MUSIC CLASS WITH KENJI-B

I've already posted a topic here about this.

"When you learn chords, your music will never sound horrible. EVER."- My teacher.
And if you're asking if I agree, yes. I actually do agree... That is, if you also know the 6 melody guidelines.
Anyway, triads are a special type of chord that is THE most important chord you will ever use. Ever. Why? Just because without 'em, chords are ANNOYING. After you figure out triads, chords are easier to deal with.
But I have more knowledge for your brains. It's not as easy as 1-2-3. It's much more difficult.
You might want to take notes on this on PAPER. Typing doesn't keep the knowledge long enough. (Anything you can take notes on that doesn't involve a keyboard is more efficient to remember these things.)

The "Circle of thirds" is a way to indicate what white key is 3 keys to the right, including the key you start on. (If you're trying to find the 3rd for "A", you count "A, B, C", and there you go, C is the third for A.) The circle's roulette is as follows.
C->E->G->B->D->F->A->repeat, beginning at C
Draw a circle of letters and put the letters going CLOCKWISE exactly as they appear. When you reach "A", draw an arrow to the C you placed earlier.
Having this at hand is excellent when you are trying to figure out triads.

Half steps include the black keys on a keyboard. There are 12 half-steps in an octave, OR 8 whole steps. (Whole steps are just the white keys.)

Flats and sharps are the notes in between notes. The notes are either raised half of a step or lowered half of a step when you have a sharp or flat. The symbol for sharp is "#" and the symbol for flat is similar to a lower case "b", but is more stylized. (I would suggest googling a picture of the symbol.) Sharping a note raises the note by a half step and flattening a note lowers a note by a half step. I will now list each sharp and flat and their flat/sharp counterparts.

• C#=Db
  
• D#=Eb
  
• E=Fb
  
• E#=F
  
• F#=Gb
  
• G#=Ab
  
• A#=Bb
  
• B#=C
  
• Cb=B

Flats and sharps I have noted that are equal to each other are the EXACT SAME NOTE. Playing them at the same time would result in hearing the same sound twice.
Also, take note of E#, Fb, B#, and Cb. The reason they do not have a sharp or flat counterpart (rather, the next or previous normal note) is because there is no note inbetween the normal notes, so they go up or down a half step instead (one key, including black notes and white notes).

So, what are major and minor thirds? Major and minor thirds define what type of triad you are using. To figure out what type of 3rd it is, count the number of half steps between notes. (Be absolutely sure, that if you know what key signature you're in, that you count between notes respectively, not including the first note. (If you have a key signature with no sharps or flats, and you started on C, you would count from C to E (C#, D, D#, E). If you have a key signature where E is flattened, then you count from C to Eb/D# (C#, D, D# or Db, D, Eb)) If you have 3 or less half steps between 3rds, it's a minor third. If you have 4 or more half steps between 3rds, then it is a major third. Keep this in mind.

... I THINK that's all we need to go over before we can go on to the next thing.
Time to write some chords, eh?
1. Write the base of the note down. Use the circle of thirds to figure out the next 2 notes. (If you used C as your base, your next notes are E and G). Write them down one on top of the other, with your base on the bottom, and your 3rd note on top. Using the current example, mine would look like this:
G
E
C
2. Add any sharps or flats according to key signature. Let's pretend I'm not in a key signature, and move on.
3. Add any accidentals (Sharps or flats that are not included in the key signature but for this note) Let's add a flat to my E.
G
Eb
C
4. Count the half steps between each third,, the same way you did when figuring out the type of thirds my examples were earlier. Using a lowercase m for minor thirds and an uppercase M for major thirds, draw a fraction bar and mark what type of third the bottom 2 notes are underneath the fraction bar, and what type of third the upper two notes are above the fraction bar. Mine will look like this:
M
-
m
5. Use the following chart to determine what type of triad it is:
------------------------
m over m = Diminished
M over m = Minor
m over M = Major
M over M = Augmented
------------------------
Using my example, mine is a Minor triad.
6. Test it. If it's not the type of triad you were looking for, then you can change it by doing the following:
-If you want
--Diminished to Augmented: Raise the 3rd note by 2 half steps, and the 2nd note by 1.
--Minor to Augmented: Raise the 3rd and 2nd note by 1 half step.
--Major to Augmented: Raise the 3rd note by 1 half step.
--Diminished to Major: Raise the 3rd note by 1 half step, and raise the 2nd note by 1 half step.
--Minor to Major: Raise the 2nd note by 1 half step.
--Diminished to Minor: Raise the 3rd note by 1 half step.
Lower the notes instead of raise them to go vice-versa. You can not go any lower than diminished or any higher than augmented.
7. Play around with your triad until you feel comfortable with it.
8. You're done!