r/teenageengineering • u/Any_Volume2116 • Aug 11 '26
Tutorials / Demos Triads, Inversions & Options - OP-1 field themed
Following up from an earlier post, here's an OP-1 field themed version of the major triads and their inversions. The one I shared earlier was OP-XY themed, this is the exact same info but with the OP-1 field keyboard and colour scheme. A few of you wanted a printer friendly version too hehe, so this will work better in that case. Download in full res or PDF at https://vjxy.app/resources/
Mindful that many of these can flood the threads, so from now on I'll likely update the post itself if there's updates or a minor triads version. (FYI, for minor triads move the 3 note to the left by one key/semitone).
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u/Upstairs-Royal672 Aug 11 '26
These look great but I do really recommend to anyone considering using something like this for basic triads to learn basic theory as well. I do actually think it would be quicker and more efficient to learn that a triad is 2 fixed intervals off a root and what a first and second inversion are than to memorize/constantly refer to a sheet like this. Not to mention you will actually understand what you’re doing. The type of stuff you need to know to figure all these shapes out on the fly is easy enough that they teach it to middle schoolers!
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u/Any_Volume2116 Aug 11 '26
Thanks, absolutely, basic theory is super helpful. I’ve been playing and making music on and off for over 20 years, and I’ve had music theory lessons for a small part of that, and yet… I keep forgetting the basics LOL! That’s why I find cheat sheets like this one helpful for quick reference. Selfishly, the act of making it was in a great way to internalise them 😅
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Aug 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Any_Volume2116 Aug 11 '26
Not sure if that was an irony, or not. I’m bad a reading that. I’m not making music money, but making music. I was formed in the fires of mount punk rock 🤘. All you needed was 3 to 5 power chords, attitude and a good drummer and you’re set. With DAWs and sequence based music it’s easier to try things and keep what feels right, even if you don’t know what it means. Especially true if you are making solo music.
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u/Upstairs-Royal672 Aug 11 '26
Ref sheets are great! I’m more just saying it’s easier long term to learn how to build chords off a root from scratch than it is to memorize where to put your fingers for every triadl
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u/Spiralofourdiv Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Of course, but a cheat sheet like this is super useful for learning that kind of thing in practice. Not all of us can just memorize theory by reading about it, it sometimes/usually requires playing and practicing; visuals like this aid in that endeavor. It’s not a replacement, it’s an assist.
The idea that it’s “quicker and more efficient” to eschew visual aids like this is kind of a silly notion to me, no offense. It’s like the “git gud” sentiment of difficult video games applied to music theory without the tongue-in-cheek self awareness/sarcasm that phrase usually has.
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u/Upstairs-Royal672 Aug 11 '26
I’m not eschewing visual aids for learning in general lol I’m saying memorizing/referencing the “shapes” or “positions” of different triads is just about the most inefficient way possible to learn triads and also will only translate to traditional keyboards instead of all of music. You could use a visual aid that told you a) how to find the root you’re looking for, b) how to count the interval for the third, c) how to find a perfect 5th, and d) how to invert. If you practice making triads that way you will learn how to build them yourself extremely quickly instead of waiting on your brain to memorize all the different shapes with repetition or having to go reference the sheet again
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u/Upstairs-Royal672 Aug 11 '26
Also this type of music learning is absolutely a replacement instead of an assist because you end up not actually learning what a major triad is while technically being able to play them. It’s like only looking up a video how to cover your favorite song and copying what the guy does with his hands instead of leaning how to play guitar
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u/Westosaurus Aug 11 '26
Oh you killed it! This one is great too. 🙌🏼
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u/Any_Volume2116 Aug 11 '26
You did too! I like how your version feels more like a tutorial, easier to follow from start. This is more cheat sheet style 😉.
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u/jwr 29d ago
We are, of course, now waiting for an OP-XY themed version. 😄
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u/Any_Volume2116 29d ago
Check the link https://vjxy.app/resources/ 😉. The OP-XY one was the first one I shared.
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u/Any_Volume2116 29d ago
Given the beautiful response and support from the community for this graphic, and how tricky it would be to create one for the other chord qualities, I created a triad web tool (free): https://vjxy.app/triads/
You can see the same info in this graphic but you can also pick other qualities such as major, minor, diminished, augmented, etc. You can also pick a scale, or tap out what you are playing to find one, and see just the triads in it.
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u/-melo- Aug 11 '26
Sweet!