The GREATEST Guitar Triad Concept, Explained...
Triad arpeggios are incredibly useful. Not just for creative improvisation, but also to assist in understanding the guitar fretboard. In this quick lesson, we'll look at how major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads can be organized across the guitar neck using all possible inversions.
All of the information presented in this lesson is discussed in the video above—the video is best viewed in conjunction with following this written guide.
The approach discussed in this lesson primarily utilizes a total of three 2-string groupings:
- The Low E string & A string
- The D string & G string
- The B string & high E string
These 2-string groupings enable you to cover a 3-octave range on the guitar neck, and are clearly highlighted throughout this lesson. If you'd like to go into greater depth understanding triads, make sure to check out my masterclass How To Solo With Triads, which also part of The BGC Bundle—featuring all 12 masterclasses in package.
How To Solo With Triads Masterclass at Ben's Guitar Club
Section 1
Let's begin with a root position major triad. You can apply the following principles to major triads in any key, but today we'll be focusing on the C major triad.
To begin, we'll play the C major triad the low E string and the A string, with the notes C, E and G:
Just as we did on those two strings, we'll now move to another set of two strings, the D and G strings, playing the same notes up one octave:
Finally, we move up to the two highest pitched strings on the guitar neck, the B and high E strings, again playing the same notes, but played up a total of two octaves:
So far, these three examples give us a clear 3-octave range over which we can play a root position C major triad. Over a 3-octave range, it sounds like this:
Section 2
As simple as that may seem, this discussion becomes more interesting when we begin to introduce triadic inversions.
Let's now play a 1st inversion C major triad on the low E string and the A string, with the notes E, G and C:
We can continue to our next set of two strings for this 1st inversion C major triad, this time, playing the D and G strings, utilizing the same notes, up one octave—E, G and C:
And once again, we'll play the two highest pitched strings on the guitar neck, the B and high E strings, again playing the notes E, G and C—our 1st inversion major triad, played up a total of two octaves:
This gives us a 3-octave range over which we can play the 1st inversion C major triad. Including all three octaves, It sounds like this:
Section 3
The same principles can be applied to the 2nd inversion major triad, which will begin this time on the low E string and the A string, with the notes G, C and E:
Continuing to our next set of two strings for this 2nd inversion triad—the D and G strings, we’ll be playing the same notes, G, C, and E, up one octave:
Finally, we'll play the two highest pitched strings on the guitar neck, the B and high E strings, where we'll again play the notes G, C, and E, up a total of two octaves:
This gives us a 3-octave range over which we can play the 2nd inversion C major triad. Over all 3 octaves, it sounds like this:
Section 4
Of course, the approaches we've looked at so far can work for any other triadic chord quality. You can apply the exact same approaches on the guitar neck, with minor, diminished and augmented triads.
C Minor Triad
Starting once again on the low E string and the A string, we can play a root position C minor triad, with the notes C, Eb, and G:
We can also play this minor triad over a 3-octave range, including all inversions—root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion. Here is the root position fingering for our C minor triad:
C minor triad, 1st inversion fingering:
C minor triad, 2nd inversion fingering:
C Diminished Triad
Now, let's look at a root position C diminished triad with the notes C, Eb and Gb, played on the low E string and the A string:
Again, we can play the C diminished triad over a 3-octave range, including all inversions: root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion. Here is the root position fingering for our C diminished triad:
C diminished triad, 1st inversion fingering:
C diminished triad, 2nd inversion fingering:
C Augmented Triad
Finally, let's look at a root position C augmented triad with the notes C, Eb and Gb, played on the low E string and the A string:
We can also play the C augmented triad over a 3-octave range, including all inversions: root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion. Here is the root position fingering for our C augmented triad:
C augmented triad, 1st inversion fingering:
C augmented triad, 2nd inversion fingering:
I'd love to hear how you use triads in your own playing. Let me know in the comments whether you've already started using triad arpeggios and inversions in your improvisation, and what you've discovered from working with them.
If you'd like to take your understanding of triad arpeggios, triad inversions, and guitar fretboard navigation to the next level, check out my masterclass How To Solo With Triads.
I look forward to seeing you next time!
Ben.