TRIAD TABLE SUMMARY

Here is a summary of the most important information about triads we have covered so far.

SYMBOL

STACKED
THIRDS

NAME

(FROM BOTTOM

FIFTH

SOUND
QUALITY

MAJOR SCALE
DEGREES

TO TOP)

C major

maj+min

perfect

stable, happy, strong,

bright, pleasant

first, fourth and fifth

Cm, C-,
Cmin

C minor

min+maj

perfect

stable (albeit subtly less

so than the major triad),
sad, dark, strong

second, third, sixth

Cdim, C

C
diminished

min+min

diminished

longing to resolve,
tense, dissonant

seventh scale

Caug, C+

C
augmented

maj+maj

augmented

eerie, open, jarring,

mysterious, creating a
sense of wonder

does not occur in the

major scale (occurs in
melodic and harmonic
minor scales and some
symmetric scales)

Ariane Cap 2015 arisbassblog.com Music Theory for the Bass Player

Examples of possible fingerings of each of the triads:

(NUMBERS=FINGERINGS)
82

4
2

C major triad
FINGERING 1

C minor triad
FINGERING 1

1
3

2
4

C major triad
FINGERING 2

C minor triad
FINGERING 2

1
2

4
C augmented triad

1
4

C diminished triad
Ariane Cap 2016 arisbassblog.com