Diatonic Chords
Stack a chord on every note of a scale and you get the seven chords that belong to that key. The pattern of major, minor and diminished is identical in every major key, which is why musicians think in numbers rather than letters.
- 7 chords
- major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, dim
- same in every key
which styles use it
Every style on this site
In short
Take the major scale and build a triad on each degree using only notes from that scale. You get major on the first, minor on the second and third, major on the fourth and fifth, minor on the sixth, and diminished on the seventh. In a minor key the same process gives a different pattern, starting minor, diminished, major. The chords are not chosen, they fall out of the scale.
This is the moment theory starts saving you time. Seven chords, one pattern, twelve keys, and you only have to learn it once.
Where it sits in the sentence
- The first, fourth and fifth are the frame
Three major chords that carry most popular music between them.
- The second, third and sixth are the colour
Three minor chords that give a major key its shade without leaving it.
- The seventh is the odd one
Diminished and unstable, and usually replaced by the dominant seventh that shares three of its notes.
Where you run into this
- When you work out a song by ear, the chords almost always come from this set.
- When a chord sounds like it belongs but you cannot place it, it is usually the ii or the vi.
- When a chord clearly does not belong, that is borrowing or a secondary dominant, and both have their own pages.
The keys side by side
The seven diatonic chords in C, then the same seven in G and in E flat. Different letters every time and an identical sequence of qualities.