Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Stacking chords (triads) on top of chords – Guitar Chord Theory – EP411

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn which triads work on top of a major chord. You can play these to create colorful versions of the chord, for both rhythm and lead.

Part 1 - Free Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - For Premium Members

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Slow Walkthrough

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Video Tablature Breakdown

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Comments

  6. Anthony L says

    i find this lesson and the last (plus others in the same vein) to be very helpful. the emphasis on ‘rhythm’ and the ‘hearing’ of what’s going on will be better (in the long run – for me at least) than learning a composition ( awesome as they are).

    last lesson really brought home how challenging a pocket can be….. the instruction helped a great deal.

  9. Biker13 says

    Thanks to you the way you handled Part 2 was entirely sufficient for me but for years I definitely relied on your very detailed note for note explanation. That’s what you did way better than anyone else and that’s why I’ve been a subscriber for 8 years now. Please don’t eliminate the note for note explanation. Even if I now longer need to rely on that I’ll never forget how important it was. And sometimes it still makes things move faster for me. That note for note detail is a major point of differentiation from your competition. You do that so much beer than any one else. You don’t want to get rid of that. Thanks.

    • Daniel H says

      Brian,
      I agree with Biker13’s note. The detailed note for note is very helpful and I miss that approach in this lesson.
      Don’t be too quick to abandon that teaching technique. Working off the tablature takes a lot more time for me.
      But your Part 2 “Summary” is still helpful. Awesome lesson.

  10. richard p says

    These are such powerful lessons… great stuff. I love these lessons that weave note knowledge with CAGED. A catchy melody completely sucks me in and I have to play it myself. That’s when I bump into my weakness with rhythm. But, lately I’ve been using the play-along video tablature at slow speeds to really focus on keeping and feeling the rhythm. So, it’s all fantastic. After a little more than a year with your lessons, I followed all of the 6 and 9 chords… and the Maj7 and Dom7 (although I still never remember which is which)… and CAGED positions for the C, G and F… and understand the relative minor. I think I actually know enough to be dangerous.

    For other engineers out there… you know how a scope has a “persistence” feature… I wish I had that in my brain. I’d love to work out the CMaj scale around the open C, the A-shape C and E-shape C with persistence turned on… and then start noodling with the full picture in my mind. Right now, my mental persistence is about a half second at best.

  12. Vijay J says

    Wow you made fall in love with the C chord! Great lesson, tons of tips and theory concepts weaved in that is easy to understand and more importantly fun to play within minutes.
    Separately, can you share some thoughts on amps like marshal code, positive grid spark, etc and DAW for recording and creating loops. Thank you Brian.

  16. alasdair L says

    Brian, you have saved my life, almost literally as, after an epileptic attack, I am no longer allowed to drive my car and go to my guitar classes. I started following your brilliant lessons about 10 weeks ago, managing to put in two hours practice a day . I can now bear to listen to myself playing several of the classes, particularly enjoying, 282,404, 402, 102, 249, 379, 339 and 380, for example. Could I request a few more easyish classes, maybe one a fortnight, as if we were up to level of the most difficult we probably wouldn’t need classes! Anyway, thanks again, your explanations are the clearest I’ve found on the internet (and you spend less time on theory than my teacher!), the backing tracks are great and the quality of the tabs is the best I’ve come across, so 5 stars and keep up the good work.

  17. Raymond P says

    This was another great lesson. I particularly like the way in which you explain the guitar theory as it applies to this and many other lessons. So much easier to digest and remember.

    Thanks again Brian

    Ray

  18. Blaine L says

    Great lesson, as usual, but this is the first lesson I’ve ever seen on basic jazz chords that didn’t mention the word “jazz” even one time! What I especially like is your method for finding the “right” triads quickly.

    In any case I really like the direction you’ve been taking things lately. How about a follow-up lesson on minor 7th and 9th chords?

  19. Cardo says

    I liked how you showed that these triad techniques can be used in a wide variety of styles, blues, jazz, country, even Hawaiian. Very cool how the same fundamentals can be utilized to create such different effects.

    • sunjamr says

      BTW, the Premium member video format was quite useful – worth watching twice (or more) I would say. Especially if you’re interested in developing your own compositions…..which is what we all aspire to.

  26. Robert Burlin says

    You know Jerry always wore a black t-shirt on stage. Is that his influence naturally making you wear one or did you wear a black t knowingly? Glad to hear you are stuck in Jerry mode. There is a song Dark Star it is and was their most sought after deep space jam that did what ever it is they do the best with the most intensity. Sure would like to see you deep dive Dark Star.

  28. chris b says

    another solid lesson maestro. i love how you make use of your screen time to thoroughly cover a topic, for all player levels. i find myself learning new things each time i watch the lesson and even more when i take time to put the guitar down and write things out. there are so many ideas covered in each lesson, within your deep dive, and the compositions always do a great job of giving us something to get under our fingers to cement the ideas, navigate the flow on the fretboard. connecting voicings with scale melody, and relating voicings to tension and release provide the solid base for learning to improvise. i feel like i move forward a little each week. you have a great way of blending theory with composition and performance, and making it attainable for anyone who puts in the time. just great. thanks for what you do and how you do it.

