Let It Be is an accessible song with simple chords that are straightforward to master. After some practice, they should become second nature to you quickly.
Triads are one of the easiest chords to create. Composed of three notes separated by what’s known as an interval, triads provide an elegant way to build chords quickly and effortlessly.
1. C Major Triad
C Major triad is one of the first chords most beginners learn, providing a straightforward method for playing three notes that form any chord in any key. It consists of three notes which combine to form one chord; its base note, known as its root note, third note that forms it, fifth note and sixth note are known respectively as root, third, fifth and sixth notes. There are four kinds of triads–major, minor, diminished and augmented depending on how close together their roots and thirds and fifths and fifths can be.
C Major uses major thirds or four half-steps between its roots (C and E) for maximum happiness. E also divides evenly with G to create its “happy” sound. But its seventh scale degree (VII) stands out by having only minor thirds between G and C which produces its “unhappy” sound.
2. D Major Triad
Beginner guitar players typically learn one of the first chords they will need: D. It is essential that beginners practice transitioning between this chord and G or A before moving on to other triad shapes, as chord progressions often incorporate such changes.
When studying chord shapes, remember that the root (or base) of a triad can always be found on the bottom two strings – for instance D is always located under C and A above it.
Learning inversions of triads is also vital, since this requires moving them up an octave or two while maintaining the same fingerings and notes – something seen frequently in chord progressions such as Let It Be or Over the Hills and Far Away.
3. E Major Triad
diatonic chords for any given key are diatonic, meaning that their tones come directly from it. All chords used in this song were chosen based on E major.
Note that all these chords feature a major third and perfect fifth; these can be found 7 frets above the root note, with 1 and 1/2 tones between. This makes a major triad a closed chord; to open up its sound more, drop one note up an octave for what is known as an open voiced triad.
As can be heard, these two types of triads have vastly differing sounds due to the intervals they contain; major triads tend to produce upbeat and happy sounds while minor ones typically produce sadder, melancholic tunes.
4. G Major Triad
A G major triad is created using notes G, B and D from the scale, creating a diatonic chord – see our lesson on guitar number system). Many popular songs utilize this shape of G chord like Highway to Hell by Angus Young which uses an open G shape with overdrive electric guitar.
Each note interval on a guitar produces its own distinctive sound, and as such each triad can have different chord qualities. Even though both G major and G minor triads only contain three distinct notes, they still sound unique when strung together.
Minor triads differ from major ones by having either a suspended 2nd or diminished 3rd instead of the perfect fifth used by major ones; this creates a more melancholic sound than their counterparts, and should be practiced regularly to learn how to harmonize with both major and minor scales – an invaluable skill if you intend on writing your own music!