Neighbours of C major
Every chord one voice of C major reaches by a semitone or a whole tone, on C and so for every root: the voice that steps, the notes that result, and what they spell.
C major holds C E G. 6 chords are one semitone away and 6 chords are one whole tone away; 8 of them spell a chord type and 3 realise a transform a source names.
One semitone away
| Voice | Steps to | Notes | Spells | Named transform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B, -1 | B E G | Em | L, Leading-tone exchange — Open Music Theory |
| C | C#, +1 | C# E G | C#dim | none named |
| E | Eb, -1 | C Eb G | Cm | P, Parallel — Open Music Theory |
| E | F, +1 | C F G | Fsus2, Csus4 | none named |
| G | Gb, -1 | C E Gb | no chord type | none named |
| G | G#, +1 | C E G# | Caug, Eaug, Abaug | none named |
One whole tone away
| Voice | Steps to | Notes | Spells | Named transform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bb, -2 | Bb E G | Edim | none named |
| C | D, +2 | D E G | no chord type | none named |
| E | D, -2 | C D G | Csus2, Gsus4 | none named |
| E | F#, +2 | C F# G | no chord type | none named |
| G | F, -2 | C E F | no chord type | none named |
| G | A, +2 | C E A | Am | R, Relative — Open Music Theory |
Transform names: Open Music Theory, 2nd edition, Mark Gotham, Kyle Gullings, Chelsey Hamm, Bryn Hughes, Brian Jarvis, Megan Lavengood and John Peterson.