180 chords on a real keyboard
Fifteen chord types on all twelve roots, each drawn on two octaves from middle C, with the note names and degrees written on the keys.
Piano Chords: See and Hear Every Chord
Pick a root and a chord type to see the piano chord on the keyboard and hear it, with inversions.
How to use the piano chord chart
No signup and nothing to install. It runs on a laptop, a tablet or a phone.
- 01
Choose a root note
Pick one of the twelve keys from C to B. Black keys use the spelling most chord charts print, such as E flat, F sharp and A flat.
- 02
Choose a chord type
Major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspended, sixth, seventh and ninth chords. The keyboard shows the keys with note names and the formula.
- 03
Hear it and try inversions
Play the chord at once or as an arpeggio, then switch to first or second inversion and hear how the same chord sounds with another note in the bass.
A chord chart you can hear
Made for beginners learning their first chords, songwriters looking for a sound and teachers explaining harmony.
Spelled like sheet music
Every chord is spelled the way it appears in written music: E flat minor is E flat, G flat and B flat, not D sharp, F sharp and A sharp.
All inversions
Root position, first and second inversion, and third inversion for seventh chords. The symbol shows the bass note, such as C/E.
Straight into a beat
Open the beat maker with the chord you picked and the rest of its four chord loop on a piano track, then add drums and bass.
How piano chords are built
A chord is three or more notes played together. Most chords are built from thirds: you take a root, skip a key of the scale, take the next one, skip again. On the keyboard that means counting half steps, the distance from one key to the next one, black or white. A major third is four half steps, a minor third is three.
The formula of a chord lists its notes as degrees of the major scale on the root. A major chord is 1, 3 and 5. A minor chord lowers the third: 1, flat 3, 5. A diminished chord lowers the fifth as well, an augmented chord raises it. The table below gives the formula of every chord type in this chart, with the chord on C as an example.
| Chord type | Symbol | Formula | Notes on C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | C | 1 3 5 | C, E, G |
| Minor | Cm | 1 ♭3 5 | C, E♭, G |
| Diminished | Cdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | C, E♭, G♭ |
| Augmented | Caug | 1 3 ♯5 | C, E, G♯ |
| Suspended second | Csus2 | 1 2 5 | C, D, G |
| Suspended fourth | Csus4 | 1 4 5 | C, F, G |
| Dominant seventh | C7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C, E, G, B♭ |
| Major seventh | Cmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | C, E, G, B |
| Minor seventh | Cm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | C, E♭, G, B♭ |
| Half diminished | Cm7♭5 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 | C, E♭, G♭, B♭ |
| Diminished seventh | Cdim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 𝄫7 | C, E♭, G♭, B𝄫 |
| Major sixth | C6 | 1 3 5 6 | C, E, G, A |
| Minor sixth | Cm6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | C, E♭, G, A |
| Added ninth | Cadd9 | 1 3 5 9 | C, E, G, D |
| Dominant ninth | C9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | C, E, G, B♭, D |
Major and minor piano chords chart
Major and minor triads are the chords you need first. Learn the white key chords C, F, G, D minor, E minor and A minor, and you can already play in C major. The others follow the same shapes, moved to a new root. Major chords on D, E and A put one black key in the middle, major chords on D flat, E flat and A flat put one white key between two black ones.
This chart lists all twelve major and minor chords with their notes. Where a black key has two names, the chart uses the one songbooks print most often for that chord, so it is D flat major but C sharp minor, and A flat major but G sharp minor.
| Root | Major chord | Minor chord |
|---|---|---|
| C | C: C, E, G | Cm: C, E♭, G |
| D♭ / C♯ | D♭: D♭, F, A♭ | C♯m: C♯, E, G♯ |
| D | D: D, F♯, A | Dm: D, F, A |
| E♭ | E♭: E♭, G, B♭ | E♭m: E♭, G♭, B♭ |
| E | E: E, G♯, B | Em: E, G, B |
| F | F: F, A, C | Fm: F, A♭, C |
| F♯ | F♯: F♯, A♯, C♯ | F♯m: F♯, A, C♯ |
| G | G: G, B, D | Gm: G, B♭, D |
| A♭ / G♯ | A♭: A♭, C, E♭ | G♯m: G♯, B, D♯ |
| A | A: A, C♯, E | Am: A, C, E |
| B♭ | B♭: B♭, D, F | B♭m: B♭, D♭, F |
| B | B: B, D♯, F♯ | Bm: B, D, F♯ |
Seventh chords and other chord types
A seventh chord adds a fourth note to a triad, a seventh above the root. The dominant seventh, written as a plain 7, is the chord that wants to resolve: G7 pulls strongly to C. The major seventh, Cmaj7, sounds soft and open and is common in jazz, soul and lofi beats. The minor seventh, Cm7, is the relaxed minor chord of funk and R and B.
