Major Triads: How to Be Advanced

Here's how you can use a major triad to stand in for any other type of chord (minor, diminished, whatever). For me, that's extremely useful when I'm sampling and I design something cool around a recording of a major chord, but then as a result I'm forced to play major chords exclusively, because I'm married to the sample. Even then, I can still get through any chord progression by transposing the major chord up or down some number of half steps and sticking the right bass note under it. In this video I explain exactly how that's possible, and to illustrate, I'll take you through my arrangement of the Stevie Wonder song "Isn't She Lovely" using only major triads and a bassline. For a nice little chart I made about how to turn a major triad into any other type of chord, see below. Drone footage filmed by John Marty.

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USE THE TABLE BELOW TO CREATE ANY CHORD WITH JUST A MAJOR TRIAD AND A SINGLE BASS NOTE
—Put your bass note on the root of whatever chord you're trying to make. (So if you're trying to create F# minor, put your bass note on a low F#.)
—Find the specific chord quality you're looking for from the table below.
—Stick a major triad above or below your bass note according to what the chart says. (For example, the chart says "+3 half steps" next to the entry on minor chords. So to create F# minor, stick a major triad 3 half steps above your bass note, which is rooted on F#. Three half steps above F# is A, so if you play an A major triad over an F# bass note, you'll be creating a minor chord [strictly speaking it's a minor 7 chord].)

MAJOR
maj7, maj9: +0 half steps, or +7 half steps
maj7#11: +2 half steps

MINOR
m, m6, m7, m9, m11: +3 half steps
minor-major7: +7 half steps

DOMINANT
7, 9, 13 (not altered): +0 half steps
altered (7b5, etc.): +6 half-steps

SUSPENDED
sus4: -2 half steps, or +5 half steps
sus2: -2 half steps, +5 half steps, or +7 half steps

DIMINISHED
dim, half-dim7, m7b5: +6 half steps
full diminished 7: -1 half step (move the root/bass note down 1 half step too)

AUGMENTED
augmented major 7: +4 half steps
augmented, augmented 7: +0 half steps, or +6 half steps

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:46 Making a Major Triad Minor
01:37 Why Does This Matter
03:10 The Big Chart
07:14 Stevie Wonder: Isn't She Lovely
07:28 Stevie Sound Example 1
08:30 Chord by Chord Substitutions
09:49 Stevie Sound Example 2
10:24 How to Be Stylish
13:07 BuyOrBorrow Promo Code
13:38 Stevie Sound Example 3