Minor Triad
The same three positions as a major chord with the middle note one key lower: C, E flat and G. Darker, just as settled, and the chord behind most of the music people call emotional.
- 3 notes
- 1 b3 5
- dark
which styles use it
- Pop
- Deep house
- Soul & R&B
- Film music
Which notes are in a minor triad?
A root, a note three half steps above it, and a note four half steps above that. In C: C, E flat and G.
- C, the root
- E flat, the minor third
- G, the fifth
It is the major triad with its two gaps swapped. Small third at the bottom, large third on top, instead of the other way around.
Why does it still sound settled?
Because the fifth does not move. A minor chord keeps the same perfect fifth from root to top as a major chord, and that interval is what makes a chord sound like it is standing on something. Lower the fifth as well and you get a diminished triad, which is the one that genuinely cannot stay put.
So a minor chord is not an unstable major chord. It is a stable chord with a different colour, and you can end a piece on one without anybody feeling short changed.
Where do you find it in a key?
Three of the seven chords in a major key are minor: the second, the third and the sixth degree. In C those are Dm, Em and Am. The sixth is the one you meet most, because it shares two notes with the tonic and makes a soft place to fall before a chorus.
In a minor key it moves to the front. The first, the fourth and the fifth degree are all minor in natural minor, and the first is home. In C minor: Cm, Fm and Gm.
Major, minor, diminished or augmented?
Four chords, the same three positions, and each one moves a single note. Play them back to back on the same root before you read the reasons.
- Major (C E G) - Four half steps then three. The blend is closest to the natural overtones, so this is the one that sounds finished.
- Minor (C Eb G) - Three then four, the stacking reversed. The fifth is still perfect, so it is every bit as stable as major, just darker.
- Diminished (C Eb Gb) - Three then three. The outer interval is now a tritone and the chord leans hard on whatever comes next.
- Augmented (C E G sharp) - Four then four. Every gap is identical, so no note can claim to be the root and the chord floats.
How do you find it on your instrument?
On piano, three half steps up from the root and then four. Or play the major chord you already know and drop the middle note one key.
On guitar it is one fret. A major becomes A minor by moving the finger on the B string back one fret, and E becomes E minor the same way on the G string. Learning those two pairs teaches the switch better than any diagram.
Common mistakes
- Treating minor as the sad button
A minor chord is room for sadness, not a guarantee of it. Tempo, register and what sits on top decide the rest. A great deal of dance music is entirely minor and nobody calls it sad.
- Doubling the third
Two E flats an octave apart makes the chord heavy and closed. One third is enough.
Keep going
Everything in chords
- Major Triad
- Minor Triad
- Diminished Triad
- Augmented Triad