Major Triad Arpeggios

This lesson will be dealing with the simplest of all arpeggios, the major triad arpeggio. The major triad arpeggio, as the name implies, is an arpeggio made up of only three notes. The great thing about using triad arpeggios is that, because they are so simple harmonically, they can be used in a wide variety of situations. You can find interesting uses for even the most basic of harmonic structures.

The notes of the major triad arpeggio in C are

C, E, G

The intervals of the major triad arpeggio are:

1, 3, 5

There are many ways in which you can use a major triad arpeggio when improvising but the most common way to make triad arpeggios sound interesting is to thing in terms of arpeggios substitution. You can play the simple triad arpeggio over a number of different chords to create interesting effects.

The Major Triad Arpeggio

Let’s start by taking a look at some ways in which you can use the major triad arpeggio diatonically. I will only begin to touch on this subject because there are an almost limitless number of ways in which you can use the major triad arpeggio due to its simple harmonic structure. The major triad arpeggio can be found in many different scales and modes but here we will look at ways we can use a C major triad arpeggio within the C major scale.

The C major triad is found within the C major scale and can therefore be played over any of the chords within the C major scale for different harmonic effects. By playing a C major triad arpeggio over the other chords of the C major scale, we are using a technique known as arpeggio substitution. This is a technique whereby you play different arpeggios over a chord to create different sounds.

The chords of the C major scale are:

Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Am7, Bm7b5

We can substitute the C major triad arpeggio over any of these chords.

You can find three major triad arpeggios within the C major scale (C major triad, F major triad and G major triad) and you can use all of these over any of the chords found within the C major scale. For example you can play the F major triad arpeggio over a C major chord for a C6 type sound.

Advanced Triad Substitution

Another advanced example of using a triad arpeggio would be to play a D major triad over a C major chord. This is one of my favorite ways in which to use the major triad arpeggio and it is used to create a Lydian type sound. The notes of the D major triad are:

D, F#, A

As you can see two of the notes of the D major triad arpeggio are found within the C major scale (D and A). The only note that is not present is the F# note which is, in terms of a C major scale, a #4 or #11. This means that, if we play a D major triad over a C major chord, we create a C Lydian sound. (The Lydian mode has a #4 note)

You can find major triad arpeggios within most scales and so it is up to you to use your imagination to find ways to make use of this versatile harmonic structure. You can use arpeggio substitution to create an almost limitless supply of harmonic ideas for the humble major triad arpeggio.