Skip to main content Skip to navigation Skip to search
  • Lessons
  • Articles

Guitar Tutorial

Eric Johnson Triads

Instructor: Martin Miller
Begin Tutorial
  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    1
    Eric Johnson Triads - Concept Martin Miller
    1:48
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Any Style

    Excerpt: Hey friends, Today we’ll be dealing with a concept that has been fascinating me ever since I came across it: wide interval triads á la Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, etc. Firstly, let’s look at how these triads are constructed. Here are three simple steps: 1. Fret a triad of your choice, any chord type, any inversion.2. Raise the middle not...

    Media Length: 1:48

  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    2
    Eric Johnson Triads - Fingerings Martin Miller
    0:37
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Reference Style: Any Style

    Excerpt: In this part of the tutorial I’ll show you a few fingerings for the D Major and D minor wide-interval-triads. Of course, there are tons more but these are the most useable in my opinion. Be sure to always be aware of the function (e.g. root, 3rd, 5th) of each note that you play. Don’t forget: you can also turn any of these into diminished, augme...

    Media Length: 0:37

  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    3
    Eric Johnson Triads - Chord Melody Martin Miller
    0:39
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz

    Excerpt: Here’s one of the most exciting applications for these shapes: chord melody! This is just a quick improvisation I came up with. You’ll soon discover how much fun it is to mess around with these shapes. Their sound on the guitar is very pleasing. Another task for all you advanced players out there could be to harmonize a jazz standard with these...

    Media Length: 0:39

  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    4
    Eric Johnson Triads - Lick 1 Martin Miller
    0:34
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Fusion

    Excerpt: Okay, now it’s time to increase our soloing vocabulary with a few licks. Any of these 3 licks can be used against a static Dmin7 chord. The first one is a melodic sequence that uses a few substitutions against the old Dmin7 chord. 

    Media Length: 0:34

  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    5
    Eric Johnson Triads - Lick 2 Martin Miller
    0:32
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

    Excerpt: In order to spice things up a little, let’s add a few color tones to these triads. This example uses the 9th (the note E against Dmin7) and the 11th (the note G against Dmin7) in conjunction with the regular Dmin triad inversions.

    Media Length: 0:32

  • Save
    Complete
    Info
    6
    Eric Johnson Triads - Lick 3 Martin Miller
    0:52
    • Go to Lesson

    Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

    Excerpt: This last example shows how to incorporate these shapes into a more straight-forward shredding context. Like the first lick, it utilizes a few substitutions and some very tricky string skips, so it is bound to get your alternate picking up to shape. Think Steve Morse with this one! Once you've gotten a solid grasp on this tutorial, it'll then be your turn t...

    Media Length: 0:52