Passing Piano Chords

A passing chord exists to connect two chords that matter. The diminished family does most of this work, sliding a chromatic step between two stable chords, and the augmented triad does the rest by pushing a single voice upward. Nobody ends a song on one of these.

36 chords carry this tag, across 3 chord types: diminished, augmented, diminished 7th. 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.

Diminished Chords

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

C – Eb – Gb

D# – F# – A

F – Ab – Cb

G – Bb – Db

A# – C# – E

Augmented Chords

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

D – F# – A#

E – G# – B#

F# – A# – C##

A – C# – E#

Bb – D – F#

B – D# – 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.

Diminished 7th Chords

Diminished 7th chords are highly dramatic, a favorite in classical and jazz.

C – Eb – Gb – Bbb

C# – E – G – Bb

D – F – Ab – Cb

D# – F# – A – C

E – G – Bb – Db

F – Ab – Cb – Ebb

F# – A – C – Eb

G – Bb – Db – Fb

G# – B – D – F

A – C – Eb – Gb

A# – C# – E – G

B – D – F – Ab

Other tags

The same 288 chords, sorted a different way.

StylePop84 Jazz192 Blues36 Rock48 Classical72 Gospel & Soul120 Funk72 Film Score96

MoodBright48 Dark72 Tense96 Dreamy72

UseFirst Chords34 Songwriting96 Passing Chords36 Two-Hand Chords108

LevelBeginner54 Intermediate97 Advanced137

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