The tri-tone is just what the name suggests—3 tones. These three tones can be manipulated by you, the master guitarist, to form a myriad of chords. Depending on which three tones you choose, you can flavor a song in nearly any way you like.
We will start with the fundamental tri-tones—those that contain the root note of the chord. The most common by far of all of these is the fifth, or “power chord.” The beauty of the three-toned power chord is that it can be played for any note within a key without sounding out of place. The reason for this is because there are actually only two notes in the chord, the root and its fifth. The root is just doubled, one root string being the octave of the other. By this doubling, the emphasis is placed on the root note rather that any extraneous flavoring notes. Try playing an E power chord, or tri-tone fifth. Allow the low E string to ring open, then fret the A and D strings at the second fret. That’s all there is to it.
Now try something else. If you have an electric guitar and a distortion pedal, play a power chord with the distortion cranked. The root and the fifth resonate perfectly together, and the sound you hear has been the basis for innumerable rock and roll songs over the years. As a matter of fact, without the power chord, we probably wouldn’t have the entire genre of punk music as it is today.
Now let’s look at the different variations on the tri-tone. The most common variations will have all three notes on adjacent strings, with the root note on the thickest (lowest-pitched) string. We’ve already seen the fifth, so let’s look at the third.
The third can really flavor a piece, and depending on whether you use the major or minor third, it will produce a happy or sad ambience. A major third is much easier to play than a minor third, if you are using the root on both the top and bottom strings. If this is the case, then all you have to do is add the note on the next fret down from the lower root to form the third.
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