Introduction to Keyboard Chords lesson activities, tests, scheme of learning, songwriting, chord theory, harmony

1. INTRODUCTION TO CHORDS
Hello. Today we will look at chords.
By the end of today you will be able to aurally
identify different species of chord.
We will look at some very basic chords as well
as a useful method of labeling them:
Major chords
Minor chords
Augmented triads
Diminished triads
Major 7th chords
Dominant 7th chords
Minor 7th chords

2. CHORDS!
What is a chord?

3. CHORDS!
What is a chord?
A chord is basically two (but generally) more notes played simultaneously.
Arpeggiated chords are where notes of a chord are played in short succession.
Dyad: Two notes
Triad: Three notes
Tetrad: Four notes
It goes on…
Major 2nd - C & D
C Major - C & E & G
C Dominant 7th - C & E & G & Bb
Pentad, Hexad, Heptad,
Octad, Ennead, Decad…
**Get your keyboards plugged in and working. You’ll want to
play each of the chords we’re going to look at…**

4. CHORDS!
You should be familiar with the difference between major ☺ and minor ☹ by now.
Triads are the easiest way to
demonstrate their
difference.
There are four basic triads.
1. The major triad is
constructed out of the root
note, a major third above,
and a perfect fifth above.
The C major triad is constructed
out of the notes C, E, and G.
Commonly written as C or CM

5. CHORDS!
You should be very familiar with the difference between major and minor by now.
2. The minor triad is
constructed out of the root
note, a minor third above,
and a perfect fifth above.
The C minor triad is constructed
out of the notes C, Eb, and G.
Commonly written as Cm

6. CHORDS!
TASK 1: Individually, write down the notes that constitute each of these major and minor
chords. Play them on your keyboard to get used to how they sound.
1. D minor
2. E minor
3. F major
4. B major
5. Ab minor
6. B minor
7. D# major
8. Fb minor
9. F# major
10. G major
The major triad is constructed
out of the root note, a major
third above, and a perfect fifth
above.
The minor triad is constructed
out of the root note, a minor
third above, and a perfect fifth
above.
TIPS!
Open a google doc, share me into it, and use it
as a worksheet to write all your answers down
for each of the following tasks.

7. CHORDS!
Augmented means to make larger. Remember back to our intervals lessons? What
was an augmented fourth?
An augmented triad:
3. The augmented triad is
constructed out of the root
note, a major third above,
and an augmented fifth
above. It sounds great…
The augmented triad in C is made
up of C, E, and G#
Augmented means we
increase an interval by one
semitone…
Commonly written as C+ or Caug

8. CHORDS!
Diminished means to make smaller. Remember back to our interval's lessons?
What was a diminished fifth?
A diminished triad:
4. The diminished triad is
always constructed out of
the root note, a minor third
above, and a diminished fifth
above.
The augmented triad in C is made
up of C, Eb, and Gb
Diminished means we reduce
the interval by one
semitone…
Commonly written as CO or Cdim

9. CHORDS!
TASK 2: Individually, write down the notes that constitute each of these augmented and
diminished triads. Play them on your keyboard to get used to how they sound.
1. F diminished
2. D augmented
3. G augmented
4. B diminished
5. Eb augmented
6. E diminished
7. C# augmented
8. A diminished
The augmented triad is
constructed out of the root
note, a major third above, and
an augmented fifth above.
The diminished triad is always
constructed out of the root note, a
minor third above, and a diminished
fifth above.
TIPS!