Suspended chords replace the third with the second or the fourth, so they sound neither major nor minor and often resolve back to the triad. Sixth chords add the sixth instead of the seventh. Add9 puts the ninth on top of a triad without the seventh, while the 9 chord stacks both. The half diminished chord, m7 flat 5, is the second chord of a minor key in jazz.
Chord inversions and voice leading
You do not have to play every chord with its root at the bottom. In first inversion the root moves up an octave and the third becomes the lowest note; in second inversion the fifth is lowest. The notes stay the same, so the chord keeps its name, written with a slash when the bass note matters: C/E is C major with E in the bass.
Inversions make chord changes smooth. Play C, F and G all in root position and your hand jumps across the keyboard. Play C in root position, F in second inversion and G in first inversion, and each chord is only a small step from the last. Pianists call this voice leading, and it is the quickest way to make simple chords sound like a real accompaniment.
For music teachers
Show chords on the classroom screen
Put the chord chart on the projector, build a chord step by step and let your class hear the difference between major and minor, with no login for you or your pupils. When your students are ready to write their own songs, Make a Beat gives you a whole classroom: students join with a code and their name, no email addresses, and you set assignments, listen to what they hand in and grade it. GDPR, FERPA and COPPA ready, servers in Germany, and every school licence starts with a free trial.
Questions about piano chords
What are the basic piano chords for beginners?
The basic piano chords are the major and minor triads, three notes each. Start with C, F, G and A minor, which use only white keys and cover thousands of songs. Then add D minor, E minor, D major and E major, and you can play along with most pop and folk songs.
How do you build a chord on the piano?
You build a chord by stacking thirds on a root note. For a major chord, count four half steps up from the root, then three more: C, E and G. For a minor chord, count three half steps, then four: C, E flat and G. The chart above shows the formula of every chord type.
What is the difference between major and minor chords?
The difference between a major and a minor chord is one note: the third. In a major chord the third is four half steps above the root, in a minor chord only three. Lowering that single key by one half step turns C major into C minor and changes the mood from bright to darker.
What is a chord inversion?
A chord inversion is the same chord with a different note at the bottom. In root position the root is lowest. In first inversion the third is lowest, in second inversion the fifth, and seventh chords have a third inversion with the seventh in the bass. Inversions keep your hand close to one spot.
Which fingers do you use for piano chords?
For a three note chord in root position, the right hand usually plays thumb, middle finger and little finger, written 1, 3 and 5. The left hand plays 5, 3 and 1 from the bottom. For inversions and seventh chords, use the fingers that let your hand stay relaxed, often 1, 2 and 5.
What does a 7 mean in a chord name?
A 7 in a chord name means the chord has four notes: the triad plus a seventh. A plain 7, as in G7, adds the minor seventh to a major triad and is called a dominant seventh. Maj7 adds the major seventh instead, a half step below the root, and m7 adds a minor seventh to a minor triad.
How many piano chords are there?
There are twelve major and twelve minor chords, one on every key of the octave, and each can be extended into sevenths, sixths, ninths, suspended and altered chords. This chart has fifteen chord types on all twelve roots, 180 chords, plus every inversion. That covers almost every chord symbol in pop, rock and jazz songbooks.
Is this piano chord chart free?
Yes. The piano chord chart, the inversions and the piano sound are free, with no account and no download. It runs in any current browser on a laptop, a tablet or a phone, and you can open a beat with the chord you picked in the beat maker, also for free.
From one chord to your own song
Open the beat maker with the chord you picked and the rest of its four chord loop on a piano track, then add drums, bass and a melody in your browser.