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Last updated: March 13, 2014 at 19:28 pm

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Harmonize the major scale (triads) theory lesson

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This lesson will focus on the process of harmonizing the major scale and the resulting chords we obtain. This is a
very important lesson so please set aside about 30 minutes at least.

Contents
1. What is harmonization?
2. Harmonize the major scale triads
3. Summary

What is harmonization?
In music theory, harmonization is the process of building chords from a given scale using common formulas. The
most common formula is to take the rst, third and fth degrees of a scale when building triads, then move up one
scale degree and take the second, fourth and sixth degrees then continue this process until you reach the original
chord. This is known as tertian harmony because each interval in the resulting chord is either a major third, or minor
third apart. There is also secundal harmony which moves up in either major or minor seconds, and quartal
harmony that moves up in fourths. The term triad refers to the fact that there are three notes in the chord, there are
also tetrads that have four notes, pentads that have ve notes and hexads that have six notes, this lesson will cover
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triad harmony.

Harmonize the major scale triads

The 4 Note Blues?

Watch This 3 Minute Video & Play the Blues With Just 4 Notes!
To keep things simple, we will be harmonizing a C major scale which has no sharps or ats, so we can focus on the
actual harmony rather than keys. Below you will nd two charts, the rst is more of a visual diagram as harmony is a
very visual process, and the second shows the traditional musical notation. Looking at the rst chart, you will see a two
octave C major scale repeated seven times along with an eighth that is simply the rst chord repeated. Looking at the
rst line, you will see that we take the rst, third and fth degrees from the C major scale which turn out to be C-E-G,
and when we play those notes together at the same time, we will be playing a C major chord in its most basic form, a
triad. Try to keep the image of those arrows in your mind because all we are doing from here on out is simply moving it
up by one note, and playing the resulting chord.
So now we slide the arrows up by one note, which gives us the notes D-F-A, if we play those notes at the same time we
will be playing a D minor chord. Next we move the arrows up one more note which gives us the notes E-G-B, play these
together and you will be playing an E minor chord. Next we move up another note with the resulting chord being an F
major, then we move up by one note again and the result is a G major chord. The next note up results in an A minor
chord which is also the relative minor of C major. The nal result by moving up one note is a little di erent than the
rest, it turns out to be a B diminished chord. If we move up one more fret, something interesting happens, the notes
turn out to be a C major chord which means we have gone full circle, and we are now back where we originally started
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from except one octave higher.

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Below you will nd a more tradition representation of the harmonization process. Looking at the musical notation, you
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will see that each note is evenly distributed. If we add another note on top of say the C major chord, we will be building
a major seventh chord which is a tetrad, or four note chord.
You may have also noticed the Roman numerals beside each chord in both charts, this is one way of communicating
via the Roman numeral system. You see, after we have harmonized our scale, we can compose a song using any of
those chords that resulted in our harmonization process. So when a musician says "lets play a I-VI-IV-V progression in C
major", what he or she means is to play I = C major, VI = A minor, IV = F major and V = G major.
Is it all starting to make sense now?

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So now we can play the C major scale using the chords we have built, but if you're still stuck, then play the audio
samples below and particularly the all chords sample, these will help your ear understand the harmony.
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If you have the concept clear in your mind, then the time has come to start to compose a song! You can play any of
those chord we built, in any order, but you will nd that some combinations sound better than others.
ROMAN

CHORD

1ST

3RD 5TH

AUDIO SAMPLE

C Major

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theory-

NUMERAL

lesson/c-major.mp3
II

D Minor

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/d-minor.mp3

III

E Minor

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/e-minor.mp3

IV

F Major

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/f-major.mp3

G Major

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/g-major.mp3

VI

A Minor

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/a-minor.mp3

VII

Diminished

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http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/b-diminished.mp3

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C Major

http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/c-major.mp3

I-II-III-IV-V-VI- All Chords

VII-I

n/a n/a n/a http://guitar.ricmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/harmonize-major-scale-triads-theorylesson/c-major-chord-scale.mp3

The 4 Note Blues?

Watch This 3 Minute Video & Play the Blues With Just 4 Notes!

Summary
I really hope your mind took that great leap forward into the world of chord harmony, but if you are still in the dark, go
through the lesson again until you grasp the concept, it's just a matter of time and practice.
Cheers & enjoy!

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 Major Scale Guitar

Guitar Chords Chart
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This entry was posted in Intermediate Music Theory, Music Theory on September 21, 2013 by Richie Brereton.

About Richie Brereton

Started playing guitar at the age of 13 with initial in uences mainly AC/DC, followed by Van Halen
and then right into Joe Satriani & Steve Vai. Traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to study music
at the Guitar Institute of Technology and graduated a year later. Made many good friends and
colleagues with whom I am still in contact today. I spent my twenties teaching guitar at my own
private teaching practice "Musicians Workshop" in Melbourne, Australia.In 2001 I started a musical
accessories company "Pure Tone" which I ran with family for the next 5 years. The business is still
running today with another owner. In 2006 I studied at T.A.F.E Multimedia Dev. & Design which gave
me the skills to develop the Ricmedia Guitar website which took 12 months to design and develop.
In 2013 I completely revamped the website to run on WordPress to make my life easier so I can
concentrate on providing the best content in the best way I can, without spending too much time
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on the back-end.
View all posts by Richie Brereton

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One thought on Harmonize the major scale (triads) theory lesson

Ian Stings
August 13, 2014 at 9:23 pm

This is a must skill to know. Or should i say , knowledge

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