What is a Major Chord?

Major chords are the most popular chords in music (I would say minor chords are a close second). But just what makes a chord a "major" chord, anyway? That's what this post is going to teach you.

There are several different ways to describe major chords:

1) Major chords are happy sounding chords.
2) Major chords are the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a major scale.
3) A major chord is composed of three notes: the 1st and 2nd note form a major third interval, and the 2nd and 3rd note form a minor third interval.

The first description is easiest to understand but gives the least amount of information, and some might disagree with it. While it's fair to say that major chords generally sound happy, they don't always sound happy in the context of a song (as an example, listen to the first couple of chords in  Radiohead's song "Just").

The third description is useful but requires a knowledge of intervals in general and major and minor third intervals in particular, which is at least one or two lessons in and of itself. If you already know about intervals, then chances are you already understand what is required to play a major chord.

I will be using the second description - the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a major scale - to teach you about major chords.

Let's use a C scale - C D E F G A B C - the easiest major scale. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a C scale are C, E, and G, respectively (count yourself if you don't believe me). So if you play C, E, and G together, you're playing a C major chord!

We often leave out the "major" part when describing the chord

For example, it's not uncommon for people to say, "play a C chord" rather than "play a C major chord" (but either is acceptable).

More than one of the same note is allowed

You're allowed to play more than one C, E, or G when playing a C chord. Most guitarists' first C chord has the following notes from lowest to highest: CEGCE (the C notes are an octave apart, as are the E notes). It doesn't matter how many you have of each note, just be sure that no other notes sneak into your chord (that would change the chord that you're playing).

The lowest note (in terms of pitch) of the chord is often the "root" of the chord (but not always!)

In other words, for a C major chord, the lowest note is usually C (the root, or 1st note of a C scale), but some songs sound better if the E or the G are lowest (these chords are often called an "inversion", but we'll talk about that in another post). It is sometimes difficult to make a major chord sound correct if the lowest note isn't the root, but with enough time and study you can start to understand when those chords will sound like the right choice.

There is more that can be said about major chords, but let's sum up what we've learned here:

1) Major chords are the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of a major scale. 
2) You can include the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the same major scale in a different octave (if you want to play more than 3 notes in your chord).
3) No other notes allowed! (That changes the name of the chord that you're playing)

Most instruments like piano, guitar, and ukelele teach you how to play chords before you actually understand what those chords mean. But if you've ever wondered why some of those chords are called major chords, now you've got your answer!