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Learning chords is a great way to improve your piano skills. The basic chords are actually very easy to learn and will allow you to play quite a lot with them. But it’s never a good idea to simply memorize them. You should instead try to understand them. In this article we’ll try to show you what chords really are and how to make sense of them.

Why is it a bad idea to try to memorize chords? Well, there are just too many of them. Theoretically, there are thousands. Of course, most of them are not really usable in the real world, but still. If you try to memorize them, it will probably make your head spin.

What you should do instead is learn how chords are made. And this is exactly what we’ll focus on here. We’ll start with the basic triads, which are chords that contain three unique notes.

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.

You don’t have to memorize all the notes of all the chords, because there is a formula which actually tells you how, for example, all the major chords are made. So how are they made? They are made up of the 1st, the 3rd and the 5th note of their corresponding major scale. C major scale is C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C, so C major chord is the first note (C), the third note (E), and the fifth note (G).

It’s similar with minor chords, it’s just a slightly different formula. Minor chords are made up of the 1st, lowered 3rd, and the 5th note of the scale. As you can see, the only difference is in the middle note.

There you have it, this is how they are made. So learn the formulas and become the master of the chords.

For more information about the subject and a list of basic major and minor chords, visit learn piano chords. Also check out Let It Be piano lesson.