Chord Shapes

Minor Triad

Intervals: 1-b3-5. The basic minor triad is the primary chord of minor keys and a key colour for ii, iii and vi in major. Compared with a major triad it sounds darker and more introspective, but it is still a stable, consonant sonority without an inherent need to resolve. In jazz and popular music it underpins ballads, rock riffs and modal vamps; in functional progressions the relative minor (vi in a major key) and the minor subdominant (iv in major borrowed from the parallel minor) are especially important expressive colours. Minor triads are also the foundation for minor 7th, 6th and minor-major chords, so a strong sense of how 1-b3-5 feels is essential for hearing extended minor harmony.