Comprehensive Review of Compound Triads

Review of Solfege and Intervallic Relations

• The major triad is composed of a stacked major third plus minor third. The two commonest ways it appears in diatonic harmony are as chord I in a major key (do-mi-sol), and chord V (sol-ti-re) in major and minor keys. It’s also very common for it to appear as chord IV in major keys (fa-la-do).

• The minor triad is composed of a stacked minor third plus major third. It also occurs within the diatonic scale. In minor keys, it appears most commonly as chord i (do-me-sol). In major keys, it appears commonly as chord ii (re-fa-la) and as chord vi (la-do-mi).

• The diminished triad is composed of two stacked minor thirds. It functions as chord vii⁰ in both major and minor keys, as well as chord ii⁰ in minor keys.

• The augmented triad is composed of two stacked major thirds. It is relatively rare in diatonic harmony. When it does occur, it is often spelled sol-ti-ri and appears as a chromatic variant of the dominant (sol-ti-re).

Singing Review

Compound Notation

It is easy to identify the chord quality of triads if you listen carefully. Hearing the inversion is a little harder for compound triads than for simple triads, but the trick is to identify the root of the chord and relate it to the bass note. You may also wish to consider an imaginary context for root movement and voice-leading.

Procedure

• Identify and write down the chord quality.
• Find the root of the chord. For example, if you’ve identified that the triad is major, focus your hearing on do. Which voice or voices are on do?
• Compare the root note you identified with the bass note of the chord, because the bass note is what determines your identification of the inversion. Does the bass note have the same solfege as the root note? If not, which note of the triad is it?
• Analyze the chord accordingly, i.e. do in the bass voice in a major triad indicates root position, mi in the bass indicates M 6/3, sol in the bass indicates M 6/4.
• In doubt? Remember the doubling rules (see below) for triads in inversions. They will help you sort through information.

Doubling Rules

All exam questions will conform to the rules of good voice-leading, especially the rules for doubling. Please review and memorize the rules:

• Major and minor triads in root position: the root will be doubled
• Major and minor triads in first inversion: the soprano note will generally be doubled
• Major and minor triads in second inversion: the fifth will be doubled
• Diminished triads: the third will be doubled, except when the fifth is in the soprano voice, in which case the fifth will generally be doubled.
• Augmented triads: in theory, any note may be doubled, since acoustically any note could be the root. In this class, the bass note will usually be the one that is doubled.

Listening Practice

Review the following playlists to re-familiarize yourself with the styles and contexts of the different triads and inversions.