|
Theory On Tap
Lesson 2: What are Triads?
by: Rick Bellinger
This lesson concerns triads, the most rudimentary chord type. Triads are
simply chords with three separate "voices" (i.e., three separate notes.)
As with intervals, the most important thing is
to associate the sound with the name.
|
|
Tertian Harmony
Tertian harmony refers to harmonies based in thirds. This means
the second tone of the chord will be a third above the root, and the third
tone will be a third above the second tone, etc. Tertian triads form the
backbone of European harmony, from which jazz harmony evolved. The basic
harmonic unit in jazz theory is the seventh chord (often extended to
include ninths, elevenths and thirteenths.)
|
|
Symbols and terms
I will use the following symbols and terms in this lesson. I hope the
meaning will become clear as you read on.
|
|
Terms
- Chord - group of three or more notes played at the same
time
- Arpeggio - notes of a chord played simultaneously,
ascending or descending.
- Triad - a chord with only three different notes.
- Root - starting note from which an interval, scale or
chord is founded on. The letter name for the
root will be the letter name for a chord or
scale built on that root. For example, if a
major triad has a C for the root, it is called
a C major triad. If a minor scale has A for
the root, it is called an A minor scale.
- Consonant - stable or pleasant sounding.
- Dissonant - unstable or unpleasant sounding.
Symbols
- R - root
- Mi - minor
- Ma - major
- p - Perfect
- di - diminished
- au - augmented
- sus4 - suspended 4th, a type of triad.
|
|
Numbers will usually indicate intervals. For example, 3 will mean a third.
Ma3 will mean a major third.
|
|
I am using this notation primarily because it is easy for this medium.
However, many notation systems exist, along with many arguments about which
one is correct. In reality, you should know as many as possible, 'cause you
never know what you're gonna find on your lead sheet! We will learn more when
we talk about seventh chords. (Note: My jazz harmony teacher preferred Ma
and mi as opposed to the more standard M and m because he had trouble
telling student's big M's from their little m's!)
|
|
Five Common Triads
Here are five of the most common triads in Western music. (Very similar
diagrams can be found lining the back of certain lower pages on the
Stickwire web page,
courtesy of Vance Gloster).
|
|
The Major Triad
You will probably recognize the sound of this one
instantly. It has a kind of "bright" quality to it. Most songs in a major
key will "resolve" to this chord- that is, the other chords played will
make you want to hear this chord after them. Here is how to play it on the
melody strings
|
|
|
|
Distances between the notes
| Interval from root: |
R |
|
Ma3 |
|
p5 |
| |
|
^ |
|
^ |
|
| Interval between tones: |
|
Ma3 |
|
mi3 |
|
|
|
|
The Minor Triad
This is also a very recognizable chord, just a little less common than the
major triad. It has a "darker" quality to it than the major triad does.
Here is how to play it on the melody strings:
|
|
|
|
Distances between the notes
| Interval from root: |
R |
|
mi3 |
|
p5 |
| |
|
^ |
|
^ |
|
| Interval between tones: |
|
mi3 |
|
Ma3 |
|
|
Note: that the only difference between this chord and a
major triad is that it has a minor third instead of a major third.
Note: that these intervals are reversed from the major triad.
|
|
The Augmented triad
This is simply a major triad with an augmented 5th. It is somewhat rare,
and generally occurs only in music with a "minor" key (however, John
Coltrane's arrangement of "Summertime" on his "My Favorite Things"
prominently features augmented chords!) It has a much more "dissonant"
quality. Here is how it is played on the melody strings:
|
|
|
|
Distances between the notes
| Interval from root: |
R |
|
Ma3 |
|
au5 |
| |
|
^ |
|
^ |
|
| Interval between tones: |
|
Ma3 |
|
Ma3 |
|
|
|
|
The Diminished Triad
This is a minor triad with a diminished 5th. It is also dissonant and not
so commonly used, but it can provide a "pivot" in jazz chord progressions.
