Tembraby York Music Forum
Understand

Triads, Inversions and Basic Sevenths

Building chords from a scale and turning them upside down.

Class code4EPN

Stacking thirds

A triad is three notes a 3rd apart: root, 3rd and 5th. The two 3rds decide the quality.

  • Major = major 3rd then minor 3rd (C E G)
  • Minor = minor 3rd then major 3rd (C Eb G)
  • Diminished = two minor 3rds (C Eb Gb)
  • Augmented = two major 3rds (C E G#)
𝄞major♭minor♭♭dim♮♯aug
Four triads on C: major, minor, diminished, augmented

Inversions

Move the root to the top and you have first inversion; move the 3rd up too and you have second inversion. The chord is the same, but the bass note and the feel change.

𝄞root1st2nd
C major in root position, first and second inversion

Adding a seventh

Add one more 3rd for a seventh chord: major 7th, minor 7th, dominant 7th and half-diminished are the four you meet everywhere.

𝄞Cmaj7♭♭Cm7♮♭C7♭♭♭Cm7♭5
The four common sevenths on C

Try it

Test yourself