Chord Construc,on Triads Week 7
Learning Outcomes
• Be able to construct diatonic major key triads • Know the interval rela,onships in major, minor, augmented, diminished and suspended 4th triads
• Be able to provide correct chord symbols for major, minor, augmented, diminished and sus4 triads
• Construct triads
Chords
• Three or more notes played together form a chord
• We describe chords using the same words we describe intervals with: major, minor, augmented, diminished
• Three note chords are called triads • The basic building block for all chord types is the interval of a 3rd
Diatonic chords
1. Write out the C major scale 2. Now go through the scale, and place notes a
3rd above on top of each scale degree 3. Now go through the scale and and place
notes a 3rd above the previous notes Use notes only diatonic to the key of C major
• The triads you have just created are the diatonic triads of C major
• Diatonic chords for every key are created this way – by stacking diatonic notes of the scale in thirds
• Diatonic means notes exclusive to the key
• The diatonic triads in the key contain 3 of the 4 triadic chord structures: – Major – Minor – Diminished
• We can tell what kind of chord structure it is by analyzing the intervals in the chord
Major triads
• Chords with an interval of a major 3rd from the root (note name of the chord) to the middle note
• A perfect 5th from the root to the top note
G Perfect 5th E Major 3rd C
• What are the notes of the F chord in C? • What are the intervals between the root and middle note?
• What are the intervals between the root and top note?
• What are the notes of the G chord in C? • What are the intervals between the root and middle note?
• What are the intervals between the root and top note?
• The chord symbol for major is either – C =C major triad – C major – Cmaj
• At Wintec we use a stand alone le[er name to abbreviate major triads, ie. A = A major triad
Minor Triads
• Chords with an interval of a minor 3rd between the root and middle note
• And a perfect 5th between the root and top note
A Perfect 5th F Minor 3rd D
• What are the notes of the E chord in C? • What are the intervals between the root and middle note?
• What are the intervals between the root and top note?
• What are the notes of the A chord in C? • What are the intervals between the root and middle note?
• What are the intervals between the root and top note?
• The chord symbol for minor is either – A min – Am – A-‐
At Wintec, we use Am to abbreviate A minor triad
Diminished Triads
• Minor 3rd from root to middle note • Diminished 5th from root to middle note
F Diminished 5th D Minor 3rd B
• The chord symbol for diminished is either – dim – °
I.e. Bdim or B° • At Wintec we use B° to abbreviate a B
diminished triad
Augmented Triads
• Major 3rd from root to middle • Augmented 5th from root to top
G♯ Augmented 5th E Major 3rd C
• The augmented triad is not diatonic to a major key
• The chord symbol for augmented is either: – aug – +
• At Wintec we use C+ to abbreviate a C augmented triad
Sus 4 Triads
• Perfect 4th from root to middle • Perfect 5th from root to top
G Perfect 5th F Perfect 4th C
• A suspended 4th chord is a very common chord
• It doesn’t fit the normal pa[ern of stacked thirds
• A suspended 4th chord is a triad in which the 4th degree replaces the 3rd degree
• The chord symbol for a suspended 4th chord is – Fsus4
Exam Next Week
• 10 am start • 2 hour exam • No ear training • Worth 30 % of your Harmony mark • You are allowed a single sided A4 cheat sheet • It must be handwri[en
• The exam will test your knowledge on: – Staff, Cleffs and Ledger Lines – Accidentals – Scales – Major and Minor – Key signatures – Interval Recogni,on – Inversion of Intervals – Chord Construc,on -‐ Triads