How to distinguish major chords from minor chords (BS method, Big/Small method)

This section introduces the BS method (Big/Small method), which is said to be the easiest way to distinguish major chords from minor chords.

*Major chords: bright chords

*Minor chords: dark chords

Look at the interval between the notes of the chord.

First, count the size of the interval between the three notes of the “main chord,” which is a triad of notes created with the main note of the scale as the root note.

The size of the interval at that time is

Big/Small” is a major chord.

Small/Big” is a minor chord.

The first two are the following.

Many of you may not know what I am talking about.

It sounds difficult, but the following example makes it easy.

*First, let’s take the major chord as an example.

The major chord “F”, starting from the root note, is “F, A, C”, that is, “F, La, Do”.

Between the “fa” and “la” notes, there are “three”: “fa #”, “so”, and “so #”.

On the other hand, there are only ‘two’ between the ‘la’ and ‘do’ sounds, ‘la #’ and ‘si’.

So it is a major chord because it is “Big/Small” because of the “two” after the “three.

*Let’s look at minor chords in the same way.

The minor chord “Fm”, starting from the root note, is “F, G♯, C”, that is, “F, So♯, Do”.

There are ‘two’ between the notes ‘fa’ and ‘so #’.

On the other hand, there are ‘three’ between the “so #” and “do” notes: “la”, “la #”, and “si”.

So it is a minor chord because it is “Small/Big” because of the “three” after the “two”.

The “three” and “two” are fixed numbers common to all major and minor chords.

Once you have decided on a single root note, try to make it a chord by spacing out the “three” and “two” senses.

It will surely match the correct major chord.

Similarly, ‘two’ and ‘three’ intervals should match the minor chord.

The root note may be in black keys as well as white keys.

Even in J-pop music that you often hear, major or minor chords with the black key as the root note are used when the tune changes, such as before the chorus.

Instead of memorizing major and minor chords by rote, learn the rules of ‘three’ and ‘two’ and play the various chords yourself.

Composing ‘ various chords is a shortcut to learning chords.