I’m starting to think that Western Harmony could be better understood from an Eastern perspective.
Here’s what I mean. A triad is a three note chord. There are four main types of triads, Major, minor, diminished and augmented.
I learned that all triads are made up of a Root, a Third and a Fifth, I call this method the “R, 3, 5 model”. If you went to music school or studied with a competent music teacher, there’s a good chance you’ve been presented with this information in this manner. This information is TRUE but I am going to approach it a little differently.
A while back during one of my thought exercises I wondered how Lao Tzu, the founder of Daoism would teach a first semester music theory class. The author of the Tao Te Ching would probably classify all triads as either being balanced or imbalanced. I’ve thought a lot about this idea and I’ve come to the conclusion that triads can be taught from the perspective of Yin and Yang, or dark and light respectively.
In lesson two I described Major 3rds as being “Yang intervals “and minor 3rds as being “Yin intervals”. Both major and minor 3rds are what I consider the “corporeal” intervals. I am going to expand on that idea further. In fact, most chords, not just triads, can be thought of as a combination of these two elements.
A Major Third has 4 half steps. 4 frets on the guitar or 4 keys on the piano. The Yang interval is bright, it’s the lighter element of music.
The minor 3rd has 3 half steps. It could be considered a sadder sound, the darker element.
Remember that the perfect fifth is a “balance point” once you’ve landed on the 7 half steps of a perfect 5th, you’re in a stable place in relation to your first note. You can get there by doing some basic math with the Major 3rd and minor 3rd.
A Major Triad can be simply considered a Major 3rd plus a minor 3rd. 4 +3 = 7. That’s it. It doesn’t invalidate the R, 3, 5 model, but gives a different perspective on it. The major triad is light plus dark. It is in balance.
A minor triad is a minor third plus a Major third. 3 + 4 =7. It is dark plus light. It is once again in balance with a “darker cushion” you could say.
Well, what is a diminished triad? It is dark plus dark. 3 + 3 = 6. It is imbalanced because these intervals add up to a tritone, or a “diminished 5th” To diminish a thing is to make it smaller. The notes are smaller and closer to each other. It’s Yin plus Yin.
What about Augmented chords? It’s light plus light. M3 plus M3. 4 + 4 = 8. It overshoots the balance point and adds up to an Augmented 5th. To augment means to “make larger”. I guess you could consider Augmented chords too much of a good thing.
The only triads that don’t fit this model are sus type of chords like the sus4 and sus2. I consider these to be sort of anomalous due to the fact that they replace the third with either the 4th or the 2nd so they don’t play by the rules of tertian harmony. They “suspend” the third, hence the name. They have a blockier sound because the perfect 4th is either at the top or the bottom of the chord.
Louis Johnson once told me “The world is out of balance, so you must be in balanced.” You have no idea how much that idea has stuck with me. It actually influenced my whole view of reality. Louis was a DEEP dude. Perhaps I will talk more about him in the future.
When I think of people being in balance think of people I know who are living, breathing diminished chords. Chaos all the time, unbalanced,
I also know some Augmented dudes. Just a little too extra, you know?
The two consonant triads, Major and minor are in balance
The two dissonant triads , Diminished and Augmented are out of balance.
They are used in composition to go from states of stability to tension and back again, like a good story.
I like to place them on a “dimmer switch”
The brightest setting is Augmented, like walking into a room with a high lumen light bulb burning into your eyes. At the next lowest setting is the Major chord, a well lit room with proper contrast, temperate light. The next setting is minor chords, maybe a candlelit setting, temperate dark. Finally the lowest setting is diminished, double dark like a room where you can’t see clearly.
Teaching triads from this perspective has been one of the most robust concepts I’ve come across. This concept makes perfect sense to everyone I have presented it to. I never learned it from a music book or any music class. I learned it from Louis Johnson and the Tao Te Ching.
Try it out yourself. What do you think? I’ll see you in the next lesson.