Types of chords: major, minor, seventh and sus, explained

There are four basic types of chords, called triads: major (bright and settled), minor (darker), diminished (tense) and augmented (unsettled, floating). Each one stacks three notes: a root, a third and a fifth. Put a seventh on top and you get the four-note chords songwriters use most: the dominant 7 (C7, bluesy, wants to move on), the major 7 (Cmaj7, soft), the minor 7 (Cm7, mellow) and the half-diminished (Cm7♭5). Sus2 and sus4 swap the third for another note, so they sound open and undecided. Add9 adds sparkle without a seventh. A slash chord such as C/E only changes the bass note. The letter tells you the pitch; the type tells you the mood.

Below you’ll find every formula in one table, guitar and piano shapes, the chord types each key gives you for free, one progression rewritten four ways under an original lyric, and a 10-minute ear exercise with the free chord finder and chord player.

Every chord type at a glance

Semitones are counted up from the root: on a piano, every key counts, black or white.

Type	In C	Notes (semitones from root)	Sound and when to use it
Major	C	C E G (0–4–7)	Bright, stable. The home chord of most songs
Minor	Cm	C E♭ G (0–3–7)	Darker, inward. Verses, sad songs, minor keys
Diminished	Cdim, C°	C E♭ G♭ (0–3–6)	Tense. A passing chord that pulls to the next one
Augmented	Caug, C+	C E G♯ (0–4–8)	Floating, dreamlike. A step between two chords
Dominant 7	C7	C E G B♭ (0–4–7–10)	Bluesy, restless. The V chord, and all of the blues
Major 7	Cmaj7	C E G B (0–4–7–11)	Soft, warm, a bit wistful. Soul, R&B, ballads
Minor 7	Cm7	C E♭ G B♭ (0–3–7–10)	Mellow, smoother than minor. R&B, funk, lo-fi
Half-diminished	Cm7♭5, Cø	C E♭ G♭ B♭ (0–3–6–10)	Tense but soft. The ii chord of a minor key
Diminished 7	Cdim7, C°7	C E♭ G♭ A (0–3–6–9)	Dramatic, a bit old-fashioned. A passing chord
Sus2	Csus2	C D G (0–2–7)	Open, airy, neither major nor minor
Sus4	Csus4	C F G (0–5–7)	Suspended. Wants to fall back to the major
Add9	Cadd9	C E G + D (0–4–7–14)	Major with shimmer, no jazz edge
Power chord	C5	C G (0–7)	Neutral and heavy, made for distortion
Slash chord	C/E	C E G with E in the bass	Same chord, new bass line

How chords are built: root, third, fifth (and seventh)

A chord type is a recipe of distances from the root. Three distances decide almost everything:

• The third decides the mood. Four semitones above the root (a major third) makes the chord major. Three semitones (a minor third) makes it minor. From C, that’s E for major and E♭ for minor. To hear the difference between the two thirds, go through the music intervals guide.
• The fifth holds it up. Seven semitones above the root (G over C) is the normal fifth. Lower it by one (G♭) and the chord turns diminished; raise it by one (G♯) over a major third and it turns augmented.
• The seventh adds a question. Ten semitones (B♭ over C) is the minor seventh behind C7 and Cm7. Eleven semitones (B) is the major seventh behind Cmaj7.

Moving one finger from E to E♭ turns hope into doubt. Hear it: in this loop, F major turns into F minor, and only one note changes (A drops to A♭).

What to listen for: after the count-in (0:00–0:03), C and F sound open and warm. Around 0:09 the Fm arrives and the light dims, then C at about 0:13 sounds like coming home after bad news. The pass repeats from 0:16, with the Fm again around 0:22. That one-note shade is the whole difference between a major and a minor chord.

The four triads: major, minor, diminished and augmented

Guitar shapes below read from the low E string to the high one, and x means you don’t play that string. The chord diagrams cover every major, minor, 7, maj7, m7, sus and diminished chord in all 12 keys, on guitar, ukulele and piano.

Major is the default: a letter on its own (C, G, D) means major. On guitar, the open shapes are C (x32010), G (320003) and D (xx0232); on piano, play root, skip a white key, play, skip, play: C–E–G. Many choruses land on a major chord because it sounds resolved.

