A ladder of thirds is similar to the circle of fifths

Circle of fifths

In music theory, the circle of fifths shows the relationships among the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys...

, though a ladder of thirds differs in being composed of thirds, major

Major third

In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...

 or minor

Minor third

In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...

, and may or may not circle back to its starting note and thus may or may not be an interval cycle

Interval cycle

In music, an interval cycle is a collection of pitch classes created from a sequence of the same interval class. In other words a collection of pitches by starting with a certain note and going up by a certain interval until the original note is reached In music, an interval cycle is a collection...

.

Triadic chords may be considered as part of a ladder of thirds.

It is a modal frame

Modal frame

In music a melodic mode or modal frame is one of, "a number of types permeating and unifying African, European, and American song" and melody. "Mode" and "frame" are used in this context interchangeably. Melodic modes allow melodies which are not chord-based or determined by the harmony but...

 found in Blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and British folk music. Though a pentatonic type, the melodies

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

 come "into being through piling up thirds below and/or above a tonic

Tonic (music)

In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...

 or central note." (Middleton 1990, p.203) [while pentatonic scales are analyzed as piled fifths]

They are "commonplace in post-rock 'n' roll popular music - and also appear in earlier tunes". (Middleton 1990, p.203) Examples include The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' "A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night (song)

"A Hard Day's Night" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released on the movie soundtrack of the same name in 1964...

", Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

's "Peggy Sue" and The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

's "My Generation

My Generation

My Generation is the debut album by the English rock band The Who, released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom in December 1965. In the United States it was released by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation in April 1966, with a different cover and a slightly altered track...

", Ben Harney

Ben Harney

Benjamin Robertson "Ben" Harney was a United States of America songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. His 1895 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is regarded as one of the first published ragtime songs...

's "You've Been A Good Old Wagon" (1895) and Ben Bernie

Ben Bernie

Ben Bernie , born Bernard Anzelevitz, was an American jazz violinist and radio personality, often introduced as The Old Maestro. He was noted for his showmanship and memorable bits of snappy dialogue....

 et al.'s "Sweet Georgia Brown

Sweet Georgia Brown

"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard and pop tune written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey .The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925 by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week No. 1 for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra...

" (1925).

Sources

• Middleton, Richard, Studying Popular Music; OUP, 1990, ISBN 0-335-15275-9.
• See also Van der Merwe, Peter Origins of the popular style: the antecedents of twentieth-century popular music p.120 ff; OUP, 1989, ISBN 0-19-316121-4