TRIADS
TRIAD CHORDS
Triads are chords made up of three notes stacked in intervals of thirds.
The bottom note is the Root or the tonic of the chord, the second note is called the third (because its an interval of a third above the root) and the top note is called the 5th (because it's an interval of a fifth above the root)
There are four types of triad: Major, Minor, Diminished and Augmented.
Major Triad: Major Third, Perfect Fifth
Minor Triad: Minor Third, Perfect Fifth
Diminished Triad: Minor Third, Diminished Fifth
Augmented Triad: Major Third, Augmented Fifth
TYPES OF TRIADS
MASTERING MAJOR AND MINOR TRIADS
TRIADS are chords made up of three notes. The most commonly used chords (in almost any style of music) are major and minor triads.
To make a major chord (M), pick a note (any note). This is the root of the chord. Put the thumb of your right hand on that note. Then, count up four notes (remembering to count both black and white notes) and then place your middle finger on the note you arrive at. From there count up another three notes (again remembering to count both black and white keys) and put your little finger on that note. Play all three notes at once, and you have made a Major Triad. (In this video these are labelled with a capital 'M'
The 'rule' to make a Major triad (M) is 4-3
Minor triads can be made in a very similar way, but this time pick a note, count up three notes, and then from that note, count up four notes). Minor triads are identified with a lower-case 'm'
The 'rule' to make a minor triad (m) is 3-4
EXERCISE 1: Practice all twelve Major triads, and all twelve minor triads, until you can move from one to the other without thinking about it too much.
It's a really good idea to have all the triads 'under your fingers'. This will really take your music to a new level. The triads on the keyboard are listed below.
Start by learning all the major triads, and try moving between them in various ways (going up in semitones, going down in semitones, going up 5 notes each time etc.)
Once you've got these down, move on to the minor triads!
MAJOR TRIADS
Practice these a million times...
MINOR TRIADS
Then practice these a million more times....
Major and minor triad identification 1 kbs and circles.pdfTRIAD WORKSHEET 1
Triad identification 1 to 5 # s ..pdfTRIAD WORKSHEET 2
AUGMENTED AND DIMINISHED TRIADS
To follow the same technique that we used to to make the Major and Minor triads
The 'rule' to make an Augmented triad (+) is 4-4
and...
The 'rule' to make a diminished triad (o) is 3-3
both of these chords sound pretty weird to us in most contexts, because of the inherent tension between the tonic of the chord and the 'altered' fifth. This makes both of these chords excellent options for composing horror soundtracks. Try a few of them out! (actually, try playing them in every key, and memorise them as quickly as you can)
AUGMENTED TRIADS
DIMINISHED TRIADS
TRIAD WORKSHEET 3
