Kaii had combined several piano/keyboard method books and her life long music learning books to create this sequential music theory study for this website. This page is about the understanding of the Primary Triads. A Triad is made by three different pitches/tones stack on top of each other. The lowest pitch/tone is called the Root of the Triad. Every step of any scale can be used as the Root of the triads, then add degrees three and five to complete the triads. By clicking on the other colored links at the bottom of this page, the other music theory topics can be found easily.

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Primary Triads | Degree Names/Roman Numerals | Primary Triad Samples | Secondary Triads

All the major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords/triads are divided into Primary Triads and Secondary Triads categories. This page is centered on the Primary Triads. A primary triad has to be built on degrees 1, 4, and 5 in any scale, or Tonic (I or i), Subdominant (IV or iv), and Dominant (V). The Roman Numerals are used to represent the degrees of these triads. All major and augmented triads will be presented by Upper Case Roman Numerals, while the minor and diminished triads will be presented by lower case Roman Numerals. See the C Major and D Harmonic Minor Primary triads below.

The C Major Primary Triads

The D Harmonic Minor scale is used here to demonstrate a Raised Seventh Degree to create a Major Fifth Degree, Dominant, Triad.

The D Harmonic Minor Primary Chords

By using the following keyboard, one can figure out all the degrees of any scale, the major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords/triads, and the Primary Triads and Secondary Triads. The discussion on the Secondary Triads can be found on the Secondary Triads page.

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Each of these degrees in any scale has its own unique name and Roman Numeral that associates with a specific degree. The Primary Triads are built on the Tonic (I), Subdominant (IV), and Dominant (V) degrees. See the following chart for the scale Degree Names and Roman Numerals.

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As the triads/chords being re-arranged, a different set of symbols will represent each chord position correctly with numbers that reflect the correct intervals within the rearranged chords. In the sample above, the Root Position has an interval of a fifth between the top and bottom note, while an interval of a third is presented between the lower two notes, hence the mark of 5 and 3. In the First Inversion sample, there is an interval of a sixth between the top and bottom note, while an interval of a third is presented between the lower two notes, hence the mark of 6 and 3. Finally, In the Second Inversion sample, there is also an interval of a sixth between the top and bottom note, while an interval of a fourth is presented between the lower two notes, hence the mark of 6 and 4.

Here are several examples of the combinations of Roman numeral and inversion markings that represents different keys, primary chords, and inversions.

Examples of Inversions of Primary Triads in different keys

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The next topic in this Music Theory site is all about the "Secondary Triads." You may want to review the previous pages. Thank you for reading!

 

Music Theory that every musician could use and should know
The Basics	Math in Music	More Math and Signs	Music Forms
Time Signatures	Intervals	Modulations	Homophonic Style
			Polyphonic Style
	Diatonic & Chromatic Steps	Transposition	Contrapuntal Techniques
Key Signatures	Triads & Inversions		Binary Form
	Primary Triads	Augmented Sixth Chords	Ternary Form
	Secondary Triads	Traditional Compositional Tools	Dance Suites
Scales	Seventh Chords	Contemporary Compositional Tools	Prelude & Fugue
	Secondary Dominant	Musical Signs	Sonata Form
	Cadences		Rondo Form
Modes	Chord Progressions	Musical Terms	Theme & Variations
	Figured Bass & Basso Continuo		Serialism

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