Thirds Archives - Riff Ninja Academy

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Using Thirds in a Solo: Twist and Shout

In this lesson we’ll learn a short two-bar phrase that can be used as a solo in the Beatle’s song Twist and Shout (just loop it 4 times and you’ll have the full 8 bars you need). It’s not exactly as they played it because they created this sound using two guitars, but that makes for a great little study on the use of major and minor thirds and how those patterns work on the fretboard. The whole solo uses thirds played in double stops (that means both notes are played together).

A major takeaway from this lesson is how the major and minor thirds pattern works on these strings. If you can connect with that, that’s more valuable than simply learning a one-off solo you might use here and there.

Artist Spotlight: Jimi Hendrix (Thirds Applied To A Progression)

In this lesson we’ll take a look at one of Jimi Hendrix’s songs, Wind Cries Mary. It’s a really interesting example of how you can use major and minor thirds in a chord progression. Why does a progression of major chords end up sounding minor? Watch the lesson, and find out!

Playing Chords on Bass (Stacking Thirds)

This lesson builds on top of all the previous lessons that deal with intervals and the theory of the fretboard, so if you’re unsure of those things, it would be best to go back and review those first.

In this lesson, we’ll look at ways that you can play chords on the bass. Once you get the hang of this, it can add a lot of depth and color to your playing, and it’s fun to do as well. Specifically, we’re looking at ways to stack major and minor thirds on top of each other, in order to produce chords.

What Are Thirds? (Part 2: Applied to the Guitar)

What are thirds, and how can you use them on the guitar? Grab your guitar and get ready, because that’s what we’re talking about for the next 20 minutes.

Before going through this lesson though, you should have a basic understanding of the previous lesson that this one follows on from. Check it out here. In that lesson, Colin explains the theory behind thirds. In this one, he’s explaining how it applies to your guitar, and how you can use them.

Related Videos:

Using Inverted Thirds in Your Solos

 

 

What Are Thirds? (Part 1: Theory)

Thirds are one of the most important intervals to understand in music theory. Major and minor thirds make incredible harmonies, they are the foundation of all chords, and they make for great bass lines too.

In short – learning all about thirds is a really important bit of music theory that will help you, regardless of the instrument you apply it to.

Using Inverted Thirds In Your Solos

Using inverted thirds in your soloing is a fairly advanced topic, so please make sure you’ve gone through the other lessons on intervals prior to this one.

Inverted thirds are used fairly commonly – once you know what they are, you’ll start recognizing them being used, because they sound so good!