Turn a single MIDI note into a chord with Ableton Live’s Chord MIDI effect. This free download includes two PDF cheat sheets for Live 12 and 32 matching presets, so you can enter the settings yourself or load a chord shape straight into your session.
- Semitones: 16 examples and presets for fixed interval shapes with Scale Mode off.
- Scale Degrees: 16 examples and presets for shapes within your selected scale with Scale Mode on.
Keep the sheets beside your session while you experiment with pads, keys, basses, or lead sounds.
Updated September 2026: now includes 32 matching Chord presets.
Includes 2 PDF cheat sheets and 32 Chord presets. Enter 0 on Gumroad to download for free.
Start with a major chord
- Place Chord before an instrument on a MIDI track.
- For these semitone examples, turn off Use Current Scale if your version of Chord has that setting.
- Set one Shift control to +4 st and another to +7 st. Leave the other added voices off.
- Play C. You will hear C, E, and G: a C major chord.
Chord keeps the incoming note and can add up to six pitches. Here, the note you play is the root. Try a different root to move the same chord shape.
Three useful chord shapes
The root comes from your played note, so you do not need a separate Shift setting for it.
| Chord | Added pitches | Notes from C |
|---|---|---|
| Major | +4, +7 st | C, E, G |
| Minor | +3, +7 st | C, E-flat, G |
| Diminished | +3, +6 st | C, E-flat, G-flat |
What the numbers mean
A semitone is one step between neighboring piano keys, including the black keys. An interval describes the distance between two notes. C to D-flat is a minor second; C to D is a major second.
- 0 st: unison
- 1 st: minor second
- 2 st: major second
- 3 st: minor third
- 4 st: major third
- 5 st: perfect fourth
- 6 st: tritone
- 7 st: perfect fifth
- 8 st: minor sixth
- 9 st: major sixth
- 10 st: minor seventh
- 11 st: major seventh
- 12 st: octave
These are common interval names. Note spelling also matters: C to C-sharp is an augmented unison, even though it is the same semitone distance as C to D-flat.
Change the voicing
Move one chord tone up or down an octave by adding or subtracting 12 from its semitone value. For example, change +4 and +7 to +7 and +16 to spread C, E, and G across a wider range.
This changes the voicing. It becomes an inversion only when a different chord tone becomes the lowest note. Listen to each shape against your bass line, then save the settings you want to use again.
Semitones or Scale Degrees?
Live 12’s Chord effect can work in semitones or scale degrees. Switch between them using Use Current Scale in the device’s title bar.
Scale Mode off: Semitones
Use the Semitones cheat sheet to build specific chord types. For example, +4 st and +7 st create a major triad above the note you play.
Scale Mode on: Scale Degrees
Use the Scale Degrees cheat sheet to build shapes within your selected scale. The numbers count scale steps above or below the incoming note.
With C Major selected, set two Shift controls to +2 sd and +4 sd. Playing C produces C, E, and G. Playing D produces D, F, and A. The same settings create different chord qualities as you move through the scale.
The chord labels on this sheet assume a seven-note scale, such as major or natural minor. Scales with a different number of notes will produce different interval relationships.
Ableton Live 12 Chord Examples
Load the Matching Chord Presets
The download includes 32 Chord presets numbered to match the cheat sheets: 16 semitone presets and 16 scale-degree presets.
- Unzip the download.
- Drag a
.advpreset onto a MIDI track before an instrument. - Play a single note to hear the chord, then try different roots and sounds.
- For scale-degree presets, select your scale in Live and keep Use Current Scale enabled. Semitone presets load with it off.
The scale-degree labels assume a seven-note scale, such as major or natural minor. Other scale sizes produce different interval relationships.
Compatibility: Presets are supplied in Live 12.4.5 format. Compatibility with earlier Live 12 versions has not been verified. No Max for Live is required.
Includes 2 PDF cheat sheets and 32 Chord presets. Enter 0 on Gumroad to download for free.
Thanks Yueda!
so theres no download.. u have posted a low resolution unreadable version of the cheat sheet..
is there a pdf or png? or something?
At the bottom of the page there is a download button. Or you can go directly here: https://gumroad.com/l/eMMA
Its free oh wait i have to give my credit card info no thanks
Make sure you put 0 in the amount. No credit card needed
You offer a free download but require credit card info? ummm i think not
You can put 0 in the amount and you won’t need to put your card info.
The download appears to require a payment and there is no download for free option. Can you show us how to download for free or change the title of the page?
If you out 0 in the amount you won’t need to put your card info.
finally found what I was looking for! Thank you thank you !!
lol. how dumb are peole.. put 0 in and no credit card info needed.. i m really concerned for the human race after reading the comments..
Maybe it was simply not obvious and down to the design of gumroad.
Great display of ignorance, go and troll some other people’s constructive comments.
Guys, The gumroad deal was not clear and I apologize. Again, You can put 0 for the amount and you don’t need to put your CC details.
I hope you guys like the stuff on the website.
Cheers.
This is rad! Thank you sooooo much, was just looking around online today for a piece of hardware that can do these effects and here we be! Ableton rules the world again! Thanks so much!
Thank for the free download bro
thanks for sharing this :)
I have to think that you are doing this for the love of art of music, you remain your calm even when people doesnt get it and attack you. Nice guy
Thank you for this
thank you!!
Fantastic. Also thanks for the easy-to-understand write up on theory.
thank you for sharing this..
You’re Welcome Pancha!
Thank you this is great.
Sorry you have to deal with all the little kids that can’t read or put zero in a box to download. Makes music producers look like a bunch of idiots.
Can’t wait for the chord presets.