can be somewhat confusing to remember what the abbreviations of chords are and what specifically goes into making each type of chord, so hopefully this chart will make things a bit clearer:
| NAME OF CHORD | ABBREVIATIONS | NUMBER OF NOTES | INTERVALS |
| Major | maj or M | 3 | maj 3rd + min 3rd |
| Minor | Min or m | 3 | min 3rd + maj 3rd |
| Major 7th | maj7 | 4 | maj 3rd + min 3rd + maj 3rd |
| Dominant 7th | dom7 | 4 | maj 3rd + min 3rd + min 3rd |
| Diminished 7th | dim7 | 4 | min 3rd + min 3rd + min 3rd |
| Half Diminshed 7th | ½dim7 | 4 | min 3rd + min 3rd + maj 3rd |
| Diminished Chord | dim | 3 | min 3rd + min 3rd |
| Augmented Chord | aug | 3 | maj 3rd + maj 3rd |
As a quick reference guide, I have also included below a table of major and minor chords and what notes make up these chords.
It is perhaps useful to state that:
♯ is a sharp and it is a semitone higher (or to the right)
× is a double sharp and it is a tone higher (or to the right)
♭is a flat and it is a semitone lower (or to the left)
♭♭ is a double flat and it is a tone lower (or to the left)
| MAJOR CHORD NOTES | MINOR CHORD NOTES | |
| C | C,E,G | C, E♭G |
| C♯or D♭ | C♯E♯G♯or D♭F, A♭ | C♯E, G♯ or D♭F♭A♭ |
| D | D,F♯,A | D,F,A |
| D♯or E♭ | D♯F×, A♯ or E♭G, B♭ | D♯F♯A♯ or E♭G♭B♭ |
| E | E, G♯B | E,G,B |
| F | F,A,C | F,A♭C |
| F♯ or G♭ | F♯A♯C♯ or G♭B♭D♭ | F♯A, C♯ or G♭B♭♭D♭ |
| G | G,B,D | G,B♭D |
| G♯or A♭ | G♯B♯D♯ or A♭C, E♭ | G♯B, D♯ or A♭C♭E♭ |
| A | A, C♯E | A,C,E |
| A♯or B♭ | A♯C× E♯ or B♭D, F | A♯C♯E♯ or B♭D♭F |
| B | B, D♯F♯ | B,D,F♯ |
Sometimes working out a chord can feel a bit tricky especially when it is not something you are used to doing it. Hopefully either or both tables will give you enough tools to confidently work out what chord you are meant to play and furthermore, what notes make up the chord.
It also needs to be stated that there are certainly other types of chords that you could learn, but the ones here will make up about ninety-nine percent of chords that you will play. If you are interested in learning more chords, I would strongly advise you to master these chords here before learning others.