chord theory

The Major Triad (1 – 3 – 5)

January 31, 2018 by Cy...

image of musical notation for C-Major — Music Notation – C Major Chord

The numbers you see in parentheses after the title above (1 – 3 – 5), indicate the spelling, or formula used to build a major triad. The formula is based on the major scale. Therefore, a major triad is built using the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th of the major scale.

It is written

The major chord is written with the designation “maj” after the root letter, such as “Amaj”, or “Emaj”. Of course, it can also be designated with the full word, such as “E major”. However, the major chord is often depicted without any designation, such as “A”, or “E”. That’s how they’ll appear in the tablature section on this website.

Finding the notes

So let’s find the notes used to build an A major triad (Amaj). To begin, let’s look at the A major scale. The black dots represent our major scale (W – W – H – W – W – W – H).

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “A” Major Scale — Image 1 – The “A Major Scale” (shown in black)

The notes in the Amaj scale are: A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A

A major triad

To build an A major triad, we want to use notes 1, 3 and 5 of the A major scale. The 1st is A, which will be the root of our chord. The 3rd is C#, and the 5th is an E (see image 1 above).

So, our Amaj triad is A – C# – E .

Remember the intervals? The major triad is built using a Major 3rd, and a minor 3rd. Notice that the interval from A to C# is a Major 3rd (M3), and from C# to E is a minor 3rd (m3).

We can put those notes together in any order to get an Amaj triad, or a basic Amaj chord.

And that’s it! That’s how you make an A major triad.

C major triad

Of course, you can apply that formula to build any major triad. Say you want a Cmaj triad. Remember, our formula is 1 – 3 – 5, so let’s look at the C major scale:

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “C” Major Scale — Image 2 – The “C Major Scale” (shown in black).

The notes in the C major scale are: C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

The root note of the chord is always the first note of that scale (the tonic).

The 1st is “C”.

The 3rd is “E”.

The 5th is “G”.

The C major triad is C – E – G. We can put those notes together in any order to get a Cmaj triad, or a basic Cmaj chord.

Notice that from C to E is 4 semitones, or a Major 3rd, and that E to G is a minor 3rd (3 semitones).

Bb major triad

What about Bb? Here’s the Bb major scale:

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “B flat” Major Scale — Image 3 – The “Bb Major Scale” (shown in black)

The notes in the Bb major scale are: Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb

The 1st is “Bb”.

The 3rd is “D’.

The 5th is “F”.

The Bb major triad is Bb – D – F. Those notes can be put together in any order to get a Bbmaj triad, or a basic Bb chord.

So, you know the 3 notes in the triad. As a result, you can build that chord anywhere on the fingerboard by looking for the root note, then finding the other two notes within reach of the first.

Let’s look at some examples.

Example 1

For practice, lets build an A major triad on the mandolin. We’ve already looked at the A major scale and we know the triad notes are A, C# and E. We’ll start with the root of our chord (which is the 1st of the scale), so we need an “A”. Lets use the “A-note” at the second fret of the fourth string (G string). That’s the lowest “A-note” on the mandolin.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an “A” note at the second fret — Image 4 – The “A” root note at the second fret of the “G” string.

We want to build a chord around that root note, so now we need a C# and an E.
The C# on the next string (the D string) is way down at the eleventh fret. That’s an impossible stretch! However, there is an E-note on the third string at the second fret, right beside our root note, so we’re going to use that “E” as our 5th. Remember, we can put the notes in any order.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing the first and fifth of an A major triad. — Image 5 – The first and fifth of our A Major Triad.

Now we need a C# to complete the Amaj triad. There happens to be one at the fourth fret of the A string (second course of strings). That’s reachable!

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing the C# on the second string. — Image 6 – Completed Amaj triad – 1, 3 and 5 – A, C# and E.

That completes our A major triad. We now have a basic Amaj chord. Give it a strum. Just mute the 1st string for now.

To make that chord a little “fuller”, we can double any of the notes in the triad.

What are our options?

The first string is an “E” string. That’s one of the notes in our triad, so we can play that string open. As a result, we get an Amaj chord with an A, a C# and two E notes (fifths). We could also double up our root note by fretting the first string at the 5th fret for an “A”, resulting in two root notes, a single 3rd and a single 5th (see image 7).

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard with 2 options to complete the A major triad. — Image 7 – A couple of options on the first string.

So we’ve just constructed 3 options for an Amaj chord built around the “A” at the 2nd fret of the G string.

A Major Chords

Diagram of 3 “A” major mandolin chords. — Image 8 – All three Amaj chords are built from the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the A major scale.

