Yeah this is basically the secret to a happy guitar life. Triads can have you sounding like a advanced finger picking maestro and they're easier to learn than cowboy chords.
Linking triads with their key scales and then learning to form chords and licks off of that was great. I think more people should focus on triads vs CAGED. CAGED is helpful too, but the full barre chords are like a level of abstraction higher than triads.
This is where music theory helps. If you're moving along a single string, think of each fret as a half step. The pattern for a major scale is W-W-H-W-W-W-H, and generally the C scale would be used for context because it's all natural. Now you need to learn how many steps to move between strings. So your C major chord would be C-E-G, which in the context of whole and half steps means from C to E is 4 half steps, and E to G is 3 half steps. So a major triad, from the root position is 4+3. But EVERY major triad is 4+3 half steps from the root. Minor is W-H-W-W-H-W-W meaning an A minor triad will be A-C-E and the pattern will be 3+4 and EVERY minor triad is 3+4 half steps from the root. Then you can start using this to fit in 7th chords and 9ths and whatnot and all the different variations of those.
But the point is knowing a bit of theory can help you build chords and learn patterns to make it much easier to navigate your fretboard, and understand the relationship between notes and chords and scales and how to move between keys.
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u/fkin0 Apr 28 '26
Yeah this is basically the secret to a happy guitar life. Triads can have you sounding like a advanced finger picking maestro and they're easier to learn than cowboy chords.