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Major Diatonic ChordsDiatonic chords are chords from the same key (e.g. C major). Chords from more than one key arecalled chromatic .

Start with the C major scale:

The numbers are the degrees of the scale, with being the tonic and ! being the leading tone , socalled because it leads back to the tonic. The leading tone "lays a major role in classical music.

Triads#f we add two successi$e thirds on to" of each note in the scale, we get the set of triads in the majorscale.

The roman numerals label each triad, and are deri$ed from the scale degree on which each triad is built. There are three ty"es of triad in a major scale:

. %""ercase numerals indicate a major triad (#, #& and &), which is com"osed of a major thirdfollowed by a minor third abo$e that. Thus C to ' is a major third, and ' to is a minorthird, so the # triad is a major triad.

. *owercase numerals indicate a minor triad (ii, iii and $i), which is com"osed of a minorthird (e.g. D to + in the ii triad) followed by a major third (+ to ).

-. +inally there is one diminished triad ($ii o ) which is com"osed of two minor thirds ( to Dand D to +).

Seventh chordsy adding another third on to" of a triad, we get the se$enth chords:

The ty"es of se$enth chords are:

. The chords # ! and #& ! are major/major se$enth (00!) chords because they are com"osed of a major triad with a major se$enth inter$al (C to in # ! ) on to".

. t ii ! , iii ! and $i ! we ha$e minor se$enth (m!) chords, which are com"osed of a minor triadand a minor se$enth inter$al (D to C in ii ! ) on to".

-. The & ! chord is uni1ue in the scale as it consists of a major triad with a minor se$enth onto", known as a major/minor se$enth (0m!).

2. The $ii o! is a half-diminished chord, consisting of a diminished triad with a minor se$enth onto" (dim!).

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Minor Diatonic Chords

Minor Triads3e can follow the same "rocedure for the minor scale. #n C minor, we ha$e the triads:

3e now ha$e the following triad ty"es:

. The i and i$ triads are minor (minor third 4 major third).

. The ###, & and are major triads. The ### and are naturally major triads (that is, just byusing notes from the scale they automatically come out as major triads). The & triad,howe$er, would be minor if we had used the b from the scale. The note is changed to a natural as a minor triad in the dominant "osition does not fit in well with the rules ofharmonic "rogression. (0ore on this later.)

-. There are two diminished triads at ii o and $ii o (minor third on to" of minor third). gain, theb in the $ii triad is raised to a natural to make it fit in with harmonic "rogression. #f we

had used the b here, then this triad would be major (#), but this is used mainly when weare "rogressing out of minor.

Minor Sevenths

The C minor se$enth chords are as shown:

The chord ty"es here are:

. i! and i$ ! are minor !ths.

. iio! and $ii o! are diminished !ths.

-. ###! and ! are major/major !ths

2. & ! is a major/minor ! th.

#n classical music, some of these !th

chords (iio!

, i$!

, &!

and $iio!

) a""ear fre1uently. The i!

and ###!

chords are $ery rare. ! occurs usually as "art of a "rogression of ! th chords.

5ote that the only note that is modified in the minor chords is the b to a natural, which is theleading tone in the major scale. The leading tone "lays such an im"ortant role that these chords ha$e

been modified to include it.

The triads and ! th chords shown abo$e re"resent the o$erwhelming majority of chords that are usedin classical music.

Other chord types

6ther ty"es of music, such as ja77 and "o", often contain other ty"es of chords than those shownabo$e. +or e8am"le, the first chord in the e8cer"t below is often found in ja77:

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The notes in the base clef are +, C and , and together with the 'b in the treble, form a dominant ! th chord (that is, a & ! chord with a major/minor structure). ja77 musician would take the to" twonotes (the and D) as "art of the o$erall chord, which then becomes an + - chord.

#n classical music, the bottom four notes form the dominant + ! th chord, but the to" two notes areclassified as non-chord tones or 5CTs9 they do not form "art of the chord. s such, these two notesmust be resol$ed into "art of the dominant ! th chord, so the mo$es u" to the and the D mo$esdown to the C, with the result that all si8 notes in the second chord are "art of the dominant ! th chord.

#n diatonic classical music, harmony is essentially restricted to the chord ty"es described here.

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