Quartal Chords: Circle Exercise 1

Practice each of the quartal chords above in the circle of fifths, major thirds or minor thirds. Choose one or more of these permutations, preferably one starting on the root, one starting on the fourth and one starting on the seventh.

• 1-4-7
• 4-7-1
• 7-1-4
• 1-7-4
• 4-1-7
• 7-4-1

You can break up the quartal chords by changing octaves. Avoid big leaps when moving from one chord to the next.

Don’t just play the examples as written. Use the whole range of your instrument. Play several rounds and try to find a different route each time.