, and Ab. So, the scale of C minor consists of the notes C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, and C.

In the minor key triad chords, there are always two keys in between the root and the 3rd key and three keys (regardless they are black or white keys) in between the 3rd and the 5th keys.

This is also a pretty easy and fast way to figure out the notes of a minor chord on the piano.

The triad chords for the minor keys can also be categorized by the number of sharps or flats that they have. Again, I have sorted them out like this…

Triad chords with no sharp or flat

A minor (A – C- E) E minor (E – G – B) D minor (D – F – A)

Triad chords with one sharp or flat

B minor (B – D – F#) G minor (G – Bb – D) C minor (C – Eb- G) F minor (F – Ab – C)

Triad chords with 2 sharps or flats

G# minor (G# – B – D#) F# minor (F# – A – C#) C# minor (C# – E – G#) Bb minor (Bb – Db -F)

Triad chord with 3 sharps or flats

D# minor (D#, F#, A#)

HOW TO APPLY THE BASIC PIANO CHORDS?

Whoa! Now you know all of the 12 major and minor keys triad chords! How crazy is that! Okay, maybe it will take a little bit more time for you to remember all of them but nothing is going to stop you from playing some awesome songs now!

If you only can play 4 of these basic piano chords, for now, that’s okay because you can already start playing something amazing with them.

I would recommend that you start with these 4 chords and slowly but surely introduce more chords to your repertoire:

C major

G major

F major

A minor

Believe me, there are so many songs that you know are made of these 4 awesome piano chords.

Check out the video below and forward all the way to the last few minutes to see how you can apply these basic piano chords or check out my articles on 3 Ways to Play Bangin’ Songs with Piano Chords.

If you haven’t, click the button below to download your free basic piano chords chart for all 12 major and minor keys.

There you have it, my friend. I hope now you feel better about the whole thing on learning the piano with chords. I hope this article has given you some clarity in some way and if you feel that someone may benefit from it too, do share it with them.

Don’t forget to tell me what songs you’re going to play with these basic piano chords that you’ve learned or ask me any questions in the comment box below.

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