Closed Voice Triads. Pattern 1. R 3 rd 5 th. Pattern 2. 3 rd 5 th R. Pattern 3. 5 th R 3 rd. begins in root position. begins in 1 st inversion

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1 Closed Voice Triads Major and minor chords aren t just triads, they re some of the building blocks of harmony! As we can tell from the name, triads are three note chords. Building the chord straight from bottom to top gives a chord in root position, because the root is in the bass. Same notes but with the 3rd in the base give a chord in first inversion. Put the 5th in the bass and you ve got a chord in 2nd inversion. If each of the notes in the triad is followed by the next immediate note (Root to 3rd, or 3rd to 5th), rather than skipping notes (root to 5th, or 5th to 3rd) then you have a closed voice triad, as opposed to an open voice triad, which does leap between notes. The root note is highlighted in red. Pattern 1 begins in root position R 3 rd 5 th Pattern 2 begins in 1 st inversion 3 rd 5 th R Pattern 3 begins in 2 nd inversion 5 th R 3 rd

2 Closed Voice Triads - Challenge One! As you work your way through this challenge you ll find the entire fretboard opening up to you! Challenge One! Play through the following sets of chords using a single pattern (1, 2, or 3) for each run through. Thats right, play through each of the 4 keys in all of the squares below using only one pattern. When you re ready for a bit of variety go ahead to the next page for some picking patterns you can use to add some challenge to the right hand. Our goal is to completely internalize the three closed voice triad patterns. *See example one below. A C B E D A B G C G D F G B b C D E B G F D F G B Challege One Example A (pattern 1) C (pattern 1) B (pattern 1) E (pattern 1)

3 Picking pattern 1 Closed Voice Triads - Picking Patterns Let s mix up Challenge One by varying our right hand. You ve already worked on playing the chord shape with a pick, as well as pick and fingers (use your pick for the low note and let your right hand s middle and ring finger tackle the remaining two notes). The following examples will give your right hand a run for it s money. String skipping can be a challenge and requires some special attention, and now s a good time for some. Be sure to use strict aleternate picking in the following examples. Although they are all written using the root position pattern for A be sure to run these picking patterns through the 1st and 2nd inversion patterns in many keys, like Challenge One s key changes... Picking pattern 2 Picking pattern 3 Picking pattern 4

4 Closed Voice Triads - Challenge Two! Shifting your way through patterns and positions along the neck is the key to being able to span the fretboard. In this challenge we ll connect all three patterns (pattens 1, 2, and 3). For the example below, D major, we start by ascending through patter 3, then move up the neck and descend through pattern 1; and finish it up by continuing up the neck and ascending through pattern 2. Go ahead and continue ascending if your instrument allows. Challenge Two example D Challenge Two F A B b C G D C A A F # D E E B G F B b A G F C D G E b

5 Position shift example 1 Closed Voice Triads - Position Shifting Position shift example 2 Position shift example 3 Closed Voice Triads - Along the Neck

6 Closed Voice Triads - Challenge Three! Shangri La! Nirvana! The Be All - End All! Switching positions on the neck because you want to, by choice, rather than being forced to because of fretboard knowledge is a great place to be in. Working on this exercise will give you the ability to play any closed voice triad on any string, in any position! Hallelujah! Start by choosing a position on the neck. Then play through the keys in the squares beneath. We ll be playing the chords C, G, D, and A in 5th position for our example. Challenge Three example C (pattern 1) G (pattern 2) D (pattern 1) A (pattern 2) C F B b E b A b D d G b B E A D G C G D A E B F # C # G # D # A # F

7 Closed Voice Triads Minor chords - Wow, talk about putting your time in! By this point we ve completely memorized our closed voicings for major chords. You can easily convert your major voicings to minor by lowering the third of the chord, from a Major 3rd to a minor 3rd (see Patterns 1-3 below). Be sure to revisit the previous Challenges using minor chords to really accelerate your progress! Pattern 1 begins in root position R 3 rd 5 th Pattern 2 begins in 1 st inversion 3 rd 5 th R Pattern 3 begins in 2 nd inversion 5 th R 3 rd