What Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music?

In any song or piece of music, there are chords within the structure of diatonic harmony that are used more than any other chords within the song.

The Primary chords are the most used chords in a song. They are constructed upon the first, fourth and fifth tones in a Major or minor key of music. This produces the one, four and five chords as the primary chords. In Major keys, the primary chords are Major. In minor keys, they are minor.

Primary chords are a fundamental aspect to harmony. Any given song (or piece of music) contains a series of chords. Even though harmony may seem random for the beginning piano player, there's actually a logical aspect to the chords you hear in a song.

It all starts with something called tonality

Tonality is a sequence of notes (aka tones) in a key of music in which each tone has a specific function within the key.

Even though there are 12 notes in music...12 different notes in music

...any given key of music has 7 notes such as the key of C Major.key of C Major 7 different notes

Without the emphasis of a key of music, any given tone in music is simply random because there is no tonal center to reference it.

In other words, a C is simply a random note without any reference as to what key it is being played in.C-a random note without contextBut if it's in the context of the key of C Major, it serves as the tonal center of that key. It's actually referred to as the tonic in the key of C Major. The tonic is the note that all other tones gravitate to in the key. Think of it as home base. No matter what the tones are in a song, it always wants to resolve to the tonic in the end.C-the tonic of the key of C Major

In fact, each one of the 7 tones in a Major key of music has a specific name and function.

Note Names of the Diatonic Scale

Diatonic Scale DegreeName
1stTonic
2ndSupertonic
3rdMediant
4thSubDominant
5thDominant
6thSubmediant
7thLeading Tone

In another article, I talked about the power of the number system and how each tone gets it's name. You can read about them here.

Each degree of the scale (or note) in a Major key has a corresponding chord

Since there are 7 notes in a Major key of music, there are 7 chords associated with them. This is also known as diatonic harmony. They are a combination of Major and minor triads with one of them being a diminished triad.

1 Chord C MajorI chord C Major

2 Chord D minorD minor ii chord3 Chord E minorE minor diatonic harmony4 Chord F MajorF Major IV chord5 Chord G MajorG Major V chord6 Chord A minorA minor vi chord7 Chord B diminished (the degree symbol denotes it as a diminished chord)B diminished vii chord

You can see in the following table at a glance what chords fall into Major, minor and diminished categories. These are referred to as chord qualities.

Diatonic Harmony in Major Keys

Diatonic Scale DegreeChord Quality
1stMajor Triad
2ndminor Triad
3rdminor Triad
4thMajor Triad
5thMajor Triad
6thminor Triad
7thdiminished Triad

Now that we have all 7 chords in a Major key represented, what are the primary chords in all 12 Major keys?

Note: Upper case roman numerals are used to denote the one, four and five chords respectively.  I will also progress around the circle of 5ths in counter clockwise order.  If you're not familiar with the Circle of 5ths, here is an article on the Circle of 5ths that will help you understand it visually.

The Primary chords in all 12 Major keys

Key of C Major

I C Major Triad

IV F Major Triad

V Major Triad

Key of F Major

I F Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

IV B Flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

V C Major Triad

Key of B Flat Major

I B Flat Major Triad

IV E flat Major Triad

V F Major Triad

Key of E Flat Major

I E flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

IV A flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

V B flat Major Triad

Key of A Flat Major

I A flat Major Triad

IV D flat Major Triad

V E flat Major Triad

Key of D Flat Major

I D flat Major Triad

IV G flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

V A flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

Key of G Flat Major

I G flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

IV C flat Major Triad

V D flat Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

Key of B Major

I B Major TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music

IV E Major Triad

V F sharp Major Triad

Key of E Major

I E Major Triad

IV A Major Triad

V B Major Triadprimary chords

Key of A Major

I A Major Triad

IV D Major Triad

V E Major Triad

Key of D Major

I D Major Triadprimary chords

IV G Major Triadprimary chords

V A Major Triadprimary chords

Key of G Major

I G Major TriadIV C Major Triad

V D Major Triadprimary chords

Primary chords in all 12 minor keys

The key of A minor is the relative minor key of C Major. This essentially means that they share the same exact tones but are in a different number sequence.primary chordsIn the case of the A minor key, A is the tonic. This makes A the tonal center (or tonic) of the key.The  7 notes in a minor key of music have 7 corresponding chords associated with them. They are a combination of Major and minor triads with one of them being a diminished triad.

i A minor TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music-i A minorii B diminished TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music B diminished triad

III C Major Triad

iv D minor Triadiv D minor Triad

v E minor TriadPrimary chords v E minor

VI F Major TriadPrimary chords VI F Major

VII G Major TriadPrimary chords VI G Major

The following table shows what chords fall into Major, minor and diminished categories in a minor key. These are chord qualities in minor keys.

Diatonic Harmony in minor Keys

Diatonic Scale DegreeChord Quality
1stminor Triad
2nddiminished Triad
3rdMajor Triad
4thminor Triad
5thminor Triad
6thMajor Triad
7thMajor Triad

Just as with Major keys of music, minor keys have their primary chords as well and are constructed upon the first, fourth and fifth tones.

The Primary Chords in Natural Minor keys

Note: Lower case roman numerals are used to denote the one, four and five chords respectively.

Key of A Minor

i A minor TriadWhat Are the Primary Chords in a key of Music-i A minor

iv D minor Triadiv D minor Triad

v E minor Triadprimary chords v E minor

Key of D Minor

i D minor Triad

iv G minor Triad

v A minor Triad

Key of G Minor

i G minor Triad

iv C minor Triad

v D minor Triad

Key of C Minor

i C minor Triad

iv F minor Triadiv F minor

v G minor Triadv G minor

Key of F Minor

i F minor Triadprimary chords i F minor

iv B flat minor Triadprimary chords vi B flat minor

v C minor Triadprimary chords v C minor

Key of B flat Minor

i B flat minor Triadprimary chords i B flat minor

iv E flat minor Triadprimary chords iv E flat minor

v F minor Triadprimary chords v F minor

Key of E flat Minor

i E flat minor Triadprimary chords i E flat minor

iv A flat minor Triadprimary chords iv A flat minor

v B flat minor Triadprimary chords v B flat minor

Key of A flat Minor

i A flat minor Triadprimary chords i A flat minor

iv D flat minor Triadprimary chords vi D flat minor

v E flat minor Triadprimary chords E flat minor

Key of D flat Minor

i D flat minor Triadprimary chords i D flat minor

iv G flat minor Triad

v A flat minor Triadprimary chords v A flat minor

Key of G flat Minor

i G flat minor Triadprimary chords i G flat minor

iv C flat minor Triadprimary chords iv C flat minor

v D flat minor Triadprimary chords v D flat minor

Key of B Minor

i B minor Triadprimary chords i B minor

iv E minor Triadprimary chords iv E minor

v F Sharp minor Triadprimary chords v F sharp minor

Key of E Minor

i E minor Triadprimary chords i E minor

iv A minor Triadprimary chords iv A minor

v B minor Triadprimary chords v B minor

If you're not as familiar with the primary chords as you should be, take the time to learn and get them under your hands. You'll find that it's not difficult and gets much easier as you progress through them.  And I'll add that learning them will reward you as you progress to higher levels of your music journey.

Until next time, Go Play.

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Greg Lee

Hi, my name is Greg Lee. I'm the creator of the Color Score Professional/Visual Chord Learning System. I love to share ideas and concepts about piano and keyboard playing in all styles of music. I believe the key to learning is having fun and making complicated things simple with visual tools and illustrations.

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