How to quickly figure out the chords in a major scale?
If I am playing on the scale of G major which have the keys G A B C D E F#, the chords of the major scale are G major, A minor, B minor, C major, D major, E minor, and F# diminished.
I am curious if there is a fast way to determine the notes in these chords. I know major scale chords have the pattern as Major Minor Minor Major Major Minor Diminished, but like for example:
For the second note in the G scale (A): I have to map out the A minor scale, then locate the (1,3,5) fingers in that scale, and then finally I have the major chord in that scale but that takes time. Or is this something you just have to memorize?
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Diatonic Chords
First, as Tim also mentioned, stick to the key of G. You shouldn't be considering "an A minor" scale at any point.
Write out (or think) the notes in G
Start from the note you want to make a chord from
Take every other note (intervals of a third)
That's how you do it at first. But the more familiar the (G) scale is to you, and the more you work with these notes as both chords and arpeggios, you just start to memorize them naturally.
Chord Formulas
Also, just as you should consider G as your frame of reference when harmonizing the diatonic chords of the entire scale, I'd also learn to use the chord root as a frame of reference when thinking about individual chords. Because remember that an Am is a chord in other keys as well. And it's helpful to be able to build the chord by itself without first placing it in a key.
So you already know the qualities of the diatonic chords (Maj7, min7, min7, etc). Now learn the formulas for each of those chords. For example a minor 7th is: 1, b3, 5, b7.
You know you want an A minor chord
Use the parallel major scale as reference (A major): A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#
So you take the 1, b3, 5, and b7 of that A major scale to get A, C, E, G
You could do it that way, as you say, take the second note A, then count up the A minor scale, 1,3,5 - A,C,E, then the B - 1,3,5 - B,D,F#. It works. The other way would be to stick firmly in G, so chord I is 1,3,5, chord ii is 2,4,6, chord iii is 3,5,7 (B,D,F# =Bm), except that takes you over the 8, as in chord vi is 6,8,10 (E,G,B =Em) but maybe that's not too bad.
Otherwise, as you guess - just learn them. There are many songs that use six out of the seven chords - play them in many different keys. I guess your instrument is piano. On guitar, it's probably easier to think in terms of relative fret positions for certain chord shapes - which isn't really an option on piano.
Just know your scales. I mean KNOW them. What notes are in them, how they're laid out on the keyboard/fretboard. You can't even BEGIN to think about composing or improvising until you know the map.
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