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A major chord is just a triad (3 notes, the 1st being 3 whole steps away from the 2nd, and the 2nd being 3 whole steps way from the 3rd). For example a major C chord consists of the notes C E and G. A minor C chord consists of C Eflat and G. In a minor chord the middle note (a.k.a the third, because its 3 steps away from the first note) is taken down a half step (E to Eflat). Hope this helps.

There's a little misinformation in the above account. The notes are correct; a C major chord is constructed from the notes C, E, G. But the step counts are wrong. (On the guitar, two frets = 1 step; 1 fret = 1/2 step.) In the construction of a major chord you move TWO steps from the root note to find the second note (which is a major 3rd of the root). Then you move up a step and a half (three frets) from this note to find the third note of the chord (which is a perfect fifth of the root). So, again with the C major chord, we have the following - Start with C, move up two steps (four frets) to E, move up 1&1/2 steps (three frets) to G. Those are your notes - C, E, G.

For minor chords, start with the root note, move up 1 & 1/2 steps (three frets) for the second note, and then move up two steps (four frets) for the third note. So, for A minor, we have the following: A, move up 1 & 1/2 steps (three frets) to C, and finally move up two steps (four frets) to E. Those are your notes - A, C, E.

To be thorough, let's harmonize the C major scale. The scale is composed of the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. To form the chords of this scale, start with a note on the scale and then move up twice in diatonic 3rds to get all three notes of the chord. So the chords in the key of C major are these:

C major: C, E, G.

D minor: D, F, A.

E minor: E, G, B.

F major: F, A, C.

G major: G, B, D.

A minor: A, C, E.

B diminished: B, D, F.

The 7th chord (B diminished) is weird because all other chords involve 1 &1/2 steps and 2 steps to establish the notes of the chord. But for the 7th chord the notes are pushed together, so we have a 1 &1/2 step (three frets), followed by another 1 & 1/2 step (three frets). The third note of the chord is not a perfect fifth of the root, as it is in all the other chords. Rather, it's a diminished 5th, which generates a really dissonant sound. In rock, diminished chords are commonly replaced with minor chords. There's only one note difference, and minor chords are easier to play.

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