Example 2

What if we use a different “A” note as our root. How about the open A string (2nd string)?

So the open A string can be our 1st (root). Now we need a 3rd and a 5th (C# and E) to build around that root note.

On the fourth string (G string), there’s a C# at the sixth fret. That will be our 3rd.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an open “A” string as the root note. — Image 9 – Open “A” string and our 3rd at the 6th fret of the fourth string.

For our 5th, let’s use the same E as before, at the second fret of the D string. The finished triad will look like this:

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an “A” major triad in first position. — Image 10 – First, third and fifth of our A major triad (A, C#, E).

Now we have the same options as before. We could simply mute the 1st string and play our 3-note chord, or we can play the E-string open to double up our 5th. Also, we have the option of fretting the 1st string at the fifth fret for another “A”.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing two options to complete our “A” major triad. — Image 11 – A couple of options on the first string.

Here are the finished A major chords built around the open A-string. I like the sound of the middle one, with the first and second string played open. I find it a little awkward to fret that “A” on the first string in the third shape.

Amaj Chords

Example 3

As you move away from that first position, you may be surprised at the voicing options you can find. Say we’re looking for an Amaj chord near the seventh fret.
Let’s try using the A-note at the seventh fret of the D-string as our root.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard with triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string. — Image 13 – Amaj triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string.

What are our options? What notes are available?

Let’s look at all the A, C# and E notes within reach.

Diagram showing note options available around the root at the seventh fret. — Image 14 – Options within reach of our root note.

So we know we need a 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th for each triad, and we can double up any of those triad notes. By using the options above, here are some of the Amaj chords we can build around that A note at the 7^th fret of the D string.

Amaj chords

image of seven “A” major mandolin chords formed around the root note at the seventh fret. — Image 15 – Amaj triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string.

That last one is an Amaj chop chord!
And remember, any shape that doesn’t have open strings is a moveable chord!

And, some shapes with an open string can be made moveable by muting that open string.

Change it up!

As you can see, it’s not that hard to figure out which notes you need to build a major chord. However, there are a lot of ways to put those notes together on your mandolin. Consequently, you’ll find some shapes that are easier to fret than others. Also, you’ll find some that might sound better to you than others. As a result, you’ll find preferences and favorites.

Make your voice heard!

All those different ways of putting the chord together are called voicings. Voicing refers to the way a chord is presented, or the manner in which the notes are distributed.

Maybe you play a Dmaj chord with open strings, and then play a Dmaj chord somewhere else on the fingerboard. You’ve used a different voicing. In addition, you might make one of the triad notes an octave higher (or lower), or change which note is doubled in the chord. Since you’ve changed the way its put together, you’ve used another voicing of that chord. You could change the order of the notes in the chord, or leave one of the triad notes out completely (yes, you can). You can even create a chord voicing by spreading the notes out over different instruments.

A different voicing is simply a different way of putting the same chord together.

Double Double

You can double up any note (or notes) in the triad when building a chord. The doubled pitch can be the exact octave, or they can be octaves apart. When choosing whether to double one note over another, ease of fingering can often be the deciding factor. Other than that, it’s best to let your ear decide.

Chord inversions

Chord inversions on the mandolin are defined by which note is the bass note, or lowest note in the triad. Therefore, if the lowest note is the root note, the chord is said to be in “root position”.

When the lowest note in the chord is the 3rd of the triad, its a “1st inversion”.

If the lowest note is the 5th, then that shape is said to be a “2nd inversion” chord.

Take a look at the chords in Image 16 below. These are 3 of the Amaj chords we built in the previous section. The first one is from example 1. We ended up with an Amaj chord in root position (the root is the lowest note).

The second is from example 2. The lowest note is a C#, which is the 3rd of the Amaj scale. When the 3rd is the lowest note, we have a 1st inversion. So that would be an Amaj chord in 1st inversion.

The last one is from example 3, and its an Amaj “chop chord”. That would be a 2nd inversion Amaj chord because the lowest note is an E, which is the 5th. It’s a 2nd inversion when the 5th is the lowest note.

Image of mandolin chords showing root position, 1st inversion and 2nd inversion. — Image 16 – Chord Inversions.

Omitting notes

Sometimes, we play chords that don’t contain all the notes of the triad. It seems like this contradicts what I said earlier about the triad being the smallest possible true chord. Right? Not really, because we’re just not playing “true” chords.

But, if you’re playing with another musician, or in a band situation, the omitted note can be heard on another instrument. Other times, your ear may interpret the note when the chord is played in the context of the tune.

Extended chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths etc.) have more than 4 notes, and a mandolin only has 4 courses of strings. We sometimes sacrifice some notes in order to keep the pitch, or interval that will give the chord the desired sound or color.

