Learning And Applying Triads On The Bass
If there’s one thing that’s worth your time to practice, it’s triads. Trust me. After learning countless songs across all genres, it’s amazing how many bass lines are comprised of triads. They truly are the building blocks of music and are particularly important when it comes to understanding, communicating, and improvising alongside your fellow musicians. Let’s define a triad, learn why it’s so important, and then figure out how to practice triads!
What is a triad?
A triad is a chord comprised of three notes: the root, the third and the fifth.
The root note is your starting point—it’s the note that we’ll build the triad from. For a C Major triad, we’ll begin with the note C and then determine our third and fifth. The third and fifth are intervals—notes that are a specific distance away from the root.
Building Major and Minor Triads
The third is the interval that determines whether the triad is major (happy sounding) or minor (sad sounding). The major third will be 2 whole steps away from the root note and pops up automatically in a C Major scale—sing “do, re, mi.” Therefore, in a C Major triad, we use a “major third” or the note E.
In a C minor triad, the minor third will be Eb. It’s 1 ½ steps away from the root note and pops up automatically in a C minor scale. The minor third will be one half-step (or one fret) lower than the major third and will have a very different sound.
To finish building our triad, we need a fifth. With major and minor chords, we use the interval of a perfect fifth (we call it perfect instead of major or minor). The perfect fifth will be 3 ½ steps away from the root note and will be the fifth scale degree of both major and minor scales—sing “do, re, mi, fa, sol.” As we build our triad starting on C, the fifth will be G.
Therefore, the C Major triad will include the notes C, E and G. The C minor triad will include the notes C, Eb, and G.
How are triads useful?
Triads contain the core notes of a chord, so whether you’re playing bass, guitar, piano, saxophone—or really any instrument—the notion of playing a C Major Chord will be the same across all instruments. It’s how we communicate musically! Every instrumentalist will play the notes C, E, and G to express the C Major chord.
The main difference is that polyphonic instruments (guitar and piano) can express the chord by playing all of the notes at once. When they do so, we hear the chord as a group of notes. These notes can be doubled, played in different registers, or ordered in various ways. For instance, when a guitar player strums an open C Major chord, they hit the notes C, E, G, C, and E.
As bass players, we don’t usually play all of the notes at once because it can sound muddy. Therefore, we must arpeggiate the chord, or play the notes one at a time. While we don’t necessarily play the chord as a “group,” we still adhere to the same notes.
So, if you’re jamming with a guitar player and their first chord is C Major, you can confidently arpeggiate the notes C, E and G. You’ll hear that they work perfectly when played against the strummed chord.
Adapting The Triad
Now that we understand what a triad is, we need to learn how to adapt it. When playing triads on the bass, it’s important to keep these things in mind:
You don’t have to play all of the notes every time. Feel free to just stick to the root and fifth, omitting the third (this is common in country music).
You can play the notes in any register. In a C Major chord, you can find C, E, and G anywhere on the bass (low C, high G, C in different places, etc.)
You can repeat notes by finding the higher or lower octave of a note.
You can rearrange the order of the notes.
You can play the notes with multiple attacks.
You can ascend or descend to notes in the triad (higher E or lower E)
You can use different fingering patterns for triads.
Finding Triads On The Fretboard
One tricky thing about triads is that there are many different ways to play them on the bass. If you’ve only learned one fingering pattern for a triad, then you’ve got a good start, but there’s more work to do.
There are at least 3 different patterns that are commonly used for major and minor triads. This usually depends on the finger you use to start the pattern (index, middle, or pinky) and whether you’re adhering to four-fret span positioning.
Tips For Practicing Triads
Try exploring different patterns and shapes by starting with different fingers
Practice ascending and descending the triads
Play with the rhythm and try to create grooves with just these notes
Look for songs that use triads to create a groove
Favorite Triad Bass Lines
“Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley
“Under The Boardwalk” by The Drifters
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” by The Beatles
“In The Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett
The Takeaway
You can learn to incorporate triads into your playing style and create dynamic basslines with consistent practice and patience. If you want to take your triad playing to the next level, consider booking a private lesson with Ryan Madora to receive personalized feedback and guidance to help you achieve your goals.