Thinking of a chord quality is a lot like thinking of feelings. Major Chords are happy, minor chords are mysterious, Diminished chords are scary and Augmented chords have a confused sense of delight.
So what is it that makes it important for us to categorize chords in this way?
For starters it makes it easier to write songs when you are thinking about sound and feelings. Lyrics can drive your music one way or another.
A good piece of music will have a balance of consonance and dissonance. Without a balance the music is flat and has no excitement.
Major Chords
Happy sound and are the most stable sounding chords. Gives a secure feel to the listener’s ear. Most pop music is written with a generous helping of Major chords so as not to challenge the listener. This way the listener can hear your lyrics and concentrate on your dancing and stage show rather than spend their time dissecting what they are hearing.
Minor Chord
The minor chord is just a little more mysterious than the major chord. It is a good accompaniment chord for the major quality because it gives the ear a tug away from that security without taking the listener to far away from the security of the major chord.
Diminished Chord
This is one of the most dissonant chords as well as one of the most versatile chords. It is mostly used in Jazz because of its awkward yet interesting sound. It is versatile because you can replace any dominant 7 chord with a diminished chord one half step above the root of the dominant 7 chord. Also you can move that diminished chord a minor third in any direction and it is the same notes, same chord with a different root.
Augmented Chord
Again this is a dissonant chord and mostly used in Jazz. It is not as versatile as the diminished chord but it is used commonly in the Harmonic Minor or Melodic Minor scale. The Augmented Chord is a great way to modulate into another key by using the parallel minor of a scale.
Chord quality is like painting. The more color you use the deeper your pallet is. The more interesting your songs become. My advice is to learn these chords and play around with them. Se what you can do with them on your own.
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