Diatonic Triads

Everybody LOVES music theory! Not really... But once you understand how it works, it's like a puzzle where all the pieces fit together to make a perfect picture.

Today's post is about Diatonic Triads which means chords built with three notes in a certain key. In the key of C major, these are the diatonic triads.

Make sure to click on it to see a bigger image. The first chord, C major triad (you can simply call this chord "C" if you are not trying to sound like you know what you are talking about) is built with C, E and G which are the root, the 3rd and the 5th respectably. Just count up from C to G. C is 1, D is 2, E is 3, F is 4 and G is 5. When we built triads based on all of the notes in the key of C major, what you get is the above. If you were to randomly play these chords in any order, you can make a song as long as you are starting with C chord and ending with C chord. If you don't know any of the chords above, please visit my brand new site at Guitar Chords Now and look for them.

Check out this chord progression in C. If it sounds familiar, that's because you've heard it somewhere before. I can't tell you what it's from because of copyright issues... Notice that all the chords used are the ones you saw above.












Have fun with key of G and F while you're at it.



Play guitar now!