See You Again Piano Letter Chords
This commodity comes from Julian, a knowledgeable pianist who will take yous through his guide on how to play piano chords!
Ane of the biggest shortcuts for beginner pianists is learning how to play basic piano chords. Much of the contemporary pop-mode music that yous hear on the radio is easily accessible every bit chord charts online. So, soon after learning chords you lot'll be ready to play forth to some of your favorite songs.
In this article nosotros volition learn what a chord is and how to form the well-nigh common types. Then we'll requite several unproblematic ways to play them, so you tin can play confidently.
What is a Chord?
A chord is a set of notes, usually three or more than, that are played together at once. To play piano or keyboard chords, you simply press down on a gear up of keys at the aforementioned time. Piano triads are ane of the simplest chords, fabricated of three notes. The four main types of triads are major, minor, macerated, and augmented.
That said, chords can be much more complicated. You lot tin can have four note chords (called seventh chords), chords of five or more notes, add chords, sus chords, and more. Merely these are unnecessary to larn at the outset.
Instead, just focus on major and minor chords and you'll exist able to play hundreds of songs.
Forming a Major Chord
The most common chord type is the major chord. Piano major chords sound "pleasant" or "happy." If you come across a stand up-lone uppercase alphabetic character in a chord chart, that indicates a major chord. For example, if you see an "Due east," play an E major chord.
The Major Chord Formula:
Just remember two numbers: "4" and "three." Count four half steps from the outset note of the chord to the second annotation, and three half steps from the second to the third. These notes course a major chord.
For example, consider a C major chord (below); it'due south notes are C Eastward and G. In that location are four half steps from C to E – C♯, D, D♯, and E. Then in that location are three half steps from E to G – F, F♯, and G.
Hopefully you see the power of this little formula. All you demand to think are the 2 numbers "four" and "three" and you accept access to all 12 piano major chords!
To salve you time, hither is a list of all the major chords:
- C – C E G
- D♭ – D♭ F A♭
- D – D F♯ A
- Eastward♭ – East♭ G B♭
- Due east – E G♯ B
- F – F A C
- 1000♭ – G♭ B♭ D♭
- G – G B D
- A♭ – A♭ C East♭
- A – A C♯ E
- B♭ – B♭ D F
- B – B D♯ F♯
Forming Minor Chords
Piano minor chords have a murkier, sadder audio than major chords. In chord notation, a minor chord is a capital letter followed by a lowercase k. For example, C small-scale is notated every bit Cm.
The Small-scale Chord Formula:
Beginning, create a major chord, then lower the second note of the chord by a half stride.
So, the C major chord is spelled C, Eastward, G. To create a C pocket-sized chord, lower the 2nd note, Due east in this case, down to an East♭. So, C minor is C Eastward♭ G.
The minor chords:
- Cm – C E♭ Grand
- C♯thousand – C♯ Due east G♯
- Dm – D F A
- E♭g – E♭ G♭ B♭
- Em – E G B
- Fm – F A♭ C
- F♯m – F♯ A C♯
- Gm – Thousand B♭ D
- G#m – G♯ B D♯
- Am – A C Eastward
- B♭m – B♭ D♭ F
- Bm – B D F♯
How To Arrange Piano Chords (So They Sound Good!)
At present that you can grade major and minor chords, what's adjacent? If yous just play the three notes of the chord, that volition sound empty and clunky! We need some strategies for arranging the chords so that they audio interesting.
We'll use the following chord progression (sequence of chords) in the examples below:
D Bm A D
Pick 1: Utilize Root Position Chords
This system style will add together energy into your playing.
Starting time by forming a root position chord in your right mitt. What is a root position chord? Well, the root of the chord is the same note as the name of the chord, so C is the root of the C major chord.
Then, a root position chord is a chord where the root is the lowest note. All the piano chords in this guide and then far have been root position chords. The alternative to a root position chord is an inverted chord where the lowest annotation is not the root of the chord (more on that later).
Arrangement instructions:
- Play root position chords in your right manus (abbrev. RH).
- In your left hand (abbrev. LH), play just the root of the chord (if you tin reach, play the root as an octave).
- Play whole notes in your LH and quarter notes for the chords in your RH (example below). The quarter notes in the RH give the chords drive and energy.
Option 2: Utilise Broken Chords
This organization style will add movement to your playing.
In a cleaved chord (also called an arpeggio), each note is played one at a time instead of all at the same time.
For instance, one manner to play a D major cleaved chord is to play D followed by F♯ followed by A followed by F♯.
In this exercise, continue playing octave root notes in the LH. In your RH, play each notation of the chord for the duration of a quarter note (shown below).
Option three: Use Chord Inversions
This system style will make your playing sound smooth and elegant.
All the piano chords we have worked on so far have been root position chords. The downside of only practicing root position chords is that they limit your playing and can sound clunky. The way around this is to offset practicing your chord inversions.
A chord inversion rotates the order of a chord. For example, a root position D chord is D F♯ A. If you rotate the order of the notes and put the D at the top of the chord you terminate up with F♯ A D. This is a first inversion chord.
You can invert the chord once again and put an F♯ on the superlative to end with A D F♯. This is a second inversion chord.
D major chord inversions
The RH uses inverted chords beneath. At present the RH doesn't have to make uncomfortable leaps upwardly and down the keyboard. The overall sound is smoother.
Other Means to Suit Chords
At that place are so many creative possibilities when using keyboard chords. I gave three ways to adapt basic piano chords, but if you want to learn 8 more than, check out this video past Devon from HDpiano. He offers excellent examples using familiar popular tunes.
Once you lot've mastered these arrangement patterns, you'll exist well on your style to reading through piano chord charts and lead sheets of your favorite tunes.
Conclusion
By learning how to play merely the 24 major and minor chords, you tin learn to play along with hundreds of familiar popular tunes.
Begin playing pianoforte chords by using simple blocked chords, then venture out into using broken chords to add together movement and inversions to add together smoothness to the progression. It will be challenging, and will take a lot of do, but will be well worth the effort!
Julian Harnish is the creator of findyourmelody.com, a piano web log with a particular emphasis on the psychology of effective and enjoyable exercise. He studied Math and Piano Performance in college, and has a particular appreciation for the choral music of Eric Whittacre and Ola Gjeilo.
Currently he offers a course that teaches students their favorite song in 6 weeks or less.
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See You Again Piano Letter Chords
Source: https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/how-to-play-chords-on-the-piano-beginners-guide/