Every Triad chord EXPLAINED

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Triads are the most essential chord types in music but their definition can be disputed. Is a triad just any three note chord? Or does it also have to have been made by stacking major and minor thirds? Well, as far as I can see there are ten unique types of triad chord we can have and in this video I will be explaining all of them!
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0:00 Introduction
0:31 Major
1:04 Minor
1:27 Diminished
2:03 Augmented
2:30 what defines a triad chord?
4:19 Suspended
6:18 Modal
10:05 Major flat 5
11:05 Why not these chords too?
14:25 Quartal harmony
16:05 using every triad in a song

[@keithlillis7962]

David, apart from really knowing his stuff, explains it so well. He is such a natural teacher and had really helped me understand music theory - Many thanks David.

[@lacyfa22]

i agree

[@Chigger]

Same here.

[@freepagan]

Totally agree, he's awesome.

[@jesusalejandrogutierrezsul9625]

Absolutely true.

[@avizmaldesigns3142]

If you're a beginner, the thing you need to memorize is that "diminished" and "augmented" refer to the 5th of the chord, and "suspended" refers to the 3th of the chord. And that's like 70% of all songs in existence 😅 then you add more notes (7th, 9th, etc) to those triads, and you win at music

[@somebodylikesbacon1960]

3th (thirth)

[@realcygnus]

Plus that C quartal is just an inversion of Fsus4 which is itself also an inversion of Bbsus2 etc. But such commonalities & a need for conventions really arises with 4 or more note chords.

[@gorgolyt]

Took the words right out of my mouth. 😊

[@aldeayeah]

The Locrian and Lydian triads are also inversions of each other. For example, you can build both F(lyd) and B(loc) with the same notes F B C. Or a Cmaj7sus4(no5) :P The quartal triad also appears when you invert sus chords. With C F G you can have Csus4 or Fsus2 or G(quartal)

[@TVAVStudios]

And the quartal triad is just a G7sus4 without the 5th - the shell voicing he alluded to earlier. I do think quartal chords fit into regular harmony, it's just a particular way of voicing them. Add the Eb to a C Quartal chord, it's now a Cm11 (no5), add the Ab, Cm11(b13) and so on.

[@abdurrahmanzulfikry9202]

And the cluster one is just an add9 without the 5th

[@susansu3538]

So Quartal triode CFBb is also a Bbsu2 1st inversion

[@TVAVStudios]

@@susansu3538 Yes. Music Theory for Guitar has a great video explaining how sus4, sus2, and 7sus4/Quartal triads are all inversions of each other: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpionYqFfp6frJo

[@mityakiselev]

I think trying to put a label on anything weirder than the four "regular" triades just leads to confusion. If you have four or more notes in a chord, it becomes something notation-fluid, like if you have C# G B E, you can think of it as Em#6 in the Dorian scale - useful if you're descending chromatically from "usual" Em in a sequence like Em -> Em#7/D# -> Em7/D -> Em#6/C# or whatever, it's often used to create a slightly uneasy feeling instead of staying on one chord for one gajillion bars. But on the other hand, you can think of it as C#m7b5 - a half-diminished secondary dominant of sorts in the key of Bm (C#m7b5 -> F#7 -> Bm is pretty cool and can be used in an interesting cadence), or maybe like Gdor6/C# if you're a weirdo lol. The notation makes little sense at this point if you can't see the context where and how it's used, what role it's playing. If you add a bunch of degrees on a chord you're technically able to write anything that fits but that doesn't mean you _should._ There's a whole bunch of interesting musical maneuvers that require thinking outside the box, like tritone replacements, switching modes temporarily, etc. where the conventional system stops working so perfectly. When I first realised there can be an E# or an Fb or a B# or a Cb or even like Cbb I kinda lost my confidence when describing something musical with notes or letters.

[@SongSecretsMomNeverTaughtYou]

Regarding the quartal chords, I'd love to see a video on pop songs that use them! I know of Joni Mitchell's first album that uses a lot quartal and quintal harmony especially on the song "Dawntreader"

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Good idea! I'll add that topic to the list!

