Music Lesson: Triad Patterns in the Key of F

For the next few lessons, we're going to stay in the key of F for a little bit and go back to using some triad patterns which we didn't look at in part one.

Syncopated Bass Line

For instance, we will focus on the bass line based on the root, third, and fifth. This isn't a walking bass line; it's a syncopated bass line.

Tapping the Rhythm

To get the hang of that rhythm, let's tap it on our knees. Here's your eighth note pulse:

1 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

These are quavers.

• The left hand is going to be going:
  • One, two and three, four.
  • One, two and three, four.

Make sure:

• The last note is squarely on the fourth beat.
• The first note is also on beat 1, 2 and 3.

Right Hand Coordination

Now, this right hand, which is tapping the eighth notes, could be on the piano like this.

• That little exercise where you play continuous eighth notes in the right hand, went through the 12-bar sequence.
• You may have noticed that in my right hand, I stayed in this position.

In other words, I've got all the notes I need. I can play that in the right hand without looking.

• F is going to be here.
• That's A and C (the third and fifth of the chord) right next door.
• B flat is the root and third (B flat and D).
• C, which I'm going to play with my third and fifth fingers, is also root and third.

So that's like a five-finger position that covers all the chords that I need.

Make sure you can do the coordination with all the chord changes like this, with continuous quavers before you attempt the piece.

The Piece

When we come to play the piece, it's going to sound like this:

So you notice there's a new idea in here, a little tricky phrase which is very New Orleans-style. It's based on a triad.

Playing the Triad

If you play a spread position triad, with your little finger on top on F and your thumb on the bottom, that's your normal position.

However, your thumb is also going to play the second, and it needs to fall onto that G without any hesitating. It needs to be clean as well.

Just practice that a few times. I was doing it every two bars there.

You'll also notice that I didn't just play the thirds we were talking about earlier, but I did a five-finger position, which we looked at quite a lot in the first part of this course in B flat.

We need to remember to have the E flat in there. I played it ascending.

Sliding Off

The third component of this piece involves sliding off the blue third and the blue fifth (the flat three and flat five) onto the third and fifth of the C chord, with the fifth top and bottom octave apart.

Practice this repeatedly.

Also, double-check that your left hand middle note is on the two-hand.

• So if you've got your foot tap:
  • 1, 2, 3, 4.

That middle note needs to be in between those clicks, bang in the middle.