Lesson Goal: To quickly internalize the Major Triads in all spellings… by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle…
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.
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Major Chord Wiki
learn more: Major Chord (Wikipedia)
FYI, triad is just a fancy name for a three-note chord.
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C Major Triad Theory & Ear Training
- Chord symbol: C
- Chord structure: 1-3-5
- Character: consonant, happy, light, heroic.
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C Major & C Minor Triads Compared
An effective way to internalize the sound-feeling of a major chord is to listen to its minor counterpart side-by-side…
Listen to the C Major Triad (C-E-G)…
Listen to the C Minor Triad (C-Eb-G)…
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Common Uses for Major Triads
Generally speaking, a major chord can perform any of the following functions (using Roman Numeral Analysis)…
- I chord in a Major or Mixolydian tonality.
- V chord in a Major or Minor tonality.
- IV chord in a Major, Dorian, or Mixolydian tonality.
- bVI chord in a Minor tonality.
- bVII chord in a Minor, Dorian, or Mixolydian tonality.
- bIII chord in a Minor tonality.
- Secondary Dominant V/x in a Major or Minor Tonality.
For example, a C chord can be used in any of the following ways:
- I chord in C Major or C Mixolydian.
- V chord in F major or F minor.
- IV chord in G Major, G Dorian, or G Mixolydian.
- bVI chord in E minor.
- bVII chord in D minor, D Dorian, or D Mixolydian.
- bIII chord in A minor.
- Secondary dominant of any F major of F minor chord.
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Chord Symbols, Spellings, & Keyboard Layouts, All Keys
Frank’s advice: Skip all the counting half-steps nonsense touted by almost every music theory “expert” 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.
Here are the chord symbols, spellings, common usages, and keyboard layouts for all the major triads…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Lesson Goal: To quickly learn to spell the 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…
Major Triads, All Keys (MP3 Play Along Practice 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”.
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 60 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 80 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 100 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 120 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 140 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 160 bpm…
Major Triads Practice, All Keys @ 180 bpm…
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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Major Triad Ear Training (MP3s)
Dozens of downloadable MP3s compressed into a single *.zip file… designed to help you recognize the sound-feeling of each of the four main triad types: major, minor, diminished, and augmented.
Simply download, unzip, create a playlist, set to random play, and do ear training any time and anywhere: while doing the dishes, taking a walk, or driving your car!
Each mp3 follows the same sequence:
- A random triad is played.
- Identify it by type: major, minor, diminished, augmented.
- After a short pause, the correct answer is given.
Listen to an example:
Study Notes:
(1) Successful ear training is not the fruit of trying to hear something. It is about being receptive to the sound/feeling you are experiencing and then associating that sound/feeling with something you already know–in this case the name of each triad type.
(2) Don’t get too carried away with this. Do just enough to get the gist for how each triad type sounds and feels. You will get lots more experience when we study the usage of triads in real music.
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learn more… Chords & Chord Progressions
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Another brilliant bit of training. I love explaining the goal of the lesson. This probably isn’t new but it’s the first time I’ve seen it. All the best to you Frank. Take care my friend.
Thanks so much for the positive feedback, Anthony. Please know that your influence was a huge factor in my decision to combine what used to be multiple major triad posts into this “everything everywhere all at once” post with an easy to navigate table of contents. This allows students of all levels to browse and pick out what they need. BTW, I’m in the process of doing the same for the entire website. Again, thanks largely to your influence, old friend.
Wishing you all the best.