Film Score Piano Chords

Screen music needs a chord to set a mood in one bar. The suspended chords give openness with no commitment to major or minor, the augmented and minor-major sevenths give unease, and the bare fifth gives a scene somewhere to sit without telling the audience how to feel yet.

96 chords carry this tag, across 8 chord types: minor, diminished, augmented, suspended 2nd, power chord, half-diminished 7th, minor-major 7th, minor 6th. Each one has its notes spelled for that key, a fingering worked out from its own shape, a staff, and a keyboard you can hear it on.

Triads

Three notes. Every one of these is playable with one hand from day one, and between them they cover most of the music anybody starts out learning.

Minor Chords

Minor chords have a darker, sadder, and more contemplative sound than major chords.

Cm
C – Eb – G
C#m
C# – E – G#
Dm
D – F – A
Ebm
Eb – Gb – Bb
Em
E – G – B
Fm
F – Ab – C
F#m
F# – A – C#
Gm
G – Bb – D
G#m
G# – B – D#
Am
A – C – E
Bbm
Bb – Db – F
Bm
B – D – F#

Diminished Chords

Diminished chords sound tense and unstable, often used as passing chords.

Cdim
C – Eb – Gb
C#dim
C# – E – G
Ddim
D – F – Ab
D#dim
D# – F# – A
Edim
E – G – Bb
Fdim
F – Ab – Cb
F#dim
F# – A – C
Gdim
G – Bb – Db
G#dim
G# – B – D
Adim
A – C – Eb
A#dim
A# – C# – E
Bdim
B – D – F

Augmented Chords

Augmented chords sound mysterious and dreamlike, common in film scores.

Caug
C – E – G#
Dbaug
Db – F – A
Daug
D – F# – A#
Ebaug
Eb – G – B
Eaug
E – G# – B#
Faug
F – A – C#
F#aug
F# – A# – C##
Gaug
G – B – D#
Abaug
Ab – C – E
Aaug
A – C# – E#
Bbaug
Bb – D – F#
Baug
B – D# – F##

Suspended 2nd Chords

Suspended 2nd chords sound open and airy, great for ambient and modern pop.

Csus2
C – D – G
Dbsus2
Db – Eb – Ab
Dsus2
D – E – A
Ebsus2
Eb – F – Bb
Esus2
E – F# – B
Fsus2
F – G – C
F#sus2
F# – G# – C#
Gsus2
G – A – D
Absus2
Ab – Bb – Eb
Asus2
A – B – E
Bbsus2
Bb – C – F
Bsus2
B – C# – F#

Power Chord Chords

Power chords are root and fifth with no third, so they are neither major nor minor.

C5
C – G
Db5
Db – Ab
D5
D – A
Eb5
Eb – Bb
E5
E – B
F5
F – C
F#5
F# – C#
G5
G – D
Ab5
Ab – Eb
A5
A – E
Bb5
Bb – F
B5
B – F#

Seventh chords

A triad with a fourth note stacked on top. Sevenths are where harmony stops being just bright or dark and starts having a direction it wants to go.

Half-Diminished 7th Chords

Half-diminished chords are hollow and unresolved. Every minor two-five starts on one.

Cm7b5
C – Eb – Gb – Bb
C#m7b5
C# – E – G – B
Dm7b5
D – F – Ab – C
Ebm7b5
Eb – Gb – Bbb – Db
Em7b5
E – G – Bb – D
Fm7b5
F – Ab – Cb – Eb
F#m7b5
F# – A – C – E
Gm7b5
G – Bb – Db – F
G#m7b5
G# – B – D – F#
Am7b5
A – C – Eb – G
Bbm7b5
Bb – Db – Fb – Ab
Bm7b5
B – D – F – A

Minor-Major 7th Chords

Minor-major 7th chords sound uneasy rather than sad, a staple of suspense scoring.

CmMaj7
C – Eb – G – B
C#mMaj7
C# – E – G# – B#
DmMaj7
D – F – A – C#
EbmMaj7
Eb – Gb – Bb – D
EmMaj7
E – G – B – D#
FmMaj7
F – Ab – C – E
F#mMaj7
F# – A – C# – E#
GmMaj7
G – Bb – D – F#
G#mMaj7
G# – B – D# – F##
AmMaj7
A – C – E – G#
BbmMaj7
Bb – Db – F – A
BmMaj7
B – D – F# – A#

Added-note chords

Triads with an extra colour note and no seventh. They stay consonant, which is why pop, gospel and film writing lean on them so hard.

Minor 6th Chords

Minor 6th chords are bittersweet and expressive, used in jazz and bossa nova.

Cm6
C – Eb – G – A
C#m6
C# – E – G# – A#
Dm6
D – F – A – B
Ebm6
Eb – Gb – Bb – C
Em6
E – G – B – C#
Fm6
F – Ab – C – D
F#m6
F# – A – C# – D#
Gm6
G – Bb – D – E
G#m6
G# – B – D# – E#
Am6
A – C – E – F#
Bbm6
Bb – Db – F – G
Bm6
B – D – F# – G#

Other tags

The same 288 chords, sorted a different way.

StylePop84Jazz192Blues36Rock48Classical72Gospel & Soul120Funk72Film Score96
MoodBright48Dark72Tense96Dreamy72
UseFirst Chords34Songwriting96Passing Chords36Two-Hand Chords108
LevelBeginner54Intermediate97Advanced137

Back to the full chord library for all 288 chords grouped by type.