Music · Lesson 5

Primary and secondary triads, qualities, inversions, figures, dominant seventh, chord symbols

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: JAMB Music Section B 1–2 (triads and inversions in major/minor keys ≤2♯/2♭; primary and secondary triads; chord indications I, ii, vii°, III+; SATB progressions; dominant 7th root position). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(B)(a): primary I/i, IV/iv, V and inversions; secondary ii, iii, vi and inversions; vii° and inversions; dominant 7th and inversions. Aural test (d) chords.

WAEC: JAMB Music Section B 1–2 (triads and inversions in major/minor keys ≤2♯/2♭; primary and secondary triads; chord indications I, ii, vii°, III+; SATB progressions; dominant 7th root position). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(B)(a): primary I/i, IV/iv, V and inversions; secondary ii, iii, vi and inversions; vii° and inversions; dominant 7th and inversions. Aural test (d) chords.

NECO: JAMB Music Section B 1–2 (triads and inversions in major/minor keys ≤2♯/2♭; primary and secondary triads; chord indications I, ii, vii°, III+; SATB progressions; dominant 7th root position). WAEC/NECO Theory 1(B)(a): primary I/i, IV/iv, V and inversions; secondary ii, iii, vi and inversions; vii° and inversions; dominant 7th and inversions. Aural test (d) chords.

What you will learn

Construct and name the four kinds of triad.
Name triads on every degree of major and harmonic minor keys.
Identify root position and inversions with figured symbols.
Construct the dominant 7th and its inversions and resolve it.
Translate between Roman numerals and chord symbols.
Harmonise a simple melody with primary triads.
Describe harmony in Nigerian traditional and popular music.

Key points

Triad = root + 3rd + 5th.
Major, minor, diminished, augmented qualities.
Major key: I ii iii IV V vi vii°.
Minor key: i ii° III+ iv V VI vii°.
Primary: I IV V; secondary: ii iii vi.
a = root position, b = first inversion (6/3), c = second inversion (6/4).
Name inversions from the bass, not the soprano.
Double the root in root position; never double the leading note.
V7: major 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th above the dominant.
V7 resolves: 3rd up to tonic, 7th down a step.
Chord symbols: C, Cm, C7, C/E.
Tonic, subdominant and dominant functions drive progressions.

Start here: Chords and triads

A chord is three or more different notes sounded together. The simplest and most important chord in Western music is the triad: three notes built by stacking two 3rds. The lowest note of the stack is the root; the note a 3rd above it is the third; the note a 5th above the root is the fifth. C–E–G is a triad on C: root C, third E, fifth G.

On the staff, a root-position triad looks like a “snowman”: three notes all on lines (line–line–line) or all in spaces. That shape lets you spot triads instantly.

Chords give music its harmony: the vertical dimension that supports the melody. When a choir sings a hymn in four parts, or a highlife guitarist strums under a singer, each moment is a chord, and the succession of chords is a progression. Learning to recognise and use triads is the core of Paper 2 Question 1 (harmony), of JAMB Section B, and of the chord test in Paper 3A.

Two ways to name a chord

By the degree of the scale on which its root stands, in Roman numerals: the triad on the tonic of C major (C–E–G) is I; the triad on the dominant (G–B–D) is V.
By its technical name: the tonic chord, the subdominant chord, the dominant chord, and so on.

Popular musicians use a third system, chord symbols such as C, Am or G7 (5.9).

Worked example: Root, third and fifth. Name the root, third and fifth of the triads (a) D–F♯–A, (b) B♭–D–F, (c) E–G–B.
Solution. The root is the bottom note when the chord is stacked in 3rds. (a) Root D, third F♯, fifth A. (b) Root B♭, third D, fifth F. (c) Root E, third G, fifth B.

Why 3rds? Stacking 3rds produces the richest consonant sound available: the root, 3rd and 5th form a major or minor 3rd, another 3rd, and a perfect 5th, all consonant intervals (mu4.9). Chords built in 4ths or 2nds exist in modern music, but the triad has been the foundation of Western harmony since about 1600, and it is the foundation of hymns, choruses, highlife and most popular music you hear in Nigeria today.

Worked example: Spotting a root-position triad on the staff. Three notes sit on the first, second and third lines of the treble staff. Is this a root-position triad, and which?
Solution. Lines 1, 2, 3 of the treble staff are E, G, B: a stack of 3rds, line–line–line. Root E: E–G minor 3rd, E–B perfect 5th: E minor triad in root position.

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Practice questions

1. The primary triads of a key are

I, IV and V
I, II and III
II, V and VI
I, III and V

Show answer

A: I, IV and V
Tonic, subdominant, dominant.

2. Chord ii in G major is

A–C♯–E (major)
B–D–F♯ (minor)
G–B–D (major)
A–C–E (minor)

Show answer

D: A–C–E (minor)
Supertonic triad.

3. Chord vii° in a major key is

minor
major
diminished
augmented

Show answer

C: diminished
Minor 3rd + diminished 5th.

4. A triad of major 3rd + augmented 5th is

minor
augmented
major
diminished

Show answer

B: augmented
E.g. C–E–G♯.

5. Chord III in A harmonic minor is

augmented
major
minor
diminished

Show answer

A: augmented
C–E–G♯.

Key words

Chord: Three or more notes sounded together.
Triad: Three-note chord of two stacked 3rds.
Root: Note on which a triad is built.
Primary triads: I, IV and V (i, iv, V in minor).
Secondary triads: ii, iii and vi.
Inversion: Chord with a note other than the root in the bass.
Figured bass: Numbers showing intervals above the bass (6/3, 6/4).
Dominant 7th: V with a minor 7th added.
Leading-note chord: vii°, diminished triad on the 7th degree.
Close position: Upper voices within an octave.
Open position: Upper voices spread more widely.
Doubling: Using one chord note in two voices.

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