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MUSIC THEORY BOOTCAMP Lesson 04: Triads Triads • A triad is the name given when 3 specific notes are played simultaneously. • Aka “a 3 note chord” • Triads are the foundations for all chords and are the most common chords used in all of music. Triads • There are 6 different types of triads that I break into 2 categories. Each triad has a unique sound • PRIMARY • Major • Minor • Diminished • Augmented • SUSPENDED • Sus2 • Sus4 Triads • Triads get their names by combining the ROOT NOTE with the QUALITY (type of triad) • Example: C is our root note. Minor is the quality. We get a C minor chord Triads • Triads are often written in the following ways (using the root note C for all examples) • C Major • C • CM • CMAJ • Most of the time the “major” is dropped and we refer to it just by the root note Triads • C Minor • Cm or C- • C Diminished • Cdim or C0 – C Augmented • Caug or C+ or C∆ Triads • We are going to look at building triads in 2 ways • By stacking intervals together • By building a Major triad and then comparing all other triads to it Major Triads • Pick a note • that is the first note needed…this is called the ROOT note and we use this note to identify the first part of any chord Major Triads • Go up a MAJOR THIRD from the root note • This note is the second note needed to form the triad and is called the “3rd” of the chord. (because you’re moving up a Major 3rd from the root) – The 3rd of any chord is THE defining note on whether a chord is of a major quality or a minor quality. Major Triads • Go up a MINOR third from the “3rd” • This now is the 3rd note needed to complete the TRIAD and it’s called the “5th” of the chord. • This note is a Perfect 5th away from the ROOT Major Triads • For example if you start with the note C • A MAJOR THIRD interval away from a C is the note “E” • A MINOR THIRD interval away from an “E” is the note “G” • (G is also a Perfect 5th from C) • When you combine C + E + G the resulting sound is called a C MAJOR TRIAD aka a “C MAJOR CHORD” Major Triads • Major Triad = • Rootà Major 3rd à Minor 3rd • Major Triad = • (Root + Major 3rd) + (Root + Perfect 5th) Major Triads • Note the terminology of the notes of a C MAJOR chord: • C = ROOT • E = 3rd • G = 5th Memorizing Letter Groups • It will pay off BIG TIME if you memorize the following groupings of letters. • EVERY primary triad will contain these LETTERS in these orders. • Sometimes certain notes will be sharp or flat depending on the context but the LETTERS will always be represented. Here they all are along with a little way to remember all of them Memorizing Letter Groups • Remember these phrases… • Every Good Boy Does Fine Always • Fat Alley Cats Eat Garbage Memorizing Letter Groups • All “A” chords will have the letters A C E • “Alley Cats Eat” • All “B” chords will have the letters B D F • “Boy Does Fine” • All “C” chords will have the letters C E G • “Cats Eat Garbage” Memorizing Letter Groups • All “D” chords will have the letters D F A • “Does Fine Always” • All “E” chords will have the letters E G B • “ E v e r y G o o d B o y ” • All “F” chords will have the letters F A C • “Fat Alley Cats” Memorizing Letter Groups • All “G” chords will have the letters G B D • “G o o d B o y D o e s” Minor Triads • Learning the triad by stacking intervals • Pick a note (in this case, “C”) • Go up a MINOR THIRD from “C” • Which would give you an “Eb” Minor Triads • Go up a MAJOR THIRD from “Eb” • Which would give you a “G” • So stacking a MINOR THIRD and then a MAJOR THIRD together (C + Eb + G in this case) and the resulting sound is called a “MINOR TRIAD” aka a “MINOR CHORD” Minor Triads • Alternatively, you look at a minor triad by stacking both intervals from the root • (Root + Minor 3rd) + (Root + Perfect 5th) Minor Triads • But this not the only way we look at building triads. The more common approach is to compare the MINOR TRIAD to the MAJOR TRIAD and note the difference Minor Triads • Look at the notes of the C MAJOR TRIAD (C E G) • Not Look at the notes of the C MINOR TRIAD (C Eb G) • What’s different? The 3rd is a half step lower in the MINOR triad • We call this the “flatted 3rd” • So a way to look at a MINOR TRIAD is by this