Chords are a wonderful way to start playing easier songs on a piano and many beginners use them. At the beginning it’s totally natural to try to memorize a few of the basic chords, but that is really not a good long-term plan. If you learn what’s behind them, if you understand them, it’s much easier. Hopefully, this article will be of some help.

You may ask why it’s not a good idea to memorize them. The answer is simple – there are too many. In theory, there are thousands. True, most of them are not really usable, but still. Memorizing tens or even hundreds of chords is going to make your head spin.

Instead, you should learn how they are made. In this article we’ll focus on triads, especially major and minor. Triads, as the name implies, are chords made of three notes that are played together.

We’ll take a closer look at a C major. You’re probably familiar with it, it’s on of the most well known chords. C major consists of three different notes – C, E, and G. The starting note, the root note (after which it is named) is C. Remember that all chords have roots in a specific note.

Nothing is random here and there is actually a formula which tells you not only how C major is made, but how all the major chords are made. Wouldn’t it be nice to know this formula? Here it is: major chords are made up of the 1st, the 3rd, and the 5th note of the major scale. Take a look at C major scale: C (root note), D, E(3rd note),F,G(5th note),A,B,C. There you have it – C major or C,E,G.

What about minor chords? It’s pretty much the same, there is just a slightly different formula. It goes like this: 1st, lowered 3rd, and the 5th note. The only difference is, as you can see, just in the middle note.

This is how chords are made. If you understand this in learn the formulas, you won’t have to depend on your memory so much.

For more information about the subject, visit how to play piano chords. Also take a look at how to play Let It Be piano.

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