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Closed Triad Progressions 3-6

[features_box_yellow width=”75%” + border=”2px”]Level: Beginning

Study progressions after you have mastered all the triads and triad inversions. The progressions are played up 1/2 steps (chromatically) until you can easily and quickly play them in all keys and all inversions. Then, move on to master the open voicings progressions. [/features_box_yellow]

Pianists have a tendency to “bounce around” the keyboard when playing chord to chord. It is much more musical if you “orchestrate” or use “voice-leading” when moving from chord to chord. This is more like arranging for strings, voices, horns, etc.

The best way to train yourself to think this way is to practice chord progressions. In the beginning, start with the most basic progression, I V7 I. In classical harmony, this progression, or cadence is called the “authentic cadence”, because it is the strongest of all cadences. In other words, the V7 is a very “restless” chord, which strongly pulls to the “stable” I chord. This is labeled V to I because it starts with the fifth degree of the major scale. It is a “five-seventh” (V7) because we count the degrees of the chord, 1-3-5-b7. (See Example )

In playing the I V7 I progression, we prefer to move from a three-note chord (the I chord) to another three-note chord (the V7). To accomplish this we leave out the fifth degree of the V7 chord. Practice the I V7 I progression in all keys, major and minor, usually by moving up and down chromatically. Also practice all the inversions. It is also helpful to see the movement of the voice leading. For instance: in the root position, the root moves down a half-step, the third moves up a half-step and the fifth stays the same. Practice the I V7 I progression until you can play it quickly. (See Example)