[@Ykoz26]

Also Tarkus by ELP is a perfect example. @@DavidBennettPiano

[@h.e.r.o.creativeartsscienc5043]

@@DavidBennettPiano I’d love to see that video too!

[@Fire_Axus]

your feelings would be irrational

[@SongSecretsMomNeverTaughtYou]

@Fire_Axus not sure your intention on that comment if it's meant to be helpful or trolling lol

[@alrush1234]

You are such a great teacher. You explain things so well even a new 70 year old piano student can follow and understand it. Now let's see if I can apply it!! lol. Thanks for your vids. My favourite on you tube piano lessons.

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

Another great academic discussion and useful for including Quartal harmony, too. Thank you again, David!

[@andrewhertzberg6889]

Damn. You are such a good teacher. It takes a ton of work to make this kind of explanation look so easy and effortless. Huge respect.

[@delgadopacheco.gabriel]

I'm going to assume that you listen to this very often but you have a gift to explain in a very clear and simple way topics that are complex. Excellent video. Your content has helped me a lot to understand music theory.

[@LuisSantos-nf9rs]

I believe quartal chords can fit into the tertiary system, all you have to do is invert them the way you did earlier in the video - in your example, a C quartal could alternatively be a Fsus4 or a Bbsus2 :)

[@Chigger]

It's so interesting how the naming conventions of chords makes the whole thing much simpler and much more convoluted.

[@somebodyrandom2800]

I watch all your vids for fun even though I’m a music theory expert and know almost everything😊. Thanks David.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊😊😊

[@decentsingersclub]

same there's just something in him that grasps my attention idk what it is

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

I'm another one. David has very agreeable personality and more than a few of my students are fans of his channel.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@decentsingersclub thank you!

[@bernhardkrickl3567]

I'm a hobby/amateur musician and I also knew a lot of this stuff already, but there is always something in those videos that I didn't know, or a way to look at it and categorize or contextualize it that hadn't occured to me yet.

[@shadowfox1221]

Once you played the Lydian triad note by note, I heard "Maria" from West Side Story.

[@LuisDrGt]

C quartal can also be viewed as a different voicing of B flat sus2.

[@Zwopper]

Or an Fsus4.

[@zapzapfishes5878]

I think treating alternative triads as based on their bass note rather than what they may be an inversion or variation of does open up to a different way of hearing the music. So I definitely love my m#5s, sus4b5s and susb2#5s etc. 😅

[@mackermaldrill2656]

Brilliant as always.

[@mdanielse9430]

You are so clear... Thank you

[@MrBearfaced]

Thanks! I learned a lot.

[@sergiorestrepo6657]

Thank you David

[@curioso5550]

Excellent!!! Easy to understand

[@christopherfryda]

I seriously love this channel, thank you!!!

[@bsvsgm]

I've waited for this video. Thank u

[@reapd2576]

Thank you so much!

[@robertbourke7935]

Love your teaching (and playing!) style David

[@LillySongbird110]

Thank you! Super helpful video as always!

[@Killua111]

I loved the practical example at the end

[@JWBails]

Great work putting all the triads in one piece, it can't have been easy making it sound that good!

[@bensilburn]

Fantastic video! Clearly explained and thoroughly covers the subject - thank you!

[@jdanderson9727]

Thanks for doing this video. I needed it explained this way.

[@seancharteris]

Dave, your videos are just amazing. THANK YOU!!!

[@user-vh2kb2qy3v]

Very nice video. I liked the graphic representation in forming clear understanding the triads. Very well done!

[@adriankolsters]

That was SO helpful! Always get stuck with this stuff, the naming, why it is like that. You made it perfectly clear, as always. Where musical brilliance and teaching skills come together.... Thanks David.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Great video!! I remember being terrified of your videos and music theory and getting things wrong in my DAW but now I am not afraid of using big jazzy chords, transcribing and naming them am still discovering and enjoying new mystery chords!