What notes can be omitted?

The most common note omitted is the 5^th.

The 3^rd defines the chord as major or minor, but it is sometimes omitted. In that situation, the resulting chord can actually be used as a major, or a minor chord, because there is no defining 3^rd , and it contains pitches common to both.

Technically, if it doesn’t contain all three notes of the triad, then it isn’t a true chord. But they look like chords, and they sound like chords, so we call them chords.

Here are a few examples of some common chords that don’t contain all the notes of the triad.

image of mandolin chords with omitted triad notes. — Image 17 – Sometimes we don’t use all the notes in the triad.

Next: The Minor Triad

Chord Theory – The Triad

January 31, 2018 by Cy...

Building Mandolin Chords

Some folks tend to think that building chords is an advanced subject that requires a lot of music theory. As a result, they’re missing out on something that can be valuable to their musical experience. In this article, I hope to show you that building chords on the mandolin is not as difficult as you might think!

You might even find it interesting.

At the very least, a little chord theory may help you find a few new moveable chord shapes. However, you’ll also explore more of the fingerboard and learn to build chords anywhere on the neck. By understanding a littles chord construction you can form new chords from the ones you already know, simply by changing one or two notes.

Chord theory can be applied to any instrument. The diagrams and examples on these pages are all about the mandolin.

What you should know

Building chords is not a difficult thing to learn, but throughout this article there are a few things that I’ll assume you already know:

First of all, you need to be able to find all the notes on your mandolin. You don’t need to memorize them; you just need to know how to figure out where they are. For instance, can you find a “C” on the fourth string? Can you find an “A” on the first string, or a “C#” on the second string?

Secondly, you should know how to make a note flat (lower it 1 fret), or sharp (raise it by 1 fret). If you’re not quite sure about these first two requirements, or if you’d like a refresher, see the article “Music theory – the absolute basics”.

Finally, you should be familiar with the major scale. More specifically, you should know how to build the major scale in any key, and understand the different degrees of the scale (how the notes are numbered). For help with the major scale, see the article “The Major Scale”.

Here’s a quick review

1. To build a major scale, you start with the “tonic” which names the scale. In other words, to build a C major scale you start with a C note (C is the tonic).

2. Then apply the formula for a major scale, which is: whole tone (W), whole tone (W), half tone (H), whole tone (W), whole tone (W), whole tone (W), half tone (H).

(W-W-H-W-W-W-H, or 2-2-1-2-2-2-1)

C Scale = CDEFGABC

3. Each note in the scale is a degree, and is numbered accordingly. The tonic is the 1st degree, followed by the 2nd degree, 3rd degree, 4th, etc.. Usually, we’ll just refer to them as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

Quite often, you’ll see Roman Numerals used to designate the degree of the scale.

( I – II – III – IV – V – VI – VII – VIII)

For more info on major scales, see the article “The Major Scale”.

Chord Building Blocks

Build it to scale

We’ll be building chords using the major scale. So we use the C major scale to build a “C” chord, the A major scale to build an “Am” chord, and the F major scale to build an “F” chord or an “F7” chord, etc.

The Triad

In music theory, 3 notes played at the same time (in chorus) is a basic chord. This group of 3 notes is called a triad. The smallest possible “true” chord is the triad.

We’re going to have a look at 4 triads: the major, minor, augmented and diminished triads.

Each triad has its own simple formula based on the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees of the major scale.

The Major Triad (1-3-5)

The formula for a major triad is “1 – 3 – 5“. A basic major chord is built using the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the major scale. It’s that simple!

image of music notation for Cmaj — Cmaj Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cmaj triad.

image depicting a major triad — Major Triad

The 1st is “C”, the 3rd is “E” and the 5th is a “G”.
Therefore, the C major (Cmaj) triad is C – E – G.
It doesn’t even matter what order the notes are in, it’s still a Cmaj triad (we’ll discuss inversions later).

Just strum those 3 notes on your mandolin, using fretted or open strings, and you have a basic Cmaj chord. Because a triad only has 3 notes, and the mandolin has 4 courses of strings, you have a string left over. Well, you can double up any of the notes in a triad for a fuller chord sound.

This gives you 3 options:

You can play the other string open, as long as its one of the triad notes.
If physically possible, you can fret the other string with a finger to get a triad note.
Or, if neither of the first two options are possible, you can mute the other string and play the triad as a basic chord.

If all this seems a little confusing at this point, don’t worry! You’ll get some practice building chords on the mandolin with the exercises in the next article, “The Major Triad“.

