OK, could someone explain to me the difference in these types of chords if you don’t mind or point me in the right direction? Much thanks in advance!
Major, minor, diminished, & augmented chords?
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Major- root, third, fifth
Minor- root, flat third, fifth
Diminished-root, flat third, flat fifth (occasionally regular third)
Augmented- root, third, sharp fifth
Others can correct me if I’m wrong. 
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Major-Root, major third, major third
Minor- Root, minor third. major third
Diminished- Root, minor third, minor third(there are only 3 diminished chord I knew its crazy but its true)
Augmented-Root, major third, augmented (raised) fifth
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What mark said, although I am not familiar with the regular third, flat 5 diminished.
To me the BIG deal in this question is “What is the difference between a major and a minor chord?” These chords sound emotionally opposite. A major chord is happy. A minor chord is sad. What separates them? Simply moving the second note of the chord down a half step. So to put that in real notes: Let’s look at a C chord:
C (major) chord is Root: C Third: E and 5th: G. Just three notes, but you could of course add octaves of those same notes up or down.
Cm (minor) chord is Root: C Minor Third Eb (E flat) and Fifth: G. Again, just three notes. 2 of the notes are the same, but simply moving the “middle” note down a half step totally changes the character of the chord from happy to sad.
The major and minor chords are the basis for much music. If you understand that difference, you are at a strong position. That major or minor third is very powerful. Interestingly, you can also remove the third for another type of sound. It can be happy or sad depending on the context. To me it sounds more powerful. In the example above that would be a C5 chord. Play as many notes in the chord as you want, but they all have to be C and G notes.
Extra info… skip this paragraph unless interested. To me the diminished is just a “scary” mod to a minor chord, and the augmented chord is just an oddball. However, both are mathematically interesting. In a diminished chord the notes are 3 semitones apart. Add the dimininshed 7 up 3 more semitones, and the pattern repeats. The chord can legitimately be considered 4 different chords. Similarly, in an augmented chord the notes are 4 semitones apart. So, this chord could be three different chords depending on context.
Note: oaklymaple posted as I finished this.
I hope that helps!
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Thanks all. I am using an app to help with ear training. Chords are played and these 4 options are given as to which category. You can adjust settings and I may not even use the diminished and augmented options. I played trumpet back in high school (many years ago) so I have some understanding of theory but not chord theory. Thanks again.
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Also check out Guitar Toolkit for an iphone, you can build chords on a fretboard and it will tell you which chords they are.
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I’m always happy to see a fellow music theory lover.
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I’ve often wondered if this is inherent or if our culture has programmed the association. I haven’t wondered enough to go looking for an answer, mind you. Just wondered in passing.
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That’s a cool question. Kind of like “is smiling inherent or learned?” Back to your thought, I suspect a little of both. If you hit a root note by itself, what we hear is the root plus a bunch of overtones. If I remember correctly, you generally get both major and minor 3rd overtones, BUT the major third is more prevalent. So, it would seem that a major third would be more… harmonious for lack of a better word. That said, I think that since we have a history of sad being minor, that’s kind of self-reinforcing.
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I think that’s the best answer we got.
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Not quite.
Major: Root, Major third, Minor third
Minor: Root, Minor third, Major third
Dim: Root, Minor third, Minor third
Augmented: Root, Major third, Major third.
I’m confused…do you play a major and a minor third that the same time? and two minor third’s at the same time? Isn’t that redundant?
Not if they start from different places. A diminished chord starts on the root and climbs a minor third interval, THEN it climbs another minor third interval from that note. Root –> 3-flat –> 5-flat
A diminished C chord would be the notes: C –> E-flat –> G-flat
You get the chord when you play those 3 notes together, which are made up of 2 minor third intervals.
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I think part of the confusion is that this thread has folks talking two different langues. The first response called out the numeric notes of the scale (root, third, fifth). Some of the later responses started talking in intervals. Some responses talked about both. Some of the terms can be used both as an interval OR defining a note in the scale.
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Tengo que agree con you.
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My bad, I was in a hurry.
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Yeah we just like to be as confusing as humanly possibly while trying to explain something i guess:joy:
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Well if we made it easy, then everyone could do it… we can’t have that! 
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Major: Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th
Western harmony hears this as happy or resolved. The I/IV/V chord progression is made up of Major chords.
Minor: Root, minor 3rd, Perfect 5th.
Western harmony hears this chord as sad and slightly unsettled. The ii/iii/vi chords in a major key are all minor chords.
Diminished: Root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th (b5).
The vii chord in a major key is diminished. This chord sounds very unsettled or unresolved. The fully diminished chord (Root, b3, b5, bb7) is closely related to the Dominant 7 chord (with all stacked minor 3rds, you lower any single note and you spell a Dominant 7 chord). As a result, the diminished chord invokes movement toward resolution.
Augmented: Root, Major 3rd, Augmented 5th.
This chord also has an unsettled sound. It is essentially a Major chord with a raised 5th (or stacked Major 3rds). This chord does not have the urgency of resolution like the diminished chord but instead sounds/feels uneasy. The whole tone scale is a go to for soloing over this chord.
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More on the Diminished chord
As someone said previously, there are only 3 different fully diminished chords . A fully diminished chord is one that includes the root, 3rd, 5th and 7 th of the chord. It is a chord of all stacked minor 3rd intervals that cover a full octave. A fully diminished chord with the note C as the root would be spelled like this: C, Eb, Gb, Bbb.
A triad variety diminished chord would be spelled without the 7 th of the scale and would look like this: C, Eb, Gb. There are 12 of the triad variety diminished chords.
There are also chords known as half-diminished and they include the 7th of the scale but the 7th is not doubley flatted and is only a minor 7th interval. For example, a half-diminished or m7b5 chord is spelled: C, Eb, Gb, Bb. This chord is common as the second chord in a minor key. It also has a very unsettled sound/feel but does not carry quite as much movement toward resolution as it’s fully diminished brethren.
Fun fact about fully diminished chords. These chords are aurally very close to sounding like a Dominant 7th chord (the V7 chord of a key that generally resolves to the I chord in any key). Because, of this, they have strong movement that wants to carry them to the next chord for resolution. Here is the fun part, each fully diminished chord, because of it’s stacked minor 3rd interval nature, can resolve to at least 4 different chords/keys. For example, in C major, the G7 chord is the V7 and generally is used to resolve the song back to I “C” at the end of the tune. The G7 chord has the notes: G, B, D, F . If we were to substitute the fully diminished chord, G#, B, D, F for the G7 chord, you will find that the new fully diminished chord does a fine job as a substitution for the plain Jane G7. Here is where it gets weird. That same chord will also resolve nicely to Eb major, Gb major, and A major and their parallel minor counterparts (Ebm, Gbm, Am, and Cm).
EDIT:
I didn’t explain why the fully diminished chord can resolve in 4 different ways. Any note in the fully diminished chord can be dropped 1/2 step and then be a different V7 chord. For example: G# (Ab) , B, D, F is the fully diminished chord. If we drop the G# to G then it becomes the G7 (V7 chord) in C major. If we drop the B to Bb, then the notes become, Bb, D, F, Ab or a Bb7 (V7 chord in Eb major). If we drop the D to Db, then the notes become: Db, F, Ab, B or Db7(the V7 chord in Gb) and if we drop the F to E, then the chord becomes E, G#, B, D or E7 (the V7 chord in A major).
Fun stuff.
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