Jack of All Staves Digital Music Theory Resource Library

Diatonic Chords

The term "diatonic" in music refers to notes that occur "naturally" in a given key. Any major key has seven notes that are diatonic (in the key of C, they would be: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B), wheras all other notes would be considered "non-diatonic. You can review the "major chord construction" resources to better understand which notes are diatonic in which keys.

In a similar fashion, diatonic chords refer to chords that contain only these diatonic notes in a given key. Understanding how these chords are constructed and how they function within a given key will provide a foundation for creating strong chord progressions.

You can either scroll down this page, or click one of the following links to jump to a particular resource:

Major Scale Diatonic Chords: Website

This website (click the image on the right) provides an excellent overview of how diatonic chords are built from the notes in a major scale. This basic overview should help illustrate how the same notes used to construct a major scale can also be arranged to create chords that are "native" to a given key. Read through the article and try to notice the kinds of chord qualities that can be built and the Roman numeral numbers associated with them!

Citation:

Piano Music Theory. (n.d.). Major Scale Diatonic Chords. https://piano-music-theory.com/2016/06/15/major-scale-diatonic-chords/

Major Scale Diatonic Chords

Diatonic Chords on Piano: YouTube Video

The video below does an excellent job of demonstrating how to find and play diatonic chords on the piano. This is helpful to reinforce the general theory that we're learning about diatonic scales and chords. The presenter begins by focusing on the key of C, but also discusses how to take the same concepts into other keys.

Citation:

Piano With Jonny. (2022, April 29). The most effective practice for learning piano chords [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGwjD6-z87Q

Diatonic Chords in Major: Webpage

The webpage embedded below contatins music notation, chord names, and Roman numeral designation for the diatonic chords in the key of C. You can also play the "harmonized scale" on the website to hear how the chords sound ascending in succession. This is a helpful tool to begin to see how diatonic chords look through different ways of visualizaion and how they sound together.

Citation:

Hutchinson, R. (n.d.). 7.2 Diatonic Chords in Major. https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/DiatonicChordsInMajor.html

Interactive Music Theory Lessons

The website linked to the right contains a helpful tool for quickly visualizing the diatonic chords in most keys. It will also spell out the individual notes in each chord, which is a plus! Simply choose your key, and the chart below will automatically populate with the corresponding chords. The left-hand side of the chart will also show the Roman numeral number notation for each chord, which helps demonstrate the theory concepts behind the chords throughout all keys!

Citation:

Lightnote. (n.d.). What are Diatonic Chords?. https://www.lightnote.co/music-theory/diatonic

Diatonic Chords - LightnoteInteractive lessons for learning Music Theory.

Diatonic Chord Player: Web Application

The website linked at right is a great tool for seeing the diatonic chords in a given key AND hearing how they sound. All you need to do is choose a key and the player will populate buttons with information about the chords of that key, including the Roman numeral numbers, chord names, and notes they contain. Click on the button to hear each chord and begin to experiment with sounding chords in different sequences. You can also alter the chord inversions and go beyond the triad to add a 7th to the chords, if desired!

Chords in Keys: Diatonic Chord Player for Major & Minor Keys | muted.io

Citation:

Muted.io. (2023). Chords in Keys: Diatonic Chord Player for Major & Minor Keys. https://muted.io/chords-in-keys/

Diatonic Chord Chart: Infographic

The image at right is a great reference tool to see what the diatonic chords are in 12 major keys. In whichever key you choose, you can immediately see the diatonic chords of that key, their quality (major, minor, diminished) and the individual notes of the triad. Use this to work on memorizing the diatonic chords of different keys and see if you can start playing them in sequence on the keyboard!

Citation:

Bryan, T. (n.d.). Major Key Notes in Chords Chart [Infographic]. Your Guitar Brain. https://yourguitarbrain.com/major-key-chord-notes-chart/

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