Music Theory for Guitar | 05: Major Triads | Practice No. 1
Added 2020-10-06 19:55:42 +0000 UTCNew here? Wondering where to start? Click here
Hi Everyone!
Once you've watched the Major Triads lesson and the Major Triads homework lesson, feel free to move on to this lesson.
In this practice exercise, we’ll be playing arpeggios of three Major Triads: A Major, D Major, and E Major. We’ll start by each triad one note at a time in order (Root, Third, Fifth) and then we’ll play them in 1st Inversion (3rd, 5th, Root) and then finally 2nd Inversion (5th, Root, 3rd.) From there the whole cycle will repeat. Start practicing this arpeggio sequence at a tempo that feels comfortable, then move on to the next fastest jam track when you feel ready.
Have a question? Ask on the weekly live Q&A, called Office Hours. Also, check out Practice Thoughts if you need help figuring out how to practice.
Here are links to the practice tracks in order of BPM:
Once you're feeling comfortable with this exercise, move on to the more creative Major Triads Exercise No. 2
Enjoy your practice time and remember to have fun! If you're feeling accomplished, frustrated, stuck, or just want to talk about these exercises, feel free to post on the community forum post for this lesson.
Other lessons in this series:
- Homework
Check out the Lesson Archive for more Music Theory lessons.
This lesson is part of my Music Theory For Guitar series.
Comments
This was surprisingly difficult for me 😅
Erin
2025-04-11 23:53:42 +0000 UTCTrying out a fun little exercise that combines this practice with memorizing the notes on the fretboard: Pick a random note (e.g., C) and a random degree of inversion (i.e., no inversion, 1st inversion, or 2nd inversion), then play that triad using the respective shape from the practice. Gets a little mind-bending since you have to know which note in each shape is the root. :)
Cristian
2024-05-02 20:08:31 +0000 UTCKeep thinkin that way and people will really enjoy playing with you. Good way to look at it
Scott Paul Johnson
2023-08-03 18:17:28 +0000 UTCSo, now I think I know what is meant by… “the beat goes on!” If you don’t catch it, it just leaves you behind. It has no sympathy for you at all. It makes me feel like a hobo trying to catch a moving train. No time to cry, just leap on the next “measure” going by. Sometimes you get lucky, and don’t get run over.
Richard Finlay
2023-07-30 19:49:13 +0000 UTCHaha. Would you like the 40 BPM track?
Scott Paul Johnson
2022-03-25 14:06:01 +0000 UTCAt 13:30, I was promised a 40 BMP track and it was not delivered. I would like to speak with a manager, please. This is Karen.
Mocha
2022-03-22 04:19:20 +0000 UTCThanks for practice lesson and all the effort, but it would have been helpful to also have the shapes on screen to be able to play with you more easily.
Escanor
2022-01-31 17:56:04 +0000 UTCI see.Thanks for that.
Jack
2021-02-09 08:20:07 +0000 UTCThe priority is always to have the full alphabet in order in a scale. The sharps and flats in that case are purely there to make that happen. Even though E# = F, we can't have two "F's" in the scale thus, we need F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#
Scott Paul Johnson
2021-02-08 18:55:02 +0000 UTCThanks for getting back to me. I'm in London so a few hours delay. I know you have answered this but I forgot the answere and can't find it in the videos. v. simply I don't get what you do if you have to denote an E# in a scale as in F# scale and wonder where Iam going wrong.
Jack
2021-02-07 13:05:37 +0000 UTCHi Jack - usually I go over each answer to the homework questions in the video and then upload my notes so you can see the answers. But I may have missed one! Which homework exercise are you missing the answer key for?
Scott Paul Johnson
2021-02-06 18:07:33 +0000 UTCHi. Is there anywhere on the site that I can check my homework answers?
Jack
2021-02-06 14:34:29 +0000 UTCHi Daniele - these lessons help you see how you can make any arpeggio all over the fingerboard. Are you more curious about the technique? I don't currently have a lot of lessons about the techniques involved.
Scott Paul Johnson
2020-12-15 23:26:45 +0000 UTCOps,I hit return before I finish!I was saying that I saw that fingerpicking exercise but I was wondering if there is a proper lesson on arpeggios,like more technical..I don’t know if I am clear enough for what I mean,I hope you get my point!
Daniele La Rosa
2020-12-15 19:51:22 +0000 UTCHi Scott,is there any arpeggio’s lesson?
Daniele La Rosa
2020-12-15 19:48:15 +0000 UTC