formula • Root b3rd 5th Diminished Triads • Learning the triad by stacking intervals • Minor 3rd + Minor 3rd – Or (Root + Minor 3rd) + (Root + Tritone) • Pick a note (in this case, “C”) • Go up a MINOR THIRD from “C” • Which would give you an “Eb” Diminished Triads • Go up another MINOR THIRD from “Eb” • Which would give you a “Gb” • Gb is a tritone away from C • So stacking a MINOR THIRD and then another MINOR THIRD together (C + Eb + Gb in this case) and the resulting sound is called a “DIMINISHED TRIAD” aka a “DIMINISHED CHORD” Diminished Triads • Compare the DIMINISHED TRIAD to the MAJOR TRIAD and note the difference • Look at the notes of the C MAJOR TRIAD (C E G) • Now Look at the notes of the C DIMINISHED TRIAD (C Eb Gb) Diminished Triads • What’s different? The 3rd and the 5th are a half step lower in the DIMINISHED triad • We call this the “flatted 3rd” and the “flatted 5th” • Also, note the difference between a MINOR chord and a diminished chord is only the b5th • So a way to look at a DIMINSHED TRIAD is by this formula • Root b3rd b5th Augmented Triads • Learning the triad by stacking intervals • Major 3rd + Major 3rd • (Root + Major 3rd) + (Root + Minor 6th) – Pick a note (in this case, “C”) • Go up a MAJOR THIRD from “C” • Which would give you an “E” Augmented Triads • Go up another MAJOR THIRD from “E” • Which would give you a “G#” – G# is a Minor 6th (a #5) away from C • So stacking a MAJOR THIRD and then another MAJOR THIRD together (C + E + G# in this case) and the resulting sound is called an “AUGMENTED TRIAD” aka an “AUGMENTED CHORD” Augmented Triads • Compare the AUGMENTED TRIAD to the MAJOR TRIAD and note the difference • Look at the notes of the C MAJOR TRIAD (C E G) • Not Look at the notes of the C AUGMENTED TRIAD (C E G#) Augmented Triads • What’s different? The 5th is a half step higher in the AUGMENTED triad • We call this the “sharp 5th” • So a way to look at a AUGMENTED TRIAD is by this formula • Root 3rd #5th Quick Recap • Major = R 3rd 5th • Minor = R b3rd 5th • Diminished = R b3rd b5th • Augmented = R 3rd #5th Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Notes In Every Triad Inversions • When it comes to playing triads, you have some options in the order in which you put the notes • Let’s say you are playing a C Major • If you put the 3 notes in order where C is the lowest note E is the 2nd note and G is the highest…then you are playing a C Major Triad in ROOT POSITION Inversions • But…you can just as easily switch the order up • If the E is the lowest note, G is the 2nd note, and C is the highest note, all 3 notes that make up a C Major Triad are there, but in a different order • When the 3rd of the chord is in the bass, we call it the “FIRST INVERSION” Inversions • If the G is the lowest note, C is the 2nd note, and E is the highest note, then we are playing a C Major Triad in the “SECOND INVERSION” • Inversions are mostly notated by a “/” symbol • For example, a 1st inversion C Major Triad would be written C/E • The C tells us the chord (C Major) • The “/ E” tells us that E is in the bass • You could say “C slash E” or “C with an E in the bass” Inversion Recap • All examples low string to high string • ROOT POSITION = R 3rd 5th • 1st Inversion = 3rd 5th Root • 2nd Inversion = 5th Root 3rd Suspended Triads • The other groups of triads are called suspended triads. • Suspended chords are very cool “neutral” and pretty sounding chords • A suspended chord (notated as a “sus”) REMOVES the 3rd of the chord and replaces it with one of two notes: The “2nd” or the “4th” creating either sus2 or sus4 chords. Suspended Triads • Where do the 2’s and 4’s come from? • Look at the notes of the C Major Scale • C D E F G A B • Remember that a major chord was the ROOT + 3rd + 5th – C E G in this case • A sus2 is ROOT + 2nd + 5th – C D G • A sus4 is ROOT + 4th + 5th – C F G Suspended Triads • Instead of memorizing all of the sus2 and sus4 chord note names, there’s an easy hack to remember IF AND ONLY IF you memorized the notes in all of your major chords. Suspended Triads • For sus2 chords, you remove the 3rd and replace it with the note a MAJOR 2nd (a whole step) HIGHER then the ROOT NOTE.
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