You’ll likely know a few open guitar chords already in the form of the CAGED System, but it’s important to be able to understand how these chords are built. Enter Triads.
A triad, as the name suggests, are chords that feature 3 individual notes derived from the scale or key you are playing in. We can use any scale to construct chords, but the major scale is the usual reference point when building chords.
“But when I play E major, I’m playing 6 notes?”
Yes… And no….
You are playing 6 notes, but some of those notes are repeated octaves of already played notes. The actual individual notes you are playing in an E major chord are E – G# – B. With the full chord being E – B – E – G# – B – E. So you’re actually playing 3 ‘Es’, each an octave above the last.
Exploring Triads
As mentioned, a triad contains 3 individual notes which we’ve seen in the E major chord above. A major chord is one of a few different triads however each having it’s own formula built up of intervals.
| Triad Type | Root | 3rd | 5th |
| Major | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Minor | 1 | b3 | 5 |
| Augmented | 1 | 3 | #5 |
| Diminished | 1 | b3 | b5 |
You can also include suspended chords in the triad family, which are built up in the following way.
| Triad Type | Root | Displaced Interval | 5th |
| Sus2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Sus4 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
The third interval our triad denotes whether a chord is major or minor. By displacing this with either a 2nd or 4th, you are adding tension to the chord. It feels as though it needs to resolve to another chord as they can sound rather unstable! However, there aren’t any hard and fast rules and if you want to finish a progression on a suspended chord, you just go right ahead!
Wrapping Up
Triads should be up there with the first chords you begin to learn. Think of easily voiced chords such as E minor and C major, in the open position. Learning how they are constructed is the beginnings of understanding music theory and how to develop your own melodies and chord progressions. Below are a few more examples of different kinds of triad chords. There’s even a multitude of ways you can play triads in based off of the original CAGED positions up and down the neck.
Guitar Chords Variations
Here are a few examples of how you can use different positions that also include some inversions. Useful if you want to add more variety to your developing chord vocabulary.
Next we’ll be looking at some inversions. Inversions are simply reordering the notes in a chord so the bass, or lowest note, is different to the normal chord. In this example we have an E on the bottom which is the 3rd interval of a C major.
Finally, by placing the perfect 5th on the bottom of the chord, we are given our second inversion which places G in the bass of the chord.
For more chord shapes, take a look at High Country Guitar’s Roadmap PDF here! You’ll find a variety of guitar triads in major and minor, as well as “blues clusters” with maj3, min3 and b7s. These are three string note groups that can help add some versatility and variety to your chord vocabulary. Have a go at altering the shapes in any song you already know to come up with alternative ways to play your favourite songs!
As always, if you need any help getting to grips with playing, why not schedule in a free guitar lesson today!