10 Amazing Major Triads Hacks That will Open Up Your Creativity!

ByDaniel Weiss

Hi everyone, how’s it going?
Well, today we’re going to talk about major triads, and I’m going to show you some cool stuff that you can start thinking about when you’re improvising, hopefully giving you some ideas.

C7 Dominant Sound
Now, everything we’re going to talk about today is going to be around C7, so it’s related to the dominant kind of sound. Before we begin, please make sure to like this video, subscribe, and hit the bell so you don’t miss any of my videos.

Creating a Loop
Now I’m going to create this loop:

[Music]

So now that I have my loop, let me show you the actual triad. We have a:

[Music]

C major triad root position into a first inversion:

[Music]

And then I’m gonna go into my second inversion:

[Music]

You can see that in a root position, I have a 1, 3, 5. In a first inversion, I have a 3, 5, 1, and then in the second inversion, I have a 5, 1, 3. Let’s just play around with those:

[Music]

Expanding the Range
Now if I want to expand my range so that I have more to play with but still only use the notes of the chord, I can take the highest note of each triad and lower it down an octave. Now I have two separate sets I can start to work with. Here’s my first set:

[Music]

Into my second set:

[Music]

And over here if I take the high note as well and get this:

[Music]

So it’s a root position to a second inversion, first inversion into a root position, a second inversion into a first inversion:

[Music]

Now if I create full arpeggios with that:

[Music]

I can see that I’m starting to open up the fretboard just with those three notes. You can check that out on my website [wiseguitar.com].

Associating Scales with Arpeggios
Anyway, so now what I’m going to start doing is associate a scale to those arpeggios and triads so that I have more to work with, and I’m going to do it with the C Mixolydian scale. So I have a root, a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, and a flat seven. So now not only do I have my different triad notes, I also have kind of like a scale crossing them, and I can improvise with them.

[Music]

Target Tone Awareness
So I have this kind of target tone awareness:

[Music]

But I’m using the notes of the scale to kind of go around the different target notes. See, this is all around this triad. It’s also around this triad, which is also the same one down an octave. So all of my movements are happening using the combinations of the scale and my awareness of target tones. So it’s not like I’m just playing the scale:

[Music]

I’m really aiming into those actual target tones. And if I want to make it even more interesting, I can start adding chromatic notes:

[Music]

Right, and those are just notes that are outside of the scale but still can aim to notes within the scale. For example, if I want to go from my 6 to my 5, I can go 6, chromatic note, 5. Or if I want to do the same to my third, I can go second, chromatic note, to the third. Let’s play with that:

[Music]

Combining Chromatic and Scale Notes
What about going from the root to the flat seven:

[Music]

So if I start combining this, I can get these kinds of sounds:

[Music]

So this is actually a triad that gives me the flat 5 sound. Ever heard that kind of D over C sound?

[Music]

Right, The Simpsons can revive. And this is called the Lydian flat 7, which is the fourth melodic minor mode. Root, second, third, just like the Mixolydian, but we have a sharp four instead of a regular four. In this case, an F is going to be F sharp:

[Music]

Two, three, F sharp, five:

[Music]

See, so it’s kind of like 1, 2, 3, sharp 4, then I have a 5, 6, to the flat 7. And that’s kind of an interesting sound because I’m getting this extra kind of note:

[Music]

Utilize the different chromatics into that kind of scale. Now, some of the triads that you can find and create, this is what I call triad pairs, is within that scale. Really cool sounds. It’s just going to be, for example, this augmented one. It’s going to be an F sharp augmented, but you also get this D over here. So you can maybe go like:

[Music]

Into F sharp augmented:

[Music]

To D:

[Music]

Advanced Concepts
[Music]

Right, so this gets a lot more advanced the more you get into different modes you can apply. For example, if it’s a C7, you can also add the altered scale:

[Music]

Alright, and object. But basically, you’re getting some altered notes like the sharp 9, the flat 9. So for example, root, flat 9, sharp 9, third, sharp 4, sharp 5, and a flat 7:

[Music]

[Music]

Now as you can see, the sky is the limit with these things. And of course, in order to really start seeing how harmony and melody connect on the entire fretboard so you can confidently say that you have a solid understanding of what’s going on, you need to have some kind of guidance, an organized system that will help you get from A to Z. And let me tell you, one of my biggest setbacks was trying to figure all of these things on my own, and that’s exactly why I created the Galactic Modern Guitar Series so you can have a very organized system to work on these things on the entire fretboard. You can check that out in the link in the description of this video.

