Stupid beginner's question

So, when I get a major chord the steps are 1-3-5. Take E major for example, there's E and B in it, but surely the 3rd should be a G, not a G#? Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks.

nope, the G would be a minor 3rd, in a major chord its a major 3rd - G.
i think you may be using the frets instead of the correct intervals,
so in E the intervals are:
1:E
b2:F
2:F#/Gb
b3:G
3:G#/Ab
4:A
4#:A#/Bb
5:B
b6:C
6:C#/Db
b7:D
7:D#/Eb
i hope that makes sense and helps?

duh, sorry made a typo, in a major chord its a major 3rd - G#

to find the notes of the E major chord you have to look at the E major scale

The notes of the E major scale are
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
E F# G# A B C# D# E

so 1-3-5 makes E-G#-B

now you can still have the question why these are the notes of the E major scale
well all major scales are made up by this sequence
W-W-H-W-W-W-H (H meaning a whole tone=2 frets and H meaning a half tone= 1 fret)
so you start with E going up a whole tone makes F# (between E and F is only one step) , going up one step again makes G# going a half up makes A going a whole up makes B going a whole up again makes C#( between B and C is also only one step) going a whole step up again makes D# and then the last half step brings you back to the E.

you can create all major scales by this sequence (W-W-H-W-W-W-H) so if you want the notes of the g major you can start with G going up two whole tones gives B going up a half and then a whole step makes D so G-B-D are the notes of your chord. After a while you know which notes are in the scales so that makes it easier.

hope this is understandable and I hope it answers your question

Hi there CostacheCaragi. I'm a begininer too. Looking at your first post, I got a little confused at what happens between the 3rd and the 5th. Why doesn't it go:

b3:G
3:G#
b4:A
4:A#
b5:B
5:C
b6:C#
6:D

I am just trying to count the location of 3rds, 5ths etc, not determining the scale for E. Am I missing something in my counting?

I continue to be amazed at how this simple process of counting still confuses me :(

thanks mightydave,that really helps, its somethin i've been trying to undersand for ages!

you're welcome afro :)

To davo

the reason why he counts like that is also due to the sequence ((W-W-H-W-W-W-H)) of which scales are made

1:E
b2:F
---(between 1 and 2 whole tone)
2:F#/Gb
b3:G
---(between 2 and 3 whole tone)
3:G#/Ab
---(so here no b4 because now there's only a half tone (w-w-H-w-w-w-h))
4:A
4#:A#/Bb
---(again whole tone)
5:B
b6:C
---(again whole tone)
6:C#/Db
b7:D
---(again whole tone)
7:D#/Eb
and then to go back to E we need a half tone again

davo, youve included a b4 interval, there is no b4, its actually a major 3rd, its like there being no E#, its actually an F.

anouther good point to make is that when a chord contains 9ths, #11ths,11ths,13th etc in, it just means it is an octave above, so for example a #11th is just a #4th (which works well under lydian based modes) the 9th is an octave above a 2nd, the 13th is just a major 6th.
i guess you can use these notes to give chords abit more flavour, and to support whatever is being played on top of them.
hope all that makes sense?

I think it is making sense now... counting 3rds, 5ths etc follows the rules for scales, Yes? So you aren't just counting full intervals between notes, but including the semitones according to the WWHWWWH rule. Is that correct?

And if you are counting past 7ths, the WWHWWWH progression just repeats, right?

Hope these aren't irritatingly simple questions :)

you're right davo , i think you start to get it