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Lesson 3 of 6
  • Year 9

Adding triadic harmony to ground bass

I can apply triadic harmony to a ground bass.

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View unit
Lesson 3 of 6
New
New
  • Year 9

Adding triadic harmony to ground bass

I can apply triadic harmony to a ground bass.

Download all

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Triadic harmony is using triad chords to add harmony to a piece of music.
  2. The triad is the root, third and fifth of a chord.
  3. There are seven chords in the scale. The most used chords are the primary chords I, IV, and V.
  4. To add triadic harmony to a ground bass pattern, choose chords which have the bass note as part of the chord.

Keywords

  • Triadic harmony - harmony built on thirds, using the root, third and fifths notes of the scale

  • Chord - two or more notes played together at the same time

  • Root - the main note of the chord and the note the chord is named after (e.g. the root note of a C major chord is C)

  • Primary chords - the three main chords in the scale - I, IV and V

Common misconception

When adding chords to a bass line, the chord has to be the same as the note in the bass.

In most cases the bass note should be one of the notes in the chord, but doesn't always have to be the lowest note of the chord. For a balanced chord sequence most notes in the bass lines should be the root, but not all have to be.


To help you plan your year 9 music lesson on: Adding triadic harmony to ground bass, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The task could be adapted to compose in other keys (or instruments). The play one, miss one, play one, miss one, play one pattern only works for triads which use the white notes on the keyboard. More explanation would be required for pupils to transfer this to other keys.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Keyboard instrument

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a ground bass?

a rhythm pattern
Correct answer: a short repeated bass line that forms the structure of a piece
a melody played in the treble
a chord played once

Q2.
The first and most important note in a scale is called the ...

Correct Answer: tonic

Q3.
Which note is the dominant in the C major scale?

C
E
Correct answer: G
B

Q4.
The note is the seventh note of a scale, which often feels like it needs to rise to the tonic.

Correct Answer: leading

Q5.
What is a chord?

Correct answer: two or more notes played at the same time
one note played alone
two notes played separately
a repeated rhythm

Q6.
The main note that gives a chord its name is called the note.

Correct Answer: root

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which are the three primary chords?

II, III, VI
Correct answer: I, IV, V
I, II, V
III, V, VII

Q2.
What are chords I, IV, and V in the key of C major?

C, E, A
F, A, B
D, G, A
Correct answer: C, F, G

Q3.
Which best describes the shape of a triad on the keyboard?

three notes played one after another
Correct answer: three notes stacked using the root, third, and fifth
two notes played together
four notes stacked on top of each other

Q4.
When we add harmony using chords built on the root, third, and fifth, we are creating harmony.

Correct Answer: triadic

Q5.
How do we reinforce the key in music?

by starting on the leading note
Correct answer: by starting on the tonic chord
by ending on chord II
by avoiding the tonic

Q6.
The dominant chord (V) naturally wants to return to which chord?

chord II
chord IV
chord VI
Correct answer: chord I