What are triads? Define the three most typically used triads in European and Euro-American music that is based, for example, on triadic chords in the key of C major (e.g., “Joy to the World”)

What will be an ideal response?

• Triads are chords built of three different pitches. If the pitches of a triad are stacked in order from the lowest to highest pitch, each pitch is the musical interval of a third above the other, e.g., a C (major) triad would be C E G—C to E is a third since it spans three consecutive letter-pitch names C-D-E, and E to G is a third since it also spans three consecutive pitch-letter names E F G.


• For example, a tune such as "Joy to the World," if played in the key that is based on the C major scale (C D E F G A B C), uses the triads built on the first scale degree (C), the fourth degree (F) and the fifth degree (G). All of these triads are major triads because of the types of thirds (the musical interval or distance between pitches) of which they are constructed. The C triad is C E G, the F triad is F A C, and a G triad is G B D, each denoted respectively with the capital letters C, F, G (see music to "Joy to the World" in WOM).