How many major triads occur in a major key

Major and Minor Triads. Major and minor triads are simple, consonant chords, containing three tones arranged in one of two ways. They are the primary harmonic building blocks of tonal music. Constructing Triads.

Triads are constructed within the context of scales. To construct a triad, first pick one tone of the scale as the starting point. Taking that pitch as your first tone, count upwards and take the third and fifth pitches you come to as the other two pitches of the triad.

For example, if you start with the second pitch of a scale, the triad based on that pitch will also include the fourth and sixth pitches of the scale. Video Example 1 : The beginning of a major scale then a triad consisting of pitches two, four and six. If triads are formed on the basis of the major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, then these triads will be of four types: major, minor, augmented, and diminished.

You can read more about augmented and diminished triads in the Sonic Glossary entry Third. Here we will be concerned only with major and minor triads, which make up the majority of triads formed on the basis of the scales of tonal music.

In both major and minor triads, the interval between the first and the fifth notes counted off is always a perfect fifth. The only difference between major and minor triads is in the third note.

The triad can be changed to a different "voicing" without changing its "quality" or "position". By placing the third of the triad one octave higher, the triad will be in "open voicing". The basic open voicing is created by interlocking the lower interval of a fifth with the upper interval of a sixth. In an Augmented triad the interval of the lower third is a Major 3rd and the interval of the upper third is also a Major 3rd. Also of importance is that the interval of the Root to the Fifth is an Augmented 5th.

The augmented triad is found in the harmonic minor and melodic minor scales as the triad rooted on the third note of those scales. Although the augmented triad does not exist as a diatonic triad in the major scale diatonic triads are discussed later in this chapter it is often used in a major key.

The most frequent use of the augmented triad in a Major key is when the triad is rooted on the fifth note of the scale Oh, Darlin' - Beatles, It's only love, Beatles or the triad is rooted on the first note of the scale Baby hold on to Me - Eddie Money, For Once in my life-Stevie Wonder. These augmented triads will always require a note that is outside the basic major scale structure but that is why they provide an interesting sound in major keys, they add a certain tension that is usually resolved by the following chord of the song.

The Augmented triad rooted on the fifth note of a Minor key is also frequently used. It should be noted that the D in the Augmented triad is enharmonic to Eb; a note that is diatonic to the key of C minor. Because of this fact the D is often written as a Eb. In a Diminished triad the interval of the lower third is a Minor 3rd and the interval of the upper third is also a Minor 3rd.

Also of importance is that the interval of the Root to the Fifth is a Diminished 5th. Each scale has its own pattern of intervals and triads. The following examples show what is termed the "diatonic triads" in the scales discussed so far. In the Major scale system there are three Major triads, three Minor triads and one Diminished triad. It is useful to memorize the order of the quality of triads that occur in a scale.

In Major scale the order is:. In minor keys, we'll call a chord diatonic if its notes belong to any one of the three minor scale types natural, harmonic, or melodic for that key. Even though this example is in C Natural Minor, the pattern of major, minor, and diminished chords is true for all natural minor scales.

Even though this example is in C Harmonic Minor, the pattern of major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords is true for all harmonic minor scales. Even though this example is in C Melodic Minor, the pattern of major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords is true for all melodic minor scales. Here's a chart listing the diatonic chords in Major and the three forms of Minor. Although the keys of C Major and C minor are used in this chart, these relationships hold true for all major and minor keys.

Recall the example from the introduction to this chapter, where a series of triads appears as a result of combining four melodic lines. When a chord member appears more than once in a voicing, we say that it has been doubled.

Despite the fact that there are four voices, the chord in Example 13—5 is still considered a triad. It presents four pitches, but only three unique pitch classes and in this regard is the same as Example 13—3 and Example 13—4. Notice that both the bass and soprano have G, the root of the chord. We would say, then, that the root of the chord has been doubled. The excerpt below is written for four voices. This means that any triads will necessarily have at least one chord member doubled.

Identify the doubled note in each of the boxed triads. First find the doubled pitch class, then determine if it is the root, third, or fifth of the triad. As with intervals, triads come in different qualities. Triads may be major, minor, diminished, or augmented. To determine the quality of a triad, one must consider the qualities of the intervals contained therein.

The following example shows a major triad and a minor triad built on the same root:. Both of the triads in Example 13—6 are consonant and stable.

This is largely due to the fact that both chords feature a perfect fifth between the root and fifth. The difference between major and minor triads lies in the quality of the interval from the root to the third. In a major triad, the interval from the root to the third is a major third; in a minor triad it is a minor third. In addition to the intervals formed with the root, there is another interval heard between the third and the fifth. Notice that in major and minor triads, the quality of this third is the opposite of the quality of the whole chord.

In other words, a major triad has a minor third between the third and the fifth and a minor triad has a major third in the same place. In addition to thinking of a triad as consisting of a third and a fifth above a root, it is also helpful to think of it as two thirds stacked one on top of the other. Note: A tertian harmony is one that is constructed as a stack of thirds.

Triads are tertian harmonies. If one were to add another third on top of a triad, that note would be a seventh above the root. This type of tertian harmony is discussed in Chapter Triads are named according to their root and quality. The triad in Example 13—6a, for example, is a G-major triad and the triad in Example 13—6b is a G-minor triad.

Triads may be built on any note. The following example shows an E b -major triad:. Notice that an E b -major triad requires two accidentals to preserve the exact interval qualities shared by all major triads. A triad with a minor third and a diminished fifth above the root is considered diminished. The following example shows a G-diminished triad:. This triad is much more dissonant than the major and minor triads heard above. It has the same minor third between the root and third as the minor triad, but here the perfect fifth has been replaced with a dissonant tritone: a diminished fifth.

You may also think of it as a stack of two minor thirds. As a result, this chord is much less stable. We will discuss this chord at length in Chapter A triad with a major third and an augmented fifth above the root is considered augmented.

The following example shows a G-augmented triad:. Like a diminished triad, an augmented triad is dissonant. Like a major triad, it has a major third between the root and third. But here we find another major third stacked on top, making the framing fifth augmented. Of the four triad qualities, augmented triads are the outliers.

They have a very peculiar sound and, as we will see momentarily, they differ from the other triad qualities in that they cannot be constructed using only diatonic pitches. As a result, they appear far less frequently than major, minor, and diminished triads. We will look at a few examples of this rare chord in Chapter Note: Triad names are often abbreviated.

Rewrite the triad in root position and consider the intervals heard above the bass. Consult Table 13—1 to determine the quality. In each of the following exercises, you will be asked to spell a triad given the root and quality. Which three pitch classes are used to spell a B b -major triad?

Which three pitch classes are used to spell a C -minor triad? Which three pitch classes are used to spell an E b -major triad? It is important that you be able to quickly and accurately identify or construct triads. One useful step in acquiring this skill is memorizing all of the natural triads—that is, all of the triads that can be constructed using the white keys on a piano keyboard. Consider, for example, a triad built on C using only natural pitches, no sharp or flat pitches. The following example shows such a triad in staff notation and shows the location of the corresponding piano keys:.

This chord—built using the pitches C, E, and G—is a C-major triad. With this in mind, it is very easy to identify the following chord:. This triad is very similar to the C-major triad shown above. It has the same root and fifth. The only difference is that the third lies a semitone lower, making the interval between the root and third a minor third. By comparing it with the C-major triad shown above, it is clear that the chord in Example 13—11 is a minor triad.

Notice that all of the natural triads are either major or minor with the exception of one: the natural triad built on B is diminished.