Chord Finder — the Notes in Any Chord

Choose a root and a chord type to see its notes, the chord symbol, the scale degrees (1 3 5 …), the intervals in semitones, and MIDI numbers. From triads to 13ths.

See every chord formula in one place in the chord formulas reference, or explore scales with the scale finder.

How it works

Chords are built by stacking thirds on a root, and each chord type is a fixed set of intervals in semitones.

major      0 4 7          minor      0 3 7
diminished 0 3 6          augmented  0 4 8
dom7       0 4 7 10       maj7       0 4 7 11
min7       0 3 7 10       min7b5     0 3 6 10
sus2 0 2 7 · sus4 0 5 7 · add9 0 4 7 14

Extensions continue the stack: 9ths, 11ths and 13ths are thirds piled above the seventh.

Worked example

• C major = C + 4 semitones (E) + 7 (G) = C E G
• C minor = 0 3 7 = C E♭ G — one note lower changes everything
• Cmaj7 = 0 4 7 11 = C E G B
• C7 = 0 4 7 10 = C E G B♭ — the flat seventh is what makes it want to resolve

In practice

• The third decides major or minor; the seventh decides the flavour. Those two notes carry most of the harmonic information.
• You can drop the fifth. In a dense arrangement, root, third and seventh state the chord clearly and leave room.
• Voice leading beats voicing. Moving each note the shortest distance to the next chord sounds better than playing every chord in root position.
• Sus chords remove the third, which is why they sound unresolved — neither major nor minor until something else decides.

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