[@Limeguy98]

That was a fascinating piece of music at the end! I feel you demonstrating the concepts yourself musically is very powerful and practical

[@TuneTemptation]

During Last part in which all the chords were played, I was shocked man🤯that those chords could sound like that🤯...my favorite part of the video ❤

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you liked it!!

[@TuneTemptation]

@@DavidBennettPiano I feel lucky that I found your videos. They are exactly what I wanted-very helpful and informative. Thanks, man💐

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@TuneTemptation thank you!

[@TuneTemptation]

@@DavidBennettPiano favorite teacher 💓💐

[@jesusalejandrogutierrezsul9625]

Outstanding explanation, dude. So thankful for helping us to have a little more vision into this vast world of music.

[@Marinns]

Excellent explanations, and I love the piece at the end using all triads on C-root chords!

[@SirKeefyKeef]

So enjoyable, so informative. Excellent. 🙏

[@TigerRogers0660]

David, best definition of triads i have ever seen!!

[@aminelabidi6113]

absolutly great lesson god bless you man

[@kevinbecker5440]

Wow! I think this is the clearest my head has ever been after putting together so much. Easily followed every point you made. I apparently use chords often, but now understand why they are called sus and why leveraging them the way I did worked. Thanks!

[@ryansciarrotta2954]

Wow I knew how to spell these triads but getting the explanations was super helpful and you laid it out perfectly.

[@pjalexandra]

nice review with a helpful holistic context for how it all fits together. would definitely recommend this to a student of theory.

[@Akto]

The video gave me a new layer for apppreciating the music theory... Thank you.

[@zacksguitarhacks6390]

Ty for being an awesome, clear and concise teacher. You are helping musicians of every variety, (im mainly a progressive metal guitarist).

[@Ducksaregreat]

Exactly what I needed! Thank you so much.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊😊

[@boomerbear7596]

Great video! It really opened my eyes to some of the more exotic triads and exactly how they work. For the Lydian one the first example I thought of was "Chiquitita" by ABBA which seems to alternate D Lydian and D major triads in the coda section.

[@NomeDeArte]

One of the best ending compositions, really weird nice piece, love it

[@drummermomcjs]

That last piece of music was fascinating to me. I am loving learning about harmony and these deeper levels of music theory.

[@axlhyvonen461]

Very useful one since the triad chords are the most commonly used, thank You very much once again😊

[@Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaapj]

13:50 that is a C2(omit5) and 14:30 that is the first inversion of a Bbsus2

[@08jkhnor]

Thank you, your channel so helpful and professional. keep going:)

[@eefore]

Bravo! I like it, the song with all ten

[@tylerhackner9731]

Thanks for the info

[@DavidBennettPiano]

No problem 👍

[@Thebigkeoghowski]

The 7th chord omit 5 was the first triad I thought of after the major, minor, diminished, suspended, and augmented chords. It was used in The Heart Asks Pleasure First from the movie The Piano.

[@vspatmx7458]

Useful and Superb x 3 data / explanation / presentation. You rock.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😊

[@composer7325]

Excellent, David. Very informative, thank you.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks 😊

[@MarcelaBovio]

That end piece was pure MAGIC ✨✨

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😊

[@eriksatieofficiel]

Very interesting in terms of music theory, especially the last parts.

[@joelcaron8291]

Omg... this is soooo goood Perfect piece of theoric class And I am sitting first row

[@Goofy8907]

Great video

[@musicappreciate]

The quartal harmony sounds like it really wants to resolve to an inverted F major. And the three consecutive full steps sounds very jazzy. (See Deanna Witkowski). This video is like opening a gift box I forgot to, and finding good stuff

[@alancooper7018]

Thanks for the clear and concise explanations, you have cleared up a few points that have been bugging me!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊😊😊

[@ryptoll4801]

