Hear one chord from several positions
A familiar chord can feel new when a different note moves to the bottom. Use these pages to connect the name, the sound, and the shape. The first reference covers major and minor triads in all twelve keys, with both hands written out. Each route goes root position, first inversion, second inversion, upper root position, then returns through the same positions.
Name the lowest chord tone before playing. Major triads contain a major third and perfect fifth above the root; minor triads lower that third by a semitone. Inverting a chord changes its bass, not its collection of chord tones. The first, third, and fifth degrees remain its root, third, and fifth wherever they appear in the voicing.
Place, sound, listen, release
Play one hand first. Sound each half-note chord together, hold for two beats, then release to travel. The final whole-note chord lasts four beats. Begin without pedal; add time between placements while learning, then restore the written rhythm. These are placement exercises, not a requirement to connect every voice with finger legato.
Fingering is editorial and suggested, not attributed to Hanon or an examination syllabus. The three-note routes use a conventional starting framework: RH 1–3–5 in root/second position and 1–2–5 in first; LH 5–3–1 in root/first and 5–2–1 in second. Keyboard shape and hand size can justify alternatives. Test a comfortable placement and its next move; do not force a printed choice.
The hands are one octave apart in the compact triad reference. Later four-note octave shapes use wider hand separation to avoid sharing keys. If a chord exceeds your comfortable span, release and break it, or practice a smaller voicing rather than stretching to hold it.
How to use the rest of this appendix
After the all-key triads, six seventh-chord qualities in C show all four inversions. Four-octave blocked and broken studies in C major and C minor then teach the longer inversion route. The root moves through four octaves; these are not all-key four-octave engravings. Use the key reference to check each new spelling before transposing.
For the comparison among suspended, added-note, seventh, and extended chords, turn to Chord Colors on One Root, immediately after the triads chapter. Cadences remain a separate subject: this appendix identifies and places chords rather than prescribing how they must resolve.
C major triad
G major triad
D major triad
A major triad
E major triad
B major triad
F♯ major triad
D♭ major triad
A♭ major triad
E♭ major triad
B♭ major triad
F major triad
A minor triad
E minor triad
B minor triad
F♯ minor triad
C♯ minor triad
G♯ minor triad
E♭ minor triad
B♭ minor triad
F minor triad
C minor triad
G minor triad
D minor triad
Seventh chords: major and dominant
A seventh chord has four positions. Read each whole-note chord from its lowest note: root, third, fifth, then seventh. Release between placements. The suggested 1–2–3–5 / 5–3–2–1 fingers are starting choices for these isolated shapes.
C dominant seventh
C major seventh
Seventh chords: minor and minor major
Keep C–E♭–G and compare B♭ with B♮. That single change distinguishes minor seventh from minor major seventh. Read the altered notes afresh in each inversion.
C minor seventh
C minor major seventh
Seventh chords: two diminished qualities
C half-diminished is C–E♭–G♭–B♭. C fully diminished is C–E♭–G♭–B𝄫: the diminished seventh sounds like A, but B𝄫 preserves the chord’s stacked-third spelling. The two chords share the diminished triad and differ in the seventh.
C half-diminished seventh
C diminished seventh
C major: four-octave blocked inversions
Each shape doubles its lowest tone at the octave. RH bass notes travel C3–C7 and back; LH travels C1–C5. Hands are two octaves apart to avoid shared keys; the highest note is C8. Shorten the route on a smaller keyboard.
Place each chord as one quarter-note attack. Move through root, first, and second inversions repeatedly; the highest root-position chord sounds once before the return. The final chord is a whole note. Work on one octave first, with a pause between placements if needed.
Listen for: even tone through each move. Use three-note shapes if octave spans feel uncomfortable.
C major: four-octave broken inversions
Each shape doubles its lowest tone at the octave. RH bass notes travel C3–C7 and back; LH travels C1–C5. Hands are two octaves apart to avoid shared keys; the highest note is C8. Shorten the route on a smaller keyboard.
Play each shape bottom-to-top in four even sixteenths. The inversion positions rise and then fall; the notes within each group still go upward. The top position appears once. The final group uses quarter notes to settle. Release and move between shapes; this is a sequence of broken chords, not continuous arpeggio fingering.
Listen for: even tone through each move. Use three-note shapes if octave spans feel uncomfortable.
C minor: four-octave blocked inversions
Each shape doubles its lowest tone at the octave. RH bass notes travel C3–C7 and back; LH travels C1–C5. Hands are two octaves apart to avoid shared keys; the highest note is C8. Shorten the route on a smaller keyboard.
Place each chord as one quarter-note attack. Move through root, first, and second inversions repeatedly; the highest root-position chord sounds once before the return. The final chord is a whole note. Work on one octave first, with a pause between placements if needed.
Listen for: even tone through each move. Use three-note shapes if octave spans feel uncomfortable.
C minor: four-octave broken inversions
Each shape doubles its lowest tone at the octave. RH bass notes travel C3–C7 and back; LH travels C1–C5. Hands are two octaves apart to avoid shared keys; the highest note is C8. Shorten the route on a smaller keyboard.
Play each shape bottom-to-top in four even sixteenths. The inversion positions rise and then fall; the notes within each group still go upward. The top position appears once. The final group uses quarter notes to settle. Release and move between shapes; this is a sequence of broken chords, not continuous arpeggio fingering.
Listen for: even tone through each move. Use three-note shapes if octave spans feel uncomfortable.