Music is a form of expression. One idea or phrase a musician creates may sound different to the creator and listener. Based on the amount of education an individual has had on a style of music may determine what kinds of music that listener likes. A person who has never played jazz, for example, would never understand fully what the difference between a bunch of notes and improvisation is. Music is never, and hopefully never will be, random notes thrown together, there is always an underlying structure. All music is based on chord changes. A chord, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously. There are two different kinds of chords, major and minor chords.
All chords are based on a root, a major third, a perfect fifth, and sometimes a seventh. To find a major chord, first, you have to know what key to start in. The first major chord I will explain is using a C-scale (meaning no sharps or flats). The formula behind a major scale is w-w-h-w-w-w-h (w standing for whole step, h for half step). The root of a chord is always the key you are in. The root of a C-scale is C. To find the second note in the chord, starting from C, you have to move up four half steps. A half step is going from a white key to a black key or black to white key. The third in a C scale would be an E. To find the fifth, you start from the root again and go up seven half steps. The fifth in the C-scale is a G. With all these notes, a major triad is formed. This is usually the end of a C chord because the added seventh, in this case a B, will make the major chord sound incorrect which is why it is rarely used in major chords. 
A minor chord is slightly different from a major chord. All the notes are the same except the third, it is now a minor third instead of a major third. Using the C-scale again, the minor third is found by moving up three half steps instead of four. When hearing a minor chord after a major chord, the minor third may sound strange but it always resolves itself within the chord changes. The interesting difference between a major and a minor chord is that, while there is only one type of major chord, three different variations of minor chords exist. The three different types of minor variations are, natural, harmonic, and melodic minors. The formula behind a natural minor scale is w-h-w-w-h-w-w. By using this formula, the natural minor scale is found and the chord is derived from it. The natural minor chord of C is: C-E flat-G. Once the natural minor is found, a harmonic minor is easy; you simply have to raise the seventh by a half step. Instead of a B flat in the minor scale of C, it would become a B. The last form of a minor scale is melodic minor. In a melodic minor, the sixth and seventh are raised by a half step; in the key of C minor, there would now be an A and B instead of A flat and B flat.
All these different keys are used in music and can change the whole sound of a piece based on what the chord progression is.
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