Major and Minor Chords on Piano

One of the first skills my worship piano students learn is how to play all 12 major chords at the piano, as well as how to form a minor chord. These skills are not complicated but will take a bit of practice. However, knowing all of the major and minor chords will allow you to play nearly any song at the piano.

You can download a free PDF chart of all of the major and minor chords on the piano here.

If you would like to learn how to play worship piano like a pro, also check out my Worship Essentials courses or online lessons.

Forming Major Chords

First, we are going to learn all of the major chords. Our first chord is C major, which is played C-E-G. For worship piano, we typically play the chords with the right hand, using fingers 1-3-5 (thumb, middle, and little fingers).

C (C major) chord:

To find the next major chord, we start with the C chord and move each note up (to the right) one key. Our resulting notes are Db-F-Ab, which is the Db (“D flat”) major chord. It is named Db because the root note (in this case, the lowest note) is Db.

Db (D flat major) chord:

Continuing this pattern, we can form the remainder of the 12 major chords:

D (D major) chord:

Eb (E flat major) chord:

E (E major) chord:

F (F major) chord:

F#/Gb (F sharp major/G flat major) chord:

G (G major) chord:

Ab (A flat major) chord:

A (A major) chord:

Bb (B flat major) chord:

B (B major) chord:

Forming Minor Chords

To form ANY minor chord (Cm, for example), we simply take the corresponding major chord and move the middle note down (to the left) one key. The resulting notes are C-Eb-G, which is the Cm (“C minor”) chord.

These are the 12 minor chords:

Cm (C minor) chord:

C#m/Dbm (C sharp minor/D flat minor) chord:

C sharp minor or D flat minor chord on piano

Dm (D minor) chord:

Ebm (E flat minor) chord:

Em (E minor) chord:

Fm (F minor) chord:

F#m (F sharp minor) chord:

Gm (G minor) chord:

G#m/Abm (G sharp minor/A flat minor) chord:

G sharp minor or A flat minor chord on piano

Am (A minor) chord:

Bbm (B flat minor) chord:

Bm (B minor) chord:

Free PDF Download

You can download a free PDF file of all of these major and minor chord diagrams here.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to learn how to use these chords in your playing as well as inversions, accompaniment patterns, and more, check out my Worship Essentials courses. This unique approach combines a simple, easy-to-follow method of learning the piano along with teachings on the heart of worship - and it has proven successful for people of all ages and levels.

Or, if you would prefer one-on-one instruction, consider online lessons. Lessons incorporate the same content of the Worship Essentials courses but have the added bonus of one-on-one coaching and instruction.

Happy worshipping!