A selection of notes built up by playing every other note of a scale together. After building up the chord this way, notes can then be played at different octaves, or omitted, to produce different 'voicings'.
A particular selection of notes of a chord, played in a particular order.
A chord made up of three notes.
A distance of a tone and a half
A distance of two tones
A chord made up of a major third with a minor third on top.
A chord made up of a minor third with a major third on top.
A chord made up of two stacked minor thirds.
A chord made up of two stacked major thirds.
A triad as described above is in 'root position'. If you take the note off the bottom and raise it up an octave so it is now on the top of the chord, the chord is considered to be the same chord in a different 'inversion'. This is first inversion. Repeat the process to get second inversion.
Work out a triad. Play it in root position.
Now play the first inversion, then the second. Then play root position again, but one octave higher.
Keep going all the way up the piano, then come back down the way you came.
Try it with major, minor, diminished and augmented triads. Listen to the difference in sound between them.
Choose a note to be your root. Play an augmented triad with this note as the root.
Now change it into a major triad with the same root.
Now change it into a minor triad with the same root.
Now change it into a diminished triad with the same root.
Repeat the exercise with other notes as the root.