Here is how to play it on the melody strings:
|
|
|
|
Distances between the notes
| Interval from root: |
R |
|
mi3 |
|
di5 |
| |
|
^ |
|
^ |
|
| Interval between tones: |
|
mi3 |
|
mi3 |
|
|
|
|
The sus4 chord
This chord began to appear in a lot of '70s pop recordings, including
Steely Dan (which usually gets praise from jazz musicians). It is simply a
major triad with the major 3rd raised to the perfect 4th. The chord makes
you want to hear the 4th lowered to the 3rd ("resolved"), and it may be
followed by a major chord with the same root or may act as a "pivot" to a
different chord. Here is how it is played on the melody strings:
|
|
|
|
Distances between the notes
| Interval from root: |
R |
|
p4 |
|
p5 |
| |
|
^ |
|
^ |
|
| Interval between tones: |
|
p4 |
|
Ma2 |
|
|
|
|
Inversions
The voicings (order of tones) of the above examples are all root
position voicings of the chords. That means the root is the lowest tone,
followed by the 3rd as the next highest, and then the 5th. These tones
don't always have to be played in that order. If we play the 3rd, then the
5th, and then the root, we call the voicing the first inversion.
If we play the 5th, then the root, then the 3rd, the voicing is called the
second inversion You should know all the inversions for each chord.
Here is how they are played on the melody strings:
|
|
Major triad and inversions
|
|
(I designed these charts to save space. Note that the tones of the root
positions chords are all on the lower three melody strings. The tones of
the 1st inversion are all on the next three strings. The notes of the 2nd
inversions are all on the highest three melody strings. I will place the
slash \ as a fret symbol to separate different chords when I think they are
too confusing).
|
|
Minor triad and inversions
|
|
Augmented triad and inversions
(Note that all augmented triad inversions have the same shape!)
|
|
Diminished triad and inversions
|
|
Suspended 4th triad and inversions
|
|
Triads on the bass stings
Because the bass strings of the stick are usually tuned in the wider
perfect 5th interval, it is not easy to play the above triads on the bass
strings. Two ways around this are a) use both hands, and b) use the "B.C."
(Bob Culbertson) method, which involves using the thumb of your left hand
to play notes. However, because of the relationships of the melody strings
to the bass strings, these aren't really necessary. As we learned in the
previous lesson, a perfect 4th is the inversion of a perfect 5th, and
vice-versa. What this means for the stick is that you can move a chord
pattern from the melody strings to the bass strings, but keep the same note
as the root. The chord will have the same quality, but all the notes
will be inverted! It will sound very similar, but the spacing between the
actual notes played is greater. (Note: in legit theory, these
voicings are called open structure voicings, which means that
the lowest and highest tones are more than one octave apart. The all
the chords shown above are close structure chords, meaning that
the lowest and highest tones fall within one octave.)
|
|
Here is a table for converting the triad forms from melody strings to bass
strings. (Note: I admit that I stole these from Jeff Jetton's "Son of
INSights" post last Saturday.)
|
|
| Melody strings |
Bass strings
|
| closed root position (R-3-5) |
open second inversion (5-3-R) |
| closed first inversion (3-5-R) |
open root position (R-5-3) |
| closed second inversion (5-R-3) |
open first inversion (3-R-5) |
|
|
Try playing all the melody string patterns chord patterns on the bass
strings. Listen for the similarities and differences of the chords. (Note:
chords generally sound better in higher registers, so try to stick to the
higher bass stings.)
|
|
Ear training
You should always learn to associate three things in your head: a name, a
symbol, and a sound. The sound is, of course, what we're after. The name is
for our convenience - it lets us communicate what we are doing to each
other. The symbol serves the same purpose, but on paper (or in this case,
on your computer screen).
|
|
Make sure you can identify all the chords above when you hear them. This
takes practice. Play them frequently, and maybe record them in random order
and listen to the tape a week later to see if you can identify them. Again,
there are some excellent ear training tapes and software available to help
you.
|
|
Next lesson: Will Pirkle will teach us about the major scale and it's modes.
|