    • james w says

      Fully agree with this comment. You have been doing a few triad lessons in the last 20 or so, and each one just improves my understanding of what is going on around the root, 4th and 5th so much…

  34. Dan S says

    I’ve “heard” that sound forever and always wondered why it worked, and what it was. This will be a deep dive. The occasional explanation of what the note is really does help. Once learned, a player can always speed it up, but this style of slow explanation is awesome. I am always turned off by instructors who are more interested in showing off their prowess than offering any real instructions.
    Keep it up.

  36. David S says

    Brian, Went back to an old lesson that I didn’t get finished with and after this lesson it became easy and so much fun to play around with. EP304 . Good to go back to some earlier lessons
    again . Understanding things better now after good teaching and going over what you have been teaching us in many different styles it is finally starting to come together.I was a chord player when starting with you and now so much more. Thanks for being such a great teacher You da Man!! Dave

  37. mritalian says

    Hey Brian I hope your stuff is copy righted. This is some of the nicest stuff to listen to and play. Enjoyed this lesson and learned a lot. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, your a gift.

  39. jimvince says

    Hi Brian,

    Nice description of the use of the major 7th chord in your stacking lesson. I wrote a love song a while back and used mostly major 7’s throughout. I didn’t realize that I also had some of the 6th and 9th in the song. Thanks for the review and your good work.
    Jim
    Western PA

  41. David E says

    Brian – thank you so much. I love this sound and you have given us all the tools to create it. You are a brilliant teacher and you make guitar playing really exciting. I have been playing on and off for 40 years. Wish you were around when I started.

  44. Tlm B says

    Fantastic lesson. I feel like you opened a window for me. You have come along at the right time for me. I have some personal issues on the home front and you help me get away. I am fairly new to playing , but I am truly learning.

  46. Rich F says

    This is a brilliant lesson, Brian! I am what you would call a visual player, seeing shapes when I play. I mainly relate everything back to the scales (Minor pentatonic and major pentatonic). Tryint to also relate it all to chord shapes and triads. Your explanation here, as I understnd it, that C plus E minor equals C Major 7 is mind-blowing! Dreamy sound of E minor with C, and blues-y sound of E Minor with E in the bass! Wow!

    Still relating it back to scales… I was adding another “stack”… I was noodling out of the C major pentatonic/C major scale (just staying in that scale) over the top of you playing over the top of the backing track (ie: the “with guitar” clip at the bottom, and it worked! Then, mind-blowing to me, while doing this, I noodled around on the first thing you showed us: the C major, C major 7, E minor triad, at the 8th fret: and realised (I think!) that I was playing in pattern 2 of the C major pentatonic (C major?), which also equalled, I think, pattern 4 of the E Minor pentatonic? … Am I correct here with all of these connections?

    As Keith S says above, I love mixing the theory with practice, and looking at the amazing way in which the guitar works: how the shapes, scales and chords all fit together (sorry about the length of this post: this is the longest post I have ever written: just excited by all of this!)

    Cheers,

    Rich F

  47. Rich F says

    Hi Brian,

    Just watching this lesson again (over my early morning cup of tea!)…

    Falling deeper and deeper in love with this lesson! I am just watching the first part of the first video… and I love the dreamy sound of you noodling over your C strum backing track… just wondrring whether you could add that strum, entirely in C, as a 5 minute backing track at the bottom: It woukd be great as a practice track, just staying in C…

    Best wishes,

    Rich F

  48. Stephen K says

    This has been a very helpful lesson, Brian, thank you! I usually find studying the music theory behind guitar playing to be exceedingly dry and boring. However, I think this lesson finally gave me some better insight into the relationship between the root chord and the major 7th and dominant 7th chords. Just moving the root note down a half step at a time for each. Then, you can “anchor” your solos around those flatted root notes to give your solos the “flavor” or “feel” of the maj7 or dom7 vibe, depending. Very nice and simple to understand. You da man!

  51. Bryan W says

    This ones fantastic. This had an odd familiarity, but I couldn’t place it right off. Then “I kissed her and she kissed me” started playing in my head while working through the lesson and learning the triads for this. Then it came to me. Ain”t that a kick in the head? Another classic. I’m loving these lessons.. Keep em’ coming..

  54. John H says

    So initially I was thinking “meh” to this lesson and feeling a bit under-whelmed about the whole thing. Man I was wrong. I must have watched the lesson 2- 4 times before applying the chord stacking thing to the track and this is a major break through/game changing technique for me. When I was young and more foolish, I aspired to play loud and fast. No need. What a great way not only to color you play, but to add melody as well. Love this Brian.

    John H.

  55. RFY1760 says

    A great lesson and always a masterful job by Brian. I see this as a real game changer, but I am totally lost after the first run through. I am going to need to watch this over and over (as well as the circle of 5ths and the GAGED system)!

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