In this last installment Triad Improvisation Part 4. We will take a look at triads on the 6,5,4 strings of the guitar. Again we will use the major chord forms as a reference to the rest of the triads to keep things simple. The major form is the first chord in each example followed by augmented,minor then diminished just as in example 1,2,3.

• Form 1.

|----------|
|----------|
|----------|
|----5-----|
|----5-----|
|----7-----|

• Example 1.

   Major     Aug.      Minor    Dim.
|------------------|---------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|
|-----5-5------5-5-|-----5-5------5-5----|
|---5--------6-----|---5--------4--------|
|-7--------7-------|-6--------6----------|

Listen to Example 1.

• Form 2.

|----------|
|----------|
|----------|
|----9-----|
|---10-----|
|---10-----|

• Example 2.

   Major        Aug.        Minor       Dim. 
|-----------------------|------------------------|
|-----------------------|------------------------|
|-----------------------|------------------------|
|-------9-9--------9-9--|-------8-8-------8-8----|
|----10---------10------|----10--------10--------|
|-10---------11---------|-10---------9-----------|

Listen to Example 2.

• Form 3.

|----------|
|----------|
|----------|
|---12-----|
|---14-----|
|---15-----|

• Example 3.

     Major         Aug.          Minor       Dim. 
|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------12-12--------13-13--|-------12-12--------11-11----|
|----14-----------14--------|----13-----------13----------|
|-15-----------15-----------|-15-----------15-------------|

Listen to Example 3.

Now when we put them all together we have a total of 12 chords.

3 Major

3 Augmented

3 Minor 

3 Diminished

• Example 4.

     Major      Augmented    Minor        Diminished
|------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
|------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
|------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|
|-5---9--12--|--5---9--13--|--5---8--12--|-5---8--11----|
|-5--10--14--|--6--10--14--|--5--10--13--|-4--10--13----|
|-7--10--15--|--7--11--15--|--6--10--15--|-6---9--15----|

Listen to Example 4.

By learning your triads on each set of (3) strings you will see the guitars fretboard more clearly. "See where your going per say". Try these triads in your normal everyday playing, they will open your mind and break up your everyday routine.

If you missed Part 1 and 2 or 3 visit the links below.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Have Fun.........

Brian Calloway