I've just done the opposite, on one of my bikes.
I have a rather wide spread 5 gear freewheel, 14,17,22,27,32

I needed a few more gears, so I went from a 52,40 chain rings,
to a rather close triple of 52,47,36.

I having to relearn how to shift, especially since I'm using
a backwards shifting, stem mounted, Suntour.