Help with guitar theory (Guitar Enthusiasts only)?

Question

"A triad is a chord that has 3 different notes and are built by stacking thirds."

I don't understand this concept. Can an experienced guitar person explain this to me in laymen's terms?

Answer 1

A triad is a chord. The three different notes are in that chord. Stacking chords are notes stacked in 3.
Read this diagram:
http://www.gosk.com/chords/major-chords-for-guitar.php

Notice that the second and third chord has three notes in them?
The first one has three notes in them also, but you see two notes on the top, and two notes in the bottom.

When you strum the guitar, you hit three notes in one chord. Sometimes you strum extra notes on the guitar to make a chord, but you still are using one chord.

Basically, you're striking up a scale or down a scale like you do a piano, only you hit several chords. Without triads, you cannot play music in a harmonized scale.

Answer 2

A triad is one type of chord. Chords, by definition, must have at least three notes. On a guitar, chords usually have 4, 5 or 6 notes.

A triad consists of:
(1) the root note, which is the lowest (the chord will be named after this note;
(2) a "third" which is either a minor or major third above the root (a 'major third' is the interval between two notes that are two whole tones apart; e.g., from C to E; a 'minor third' is the interval between two notes that are one and a half whole tones apart; e.g., from C to D#)
(3) a "fifth" which is is either a minor or major third above the "third".

Putting it all together, for example, a C chord consists of a C (the root), an E (2 whole tones above the root), and a G (1 1/2 whole tones above E).

Answer 3

This is not something specifically for guitar, the technique of playing the chord is something for guitar. Before you understand chords fully, you must understand scales and intervals.
A triad is a specific term for a three note chord. A chord can refer to any sort of stacked grouping of notes--fifths, sevenths, French, German, Italian, etc.

"Stacking thirds"
These are the intervals between the three notes. Between the bottom two is a major third (4 half steps), between the second two is a minor third (3 half steps). For a minor chord, invert the process--between the root (bottom note) and the second note is a minor third, and between the second note and the fifth (top note) is a major third.

The chord itself:
For example: C (bottom note) E (middle note) G(top note). This forms a C major triad. A triad can be a combination of any three notes.

Visit this website:
http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/html/id40_en.html

This is an interactive music theory lesson that explains the concept of chords in more detail, along with several other lessons relating to chords, scales, and even include aural training exercises. I strongly suggest you visit that site!

Answer 4

This explination is a little more complicated from the guitar perspective. On the piano, it's very clear how to make a triad. On the guitar, however, the concept is less important because you don't just learn one note at a time (like beginners on the piano do), but entire chords. But for your comfort, each chord you play is normally a triad of at least three different notes. How then do you know what chord you're playing if you make one up? That's a lot more difficult for guitarists than it is for the pianist.. I'd suggest just trying to look it up or ask an older guitarist because that's too complex to explain here.

Answer 5

A triad and a chord are most similar; both must have three notes built upon a given scale.

One example in the key of C are notes: C, E, and G.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Bye

Answer 8

JazzGuitar.behttp://www.jazzguitar.be/jazz_guitar_chord_theory.html