Minor adds a small m: Am (x02210), Em (022000), Dm (xx0231). On piano, lower the middle note of the major chord by one key: C–E♭–G. In a major key, the minor chords are the ones that make a verse feel reflective without leaving home.

Diminished sounds tense because both of its thirds are small. Bdim on guitar is x2343x; on piano, B–D–F. Songwriters rarely stop on it. Use it as a bridge between two chords a whole step apart: C → C♯dim → Dm. The bass climbs C–C♯–D and the C♯dim makes the Dm feel inevitable.

Augmented stacks two major thirds, so it sounds suspended in midair. Caug is x32110 on guitar and C–E–G♯ on piano. A classic move is C → Caug → F: the G♯ climbs to A, the third of F, and the listener feels the lift before the chord changes.

Loop the seven triads of C in the chord player with I–ii–iii–IV–V–vi–vii°. Some sound like places you could stay (C, F, G, Am); the Bdim sounds like a doorway.

Seventh chords: 7, maj7, m7 and m7♭5

A seventh chord is a triad with a fourth note on top, and that note changes the character more than the name suggests.

• Dominant 7 (C7, G7): major triad plus minor seventh. G7 on guitar is 320001. It contains a tense interval (B against F) that wants to resolve, which is why G7 pulls so hard to C. That G7–C move is the perfect cadence, the firmest of the cadences in music. Play a 7 on every chord and you have the sound of the 12-bar blues.
• Major 7 (Cmaj7, Fmaj7): major triad plus major seventh. Cmaj7 is x32000 and Fmaj7 xx3210, two of the easiest shapes on guitar. The top note sits one semitone below the root, which gives the soft, slightly bittersweet color of soul, bossa nova and late-night ballads.
• Minor 7 (Am7, Dm7, Em7): minor triad plus minor seventh. Am7 is x02010, Dm7 xx0211, Em7 022030. It sounds like a minor chord with the edges sanded off: mellow rather than sad.
• Half-diminished (Bm7♭5, also Bø): diminished triad plus minor seventh, x2323x on guitar. It’s the ii chord of a minor key: Bm7♭5 → E7 → Am is the minor version of the jazz ii–V–I.
• Diminished 7 (C°7): three small thirds on top of each other. Dramatic, a little old-fashioned, and useful as a passing chord.

The types keep their suffixes in every notation; only the root changes name. A Spanish or French musician writes Cmaj7 as Domaj7 and Am7 as Lam7, a Brazilian cifra writes Cmaj7 as C7M and Csus4 as C4, and a German chart calls B7 “H7”, because German B means B♭. The chord chart guide has the full conversion table.

What to listen for: three seventh types in one loop. After the count-in (0:00–0:02), the Dm7 is mellow, the G7 around 0:06 leans forward, and the Cmaj7 from about 0:09 settles softly instead of slamming the door. The loop repeats from about 0:14, with G7 around 0:17 and Cmaj7 from 0:20. Then compare triads and sevenths directly: C–F–G–C, then Cmaj7–Fmaj7–G7–Cmaj7. Same roots, same order, a different room.

Sus2, sus4, add9 and power chords

These chords either remove the third or add a note next to it, so they color a chord without changing where it’s going.

• Sus4 replaces the third with the fourth. Dsus4 (xx0233) wants to fall back to D (xx0232): lift your pinky and you hear the release. Put a sus4 on the last chord of a line and resolve it on the next word, and the music hesitates exactly where the lyric does.
• Sus2 replaces the third with the second. Dsus2 (xx0230) and Asus2 (x02200) sound open and unresolved without asking to move. They suit intros, pads and verses that shouldn’t commit to happy or sad yet.
• Add9 keeps the third and adds the ninth (the second, an octave up). Cadd9 (x32033) sounds like C with a glint, and on guitar it’s an easy swap for a plain C. It’s not C9: a 9 chord also includes the seventh.
• Power chords (5) are only root and fifth, so they’re neither major nor minor. G5 is 355xxx, E5 022xxx. Through a distorted amp they sound huge, which is why they carry so many rock riffs; clean and quiet, they sound empty.

