What are the types of chords?
A chord is three or more notes sounding together, and its type is the recipe: which notes are stacked and how far apart. Every type has a sound, bright, dark, tense or open. In Veena, the free AI DAW in your browser, you name the type to CoProducer and it writes the chord as real MIDI you can edit.
The chord types in one table
Examples are built on C:
| Type | Notes | Symbol | The sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | C E G | C | Bright, settled |
| Minor | C E♭ G | Cm | Dark, inward |
| Diminished | C E♭ G♭ | Cdim | Tense, wants to move |
| Augmented | C E G♯ | Caug | Dreamy, unresolved |
| Suspended 4th | C F G | Csus4 | Open, hanging |
| Suspended 2nd | C D G | Csus2 | Open, airy |
| Major 7th | C E G B | Cmaj7 | Warm, jazzy |
| Dominant 7th | C E G B♭ | C7 | Bluesy, pulls forward |
| Minor 7th | C E♭ G B♭ | Cm7 | Soft, mellow |
The first four are triads, three notes. Seventh chords add a fourth note, and sus chords swap the third for a neighbour. Ninths, elevenths and thirteenths stack further thirds on top.
Inversions: the same chord, a different bass note
A triad can be played with any of its notes at the bottom. C E G is root position, E G C is first inversion and G C E is second inversion. The chord type does not change; the colour does, and the voice leading gets smoother because the top notes move less from one chord to the next. A slash chord such as C/E names the bass note after the slash.
Chord types in Veena
Ask for the type by name or by mood. "Cmaj7, Am7, Fsus4, G7" and "sad minor chords with a diminished passing chord" both work, and sevenths, ninths, sus2 and sus4, add9, slash chords and inversions are all in CoProducer's vocabulary. It writes the chords in your song's key and tempo, voiced for the instrument you pick, on their own track.
Because they are MIDI, every chord is a stack of blocks in the piano roll: delete the fifth for a lighter voicing, drag the bottom note up an octave for an inversion, or turn a C into a Cm by lowering one note. Ask in plain words, "make bar 3 a sus4 and resolve it in bar 4", and one Ctrl/Cmd+Z undoes it.
To read the types out of a recording, the chord finder detects major, minor, seventh, suspended and diminished chords from audio. See what a chord progression is, what a key is, the chord progression generator and the rest of the music production glossary. Write chords free.
Try this in Veena
Make a 90 BPM pop track in C major on Electric Piano, one chord per bar: C, Am, Fsus4, G7, then Cmaj7, Dm7, Bdim, C/E. Add a Round Bass on the chord roots, a Warm Pad holding the chords and a simple drum groove with the snare on 2 and 4. Intro 4 bars, then 16 bars
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of chords?
Four triads and their extensions: major, minor, diminished and augmented triads, then seventh chords and suspended chords built on them. A triad is three notes stacked in thirds, and the type is set by the size of those thirds. In Veena, CoProducer writes any of them by name: ask for 'Cmaj7, Am7, Fsus4, G7' and each chord lands as MIDI on its own track.
What is the difference between a major and a minor chord?
The third. A major chord has a major third (C, E, G) and sounds bright; a minor chord lowers that third by a semitone (C, E-flat, G) and sounds darker. Veena is an AI DAW with a personal music producer built in. Ask CoProducer to turn a major progression minor and it re-writes the notes in the piano roll, free in your browser.
What is a suspended chord?
A chord where the third is replaced by the note above it (sus4) or below it (sus2), so it sounds open and unresolved until it moves to the plain chord. Fsus4 to F is the classic pair. In Veena, ask CoProducer for sus2 and sus4 colours in a request and the notes stay editable.
What is a chord inversion?
The same chord with a different note in the bass. C, E, G is root position; E, G, C is first inversion; G, C, E is second inversion. Inversions let the top notes move smoothly from chord to chord. In Veena, ask CoProducer for inversions or a slash chord such as C/E, or move notes an octave with Ctrl/Cmd+Up and Down in the piano roll.
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