Intervals & Chords
Intervals, triads, seventh chords, and diatonic progressions.
34 articles · 8 tools
Guides — 7 guides
Guitar Chord Progressions: the Patterns Behind Most Songs
Chord progressions are numbers, not names — learn I–V–vi–IV once and you can play it in any key. The seven chords of the five guitar keys, the eight progressions worth memorizing, the songs that use them, and how to move any of them with a capo.
Barre Chords: the 8 Movable Shapes and How to Make Them Ring
A barre chord turns your index finger into a movable nut, so one shape gives you twelve chords. Here are the eight shapes that cover 96 chords, a fret-by-fret root chart for both root strings, and the fixes for every kind of buzz.
Guitar Chords: A Beginner's Guide
What a guitar chord is, how to read a chord diagram, and the eight essential open chords to learn first — each linked to an interactive finder where you can see the fingering and hear it.
How to recognize intervals by ear
A repeatable method for naming intervals by ear: pin each one to a familiar song, drill both directions daily, and beat the common mix-ups.
Music intervals, explained
What a musical interval is, how to count and name seconds through octaves, what major, minor, and perfect mean, and how to recognize each one by ear.
Piano chords for beginners
Learn how piano chords are built from stacked thirds, find the six essential beginner triads, and play your first chord progression with confidence.
Circle of fifths
The one diagram that turns key signatures, related keys and chords into something you can reason about — the circle of fifths, explained.
From the books — 27 articles
B♭ / A♯ Piano Chords
All the B♭ / A♯ piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
A♭ / G♯ Piano Chords
All the A♭ / G♯ piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
G♭ / F♯ Piano Chords
All the G♭ / F♯ piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
E♭ / D♯ Piano Chords
All the E♭ / D♯ piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
D♭ / C♯ Piano Chords
All the D♭ / C♯ piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
B Piano Chords
All the B piano and keyboard chords — 8 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
A Piano Chords
All the A piano and keyboard chords — 10 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
G Piano Chords
All the G piano and keyboard chords — 9 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
F Piano Chords
All the F piano and keyboard chords — 7 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
E Piano Chords
All the E piano and keyboard chords — 10 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
D Piano Chords
All the D piano and keyboard chords — 9 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
C Piano Chords
All the C piano and keyboard chords — 9 shapes with colour keyboard diagrams, real-hand photos and notation.
Construction Basics
How every scale is built from the major scale by altering its steps — the foundation for all the patterns ahead.
Diatonic Four-Part Chords and Progressions
Discover how four-part seventh chords stack onto every degree of the major scale to form the diatonic chords behind countless progressions.
Dominant Seventh Chords and Inversions
Construct the dominant seventh chord, decode why a bare 7 suffix signals it, and practice its inversions in both hands from every root.
Minor Seventh (With Flatted Fifth) Chords and Inversions
Flatten the fifth of a minor seventh to form the half-diminished chord, meet the diminished interval, and practice its inversions.
Minor Seventh Chords and Inversions
Build the minor seventh chord and its inversions, one of the most commonly used four-part chords in pop, jazz, and beyond.
Major Seventh Chords and Inversions
Step beyond triads into four-part chords, building the major seventh chord from a C major scale and learning to read its Cmaj7 symbol and inversions.
Forming Triads Below the Melody
Build fuller right-hand arrangements by forming basic and upper-structure triads beneath the melody, adding two chord tones under each melody note.
Using Intervals Below the Melody
Add warmth to a melody by placing 6ths and 3rds beneath it in the right hand, building fuller arrangements without obscuring the tune.
More Advanced Left-Hand Patterns with Arpeggios
Expand your left-hand accompaniment with open triad arpeggios, spreading chord tones beyond an octave to create richer, fuller broken-chord patterns from fake-book symbols.
Diatonic Triads and Progressions
Build a triad on every note of the C major scale to reveal its major, minor, and diminished qualities and how Roman numerals map chord function.
Creating Three-Note Chords (Triads)
Stack two intervals to spell your first three-note chords, building major triads from a root, third, and fifth drawn straight from the major scale.
Using Intervals in Songs
Hear how major and minor 2nds shape real melodies, and discover why these whole- and half-step intervals are the everyday building blocks of music.
Creating Intervals from the Major Scale
Build every interval from the C major scale, hearing major and perfect intervals as you play harmonic pairs of notes together.
Introduction to Intervals
Begin the theory behind intervals, learning to measure the distance between two notes by counting letter names from the bottom up.
The Building Blocks of Scales
Explore the major scale, the foundation of most Western melodies, and learn how whole steps and half steps combine to build its distinctive pattern.
Tools — 8 tools
Intervals & Chords tools →Interactive tools for Intervals & Chords — try them right in your browser.
Chord progression player
Browse the progressions behind pop, rock, jazz, blues and classical music, hear each one in any key on piano or guitar, and loop it at your own tempo to practice or write over.
Chord finder
Pick a root note and a chord type — major, minor, sevenths, suspended and more — and see the chord on the piano, named and spelled out for you.
Chord analysis tool
Pick a major or minor key and see its seven diatonic triads with numerals, chord symbols, and notes — click a numeral to light the chord on the keyboard and hear it.
Interval reading trainer
Two notes appear on the staff, you name the interval between them, and you can hear it — with instant feedback and a running score.
Chord ear trainer
Train your ear to recognise chords: hear a chord, name its type — major, minor, diminished and more. Instant feedback and a score.
Interval ear trainer
Train your ear to recognise intervals: hear two notes, name the interval. Instant feedback and a running score.
Interval finder
Pick a root note and an interval — from a minor second to an octave — and see and hear the two notes on the piano.
Chord reading trainer
A chord is stacked on the staff, you name its type, and you can hear it — with instant feedback and a running score.