Major Triad and Inversion Exercise

[Susan Palmer]

I'm always looking for ways to see the guitar neck differently so that it becomes more familiar and I have more options to find the music I hear. I also really enjoy watching my students run these kind of exercises. (It helps me learn the neck better too.) I recently posted a YouTube video for my students showing all 12 major triads in all inversions on adjacent string sets, and I thought I'd share it with you all for fun. Feedback is welcome!

Major Triad Exercise

[bako]

Being able to navigate the way that the guitar fingerboard mirrors itself at the unison and octave is an important piece of knowing the instrument. Anyone who can execute what you played and understands the implications it has for everything that they might play, both harmonic and melodic is in a good place.

[Susan Palmer]

It sure opened things up for me when I started running all my triads (major, minor, augmented and diminished) like this on a daily basis. I suddenly felt so free on the instrument. I suppose each player has an exercise that really opened things up for them, and this was mine. Thanks for checking it out.

[Aristotle]

There is something about the size of triads and the layout of the fret board. Double stops (diads?) are too small to have much musical effect, and four-note voicings...well, save those for the piano. So, we are kind of stuck with them.

[bako]

I was fortunate as a teenager to study with guitarist, Ted Dunbar who was very focused on learning the fingerboard.
Our work included:

1. Playing things in 12 keys within 5 frets
2. Playing chords and melodies at the unisons and octaves. (Similar approach as your video)

Now I am confident that should I ever have a brilliant musical idea, I will be able to easily locate it on the guitar thanks to this kind of study.