How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?

How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?: "How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?




How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?

Since chords (the main component of harmony) are one of the three most vital elements of music � the others being melody and rhythm � it would be useful to know how many chords there are. And it doesn�t matter whether you play piano or guitar or some other instrument � chords are chords.
It�s certainly not necessary to learn all the chords in the whole wide world, but it is necessary to learn some of them � at least enough to allow you to harmonize the songs you would like to play.
But meanwhile, there are 3 chords -- just 3 -- that you absolutely, positively have to know. If you don't know these three, there's hardly a song in the whole world that you could play. But by knowing just 3 chords, you can play hundreds, if not thousands of songs! And those chords are simply the primary chords in any given key:
�The I chord (the chord built on the 1st degree of the scale)
�The IV chord (the chord built on the 4th degree of the scale)
�The V chord (the chord built on the 5th degree of the scale)
For example, if you were playing in the Key of C, the I chord would be C (c, e, g), the IV chord would be F (f, a, c), and the V chord would be G (g, b, d).
But as you probably know, there are thousands of other chords, so it would be helpful to at least know of their existence and maybe someday learn them.
So here goes:
Since there are 12 major keys one can play in (not counting enharmonic keys � keys that sound the same but are written differently), there are:
*12 major triads (a triad is a 3 note chord)
*12 minor triads
*12 diminished triads
*12 augmented triads
*12 diminished 7th"