Primary Triads

Just as there are three primary colours, every scale has three primary triads.  The primary triads are built upon the FIRST, FOURTH and FIFTH notes of any scale.

The technical name of the FIRST NOTE of the scale is the ______________________.  So, the triad built upon this note is called the ________________ TRIAD.

The FOURTH NOTE of the scale is also called the ______________________. So, the triad built upon this note is called the ________________ TRIAD.

The FIFTH NOTE of the scale is also called the ______________________. So, the triad built upon this note is called the ________________ TRIAD.

Primary triads have two important features.

Firstly, they contain all notes of the scale to which they belong.  Find all the notes of the scales above in the three primary triads.  Which scale degrees occur twice? ________________________.

Secondly, notice the distance between the tonic triad and the other two.  If you place the subdominant triad below and the dominant triad above, the distance is ______________.

This means that the three primary triads are next to each other on the circle of fifths.  Therefore, the subdominant triad and the dominant triad also represent the two most closely related keys to the tonic.

You will find the worksheet for this topic here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JdpU-tw7FuRHlOekFycFhBcFU/edit?usp=sharing

We also did some Music Theory craft!  The following worksheet has two pages.  The first contains two strips.  Cut each strip out and glue them together using the spare tabs at the end of each strip.  Provided you glue them together with both parts upright, there is only one way to do this.  This is the circle of fifths.  The second page has an irregular shape in the middle, which you need to cut out (I laminated mine).  When this is placed over the loop created from the first page, it shows you every possible key signature with the primary triads of both the major and minor scales.  If you wish to you can cut out the slots on either side of the centre cutout, to thread the loop through (but you would need to glue the last part of the lop together after you do this).

You will find this worksheet here:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JdpU-tw7FudXRLeVRHWVF2aUk/edit?usp=sharing