The Minor Triad (1-b3-5)

The formula for a minor triad is “1 – b3 – 5”. A basic minor chord uses the 1st, a flatted 3rd, and the 5th of the major scale.

image of music notation for a C minor triad — Cm Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cm triad.

building chords from the major scale — Minor Triad

The 1st is “C”, the flatted 3rd would be “Eb” and the 5th is a “G“.
Therefore, the C minor (Cm) triad is C – Eb – G.

The Augmented Triad (1-3-#5)

The formula for an augmented triad is “1 – 3 – #5”. A basic augmented chord uses the 1st, 3rd, and a sharpened 5th of the major scale.

image of C augmented triad — C+ (Caug) Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a C+ (C aug) triad.

building chords - the augmented triad — Augmented Triad

The 1st is “C”, the 3rd would be “E” and the sharpened 5th is a “G#”.
Therefore, the C augmented (C+) triad is C – E – G#.

The Diminished Triad (1-b3-b5)

The formula for a diminished triad is “1 – b3 – b5”. A basic diminished chord uses the 1st, a flatted 3rd, and a flatted 5th of the major scale.

image of C diminished triad — Cdim Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cdim (C°) triad.

building a diminished chord from the major scale — Diminished Triad

The 1st is “C”, the flatted 3rd would be “Eb” and the flatted 5th is a “Gb”.
Therefore, the C diminished (Cdim or C°) triad is C – Eb – Gb.

A diminished chord is also sometimes called a “minor flatted 5th”.

Another Way to Look At Things

We know that an “interval” is the distance between two notes or pitches. Intervals are made up of semitones (half tones), and each interval has a name, depending on the number of semitones that it contains.

At this point, I’m not going to confuse you with all the interval names. However, I would like to mention just a couple because, another way to build triads is with their intervals. And, we only need two intervals!

The first interval we’ll look at is the Major 3rd.

A Major 3rd (M3) consists of 4 semitones (4 half tones). Any two notes separated by 4 semitones are a Major 3rd apart. The interval of 4 semitones is called a Major 3rd.

The other interval we’re going to look at is the minor 3rd.

A minor 3rd (m3) consists of 3 semitones (3 half tones). Any two notes separated by 3 semitones are a minor 3rd apart. The interval of 3 semitones is called a minor 3rd.

Intervals in the Major Triad

The distance between the 1st note (tonic) and the 3rd note in the major scale is 4 semitones. That’s a “Major 3rd”.

image depicting major and minor thirds — A Major 3rd, then a minor 3rd to build a major triad

When we count the semitones between the 3rd and the 5th note of the major scale, we find there are 3. That’s a “minor 3rd”.

We know that a major triad is built using the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes in the major scale. As a result, we can say that a major triad consists of a Major 3rd, then a minor 3rd.

We now have another way to build the major triad! We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a major 3rd above that root note, and the following note is a minor 3rd above that. We don’t even have to look at the major scale.

Intervals in the Minor Triad

You learned that a major can be made into a minor, simply by flatting the 3rd. A minor triad is built using the 1st, flatted 3rd, and 5th of the major scale. The distance from the 1st to the flatted 3rd is 3 semitones. That’s a minor 3rd. The distance from that flatted 3rd to the 5th is 4 semitones (a Major 3rd).

image depicting how to build a minor chord from intervals — A minor third, then a Major third to build a minor chord

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a minor 3rd above the root, and the following note is a Major 3rd above that.

Therefore, a minor triad consists of a minor 3rd, then a Major 3rd.

Intervals in the Augmented Triad

We use the 1st, 3rd and a sharpened 5th to build an augmented triad. When we raise the the 5th by a semitone, we end up with 4 semitones from the 3rd to the sharpened 5th. That’s a Major 3rd.

image of uilding an augmented chord using intervals — A Major 3rd, then another Major 3rd

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a major 3rd above the root, and the following note is a Major 3rd above that.

So, an augmented triad consists of a Major 3rd, then another Major 3rd.

Intervals in the Diminished Triad

The formula for a diminished triad is 1 – b3 – b5. As a result, we end up with 2 intervals of 3 semitones.

image to show intervals in a diminished chord — A minor 3rd, then another minor 3rd

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a minor 3rd above the root, and the following note is a minor 3rd above that.

The diminished triad consists of a minor 3rd, then another minor 3rd.

Where do we go from here?

This has been a quick introduction to basic chord theory for the mandolin. Over the next few articles we’ll take a more “in depth” look at building chords from each of the triads. We’ll look at examples and exercises to help adapt the theory, and drive the idea home. You should be able to build different chord shapes anywhere on the mandolin fingerboard.

Next: The Major Triad