Music For Your Life

Piano Lesson Five : More Piano Chords.

Click here ! for piano lesson one, two, three, and four.

More About Piano Chords:  Today we are going to get our heads around forming chords. We will illustrate just how a chord can be built on any note at all.

So far, we have dealt with Major Chords, but as you will see in the next exercise, there are other chords which appear when you build chords on every note of a scale.  These chords, the Minor chords, and the diminished chords,  have a different quality of sound to the Major chord.

In these following diagragms, we have named the chords as they fall naturally on the notes of the C Major scale.  We have notated these chords for you in both the Treble Clef, and the Bass Clef.

Play these chords on your piano or keyboard.  It is really very easy, as once you have your hand locked in the chord position which uses 1, 3, 5 of the fingers, missing one note between each played note, you simply move the hand up the keyboard from note to note, from chord to chord.

Note that the major chord has a distinct pattern to its formation:  if you look at the keyboard at the top of our page, visualize the major chord on C.  This starts on note C which counts as the first note of the chord.  However, from the C to the C# counts as one semitone. Count all the black notes and the white notes as semitiones (half tones)From C# to D counts as the second semitone.  D to D# counts as the third semitone. D# to E is the fourth semitone.

The C major chord consists of the notes C, E, G. Of course, E is the second note of the C major chord.  So we see that this is exactly 4 semitones away from C, the root note.  From E, we count up only 3 more semitones to the G, which is the third note of the chord.

A Major Chord ALWAYS uses this formation, 4 semitones up from the root note gives you the middle note of the chord, and 3 semitones higher still gives you the top note of the chord in its root position.

This means that you can build a Major chord on any note at all, without any knowledge of whether the chord should use ‘black’ notes.  You can work out these chords by logic yourself, using this formula of semitone sequences.

There is a magic formula for the Minor Chord too – you might be able to work this out for yourself if you play one of these Minor Chords, and analyse it.  We will discuss the formation of a Minor Chord in another lesson.  For now, just work on getting acquainted with Major Chords and how to formulate them yourself.

Sequence of Major and Minor Chords with one Diminished Chord: So – here is the diagragm of the sequence of major and minor chords as they fall in a major key – any major key.  The diminished chord falls on the seventh degree of the scale. The same sequence of chords will occur on ANY major scale, and EVERY major scale,  no matter what the beginning note is.

In a major scale, the patterning of chords is always:

1)MAJOR, 2)MINOR, 3)MINOR, 4)MAJOR, 5)MAJOR, 6)MINOR, 7)DIMINISHED, 1)MAJOR.

Note that the Minor chords which fall on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th degree of the scale, have a plaintive, sad quality about them compared to the Major, which is bright and cheerful.

You can see that there are only THREE major chords which are formed on the notes of a major scale.  These are the first chord, or TONIC chord, and the ones on theFOURTH and FIFTH degrees of the scale.  These are very important chords which are known as the PRIMARY TRIADS.

PRIMARY TRIADS appear on the same points of a Minor scale, on the first degree, the fourth and the fifth, but so far we have not explored the minor key as yet.

The Primary Triads, that is, the chords on the first, fourth and fifth degrees of any scale, form the basis of harmony as we know it in the Western world. These three chords, the  chords built on the first, fourth and fifth degrees of a scale, are the mostcommonly used in all our music, no matter what the genre:  Church music,  nursery rhymes, folk songs, classical music, and popular music all use the Primary Triads more than chords built on the other degrees of the scale.

For practice, I want you to write in the two notes of the chords above the root note in the diagragm below.  We are using  the  scale of C Major in the Treble Clef.  After completing the chord formation, I want you to write in the type of chord below each chord:  Describe whether it is Major, Minor or Diminished.

Now your theory practice is to write in the chords above the notes of the G Major scale.  Again, write in the type of chord underneath each chord after you have completed them. Remember that the same sequence applies as for the C Major Scale, so look at that for the clues.

Piano Lesson Four : Sharps, Flats and Key Signatures.

Click here ! for piano lesson one, two, and three

On Sharps, Flats and Key Signatures.

Hello everyo.ne. How are you all going? Keeping up your daily  practice is the main thing.

Don’t worry if you do not ‘get’ everything the first time we mention a new term.  There will be plenty of time, and plenty of opportunity, for us to go over all the main musical terms again.

This is just great, to have moved onto learning about sharps, flats, and key signaturestoday.

Now – to refresh your memory on the Scale of C. Remember that the Scale of C does not have any black notes in it. We play all white notes in the scale of C, from one C up to the C an octave higher.