I'm making my first song as a beginner with the piano, and for whatever reason I found it the easiest to try to make the melody and chord progression together. And somewhere on that way, I ended up with a mysterious chord I really liked the sound of, which is G major chord with a diminished 5th. But I had trouble naming it. At that point I was aware of regular major and minor chords as well as diminished chords and had most of them memorized, so hitting that G(b5) was initially a mistake as I had briefly forgotten how to make a G diminished chord. But I kept it because I liked the sound of it, and it worked with the melody. I got on reddit and got a bunch of interesting albeit confusing answers of what it's supposed to be called. This makes a lot more sense to me now, so thank you for a great explanation! Also, attempting to write songs already as a beginner (I've only been playing for 3 months) is a great and fun way for me to learn about music theory. And yes, I only make songs that are easy enough for me to play at my current skill level, or at the very least, not too difficult. But chord progressions is one of those things that I still have some trouble understanding, admittedly.

[@YT-AleX-1337]

Good explaination! Couldn't find anywere explainations for Lydian, Phrygian, Locrian and b5 chords (which I like to call Whole Tone chord). Will you also do 6ths and 7ths? EDIT: I knew they existed but had no idea of how they worked

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks! I've actually already done 6ths and 7ths. You can find them here... 7ths chords: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWGTioiJerWolZo 6ths chords: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmiZi4amj5mmd7M 😊😊

[@YT-AleX-1337]

@@DavidBennettPianoThank you :)

[@IC3RTIF1EDI]

I love your videos

[@Defiantclash]

Best vid to close out the musical year to.

[@h.e.r.o.creativeartsscienc5043]

Love it!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!!

[@h.e.r.o.creativeartsscienc5043]

@@DavidBennettPiano I am just about to begin a he total piano course from your October special….. so excited to expand my knowledge. I enjoy your videos so much!

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

Teaching is a gift that not all teachers possess. This man's got it.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!

[@JustFiddler]

matur suksma😊

[@HenrikMoser64]

Very very interesting 🎉😊

[@ReneWiersmaMusic]

It's hard not to burst into singing "Oh, Darling!" after hearing a lone augmented chord 😊

[@angelusuxorem3771]

C quartal can be also be inverted as F sus4 or Bb sus2. 14:31

[@XenialXenon]

13:18 You could say this triad is the 2nd or 3rd inversion of D7sus2 with the fifth omitted

[@GuitarGrooveSessions]

You could also consider that the Sus2 chords are just an inversion of a Sus4 chord. C Sus4 and F Sus2 have the same notes.

[@avan1244]

David is really the best theory teacher on KZbin. Cheers, mate!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!!

[@uwira23]

Regarding 15:20. Inversions can be used to express quartal harmony in terms of tertiary harmony: C (quartal) = F(sus4)/C = Bb(sus2)/C. Or with another perfect fourth on top: F7(sus4)/C = Bb(sus2, sus4)/C. And another one: Fm7(add4)/C = Bb7(sus2, sus4)/C.

[@alnitaka]

There are 19 three-note chords. 9 of them have a minor second (or major 7th) in them, such as EF, 6 of them have a major second (or minor 7th) , such as FG, and 4 of them don't have any seconds at all; they are made of major and minor 3rds. C(Lyd) and C(Loc) are the same but different inversions, and a sus4 chord is the same as a sus2 chord, but a different inversion. So he has enumerated 8 of the 19 chords. The CDE chord he mentioned is a realignment of a 9 chord; e.g, C9 = CEGBbD = CDEGBb

[@ScottyBrockway]

Pretty sure Under Siege (Regnum Irae) from Sepultura uses the locrian triad.

[@benjaminlowery9782]

A note about quartal harmony: a chord built from two perfect fourths (such as C F Bb) is just a suspended chord (in this case, Bbsus2, 2nd inversion; or Fsus4, 1st inversion). A chord by fourths with an augmented fourth on top of a perfect fourth (C F B) is a locrian triad (B locrian, 2nd inversion) and a chord by fourths with a perfect fourth atop an augmented fourth (C F# B) is a phrygian triad (B phrygian, 2nd inversion). So you kind of already covered it in the video anyway. Great explanation!

