Primary Triads & Chords
Listen
C tonic triad:
Study the chords (left) and practise writing them out. In the same fashion as in the harmonic minor scale *always remember to sharpen the 7th note in the dominant chord as in the examples on page 6. This applies to G minor, A minor, D minor, and E minor also (at this level)The process of adding an 'extra' note to the triad to form the 'Common' chord is sometimes called 'doubling', because now the chord contains 2 Tonics, the 1st and the 8th (Octave)
Listen to the 3 Primary chords of C major. (left)
(C,F & G)
When these notes have a chord built upon them they are called Primary triads and Primary chords. The illustration (above) shows all the Primary triads and Chords in the key of 'C'
Listen to the 3 Primary chords of F major (next page)
(F, Bb & C)
*The
rule is to sharpen the 7th note (also called the leading note)
in any chord where it appears but we are only concerned with the
3 Primary chords at present