Closed Triads: Small Chords, Huge Payoff

The short answer: triads are three-note chords — some combination of root, 3rd, and 5th — and the closed kind packs those notes as tightly as possible. They're the bare-bones chords behind funk stabs, chord melodies, and every "how does he make three strings sound that good?" moment. Gitori's Closed Triads course teaches every major and minor closed-triad shape, everywhere on the neck.

What "closed" means

A triad is closed when its three notes sit within a single octave — no gaps you could fit another chord tone into. Play C–E–G with the E and G right above the C and it's closed; kick the E up an octave and it becomes a spread triad. The full taxonomy is in Closed vs spread triads.

On guitar, closed triads live on adjacent string groups — strings 6-5-4, 5-4-3, 4-3-2, 3-2-1 — and each group hosts three inversions (root position, first, second). That's the whole system: a small set of shapes that tile the entire neck.

Why learn them (instead of more barre chords)

• Rhythm playing that breathes. Three-note voicings sit in a mix where six-string barre chords bulldoze it.
• Instant chord vocabulary. Major and minor shapes × 4 string groups × 3 inversions = every major/minor chord, in every register, without a chord book.
• The gateway to everything. Triads are degrees 1-3-5 made physical — the bridge from scale degrees to real music. Barre chords and CAGED shapes are just triads with doubled notes.

There's a practice-focused deep dive in How to practice triads on guitar and a full conceptual guide in Triads on guitar: complete guide.

What the course covers

Every major and minor closed shape on every string group, taught one group at a time, each drilled by the Find Closed Triads game: you're given a triad and a highlighted zone, and you find the notes against the clock. Spread triads get their own course.

Before you start

You'll want scale degrees under your fingers first — triad shapes make sense as 1-3-5 patterns, not as arbitrary grips. The Scale Degrees courses cover exactly that.