Basic Triad theory

In order to play a chord on the guitar, you must play at least three notes. Playing two notes to make a chord is referred to as a power chord, which we will discuss in another lesson. A triad is made up of three notes from the major scale. Lets take a look at the C major scale again to get a good understanding of what exactly a triad is. In the example below you can see we are taking the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of the major scale to create the C Major Triad. (C Major Chord) The notes are (C, E, G).

Triads are made up of 4 types, Major, Minor, Diminished, & Augmented. Here is a chart displaying the Triads built from a C-Major scale, the C Major Scale only contains three types of triads. The Augmented triad contains a Root, Major 3rd & Augmented 5th. When the perfect 5th of the of a major triad is raised by 1/2 step it becomes augmented, producing an augmented triad.

The first Triad built form the C major scale is the C-Major chord, this chord contains the root C, a major 3rd and a perfect 5th. All major triads contain the Root, Major 3rd and Perfect 5th.

The second Triad built from the C-Major chord is a D Minor. An easy way to remember how to build a minor triad is to lower the 3rd of a major triad (1/2 step). All minor triads contain a Root, minor 3rd (flat third) & perfect 5th.

The Third Triad built from the C-Major chord is a E Minor.

The fourth Triad built form the C major scale is the F-Major chord.

The Fifth Triad built form the C major scale is the G-Major chord.

The sixth Triad built form the C major scale is the A-minor chord.

The seventh Triad built form the C major scale is the B-Diminished chord. If a perfect 5th of a minor triad is dropped by 1/2 step it becomes a diminished 5th.

Triad Inversions

It is important to note that the bottom note of a chord is not always the root. Chords can have Inversions for example a three note chord can have two inversions and a four note chord can have three inversions. Here is an example of a three note C chord and its inversions.