10. CHORDS!
Now we’re going to look at three major types of 7th chords. There are a few
more, but we will look at them later.
Major 7th chord
Constructed out of the root
note, a major third above, a
fifth above, and a major 7th
above.
The major 7th chord in C is made
up of the notes C, E, G, and B.
Commonly written as CM7 or Cmaj7

11. CHORDS!
7th chords
Dominant 7th chord
Constructed out of the root
note, a major third above, a
fifth above, and a minor 7th
above.
The dominant 7th chord in C is made
up of the notes C, E, G, and Bb.
Commonly written as C7 or Cdom7

12. CHORDS!
7th chords
Minor 7th chord
Constructed out of the root
note, a minor third above, a
fifth above, and a minor 7th
above.
The minor 7th chord in C is made
up of the notes C, Eb, G, and Bb.
Commonly written as Cm7 or Cmin7

13. CHORDS!
TASK 3: Individually, write down the notes that constitute each of these 7th chords. It is
vital that you play them on your keyboard to get used to how they sound.
1. Dominant 7th in D
2. Dominant 7th in F
3. Minor 7th in C#
4. Major 7th in G
5. Major 7th in F#
6. Minor 7th in B
TIPS! Major 7th constructed
out of the root note, a
major third above, a
fifth above, and a
major 7th above.
Dominant 7th
constructed out of the
root note, a major
third above, a fifth
above, and a minor 7th
above.
Minor 7th
constructed out of
the root note, a
minor third above,
a fifth above, and
a minor 7th above.

14. CHORDS!
Your practice with intervals over the last few weeks should really help you recognise
the sound of each chord we will look at.
However, there is an important system of identification which you will come across
more and more as you work as a musician. It’s an incredibly useful and helpful way of
communicating chords / progressions quickly.
We can label all the chords in every scale using Roman numerals, like so…
Here, for now, we are only showing the full notation for the three most important and
most commonly used chords. It is so important to know what these are…
In the C Major scale above, major chords are upper case, and all minor are lower case

15. CHORDS!
Chord I – known as the TONIC. This is the root of your key. In this instance, C Major.
TASK 4: Note that we are in the key of C.
1. Name the Tonic, Subdominant, and Dominant chords.
2. What are the names of chords ii, iii, vi, and vii?
3. Name the notes that constitute each chord.
Chord IV – known as the SUBDOMINANT. This is always on the fourth tonal degree. It is
generally considered to be the 3rd most important chord after the tonic and dominant.
Chord V – known as the DOMINANT. This is always on the fifth tonal degree. In
Western music it is generally considered to be next in importance to the tonic.

16. CHORDS!
TASK 5: Individually, write down the answers to these questions:
1. What key are we in?
2. Name the Tonic, Subdominant, and Dominant chords.
3. What are the names of chords ii, iii, vi, and vii?
4. Name the notes that constitute each of these chords (ii, iii, vi, vii)

17. CHORDS!
I or i = Tonic
II or ii = Supertonic
III or iii = Mediant
IV or iv = Subdominant
V or v = Dominant
VI or vi = Submediant
VII or vii = Leading note
Let’s get clever. This is stuff you should just learn.
I, IV, and V are known as primary chords. The remainder are secondary, apart
from vii, which is diminished and is a discord.

18. CHORDS!
EAR TEST QUIZ / Divide into two teams
Listen carefully and identify the type of chord:
Major / minor / augmented / diminished /
dominant7th / major7th / minor7th
(Tutor to play chords and get class to identify)

19. CHORDS!
If we are in the key of C Major, write down the triads that these roman numerals
represent (e.g., C major, G major)… I will come round each of you and look at your
answers…
TASK 6: TEST 2:
ii
iii
V
I
vi
vii

20. CHORDS!
If we are in the key of C Major, write down the triads that these roman numerals
represent (e.g. C major, G major)… I will come round each of you and look at your
answers…
TEST 2: Answers:
ii
iii
V
I
vi
vii
D minor
E minor
G major
C major
A minor
B dim

21. TRIAD IDENTIFICATION EXERCISE:
CHORDS!
https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/c3i.php
7th CHORDS IDENTIFICATION EXERCISE:
https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/c4i.php
HOMEWORK!
!

22. Next week we will look at more complex chords, as well as common chord progressions. We
will learn to identify chord progressions in pieces of music.
CHORDS!
We will look at things called inversions, which is essentially when you change the order of a
chord’s notes to slightly change the tonal relationship.