A, E, and F Major 3 String Triads I IV I V Progression Video Transcript

Hello, friends. Chris with beginningguitaronline.com. In this video, we're leading you through exactly where to place your fingers to create the triads that make up the I-IV-V chords in all of the common Major keys for guitar playing. I'll lead you through a breakdown of each of the keys going slowly, playing four beats on each chord, and showing you where to place your fingers to create the triads for each key. 

A Major

Here we go through the triads of A Major. First finger on second fret third string, second finger on second fret second string, open E on top. Keep our A in place, pivot to our D chord, I-III-II. Back to our A chord. Down to our E chord. The first finger simply moves one fret up again and finds the A chord.

Together again, A, ready, play. D. Back to A. Down to E. Back to A. A Major. One, two, ready, play. A. D. Back to A. E Major. Back to A.

E Major

And here we go through the triads of E Major. The first finger on the first fret third string, open second, open first. Then we simply slide the first finger up to that A chord that we already know and love. 

First finger on the second fret of the third string. Second finger second fret of the second string. Open E. And then, here, we're going to extend our third and fourth fingers up two frets above where our A chord was. We're essentially making the same shape with III and IV, and then we're going to place the first finger on the F-sharp found on the second fret of the first string. 

This is our B Major chord. This is a new one to the series of progressions that you've already been studying. The third finger on B, fourth fret third string. Pinky on D-sharp, the fourth fret of the second string. First finger on F-sharp, second fret first string. And this triad will prove very useful as we begin to explore chords that will eventually become bar chords. 

As always, putting the one chord in between playing the IV and the V will help develop musical stability. It will also provide your hand with the extra opportunity to practice those shifts between the chords. When we play this as simply an I-IV-V progression… it sounds quite nice, but we're just ascending and then all of a sudden jumping back at the end. If you practice going back to that home chord, the root chord, in between each of the chords, you'll get that extra shifting practice that's very advantageous.

Here we go. E. A. Back to E. Up to B. Back to E. And now a closer look. E Major. One, two, ready, play. A Major. Back to E. B Major. Back to E.

F Major

And here we go through the triads of F Major. F is often the one avoided by so many people because of the need to use what we call a mini bar over these top two notes.

We're going to place the side of our first finger across the top two strings on the first fret and then add our second finger curving over so as to avoid bumping the second or first string to the second fret of the first string. This is our F Major triad. The note order is A, C, F. Notice our root note is on the top of this triad. F. Now B-flat, the same shape as the B chord that we had from E Major. Back to F. C open one open. And back to F. Let's play through it with a steady rhythm. F, two, ready, play. B-flat. F. C. F.

Now we'll take a closer look. F Major. One, two, ready, play. B-flat. Back to F. C Major. Back to F.

Adding a Strumming Pattern to the I IV I V Triad Progressions

Now that you've had a chance to explore the triads that make up the I-IV-V progression. In each of our most common major keys that we often find ourselves playing on guitar, we can now add a steady strum pattern. 

We were arpeggiating through our triad exercises there, meaning we were playing one note of the chord at a time. Now adding a simple strum pattern, we really hear how these chords put together, make up the basis of so many fantastic folk songs. Each of these triad progressions can be played with four beats of rest in between each change. Remember it's the time between the chords to get your hand set up correctly that's critical. 

As long as it's rhythmic, your brain will track along and remember the motor movements. We'll now take that approach of adding a good amount of rhythmic time between the chord changes to each of the I-IV-V progressions.

A Major Triads with Strum Pattern

A Major with four beats of rest in between each change. One, two, ready, play. D, two, ready, play. Back to A, two, ready, play. E, two, ready, play. Back to A, two, ready, play. 

A Major with no rest in between the changes. One, two, ready, play. D. Back to A. Now E. Back to A.

E Major Triads with Strum Pattern

E Major with four beats of rest between each change. One, two, ready, play. A Major, two, ready, play. Back to E, two, ready, play. Up to B Major, two, ready, play. Back to E, two, ready, play.

Now E Major with no rest between the changes. E, two, ready, play. A. Back to E. Up to B. Back to E.

F Major Triads with Strum Pattern

F Major with four beats of rest with each chord change. One, two, ready, play. B-flat, two, ready, play. Back to F, two, ready, play. C, two, ready, play. Back to F, two, ready, play.

As always, thanks for watching. Click subscribe below if you haven't yet and please visit us at beginningguitaronline.com. While you're there, sign up for our newsletter and check out the other educational resources we have available to you.