This is the 2nd installment of our 4 part Triad Improvisation lesson. We will take a look at the triads on the 4,3,2 strings of the guitar. As mentioned in part one, a triad is a chord with only 3 notes and they are built by using the (1) Root (3rd) and (5th) of the scale.
Again, we will use the major chord forms as reference to keep things simple. The major form is the first chord in each example followed by augmented,minor then diminished. Make sure you listen to each midi file example. See Attachments below.
Form 1.
|----------|
|----3-----|
|----4-----|
|----5-----|
|----------|
|----------|
Example 1.
Major Aug. Minor Dim.
|------------------|---------------------|
|-----3-3------4-4-|-----3-3------2-2----|
|---4--------4-----|---3--------3--------|
|-5--------5-------|-5--------5----------|
|------------------|---------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|
As mentioned in Part 1. Major and Augmented chords are Major based and the Minor and Diminished chords are Minor based. This is determined by the 3rd degree. All major chords contain a Major 3rd and all Minor Chords contain a Minor 3rd.
Form 2.
|----------|
|----8-----|
|----7-----|
|----9-----|
|----------|
|----------|
Example 2.
Major Aug. Minor Dim.
|------------------|---------------------|
|-----8-8------8-8-|-----8-8------8-8----|
|---7--------8-----|---7--------6--------|
|-9--------9-------|-8--------8----------|
|------------------|---------------------|
|------------------|---------------------|
Form 3.
|----------|
|---12-----|
|---12-----|
|---12-----|
|----------|
|----------|
Example 3.
Major Aug. Minor Dim.
|--------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------12-12--------12-12-|-------11-11--------11-11----|
|----12-----------12-------|----12-----------12----------|
|-12-----------13----------|-12-----------11-------------|
|--------------------------|-----------------------------|
|--------------------------|-----------------------------|
Now when we put them all together we have a total of 12 chords.
- 3 Major
- 3 Minor
- 3 Diminished
- 3 Augmented
Example 4.
Major Augmented Minor Diminished
|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
|-3--8--12----|-4--8--12----|-3--8--11----|-2--8--11---|
|-4--7--12----|-4--8--12----|-3--7--12----|-3--6--12---|
|-5--9--12----|-5--9--13----|-5--8--12----|-5--8--11---|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|------------|
You should start to see the pattern of how these triads chords lay on the guitars fretboard. Practice these examples in all keys to get the full effect.
Make sure you learn these chord types or you will be lost in the next 2 parts of this lesson. We will look at Triads on the 5,4,3 strings in the next installment.
