Bored With Those Triads? Upgrade Them With These Whole-step And Half-Step “Prefixes” (TOP SECRET)

If you’re interested in upgrading those triads with whole-step and half-step prefixes ,this lesson is for you.

This approach is actually a top secret that a lot of top and advanced players know but don’t care to share because it’s actually a trick that can help you shortcut your way to any seventh chord using the four main triads — major triad, minor triad, diminished triad, and augmented triad.

But I’m going to show you how this works for free and that’s because I am so much interested in your growth as a musician and most importantly, I want to be a part of your success story as a musician.

A Quick Review On The Four Main Triads

Triads are three-toned chords consisting of a root note, a third, and a fifth.

Using the C major scale:

…if we assign the root to C:

…the third and fifth tones of the C major scale would be E and G (respectively):

So, when the notes “C-E-G”:

…are played (or heard) together, that’s a triad.

Attention: You can also call a triad a chord because all triads are chords but NOT all chords are triads. Any chord that has more than three notes is NOT a triad.

A Short Note On The Major Triad

The first, third, and fifth tones of the major scale, when played or heard together, produces the major triad and just like the just learned a few moments ago, the first, third, and fifth tones of the C major scale:

…which are C, E, and G:

…produces the C major triad.

Submission: There are so many other ways to define and form the major triad and they vary from simple to advanced. But we’re going with this simple and easy way.

A Short Note On The Minor Triad

The minor triad is a three-toned chord built off the minor scale.

Playing the first, third, and fifth tones of the minor scale produces the minor triad and if we use the C minor scale (as our reference):

…the first, third, and fifth tones would be “C-Eb-G”:

…and that’s the C minor triad.

A Short Note On The Augmented Triad

If you already know your major triad, you can form the augmented triad by raising the fifth tone of the major chord by a half-step.

So, if you want to form the C augmented triad, you’ll use the C major triad as your template, and then you raise its fifth tone (which is G):

…by a half-step (to G#):

…and you’ll have the C augmented triad:

…consisting of C, E, and G#.

A Short Note On The Diminished Triad

The formation of the C diminished triad can be associated with the C minor triad:

So, if you know your C minor triad, you can easily form the C diminished triad.

“Here’s What To Do…”

Lower the fifth tone of the C minor triad:

…which is G:

…by a half-step (to Gb):

…and you’ll have “C-Eb-Gb”:

…and that’s the C diminished triad.

Summary

So, here are the four main triads (starting from C):

C major:

C minor:

C augmented:

C diminished:

Now that we’re done reviewing them, let’s learn how they can be enhanced using whole-step and half-step prefixes.

Prefixes: Whole-step Vs Half-step

I know I’m no expert in the study of English language but I know that a prefix is added before a word to slightly alter its meaning.

For example, the prefix “un” can be added to a variety of words like:

do

follow

learn

…etc., to form words like:

undo

unfollow

unlearn

I’m going to show you prefixes that you can add to the triads you are already familiar with to enhance them.

The Whole-Step Prefix

The whole-step prefix is a note that is a whole-step below the root of a given triad.

For example, if you’re given the C major triad:

…a whole-step prefix would be a note that is a whole-step below C:

…and that’s Bb:

So, adding the whole-step prefix (Bb):

…to the C major chord:

…produces the C dominant seventh chord:

“Here’s The Whole-Step Prefix Combination With The Four Triad Types…”

1. The Dominant Seventh Chord

Playing the major triad with a whole-step prefix produces the dominant seventh chord. The C major triad:

…with the whole-step prefix (Bb):

…produces the C dominant seventh chord:

2. The Minor Seventh Chord

When the minor triad is played with the whole-step prefix, this produces the minor seventh chord. The C minor triad:

…with the whole-step prefix (Bb):

…produces the C minor seventh chord:

3. The Augmented Seventh Chord

Playing the augmented triad with a whole-step prefix produces the augmented seventh chord. The C augmented triad:

…with the whole-step prefix (Bb):

…produces the C augmented seventh chord:

…which is rarely played but an amazing altered dominant chord.

4. The Half-diminished Seventh Chord

When the diminished triad is played with the whole-step prefix, this produces the half-diminished seventh chord. The C diminished triad:

…with the whole-step prefix (Bb):

…produces the C half-diminished seventh chord:

The Half-Step Prefix

So, what is a half-step prefix?

The half-step prefix is a note that is a half-step below the root of a given triad.

If you’re given the C major triad:

…and you go ahead and add a half-step prefix; that would be a note that is a half-step below C:

…and that’s B:

Therefore, adding the half-step prefix (B):

…to the C major chord:

…produces the C major seventh chord:

“Here’s The Half-Step Prefix Combination With The Four Triad Types…”

1. The Major Seventh Chord

Playing the major triad with a half-step prefix produces the major seventh chord. The C major triad:

…with the half-step prefix (B):

…produces the C major seventh chord:

2. The Minor Major Seventh Chord

When the minor triad is played with the half-step prefix, this produces the minor major seventh chord. The C minor triad:

…with the half-step prefix (B):

…produces the C minor major seventh chord:

3. The Augmented Major Seventh Chord

Playing the augmented triad with a half-step prefix produces the augmented major seventh chord. The C augmented triad:

…with the half-step prefix (B):

…produces the C augmented major seventh chord:

4. The Diminished Major Seventh Chord

When the diminished triad is played with the half-step prefix, this produces the diminished major seventh chord. The C diminished triad:

…with the half-step prefix (B):

…produces the C diminished major seventh chord:

Final Words

In a subsequent lesson, we’ll be narrowing these chords down to a few of them that are relevant to the major key (aka – “diatonic chords”) and you’ll be able to understand how chords with whole-step and half-step prefixes can be applied in the major key.

Until then, keep practicing what we’ve covered so far in all the keys.

I want to specially appreciate our founder and president, Jermaine Griggs for the opportunity given to me to share these tricks with you. I don’t take it for granted.

See you in the next lesson.

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Chuku Onyemachi

Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group

Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.

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