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A challenging all-keys triad workout (Patreon)

Published:
2023-05-05 17:15:45
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

This week, I'm returning to one of my favourite topics: triads. For me, they're one of the main ways I understand and navigate the fretboard, and are incredibly useful in all kinds of musical situations.

In the video I'm breaking down one of my favourite triad exercises, working with all the most common major triad shapes and taking them from low to high on the fretboard through all 12 keys.

This isn't an easy exercise to play all the way through, but even if you're a less advanced player you can still get a lot out of this exercise by just working on one key at a time, making sure you have that nailed before moving on.

And if you want a more detailed explanation of triad basics it might be worth revisiting some of my previous triad lessons - just type 'triads' into a search either on here or on my main YouTube channel page to find them.

Good luck with the exercise and hope you find it video helpful. The exercise is tabbed out below. The backing track will be in the next post.

Speak next week,

Adrian

Files

How well do you know the fretboard? All Keys Triad Challenge

In this video, one of my favourite triad exercises. A challenging workout that really tests your fretboard knowledge. Tab and backing track can be found on Patreon (pay what you like): https://www.patreon.com/anyonecanplayguitar My beginner soloing course: https://courses.anyonecanplayguitar.co.uk My latest album: https://zodiactoys.bandcamp.com/releases Please subscribe here for many more YouTube lessons: https://www.youtube.com/c/anyonecanplayguitarcouk Hi 00:00 Exercise play-through 01:08 Triad basics 05:13 The circle of 5ths 10:19 Exercise breakdown 11:21 What I'm thinking 14:27 Make it harder 20:21 Bye 22:27 Check out my website: https://www.anyonecanplayguitar.co.uk Social blah: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acpgtr/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/acpgtr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anyonecanplayguitar.co.uk

Comments

Henry Gascon

What a fantastic fundamental exercise. Thanks for the great work Adrian!

Mark Norman

Perfect timing. A week ago while noodling confoundedly on my guitar, I stumbled upon the power of triads for crafting lead lines. These exercises are what I need to use that power when crafting solos in real-time. Thank you.

Ignatz Maus

I really appreciate these triad lessons! Eat your greens kids! The fundamentals!

Patrick Schroff

Love this! Do we get to look forward to the minor next? Please?

Jeff Sims

If you print off the tab you can identify the third of each triad and just flatten it by a semi-tone. That should keep you busy for a while! But seriously, you could do C major and when you have it sorted flatten all the thirds and do C minor. It's all good practice.

Jeff Sims

Been getting into Merle Travis lately and he uses that B flat triad a fair bit. Triads are the single most useful concept to learn on the guitar in my (worthless) opinion.

Boomer Dell

Yes. Adrian mentions it in this lesson.

Boomer Dell

This is outstanding. Can't wait to work on it!

Patrick Schroff

Great idea! Definitely going to go for it!

Robert Bachmeier

Well, yes, going counter clockwise it is in 4ths but it's always referred to as the circle of 5ths. I've not used the circle of 5ths enough, usually just to quickly determine the relative minor of a major scale, but now I know those rather quickly so I don't reference that chart that often. I've always gone clockwise so I use sharps instead of flats, thus the key of Bb is A# to me. I always like how I learn to look at things a little differently when I check out one of Adrian's lessons.

Robert Bachmeier

It always seems like there is so much to work on. This is something I definitely want to incorporate into my practice, but I constantly find myself so very sorry I started learning as an old man. I'll never get through the stuff I have on my to do list before I go to the great here after. This workout is a must though. Thanks Adrian.

Ot Ratsaphong

Great lesson! Came at the right time, as I was starting to incorporate arpeggios into my daily practice routine. Thank you!

anyonecanplayguitar

Hi Maggie! - Yes circle of 4ths, or circle of 5ths - it goes by both names. Clockwise is up in 5ths/down in 4ths, anticlockwise is up in 4ths/down in 5ths. Bit confusing, I know - it's a good idea just to print out a copy of the circle and have it next to you when you're practising. For this exercise I'm going anti-clockwise starting on C through all 12 keys.

anyonecanplayguitar

haha I know the feeling, I think every guitar player does. I think there's always going to be way more to work on than is possible in one lifetime, so just a question of working out what your priorities are I suppose!

anyonecanplayguitar

Interesting! I do like Merle Travis, but must get into his style a bit more - maybe a video in the future!

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks Patrick! Yes, I might well do a minor edition of this exercise as I think that would be useful to a lot of people. But if you get tired of waiting, as Jeff says, you can flatten the thirds to get the minor triad shapes. A lot of work, but definitely a good exercise to try!

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks Mark. Hope you find this helpful. Triads are definitely a big part of my soloing/improvisation approach. Without them I'd probably still be playing the same old blues and classic rock licks!

Jeff Sims

Ooops, I wrote B flat but I meant B minor and he does a sort of B7 with the F# on the low string in a similar manner

Magdalena (Maggie) Zurawski

I just thought it was going in the direction of 4ths because it's going from C to F. Circle of 5ths would be C to G. Is it not called one or the other depending which way round you are going?

anyonecanplayguitar

Yes, I see what you mean. It's just a question of your preferred terminology. I tend to just call it the circle of 5ths and then specify which direction I'm going in. I think the term 'circle of 4ths' is less widely used, but still totally valid. And I can see the argument for calling it 5ths clockwise and 4ths anti-clockwise. But then if you start thinking about inverted intervals it all gets confusing.

Mike Elmendorf

Lesson looks familiar. Circle of fifths baby. When in doubt and almost a paint by numbers i use the circle of fifths to find the next sweet note . For years and years ive been going backwards and forwards in an open chord warm up using Circle of Fifths in all 12 keys. Takes me a couple minutes of muscle memory. Thank you

Mark Herz

Great lesson, thanks!! ... any chance of getting the pdf without the tab?? [I'm allergic ;o)] Thanks again, love your approach and tone! Best, Mark (across the pond)