Triad scales | FiddleHed

Don’t knock it until you triad it

In this lesson we will take a major scale, play a triad on each note to build a triad scale. For the record, “triad scale” is not an official musicological term. It just seemed like a good way to describe this scale.
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This is good because:

It will improve your left and right hand technique.
You will better train your ear to hear the sound of triads as well as harmonic movement.
It will help you learn tunes more easily.
This will help with improvisation.
Hearing and understanding triads will help you to build chords.

First, just play a D major scale.

Then, play a D major triad. Alternate between the scale and the triad.

Awesome. Next, let’s go through each step of this scale.

D major: D0-2-A0

E minor: D1-3-A1

F# minor: D2-A0-2

G major: D3-A1-3

A major: A0-2-E0

B minor: A1-3-E1

C#dim: A2-E0-L2

D major: A3-E1-3

Practice each of these. Then practice assembling two or three triads in a row:

D0-2-A0-D1-3-A1-D2-A0-2

Once this feels natural, try the whole triad scale:

D0-2-A0 D1-3-A1 D2-A0-2 D3-A1-3 0-2-E0 A1-3-E1 A2-E0-L2 A3-E1-3

E3-1-A3 EL2-0-A2 E1-A3-1 E0-A2-0 3-1-D3 A2-0-D2 A1-D3-1 A0-D2-0

Each triad outlines a different chord. Being able to understand and play chords will help you to play and communicate with other musicians. Play the whole thing. If you struggle, try playing just a few steps in a continuous loop.