C major chord on piano

The notes and their roles

C major contains C, E and G. From the root, the semitone offsets are 0, 4, 7. The degree formula 1, 3, 5 describes each member relative to the root, not its order in a particular voicing.

Read this shape accurately

C, E and G are all white keys, but their spacing is not even: C to E is four semitones and E to G is three. Count the black keys between the notes when checking the distances.

Change only the third

Hold C and G steady. Lower E by one semitone to E♭ and the quality changes to minor. The root and perfect fifth do not change. This isolates the interval that distinguishes the two triads.

Choose a bass note

The root-position octave example is C4 · E4 · G4. Inversions put a different member in the bass while retaining C as the root. The table gives pitch-class order; move the leading notes up an octave as needed to keep each example ascending.

A short listening check

Play C major together, then as separate notes. Name the major third before looking at the display. Repeat in first inversion and check that E is the bass while C remains the root.

1. Choose the displayed root and quality in the chord explorer.
2. Compare root position with one inversion at the same tempo.
3. Save both examples in a named practice collection, or export a reference with note names.