Pop Music Theory


Lessons in Order

1-7 (Intro & Pitch) +
8-18 (Major Scale) +
15: Minor Triads
19-29 (Chord Progressions) +
30-34 (Hook Chords) +
35-41 (Written Notes) +
42-50 (Song Chorus) +

Lessons by Topic

Strategy +
Pitches +
Scales +
Written Notes +
Chords -
15: Minor Triads
Chord Progressions +
Melody +
Songwriting Steps +
Science +
Games & Tools +
Song Examples: Crazy +
Song Examples: Rolling Stone +

Detailed Contents

Lesson 15: Minor Triads

This lesson teaches minor triads. The minor triad is the 2nd-most basic chord type, after the major triad.

Before you take this lesson, you should know: the major triads. You can test yourself with Lesson 14: Major Triad Games.

The rule for the minor triad is pretty simple: The minor triad consists of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of a major scale (like the major triad), except you lower the 3rd a half-step. Symbolically, we write it like this:

Minor triad: 1 ♭3 5

The chord symbol for the minor triad is m ("little em"). Here are a couple of examples:

SymbolName & nicknames
BmB minor triad, B minor chord, B minor
C♯m C-sharp minor triad, C-sharp minor chord, C-sharp minor

Here are two example pairs of major & minor triads, so you can see how the major and minor triads are related to each other:

D ("D major chord"):D F♯ A
Dm ("D minor chord"):D F A
 
E♭ ("E-flat major chord"): E♭ G B♭
E♭m ("E-flat minor chord"): E♭ G♭ B♭

For reference, these are the notes in the common minor triads:

Chord Symbol Root 3rd 5th
Am ACE
B♭m B♭D♭F
Bm BDF♯
Cm CE♭G
C♯m C♯EG♯
Dm DFA
D♯m D♯F♯ A♯
E♭m E♭G♭ B♭
Em EGB
Fm FA♭C
F♯m F♯AC♯
Gm GB♭D
G♯m G♯BD♯

Next:
Practice these minor triads in Lesson 16: Minor Triad Games.


Lessons in Order

1-7 (Intro & Pitch) +
8-18 (Major Scale) +
15: Minor Triads
19-29 (Chord Progressions) +
30-34 (Hook Chords) +
35-41 (Written Notes) +
42-50 (Song Chorus) +

Lessons by Topic

Strategy +
Pitches +
Scales +
Written Notes +
Chords -
15: Minor Triads
Chord Progressions +
Melody +
Songwriting Steps +
Science +
Games & Tools +
Song Examples: Crazy +
Song Examples: Rolling Stone +

Detailed Contents

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