---
title: "Major and Minor Triads: What Is the Difference? · Piakno"
description: "A triad is three notes stacked in thirds. A major triad has a major third below and a minor third above (C–E–G); a minor triad is the other way round (C–E♭–G). They differ by one note, the middle one, by a half step."
url: "https://piakno.com/theory/major-and-minor-triads"
lang: "en"
alternates:
  en: "https://piakno.com/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  zh-Hans: "https://piakno.com/zh-Hans/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  zh-Hant: "https://piakno.com/zh-Hant/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  ja: "https://piakno.com/ja/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  ko: "https://piakno.com/ko/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  es: "https://piakno.com/es/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  de: "https://piakno.com/de/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
  pt-BR: "https://piakno.com/pt-BR/theory/major-and-minor-triads.md"
---

# Major and minor triads

> A triad is three notes stacked in thirds. A major triad has a major third below and a minor third above (C–E–G); a minor triad is the other way round (C–E♭–G). They differ by one note, the middle one, by a half step.

The outer frame is identical in both: root to fifth is a perfect fifth, seven half steps. Everything bright or dark about the chord comes from the third in the middle — four half steps above the root makes it major, three makes it minor.

*C major: C–E–G. Root, major third, perfect fifth.*

*C minor: lower the E to E♭ and leave everything else alone.*

| Triad | Root to third | Third to fifth | Written |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Major | Major 3rd (4 half steps) | Minor 3rd (3) | C |
| Minor | Minor 3rd (3 half steps) | Major 3rd (4) | Cm |
| Diminished | Minor 3rd | Minor 3rd | Cdim |
| Augmented | Major 3rd | Major 3rd | Caug |

Every degree of a key carries a triad, and whether each one is major or minor is decided by the key itself rather than being something to memorize: in a major key I, IV and V are major, ii, iii and vi are minor, and vii is diminished. That is why chords get written as Roman numerals — capital for major, lowercase for minor.

> Do not identify a chord by whether it "sounds sad". A minor chord played fast and loud is not sad at all, and a major chord played slowly and very quietly can be crushing. Count the half steps to the middle note; that answer is always right.

## Common questions

### What is the difference between a major and a minor triad?

Only the middle note. Both have a perfect fifth from root to top, but a major triad puts the third four half steps above the root and a minor triad puts it three above.

### How do you build a triad on any note?

Name the root, then stack the letters a third and a fifth above it, and check the half steps: 4 then 3 is major, 3 then 4 is minor.

### What are the four types of triads?

Major, minor, diminished and augmented. They differ by the size of their two stacked thirds: major is 4+3 half steps, minor 3+4, diminished 3+3 and augmented 4+4.

## The course works through this in:

- [Lesson 88 · Major and minor triads](https://piakno.com/course/piano-foundations/lesson/88)

## Related entries

- [Intervals](https://piakno.com/theory/intervals)
- [Chord inversions](https://piakno.com/theory/chord-inversions)
- [The dominant seventh chord](https://piakno.com/theory/dominant-seventh)
- [Cadences](https://piakno.com/theory/cadences)

- [Theory reference](https://piakno.com/theory)