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Guitar Triad Chords
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You have your guitar and you have been practicing and memorizing your major scales and notes on your fingerboard. Some friends have called and invited you to a little jam session over at their house. Sure, they probably know you are a newbie to guitar, but you panic and you are thinking that you only know scales, a few notes here and there.
Without having to learn all the chords charted out there in the universe, all you need to do is remember a simple little trick in the music theory world called guitar triad chords. To break down the meaning, chords are two or more notes played at the same time, so triad chords mean that three notes will be played.
Major triad chords consist of the 1st – 3rd – and 5th notes in a scale. You may also hear the term root note. Just remember that the first note in a scale is also known as the root note. A common place that everyone starts with is the C major scale. The notes of the C scale is the root note – C, then D – E – F – G – A – and B. In order to make a triad chord you need to play the root note – C, the 3rd note E, and the 5th note G.
Now you are at your friends’ house. They are going to play a song with a G major chord, a C major chord, and a D major chord. What you need to do is think and organize your mind to recall the root note, the 3rd note, and 5th note from each of these scales.
For the G chord you would play: G – B – and D.
For the C chord you would play: C – E – and G.
For the D chord you would play: D – F# – and A.
The major triad chords are listed below for you.
Root 3 5
C E G
D F# A
E G# B
F A C
G B D
A C# E
B D# F#
In a perfect world there would only be major chords and everything would remain simple. But in fact there are also minor triad chords and diminished triad chords.
Minor triad chords consist of the 1st – flat 3rd – and 5th notes in a major scale. In order to play a flat 3rd you need to take the 3rd note of the major scale and play it a half-step lower. So if we begin again with the C scale, a minor triad chord would be the root note – C, the flat 3rd note – D#, and the 5th note G.
The third note is the only thing that will change in a minor chord. We have looked at the C minor triad chord. Now try one more for practice. You need to play an A minor triad chord. Look at the 3rd note. It is a C#. In order to play it you need to take it one half-step lower. This would make it a C. So, you would play the root note A, the flat 3rd note C, and the 5th note E.
Diminished triad chords consist of the 1st – flat 3rd – and flat 5th notes in a major scale. In addition to playing a flat 3rd you also need to add a flat 5th note. In the minor triad chords you have already altered the 3rd note, now take the 5th note of the major scale and play it a half-step lower. So if we begin again with the C scale, a diminished triad chord would be the root note – C, the flat 3rd note – D#, and the flat 5th note F#.
We have looked at the C diminished triad chord. Now try one more for practice. You need to play a B diminished triad chord. Look at the 3rd note. It is a D#. In order to play it you need to take it one half-step lower. This would make it a D. Now, look at the 5th note. It is an F#. In order to play it you would need to take it on half-step lower. This would make it a F. So, you would play the root note B, the flat 3rd note D, and the flat 5th note F.
You now have the general concept of guitar triad chords. What you are wondering now is how will I know when to play the major, minor, or diminished chords? The answer will come from one of your guitarist friends at the next jam session when they shout out G or B minor, or A diminished. You will also find clues on your sheet music. The majority of major chords will list the name only of the chord, A, D, G, and so on. A minor chord is listed several different ways, Am, A-, or Amin. Finally, the diminished chords will be listed differently as well, Ddim, and D°.
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