THIS Is What Makes TRIADS Special (And Makes Them Sound SO GOOD)

Have you ever noticed how much more common triads are than any other chords? There is a reason for that! Stay tuned to find out what it is.
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[@jonwill]

Excellent presentation; thank you for sharing.

[@brianohehir9515]

This is just a little ahead of my experience, however your fantastic presentation helped me understand most of it. My sincere thanks!

[@kevinmedvedocky165]

I really love the explanation. Very interesting!

[@AmicoFF]

Great explanation, simple and detailed. Thanks

[@baschdiro8565]

The ratio of the intervals are simple like 3:2, 5:4, 4:3, 6:5, 2:1 and so on. And the smaller the numbers, the more pleasing they are to the ear.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes

[@Snarkapotamus]

Which is why P1, P8, P4 and P5 make so much sense to our brains...

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

The recurring "OK but why?" already has me smiling and looking forward to the rest of the video. lols Also, there's quartal harmony where you go up fourths to build a chord or arpeggio. That's why I don't like the description of triads as being "that's how we make chords" because there are other ways to make a chord. Like tetrachords. But I like how using triads one can cover every note in a scale within 2 octaves. Makes for some really fun arpeggios.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes. This video is to explain why triads are special, but there's several ways to make chords that "work".

[@EddieMetal68]

Masterfully done Tomasso...

[@RealityPixels]

If you overlap the waves of the consonant intervals, the frequency tends to overlap every some cycles. For example: an octave interval is just doubling the frequency, so they overlap every 2 periods. But on dissonant intervals that never happens: they are always very close but they just never overlap. Human brain doesn't like that: brain likes patterns

[@hglundahl]

1:33 Before you go on. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Let's say * 150 Hz. 150 Hz, 300 Hz, 450 Hz, 600 Hz, 750 Hz, 900 Hz, the last three will form a major triad directly, and the three previous will enforce the root and somewhat less the fifth note. 150 Hz, 300 Hz, 600 Hz, root 450 Hz, 900 Hz, fifth 750 Hz, major third. Instead of 600 Hz, 750 Hz, 900 Hz, one can also go: 600 Hz, 720 Hz, 900 Hz. 600 Hz, 720 Hz = 750 Hz, 900 Hz 720 Hz, 900 Hz = 600 Hz, 750 Hz That was just replacing the major triad by a minor triad. 600 Hz, 900 Hz remains itself in both cases.

[@hglundahl]

6:06 Sounds like you are related to Cacafonix. (Assurancetourix nel italiano como nel francese). Since 2006, so am I.

[@battleframestudios8989]

Well, if you count "unison" or "octive" as an interval like earlier in the video, then you CAN build a 4 note chord whose intervals are all consonant. Just a triad with any one of the notes doubled.

[@christopherheckman7957]

You could also stack octaves and get an arbitrarily large chord. I think he was talking about pitch classes though, not pitches.

[@mooseymoose]

Feels like the start of a species counterpoint lesson :)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

In a sense, it is :)

[@mooseymoose]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar From my recollection it is more than in a sense, lol! Just put a couple of rules about stepwise motion and there it is!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

@@mooseymoose Yup, we did most of the hard work here actually :-))

[@criscozillla4935]

I came for the mathematical demonstration! 😅 Please can you suggest or make a video or link?

[@vagabondcaleb8915]

Thank you! It seems like m7 chords sound less dissonant to me than M7 chords, which obviously seems counter-intuitive...Is this right or am I just confused? For example, m7 chords seem a lot more jazzy while M7 chords seem a lot funkier to me...

[@sandrosadhukhan]

major 7th chords have the 7th note and root note right next to each other hence theoretically they are more dissonant than minor 7th where the flat 7 note is one tone apart from root. Spread the notes out if you don't like the sounds of major 7th chords

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes, M7 is MORE dissonant than m7. If you want a less dissonant version on a major chord, you use the M6 (C E G A) which is an inversion of a m7 chord anyway.

[@vagabondcaleb8915]

Thank you both! Very helpful!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

That's probably why blues and a lot of popular music is more prone to using Dominant (flat 7) chords. I only caution that it is the tension and release that is where the beauty is most often found. So just remember to use what sounds best in a given situation. 😊

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

No part of this video should be construed as an endorsement of triads above everything else. Dissonance is good :-)

[@christopherheckman7957]

5:05 It's not that long of a proof actually. If you have four consonant notes, you either have a major triad with an extra note, or a minor triad with an extra note. Now run through the possibilities, and you'll find-NEEEEEEEERD!!!!! 8-)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

:-)

[@sebastiengross7849]

Curious about that proof BTW.

[@christopherheckman7957]

@@sebastiengross7849 Take a C major triad (C E G). Now look at each of the nine other pitches; you'll find that each will be dissonant with at least one of C, E, and G. Then repeat for a minor triad (like A minor). The reason it's so short is that if you have four notes that are pairwise consonant, when you take any three, that set is also pairwise consonant; and the case of triads has already been done.

[@ladc8960]

😮

[@TheHarmonacker]

What about augmented triads? From this theory, there would be no dissonant interval because it only contains major triads and inversions of major triads, however, it sounds dissonant to me. Great video btw (like all you other videos).

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

There is an augmented fifth between every second note

[@TheHarmonacker]

@@rasmusn.e.m1064Yes, but the augmented fifth is also the inversion of a major 3rd (flat 6th) (which should be considered consonant).

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

@@TheHarmonacker Yes, I initially liked your comment for that reason, but he also said that all augmented or diminished intervals are considered dissonant. So, either there is an incongruity in the whole explanation, or it's only when it counts as a flat sixth that the interval of 8 semitones is considered consonant. In that case, it can only be a part of a wholly consonant triad if it's an inversion.

[@TheHarmonacker]

@@rasmusn.e.m1064 In order to qualify the interval of augmented 5th or flat 6th, I think we need context. Just playing the chord itself without context doesn't seem to imply neither augmented 5th nor flat 6th. I suppose perfect fifth is "hidden" in natural harmonics of triad's notes, and since the augmented 5th is close, that makes it dissonant like an implied semitone difference.

[@rueburch2856]

same could be said for a fully diminished 7th chord (made of stacked minor 3rds). so i suspect that perfect symmetry, like stacking all minor 3rds or all major 3rds, leads to something not quite lining up in the harmonic series. all of the really consonant sounding chords are asymmetrical (alternating major and minor 3rds). if you have two of either major or minor in a row (think of AmM7), it gets dissonant regardless. a rabbit hole i always find myself getting stuck in and never wanting to leave

[@KidDozzi]

First! Major

[@TarkMcCoy]

Minor Second!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

HAHAHA, you guys are a riot! :)

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar : Last! Diminished

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

LOLOLOL

[@jak7321]

😮......😳......😵‍💫........🤯......🫠.....🫡

[@robcerasuolo9207]

Random advice for people who sing horribly and DON'T want to clear the room: fill the room with frogs, birds, and fish. They won't mind the sound, and some might even like it and join in. This way, you'll never be alone or judged harshly. Problem solved! 😆