Short answer: A chord is three or more notes played together to create a single musical sound. The most basic chord is built from a root note, a third and a fifth.
In pop and rock piano, chords are the building blocks of almost every song. Unlike classical pianists, who usually play exactly what’s written on the sheet music, many contemporary pianists simply read a chord symbol—such as C—and instantly know which notes to play.
The Three Notes That Form a Basic Chord
The simplest chord is called a triad. It contains three specific notes:
- Root: The note that gives the chord its name. In a C major chord, C is the root.
- Third: The middle note. It determines whether the chord is major (bright) or minor (darker in character).
- Fifth: The top note, which adds stability and completes the basic chord.
If you play the notes C, E and G together, you’ve created a C major chord.
Recognising Chord Shapes on the Piano
One advantage of the piano is that chord shapes are highly visual. Most basic triads follow a simple pattern of playing a key, skipping the next one, playing the following key, skipping another, and then playing the final note.
Once you understand that every major and minor triad is built from the same basic principle, you no longer need to memorise every chord as a separate hand position. Instead, you simply find the root note and build the rest of the chord from there.
