What are triads anyway?

Triad are the basic building bricks of harmony. They are chords containing three notes, (hence triads.)

The easiest triads to play on the piano are those that use the notes of the C scale. The C scale only uses the white notes of the piano.

All triads follow the same basic pattern. Play a note, miss a note of the scale, play a note, miss a note, and play a note.

The triad of C then looks like this:


...using the notes C, E and G, (click on the picture to hear it.)

Using the right hand fingers 1(thumb), 3 and 5 can be used, or sometimes it's more comfortable to use 1,2 and 4.The same fingering cn be used in the left hand, but upside down. (e.g 5 on C, 3 on E, 1 on G)

In written music the scale of triads will look like this:
By playing the notes of the triads one at a time a broken chord effect can be achieved.
Triads are named after their bottom note, called the 'root'. They will usually be either major or minor, with the exception of the seventh triad.
It is also useful to number the triads, and to do this we usually use Roman Numbers.

When we use the notes of a major scale like C then triads I, IV, and V are major, and called primary, whilst chords II, III, and VI are minor and called, secondary. Chord VII is neither major, nor minor. (Diminished)

Here are some chord patterns to try out. Try them out, four beats to a chord, several times over. Change the rhythms you use for each chord, perhaps play them as broken chords. If you click on them you can hear one way of playing them. Make up your own way!