The chord player plays sus chords too: loop D – Dsus4 – D – Dsus2 and hear the sus4 lean back into D while the sus2 just floats. It doesn’t voice add9 or power chords, so try those in the chord finder: set the frets, press play and compare them with the plain chord.

Slash chords and inversions: same chord, new bass

A slash chord names the chord first and the bass note second. C/E is C major with E as its lowest note (032010 on guitar). If the bass note belongs to the chord, it’s an inversion: C/E is the first inversion, C/G the second. If it doesn’t, the slash creates a new color: F/G (an F chord over a G bass) works as a softer, suspended G that still leads home to C.

Songwriters use slash chords for one reason above all: to make the bass walk. Compare C → G → Am with C → G/B → Am. The chords are almost the same, but the bass now steps C–B–A, and the progression sounds like it’s descending a staircase. G/B is x20033 on guitar; on piano, play B in the left hand and G–B–D in the right. The same trick gives G → D/F♯ (200232) → Em.

Which chord types each key gives you

You don’t pick chord types from thin air. A major key hands you seven chords already built from its own notes:

Degree	Triad in C	Seventh chord in C
I	C (major)	Cmaj7
ii	Dm (minor)	Dm7
iii	Em (minor)	Em7
IV	F (major)	Fmaj7
V	G (major)	G7
vi	Am (minor)	Am7
vii°	Bdim (diminished)	Bm7♭5

So every major key gives you three major chords, three minor, one diminished and, with sevenths, two maj7, three m7, one dominant 7 and one half-diminished. Augmented and diminished 7 chords aren’t in the key: they’re passing chords you borrow on purpose. A minor uses the same seven chords starting from Am; many songs in minor then raise the v to a major V or V7 (E or E7) for a stronger pull home, and the scales guide explains where those notes come from. To see the same pattern in any key, turn the circle of fifths; to move a whole song, paste it into the chord transposer.

One progression, four colors: a worked example

Here’s an original two-line verse. The progression under it stays I–vi–IV–V in C, and only the chord types change.

The porch light's on, the engine's cold,
I'm still deciding where to go

1. Triads: C – Am – F – G. Plain and honest. Loop it. The lyric sounds like a simple statement.
2. Sevenths: Cmaj7 – Am – Fmaj7 – G7. Softer and later at night; the G7 pushes you back to the top of the loop. Loop it. The porch light now feels like it has been on for hours.
3. A sus before the turn: C – Am – F – Gsus4 G. Loop it. Sing “still deciding” over the Gsus4 and “where to go” over the G: the chord hesitates on the same words as the singer.
4. A borrowed minor: C – Am – F – Fm. Loop it. The Fm turns “where to go” into “nowhere to go”. The same lyric reads as regret.

None of these is the right one on paper. The right one matches what the words mean, and you only find it by singing the line over each. For more loops to try this on, see the 11 most common chord progressions or the sad chord progressions.

A 10-minute exercise: hear the type before you name it

1. Minutes 0–3, build the triads. In the chord finder, mark C, E and G on the keyboard and play it. Move E down to E♭ (Cm), then G down to G♭ (Cdim), then back to E and G up to G♯ (Caug). Play each one and describe it in one word.
2. Minutes 3–5, add sevenths. Back on C–E–G, add B♭ (C7), then swap it for B (Cmaj7). Go to C–E♭–G and add B♭ (Cm7). Say which one you’d put under a happy line and which under a doubtful one.
3. Minutes 5–8, test your ear. Play the triads-then-sevenths loop with your eyes closed and say “triad” or “seventh” on each change.
4. Minutes 8–10, change one chord in your song. Pick one chord in a song you’re writing, change only its type (major to maj7, a V to a sus4 resolving to V, IV to iv) and record both versions on your phone. Listen tomorrow and keep the one that suits the words.