Conclusion
So today we talked about major triads, but what about minor triads? Well, if you haven’t checked last week’s episode, click this video right here.

The art of crafting guitar solos extends beyond just copying a bunch of licks and arranging them in a certain way. Due to the melodic and singable nature of most of the greatest solos, they are quite easy to remember. This is the reason I have tried to compile 10 amzing hacks to mastering major triads.

In this lesson, we are learning to use triad shapes to start playing stronger melodic solos based on triad patterns.

It is generally accepted that melodies in general, and solos in particular, include chord tones and non-chord tones. With the progression of the song, many of the notes that were once chord tones could now become non-chord tones or vice versa as things progress.

I am sure you have noticed that sometimes a note sounds right at one point, but four beats later it sounds odd. In order to play a better, more memorable solo, you need to know how to hit chord tones correctly and make them feel and sound like musical phrases.

The good news is that chord shapes can help us find chord tones quite easily. Here are 10 ways I like to approach triads on guitar.

Let’s dive into the world of major triads

I’m going to show you some cool stuff you can think about when you’re improvising using major triads on guitar.

All of our discussion today will revolve around C7. In other words, the ideas are mostly related to the dominant type of sound.

Firstly , You got to know your major triads.

C Major-

Root: 1,3,5 (C,E,G)

1st Inversion: 3,5,1 (E,G,C)

2nd Inversion:  5,1,3 (G,C,E)

Connecting Sets

By connecting the sets of strings, I can expand my range while still using chord notes.
Having lowered each triad’s highest note by an octave, two sets are now available.
Now it is time to begin improvising with them.

Full Arpeggios

 With just those three notes, I’m beginning to open up the fretboard.

Visit Galactic Modern Guitar to learn all the different arpeggios you should know.

Triads and Scale Unite

 Now that I have more arpeggios and triads to work with, I’m going to start associating scales to them. As we are focusing on C7 today, I am attaching the mixolydian scale.

Miolydian = 1,2,3,4,5,6,b7 , C,D,E,F,G,A,Bb

Now, not only do I have my different triad notes across the fretboard, but I also have a scale running through them. What a great opportunity to improvise!

Target Tone Awareness

Since I am aiming for my different chord tones, I have an awareness of my target tones.

I’m going around the target notes using the notes of the scale.

 All of my movements are based on the scale and my awareness of target tones. In other words,

I’m not just playing scales.
Those are the actual targets I am aiming for.

In addition, if I want to make it more interesting, I can add:

Chromatics and Enclosures

This is just a note that is outside the scale but is still able to aim for a note within it.

If I want to go from 6(A) to 5(G), I can go 6(A) b6(Ab) 5(G).

Or if I want to do the same to my 3rd, I can go from the 2(D) #2(D#) 3(E)

 Let’s play with that idea!

What about going from the root(1, C) to the flat seven Bb –  R(C),7(B),b7(Bb)

Combining these ideas gives me the awesome Jazzy lines I’m looking for.

Lydian Dominant Vibez!

Playing D over C7

It gives me the colors 2,#4,6 Beautiful!

And in our context this is called the Lydian b7,(aka Lydian Dominant)

which is the 4th melodic minor mode

1,2,3,#4,5,6,b7 – C D E F# G A Bb

You can also think of it as mixolydian with a #4

Chromatics and Enclosures meet the Lydian Dominant Vibez!

Furthermore, I can also utilize different chromatics in that kind of scale.

Cool Lydian Dominant Diatonic Triads (or more)

You might like C and D (very Lydian!)

or

C and F# augmented ( Very melodic minor!)

As you can see, the sky’s the limit when it comes to these things. To really start seeing how harmony and melody connect on the whole fretboard, so you can truly say you have a solid understanding of what’s going on. The best way to get from A to Z is to have some guidance and an organized system. Trying to figure all of this stuff on my own was one of my biggest setbacks. It’s for this reason that I created the Galactic Modern Guitar Series!

By doing this, you can have a very organized system to work on all of these things. And you can check Check it out over here.

major triads

Check out my youtube channel!

Daniel Weiss