[@ljl451]

15:47 the quartal chord is also a Bb sus2 in first inversion

[@russellsketchley8830]

What do you call that quartal triad? The beginning of the Star Trek theme!

[@Practicalmusicministryskil4906]

This was wonderful - thank you! I teach a step-by-step music literacy curriculum on my KZbin channel in the hopes of making music literacy accessible to all.

[@johnmac8084]

Very unsettling piece you created there David, could perhaps be in a film where someone is losing their mind!

[@farfetchedtangmo7474]

How did I know you were going to leave us with a composition that used all ten? Because that's what you do And a lovely piece it was, too.

[@kirklandish]

I like playing the “Lydian triad” with the #4 an octave above (e.g., C5#11). I mainly play this idea in Drop D tuning.

[@zachary963]

I like trying to analyze chords like this. One chord I love is in the theme from Dan in Real Life: D Ab Cb F#. I’ve never been able to find it anywhere else, but I love how it sounds and I use it all the time. And unless someone tells me otherwise I’ll continue calling it the “diminished major” chord.

[@jeff-onedayatatime.2870]

The Locrian triad is in Phantom of the Opera, in the scene where they are chasing the Phantom after he abducts Christine and they are saying...keep your eyes on the level, or something like that. :)

[@GizzyDillespee]

When you played the locrian triad, I heard Victim or the Crime by The Grateful Dead. Not sure if it actually uses it, but that's the only one that popped into my head.

[@robinsommarstrom8705]

Thank you very much! I sometimes use the major b5 chord in my songs, and I have always called that one "lydian" after watching one of Amiee Nolte's videos... guess I was not totally wrong even though I see why you prefer to call the 1-#4-5 the lydian triad.

[@h.e.r.o.creativeartsscienc5043]

It’s so fascinating, Jazz guys use flats more often, & classical sharps, but we are forced to use more sharps in modal situations, or so it seems sometimes, & Jazz is where I studied modes, not classical. I need to back & refresh all of this stuff now!😂

[@andersjjensen]

That's the first time I've heard anything with any element of Locrian (Left Over Crap Resulting In Absolutely Nothing) that didn't outright offend my ears. Here it actually fit in and added that "cold chill" that the song was building up.

[@Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaapj]

I just got an ad with you in it😂

[@JensLarsen]

Really great video! Isn't the Lydian and the Locrian triads inversions of each other?

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Yeah! Similar to how sus4 and sus2 are inversions of one another 😊

[@JensLarsen]

@@DavidBennettPiano Indeed, great video though!

[@alexdeno4831]

I think the Pink Panther thème start with an incredible A#(Loc) That's the only example I can remember for this chord in popular music

[@vsi_slova]

Do I play piano? - No. Do I enjoy these videos for some unknown reason - absolutely yes!

[@CaioMiranda88]

Best example of b5 is "A Salty Dog" (Procol Harum) first chord.

[@robs1529]

Thats exactly what I heard immediately

[@timanon1368]

Here's a triad of progressions to try: F minor --> Th Major A minor --> R Major OO minor --> You Major It's hard to comprehend how someone so skilled at music analysis has never analysed his own diction; at least he's a piano player and not a singer. The Majority of English speakers (used) to get these sound right. David is one of those KZbinrs that I'll still listen to despite the obvious speech impediments. This isn't about being mean. This is about communication. Apparently, England has decided that it's posh to avoid seeing a speech pathologist.

[@AndyWitmyer]

Korn's closing track, "Kill You" (from their second album, Life Is Peachy) prominently features an arpeggiated B Locrian chord during its intro and verse sections.

[@SuperJPQ]

Major flat 5 giving Saria's Song vibes

[@tim_sun]

15:57 That quartal chord really sounded Miyazaki-esque to my ears, like it could be in a soundtrack of a Ghibli movie