The Building Blocks of a Triad (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
The Building Blocks of a Triad
Join Don as he breaks down the intervals that go into making a major or minor triad.
Taught by Don Ross in Play Songs By Ear seriesLength: 24:42Difficulty: 1.5 of 5
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Play Songs By Ear
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsYour ears can be one of your most valuable assets as a musician. In this series, Don is going to show you how to translate what you hear into what you play. This series is designed to build your confidence and equip you with the valuable skill of playing music by ear.
Lesson 1
Series Introduction
Don gives an overview of what to expect from this series.
Length: 4:20 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
The Sound of the Major Scale
Utilizing the visual element of a piano keyboard, and your ears (of course), Don walks through the intervals of the Major Scale.
Length: 12:09 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Semitones and Whole Tones
As we begin to look at intervals, we start with the smallest classified interval, as semitone, and will look at 2nd and 3rd intervals as well.
Length: 18:52 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
The 4th & 5th Intervals
Don continues to explore the concept of intervals, now looking at the 4th and 5th scale degrees.
Length: 16:46 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The 6th & 7th Intervals
In this lesson, we're going to look at the last two intervals in a Major Scale, the 6th and 7th.
Length: 15:06 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Memorizing Intervals
In this lesson, Don teaches some helpful tools for memorizing the sound of the intervals.
Length: 11:06 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Building Blocks of a Triad
Join Don as he breaks down the intervals that go into making a major or minor triad.
Length: 24:42 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Recognizing Major and Minor Chords by Ear
In this lesson, Don works on the skill of hearing the difference between a Major and Minor chord.
Length: 14:27 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Major I, IV and V Chords
In this lesson, Don examines three chords that are perhaps the most ubiquitous chords you'll find throughout mainstream music. Learn to recognize these chord intervals by ear.
Length: 10:29 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Recognizing the I, IV and V Chords by Ear
Continue strengthening your ear with Don with some listening exercises based around the I, IV and V chords in C Major.
Length: 9:53 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Overview: The Chords of C Major
Building off of what we've learned about the major chords in C Major, Don walks through all the diatonic chords and lays the groundwork for building progressions.
Length: 17:30 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Listening Exercise: Chords Sequences
Using our chord knowledge, we will start working on recognizing chord changes by ear through a number of listening exercises.
Length: 25:35 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Transposition
Transposition, is a vital skill for any versatile musician. In this lesson, Don introduces the basics and demonstrates how it's done.
Length: 13:01 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About Don Ross
View Full Biography
Don has toured regularly since 1989, across Canada, the USA, a dozen European countries, Japan, Taiwan, China, Australia, Russia and India. He has played with symphony orchestras in Canada and Germany, and collaborated live and on recording with Andy McKee, Canadian singer/guitarist Brooke Miller, & Toronto bassist Jordan O’Connor. He also composes scores for television, radio and film, and does production and recording engineering for a variety of other musicians. In addition to acoustic guitar, Don also plays electric guitar, slide dobro and lapsteel guitar, voice, piano, keyboards, bass guitar and drums.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Eve Goldberg
Eve talks about the boom-chuck strum pattern. This strum pattern will completely change the sound of your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Kailana Nelson
Mark Nelson introduces "'Ulupalakua," a song he will be using to teach different skills and techniques. In this lesson, he...
Free LessonSeries Details
Dave Yauk
Learn a simple mini song that illustrates just how intertwined scales and chords really are. Dave uses a G chord paired...
Free LessonSeries Details
Peter Einhorn
JamPlay is proud to introduce jazz guitarist Peter Einhorn. In this lesson series, Peter will discuss and demonstrate a way...
Free LessonSeries Details
Rich Nibbe
Rich Nibbe takes a look at how you can apply the pentatonic scale in the style of John Mayer into your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mike Dawes
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Kroos
Free LessonSeries Details
Mario DaSilva
Free LessonSeries Details
Steve Eulberg
Steve Eulberg does a quick review of this lesson series and talks about moving on.
Free LessonSeries Details
Trevor Gordon Hall
Free LessonSeries Details
Electric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Evan Brewer
Evan Brewer explains everything you need to know in order to get going with your bass guitar. Topics include the parts of...
Free LessonSeries Details
Emil Werstler
Emil takes you through some techniques that he uses frequently in his style of playing. Topics include neck bending, percussive...
Free LessonSeries Details
Stuart Ziff
Stuart delves into all the different aspects of how R&B guitar has had an impact within reggae music.
Free LessonSeries Details
Joel Kosche
Joel Kosche talks about creating and composing a guitar solo. He uses his original song "Sunrise" as an example.
Free LessonSeries Details
Eric Haugen
Eric Haugen discusses the goals of his "Six String Problem Solver" lesson series and what kind of material it covers.
Free LessonSeries Details
Rafael Moreira
Playing your scales and improvising horizontally on one string is a great way to visualize the scale degrees, and also a...
Free LessonSeries Details
Horace Bray
Horace provides a short etude on how to practice connecting the different shapes of the G Major open triads. This helps you...
Free LessonSeries Details
Aaron Marshall
JamPlay welcomes instrumental guitarist Aaron Marshall for a comprehensive master course. In this first lesson Aaron discusses...
Free LessonSeries Details
Jane Miller
Jane Miller talks about chord solos in part one of this fascinating mini-series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Glen Drover
Lesson 25 from Glen presents a detailed exercise that firmly builds up fret hand dexterity for both speed and accuracy.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 520680 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 127 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.how do I work out the key of the song
Hello leeguitarman! It can be tricky to locate the key of a song with so many chords involved like this one. It's usually the key that you start with or the one that is the most predominant. I found a great lesson by Will Ripley that covers this exact situation! You can copy and paste this link into your browser: http://members.jamplay.com/guitar/phase-2/lesson/5577-how-to-find-the-key-of-a-song / I hope this is helpful :)
I'm really enjoying this series. Don is an amazing instructor. Love how he builds upon each lessons putting it all together step by step making it all really easy to understand. Using the keyboard is extremely helpful as well. Great job Don!!
This is an excellent lesson! His use of a piano keyboard truly helps simplify and clarify his points and explanations. Fun sense of humor, too. Thanks, Don!
Great great great series. Perhaps the most important course I've taken.
Loving this series :)