Trying to memorize piano chords can make your head spin, especially when you explore different key signatures. The following piano chord charts show you how to form each chord inversion using fingered staff notes and illustrated keyboards, and tell you which chords belong in which key.
1. Learn Beginner Piano Triads
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If you’re new to piano chords, a great place to start is in the key of C major; every chord follows the same pattern on the keyboard, and you don’t have to worry about playing accidentals. The following chord charts contain helpful fingering explanations, staff notation, and audio samples of each chord inversion:
2. Major Piano Chord Charts
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Major chords are among the most commonly used piano chords, and are identified by their happy and positive attitudes. The make-up of a major chord includes the major third and the perfect fifth.
3. Minor Piano Chord Charts
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Minor chords are just as common as major chords, as there are three of both in each key. Minor chords are considered somber and melancholy, especially in comparison to major chords. Their notes include the minor third and the perfect fifth.
4. Diminished Piano Chord Charts
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Diminished chords, although bizarre in sound, are natural occurrences; there is one diminished chord in each key signature. Diminished chords are formed with a root note, a minor third, and a diminished fifth.
5. Augmented Piano Chord Charts
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An augmented chord is another strange-sounding collaboration of notes. Its character is less ambiguous than the diminished chord – taking some of its personality from the closely-related major chord – and is defined by its augmented fifth.
