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Music theory - help with triads?

I have an exam tomorrow on tirads in theory. Does anyone out there know how to quickly tell a minor triad from a diminished triad? I can do it but I need to count half steps and that takes time!

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The diminished triad has a flatted fifth interval. It is not really a fifth but a tritone interval, such as C and F#. It has a dissonant sound which makes the diminished triad easy to distinguish from the minor triad, which has a fifth interval, which has a consonant (pleasant) sound. The minor third interval is easy to distinguish from the major third interval. The minor sounds sad and the major sounds happy.

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