Minichord Lab

Chord geometry

Every three-note chord is a point in a twisted prism. Going up transposes the chord; going across changes its shape. The straight line from one chord to the next is the smoothest way to move the voices, and its length is how far they have to go.

Connect the minichord, or try a test progression below.

Play a chord

As three notes
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Shape
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From the last chord
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So far
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On the map

Major triads, spiralling up round the middle Minor triads, their mirror images Diminished triads, further out Augmented triads, on the centre line

Chords with a doubled note sit on the walls, and three of the same note on the corner edges. The top is glued to the bottom with a third of a turn: rising all the way transposes a chord up a major third, which has the same shape, turned.

Test progressions

These only draw; the minichord makes its own sound. Drag the prism to turn it.

Four notes and more

Four-note chords live in a four-dimensional space that can't be drawn honestly in three. So a seventh chord is shown by its three-note core, the root, third and seventh, with the fifth left out, which is also the part that carries its voice leading. The readout always says when a chord has been reduced.

Minichord Lab by The Key & Cable Company · Say thanks