SWARSHALA — TRIAD CONSTRUCTION WORKSHEET
Original learning aid, 3 October 2026.
Guide: https://swarshala.com/blog/build-major-minor-diminished-augmented-triads
Use three separate checks: letter frame, adjacent third distances, root-to-fifth distance. Distances are equal-tempered semitone steps, excluding the starting pitch.

REFERENCE
Major: adjacent thirds4+3; root distances0,4,7.
Minor:3+4;0,3,7.
Diminished:3+3;0,3,6.
Augmented:4+4;0,4,8.

BUILD
D root, letter frame D–F–A. Write major, minor, diminished, augmented:
E-flat root, frame E–G–B. Write all four qualities:
F root, frame F–A–C. Write major and augmented:
For each: third check / fifth check / corrected spelling:

DIAGNOSE
1. Quality of A–C–E:
2. Quality of B–D–F:
3. Repair D–G-flat–A as D major, keeping equal-tempered pitches:
4. Repair C–E–A-flat as C augmented, keeping equal-tempered pitches:
5. Why is D–F–A-sharp not D augmented?

ANSWER KEY
D major D F-sharp A; minor D F A; diminished D F A-flat; augmented D F-sharp A-sharp.
E-flat major E-flat G B-flat; minor E-flat G-flat B-flat; diminished E-flat G-flat B-double-flat; augmented E-flat G B-natural.
F major F A C; augmented F A C-sharp.
1:A minor,3+4. 2:B diminished,3+3, fifth6.
3:D F-sharp A; an F is the third letter. 4:C E G-sharp; a G is the fifth letter.
5:Its third D–F is minor. D augmented needs F-sharp and A-sharp.
A construction stack does not require a particular instrument fingering or performance spacing.