Music Composition DUMmIES

Minor ninth

Minor seventh flat fifth

No matter which key you’re in, each of those specific chords comes with its

particular sonic character, called its mood, or quality. Therefore, if you know

how minor chords are constructed, and you sit at that same piano and play

some minor chords, chances are the sound that comes from that set of

chords is closer to what you’re looking for than if you just started playing

random chords.

Certain chords express certain moods. It’s really up to you what sort of mood

is to be implied by each chord, but in the following sections we include a

short list of our own observations, based on asking students to describe the

feelings conveyed by these chords.

Major ....................................................................................................

Major chords are “happy, simple, honest, bold.”

To build a major chord using half and whole steps, remember: root + 4 half

steps + 3 half steps (Figure 10-1).

Minor....................................................................................................

Minor chords are “sad, serious.”

To build a minor chord using half and whole steps, remember: root + 3 half

steps + 4 half steps (Figure 10-2).

&4

4

w

w

w

C

Figure 10-1:
C major.
Major
chords are
made from
the 1, 3, and
5 tones of
the major
scale.

Chapter 10: Composing with Chords 103