Is it wrong to play triad chords and not tetrads on a key board?

semsem612

Member
Hi dears
I used to play triad chords and not tetrad ones on my key board. It is much easier to me, should i've to play a tetrad chord or it is ok with triad ones.
Thanks for caring
 
Triads and tetrads are just different forms of chords and strictly speaking are usually used when the extra 4th note is important, such as in the two types of 7ths, or 6ths or other extended chords - but you could play a C7 chord with three notes, missing out one of the others? The choice is musical. The usually idea is to do chord changes with the minimum of movement - so C-E-G then F-A-C is a horrible way of playing triads, when you would play C-E-G, then just move the E and G up to F and A - that movement sounds nicer.

So no big deal about how many notes really, or even what inversion. Dm7, which I really like as a chord, works with 4 notes in it, while the one before or after might only have 3 - the question is simply what does it sound like? You could play C Major with 4 notes if you like? Perfectly acceptable. When you say easier - how do you mean?
 
Mr. Rob thank you very much
I know that most of 7th chords have to be played tetrads but i am using triads only in majors and minors as i think there is no need to repeat a note. That's what i mean.
Thank you so much for caring.
 
So the tetrad four note chord -typically', or specifically perhaps, doesn't just mean a duplicate of any one from a triad?
I didn't know and I'll ask then, does that also imply 'triad isn't just any three notes, but tonic, third and fifth?
(For instance if I instead play 1st, 5th, 7th together? Still a triad right?

How can I find somethig so basic not clear after 50+ years in music! :facepalm: :p
Thanks
 
I'll indulge.

Are you using two hands on the keyboard, or just trying to play the chords with one hand? If you're using two, then you can play tetrads using three notes on one hand. If I am going to play a 7th chord, I will play the tonic note with my left hand, usually as an octave pair, pinky and thumb. Then I can play the rest of the chord (three notes) with my right hand.

Cmaj7= Two C's with my left hand.... E, G, B with my right hand.

For Mixsit, yeah, any three notes really. If it doesn't fall within a typical chord structure or scale, then it's called a jazz chord. :p
 
..For Mixsit, yeah, any three notes really. If it doesn't fall within a typical chord structure or scale, then it's called a jazz chord. :p

Well, yeah. And when I mess up I do it twice ..just to make'em.. wonder' :>)

But really, le'me shoot this again. Guitars we like a punchy voiced 1 5 7 notes. It is a chord right? (or is it 'technically? And a triad?
:o :facepalm: [best 'Arnold/'Predator] 'Kill me NOW! :>)
 
Well, now I'm not sure what you're asking. lol. (my fault, not yours!!)

Any three notes is a triad, whether it is a chord or not remains to be determined. That was my joke about a jazz chord, they'll call ANYTHING a chord.

For 1,5,7.. I wouldn't call it a chord because you need the 3 somewhere. It might be played by another instrument which is totally acceptable, but if it were only the guitar playing it, then it's not a chord. At least not in my book.
 
Thanks.
'Any three notes is a triad, whether it is a chord or not remains to be determined. See, now it seems 'flipped' ..again. ('triad? But maybe not a 'chord?
Oh my. :)
'Till then ..er 'then :>)
 
1,5 and 7 is still a triad in my book and it's also a chord, but one in this case that isn't Major or minor.

You can have dissonant chords if you like - practically any random collection of notes will be a chord that can be named. We've not even touched on inversions - which once you start swapping the notes around often suddenly become a totally different chord. We usually say chords have to have 3 different notes, but a guitar power chord might only have root, fifth and octave - and sometimes just the root and fifth - and it still makes that chord type sound.

What confused me was when he said he used to play triads and not tetrads - as if this is a way of playing, when chords are really just what works for a song - and you use as many notes as you want. A simple close triad with root at the bottom works higher up and sounds horrible lower down - and the more notes you play in the lower register the easier it is to get a really muddy sound. With five fingers on your right hand you can have 5 note chords if you have the dexterity and spread.

It only bad in my book when you follow, for example, a song where the lyrics are on the page with the chord symbols, and it says EM7, and you play an E Major triad missing the 7th, or it says C6, and you play C. However, if you play Em as a simple triad, and somebody else provides the C - that works for me, musically.
 
I am using my two hands on playing but they are the same when playing major and minor chords (1st, 3rd and 5th) for both.
Thank you all so much
 
To be honest, I suspect we're all still mystified by what you're doing - when you say you use two hands and they are the same - as in both hand playing the same chord a foot or so apart? Doesn't that sound odd?

What I think everyone is saying is that there has never been a rule of any kind about how to play chords - APART - from 1-3-5 as a permanent fingering for every chord is not how pianists would ever do things. In schools, you see kids kind of set their fingers in a vice like state, and then move that position up and down the keyboard. That is the worst possible way to play - it doesn't sound very nice and is wasteful. Inversions let you play the next chord with minimal movement left to right. Then, with your five fingers on that hand you can play almost any combination from a single not to every note, occasionally maybe even using one finger to cover two keys.

Real pianists - those who learned to play properly, will be able to produce better textures by perhaps playing two notes of the chord with the left hand and using the right to fill it out. That stride piano style where the left is playing 1+5, then 1+6 with the left hand while arpeggiating the rest of the chord with the right - often ignoring the root note, as that's being done down the bottom.

Experiment all you like - but avoid the right hand set finger position and move up and down the keyboard - that's a very bad practice to get into.
 
Is it wrong...
No, tautologically so!

There's no right or wrong in music, only expectations. Your task as composer is to meet or defy those expectations.

That being said, I don't know know my piano well enough to speak for what is and isn't common or expected.
 
A chord consists of two or more notes, and doesn't care whether they sound good or not. However your listener might, so you play the notes that you need to play that make the song work for you and your audience.
 
Wow as someone who plays keys by ear, does not read music or know didly about theory my head hurts from all this talk! Damn! If it sounds good to YOU if you like the way it "feels" do what you like. Least that's how I play em....
 
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