Stackapella Open the app

Three notes · 1 3 5 · pure 4:5:6

The major chord

A major chord is three notes: a root, the major third 4 semitones above it, and the fifth 7 semitones above. It sounds bright and settled, and it's the chord most Western music comes home to.

How it's built

Stack two thirds on the root: a major third, 4 semitones, then a minor third, 3, on top of that. On C that gives C, E and G. Any note can be the root and the shape stays the same: move the root up or down with − and + and all three notes move with it.

The root and the fifth are shared with the minor chord. Only the third decides major or minor, so it's the note to listen for.

Singing it in tune

Tuned pure, a major chord's three frequencies are in the ratio 4:5:6, the same as harmonics 4, 5 and 6 (the overtones inside one note) of a note two octaves below the root. Against the piano, the fifth moves up 2.0 cents (a cent is a hundredth of a semitone) and the third moves down 13.7 cents. The piano's major third is wide, and held against a pure root and fifth it beats with a faint, fast wobble.

So the singer on the third sings a touch low, and the fifth stays almost exactly where the piano has it. When all three lock, the beating stops and the chord rings: it sounds fuller, though no one is singing louder.

Where you hear it

In a major key, the chords on the first, fourth and fifth notes of the scale are major: I, IV and V, which in C are C, F and G. Many folk songs and hymns can be harmonised with those three alone, and most pieces in a major key end on the major chord of the key note.

Pieces in a minor key often end on a major chord too, especially older ones: the minor home chord with its third raised. That bright last chord is called a Picardy third.

More chord types

Free tools by Stackapella

All of these are free, and so is every course.

Stackapella teaches you to sing harmony one part at a time, right in your browser.

Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up. Stackapella recording the alto part of Amazing Grace: each note is a bar with its name, and the one being sung says A little low, go up.
  • A guide sings your partHear your line over the others, slow it down, then take your turn.
  • Your notes light upEach note shows where you landed, and a hint when to go up or down.
  • Record every part yourselfStack your takes in time until you're the whole choir.
Start the beginner course Open the app How Stackapella works

Questions

What notes are in a C major chord?

C, E and G. The same shape on any root gives its major chord: G major is G, B and D, and F major is F, A and C.

What makes a chord major rather than minor?

Its third: 4 semitones above the root in a major chord, 3 in a minor one. The root and the fifth are the same in both.

Why does a choir sing the major third lower than a piano?

Because the pure major third, 5:4, is 13.7 cents narrower than the piano's. The piano spaces its semitones equally, which leaves its major thirds slightly wide. Held voices can tune the pure one, and then the chord stops beating.

What are the inversions of a major chord?

The same three notes with a different one at the bottom: the root in root position, the third in first inversion, the fifth in second inversion. It's still the same major chord, but the lowest note changes how settled it feels, and second inversion usually feels the least settled.

More free tools

No account, no ads. Each one keeps working offline once you've opened it.

See all 17 tools
Ready to tell them apart by ear? Try chord ear trainingChord ear training · Major, minor or seventh: which?