Chords & Chord Progressions: Major Triads, Theory & Ear Training

Learn-by-doing lessons for quickly internalizing Major Triads in all spellings… by ear, intellect, eye and muscle…

Table of Contents

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Lesson Goal

To quickly internalize Major Triads in all spellings… using all four musical intelligences.

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Prerequisites

Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.

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C Major Triad Theory & Ear Training

• Chord symbol: C
• Chord structure: 1-3-5
• Character: consonant, stable, happy, light, heroic.

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Common Uses for Major Triads

Common uses (using Roman Numeral Analysis) for Major Triads include, but are not limited to, the following:

• I in Major or Mixolydian tonality.
• V in Major or Minor tonality.
• IV Major, Dorian, or Mixolydian tonality.
• bVI in Minor tonality.
• bVII in Minor, Dorian, or Mixolydian tonality.
• bIII in Minor tonality.
• Secondary Dominant V/x (Tonicization).

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Major Triads, All Spellings

Here are the chord symbols, spellings, common usages, and keyboard layouts for all the Major Triads…

Sidebar advice from Frank: Skip all the widely-touted counting half-steps nonsense and simply learn to spell each chord just as you spell any three-letter word in English. For example, you spell cat C-A-T and dog D-O-G. Likewise, you spell a C chord C-E-G and D chord D-F#-A.

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C Major

• Chord Symbol: C
• Spelling: C-E-G
• Common Usage: I chord in C Major, V chord in F Major or F Minor, IV chord in G Major, bVII chord in D Dorian or D Mixolydian.

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C Sharp Major

• Chord Symbol: C#
• Spelling: C#-E#-G# (the exact same physical keys as the Db chord).
• Common Usage: V chord in F# minor.

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D Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Db
• Spelling: Db-F-Ab (the exact same physical keys as the C# chord).
• Common Usage: I chord in Db Major, V chord in Gb major, IV chord in Ab Major.

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D Major

• Chord Symbol: D
• Spelling: D-F#-A
• Common Usage: I chord in D Major, V chord in G major or G minor, IV chord in A Major.

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D Sharp Major

• Chord Symbol: D#
• Spelling: D#-Fx-A# (the exact same physical keys as the Eb chord).
• Common Usage: V chord in G# minor.

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E Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Eb
• Spelling: Eb-G-Bb (the exact same physical keys as the D# major triad).
• Common Usage: I chord in Eb Major, V chord in Ab major, IV chord in Bb major.

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E Major

• Chord Symbol: E
• Spelling: E-G#-B
• Common Usage: I chord in E major, V chord in A major or A minor, IV chord in B Major.

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F Major

• Chord Symbol: F
• Spelling: F-A-C
• Common Usage: I chord in F Major, V chord in Bb major or Bb minor, IV chord in C major.

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F Sharp Major

• Chord Symbol: F#
• Spelling: F#-A#-C# (the exact same physical keys as the Gb chord).
• Common Usage: V chord in B Major or B minor.

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G Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Gb
• Spelling: Gb-Bb-Db (the exact same physical keys as the F# chord).
• Common Usage: I chord in Gb Major, IV chord in Db Major.

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G Major

• Chord Symbol: G
• Spelling: G-B-D
• Common Usage: I chord in G major, V chord in C major or C minor, IV chord in D major.

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G Sharp Major

• Chord Symbol: G#
• Spelling: G#-B#-D# (the exact same physical keys as the Ab chord).
• Common Usage: V chord in C# minor.

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A Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Ab
• Spelling: Ab-C-Eb (the exact same physical keys as the G# chord).
• Common Usage: I chord in Ab Major, V chord in Db Major, IV chord in Eb Major.

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A Major

• Chord Symbol: A
• Spelling: A-C#-E
• Common Usage: I chord in A major, V chord in D major or D minor, IV chord in E major.

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B Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Bb
• Spelling: Bb-D-F
• Common Usage: I chord in Bb Major, V chord in Eb Major or Eb minor, IV chord in F Major.

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B Major

• Chord Symbol: B
• Spelling: B-D#-F# (the exact same physical keys as the Cb chord).
• Common Usage: I chord in B major, V chord in E major or E minor.

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C Flat Major

• Chord Symbol: Cb
• Spelling: Cb-Eb-Gb (the exact same physical keys as the B chord).
• Usage: IV chord in Gb Major.

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Major Triad Names & Spellings (Flashcards)

For quickly learning to name and spell the most commonly used Major Triads (just as you spell any three-letter word in English)…

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Major Triads Practice, All Keys

Root position Major Triads played melodically and harmonically, arranged chromatically ascending in all major keys…

Sample at 120 beats per minute…

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Major Triads, All Keys (MP3 Play Along Tracks)

The benefits of playing along with a click track at various tempos cannot be overstated: very slowly at first to have enough time to “think about everything”, then fast enough to be forced to “play without thinking”.

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For a donation to the website (Donations Page) Frank would be happy to send you his personal collection of zip files that include high-res PDFs of the scores and MP3 play along practice tracks for the entire Piano-ology study aids library. This includes all practice tracks for scales, chords, and chord progressions produced to date.

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