Common mistakes with chord types

• Writing 7 when you mean maj7. C7 has B♭, Cmaj7 has B. On a chart, the wrong one sounds like a wrong note. The same goes for m7♭5 (B♭ on top) and dim7 (A on top).
• Coloring every chord. Four maj7 or add9 chords in a row flatten into background music. One colored chord per line stands out.
• Singing the third over a sus chord. If your melody holds E over Csus4, it rubs against the F. Either resolve the chord or move the melody.
• Thinking diminished means sad. Minor is sad; diminished is tense. Use it to move, not to land.

Where Zoundroom fits: your chord choices and every version you tried

Zoundroom doesn’t name chords, play them back or analyze your recordings; the chord finder and the chord player do that part in the browser. It also isn’t a DAW, so there’s no mixing, effects or multitrack. Where it helps is right after the choice. Each song is a project that holds its recordings, lyrics, notes and files, so write the progression you settled on (for example Cmaj7–Am–Fmaj7–Gsus4–G) in a note under the lyric, with the shapes you used, and record the triad version and the seventh version inside that note with the app on your phone. Each take lands at the cursor, under the chords it belongs to. Next week, on iOS, Android or the web, you hear both takes and still know which chord made the difference. Auralis, the app’s assistant, can suggest chords or alternatives as text, never audio. Your next step: write today’s four versions of one line in a note and record them before you forget which one gave you chills.

Frequently asked questions

How many types of chords are there?

There are four types of triads (major, minor, diminished and augmented) and five common seventh chords (dominant 7, major 7, minor 7, half-diminished and diminished 7). Everything else, from sus4 to add9 to slash chords, is a variation on those: a note swapped, added or moved to the bass. Jazz stacks 9ths, 11ths and 13ths on top.

What are the most common chord types in songs?

Major and minor triads, by far. A typical pop, rock or folk song uses only major and minor chords, sometimes with a dominant 7 on the V or a sus4 before a resolution. Maj7 and m7 chords are the norm in R&B, soul and neo-soul.

What’s the difference between a major and a minor chord?

One note: the third. A major chord has the note four semitones above the root (C–E–G), a minor chord has the note three semitones above (C–E♭–G). The root and the fifth stay the same, which is why switching from C to Cm on piano means moving one finger.

Which chord types should a beginner learn first?

Major and minor open chords first (C, G, D, A, E, Am, Em, Dm), then the easiest sevenths (G7, Am7, Cmaj7, Fmaj7) and one sus pair (Dsus2 and Dsus4). With those you can play most songs and try every color in this article.

Are chord types the same on guitar and piano?

Yes. The formulas are identical; only the shapes change. A Cmaj7 is C–E–G–B on both instruments. Guitar shapes often double notes or leave out the fifth, and they still count as the same chord as long as the third and the seventh are there.

Sources

All pages checked on September 28, 2026.

• Wikipedia, “Triad (music)”: root, third and fifth; major, minor, diminished and augmented triads and their thirds; diatonic triads I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii° in a major key; the augmented triad is not diatonic in major; diminished and augmented triads as passing chords. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia, “Seventh chord”: dominant seventh (C–E–G–B♭), major seventh (C–E–G–B), minor seventh, half-diminished (Cm7♭5, Cø7), diminished seventh; symbols maj7, M7, Δ7; seventh chords on each degree of the major scale. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia, “Suspended chord”: sus2 and sus4 replace the third; Csus4 = C–F–G, Csus2 = C–D–G; open, ambiguous sound; often left unresolved in popular music. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia, “Added tone chord”: Cadd9 = C–E–G–D without a seventh; a ninth chord includes the seventh; added sixth chords. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia, “Power chord”: root and fifth, written C5, neither major nor minor; common in rock with distortion. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia, “Slash chord”: bass note after the slash; inversions vs bass notes outside the chord; descending bass lines such as G–D/F♯–Em. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia (Spanish), “Cifrado americano”: letters and Do Re Mi (C = Do, A = La…), with the same suffixes for chord types. wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia (German), “Akkordsymbol”: a plain 7 always means the minor seventh; maj7, j7 or Δ for the major seventh; German H is the international B and German B is B♭. wikipedia.org
• Cifra Club Support, “Conheça o padrão de cifragem de acordes do Cifra Club”: C7M for the major seventh, C4 for sus4, C9 for add9 in Brazilian cifras. cifraclub.com.br