Printable worksheet
Chord Building Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)
Printable chord building worksheet: spell triads and seventh chords from a root and a quality. Easy to hard, with answer key.
Chord Building Worksheet (Printable, with Answers)
Sheet #
Name Date Score /
Answer key
Chord Building Worksheet (Printable, with Answers) · Sheet #
How to use it
- Choose a difficulty and a chord family.
- Generate a sheet: each question gives a root and a chord quality.
- Write the notes from the root upwards using letter names with accidentals.
- Check against the answer key or print the answers on a separate page.
What this exercise practises#
You are given a root and a quality, such as A♭ minor triad or D dominant 7th chord (D7), and write the notes by name from the root upwards. There is no staff: the focus is correct spelling.
Method#
- Write the letter names: root, then every other letter (A♭, C, E for a triad; A♭, C, E, G for a seventh chord).
- Give the root its accidental. Decide the accidental of each other note from the interval it must make with the root.
- Intervals above the root:
- major triad: major 3rd, perfect 5th; minor triad: minor 3rd, perfect 5th
- diminished triad: minor 3rd, diminished 5th; augmented triad: major 3rd, augmented 5th
- add a major 7th (major 7th chord), minor 7th (dominant, minor and half-diminished 7th) or diminished 7th (diminished 7th chord)
- Count semitones if you are unsure: a major third is four, a minor third three, a perfect fifth seven.
Difficulty levels#
- Easy: major and minor triads (or major 7th, dominant 7th and minor 7th chords when the family is set to sevenths). In the default mixed mode the easy level uses triads only.
- Medium: diminished and augmented triads, major, dominant, minor and half-diminished 7th chords, roots with a sharp or flat and no double accidentals.
- Hard: adds diminished 7th chords and every root from C♭ to B♯, with double sharps and double flats.
Frequently asked questions
How do I spell a chord from its root?
Use every other letter name starting from the root (C, E, G, B for a C seventh chord), then add sharps or flats so the intervals above the root have the right size.
What are the notes of an F-sharp minor chord?
F♯-A-C♯: a minor third (F♯ to A) and a perfect fifth (F♯ to C♯).
What are the notes of B-flat dominant 7th?
B♭-D-F-A♭.
Why do I get C𝄪 or B𝄫 in an answer?
Chord notes must keep consecutive letter names. If the third of D♯ augmented is F𝄪, writing G instead would break the pattern of thirds.
What is the difference between this and the chord symbol worksheet?
Here you are told the quality in words (for example minor, dominant 7th). The chord symbol worksheet uses lead-sheet symbols such as Cm7 or F♯m7♭5.