We propose a simple low-cost approach to the winding-sensed control of three-phase synchronous permanent-magnet motors. Our approach results from a straightforward but elegant application of vector-based motor theory. The method therefore does not depend on the differential equations that describe the motor dynamics, and it does not depend on the particular motor parameters. The single method we derive applies to both wye- and delta-configured motors. We vectorially sum the voltage waveforms at the motor terminals in a certain way and use their zero crossings to produce a correctly phased six-step switch sequence. We discuss the implementation for both wye- and delta-configured motors, and we present experimental results for a delta-configured implementation.