Because the scale of C does not use an ‘accidentals’, which are sharps or flats, and it therefore does not use any ‘black’ notes, we say that it has no sharps or flats in its key signature.

The key of C Major has no sharps or flats in its key signature. The scale of C Major has no sharpened notes, or flattened notes.

What is a Sharp? – The sharp sign looks like this – # It is the sign which, when put directly after a note, means that you play that note a semitone higher. This means that an F# will be played on the black note, directly to the right of the white F note.

Look at the diagram on our header at the top of the page. You will see also that F# is actually the same note as Gb. How is this?

Well – The flat sign does the opposite to a sharp sign. A flat sign lowers a note by one semitone. If you were to play B flat, or Bb, then you would play the black note directly to the left of the white B note. The b sign would flatten the note by one semitone, or one half note.

So now you see why F# plays the same note as Gb. This is called an enharmonic change. When you call a note by its ‘other’ name, it is an enharmonic change, though it still sounds like the same note. There is a reason for these notes to have this duality, and it is all to do with key signatures.

Key Signatures define the key that you are playing in. The key signature is found at the left side of the stave, where the sharps and flats are indicated.  The key signature defines the key which you will be playing in.

The key signature tells you what notes will be played sharp or flat throughout the whole piece.

If there are no sharps or flats, then your piece will be in either the key of C Major, or A Minor: these are the only two keys which do not have a key signature.

We are not going to look at the minor keys at this stage. Just major keys.

For instance, you can play the piece Twinkle Twinkle Little Star beginning on the note C.

It will go like this in the key of C Major:

C C G G A A G —F F E E D D C.

Or – if that key is too low for you, then you can move the key up a bit. You can begin a song, or a piece of music, on absolutely any note.

It’s just that if you play the piece Twinkle Twinkle Little Star beginning on any other note than C, then you will have cause to use black notes, as C Major is the only scale which has no sharps or flats. The key signature of C  Major is the only major one which has no sharps or flats.

If you play your piece Twinkle Twinkle Little Star beginning on the next note, D, then you will have to play an F# instead of F when you come to the F#. That is because the scale of D major has F# and C# in its key signature.  This means that every time an F, or a C is played in D Major, they will be automatically played as sharps, as this is written in the key signature.  Like scripture. D major uses those two black notes in its scale, so these two notes, F# and C# are defined in the key signature.

‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ will go like this in the key of D Major:

D D A A B B A —-G G F# F# E E D

So – if you see TWO sharps in the key signature at the left of your stave of music, then the piece has to be in the key of D Major, or B Minor. There is only one major key for every key signature, and only one minor key used for every key signature.

This means that you can look at a key signature before you start your piece. You will be able to identify what key the piece is written in, just by looking at the key signature.

It is really such a logical system. At first, you may not ‘get it’, but do not panic. It really does not matter, because we will reiterate this information in different contexts throughout these lessons. More will be done to explain it all in future lessons.

For now, just accept that C Major uses no sharps or flats in the scale, and so it has no sharps or flats in its key signature.

Also accept that  D Major has two sharps, F# and C# in its key signature: this means that every time you come to an F or a C, it will be played as a sharp note on the black note directly above these notes.

Here is a diagram of a little ditty written in the key of  C Major in the Treble Clef…

And here is the same little ditty written in the key of D Major in the Treble Clef…

Play both these tunes now.

So – now you have a basic  insight into how sharps, flats, and key signatures work. We will study more  about  scales  and their key signatures in the future  lessons, which will further your understanding of today’s lesson.

Before we learn Piano Lesson One & Piano Lesson Two. Now, lets learn Piano Lesson Three : How To Play Piano Chords.

Hello Everybody – I hope that you are having fun learning to play the piano. I hope, too, that you are all keeping that practice up, and that you are  getting to know your way around the keyboard.

In the first lesson you learned how to play the Octave, and in Lesson Two, we covered theScale of C Major.  So now you can play the Scale of C Major in both the left hand and the right hand- using the correct fingering. Best to keep these separate until you have learned the fingering inside out.

You have also learned how to read the notes of the Scale of C Major on the Treble Clef, and also on the Bass Clef.

That’s just great. Already, you can play Octaves, the Scale of C Major, and you can read music. You are doing very well.

This is Lesson Three, on How To Play Piano Chords.

In just a moment, we are going to learn how to play the Major Chord on C.

First, before we try to play this chord, What Are Chords?:

Chords are fascinating things. They are used all the time in guitar music. If the guitarist strums the guitar, then he/she is playing chords on the guitar. If you get the music sheet for a song, such as a Beatles tune, then you will see letter names above the melody, all along the way throughout the tune. These letter names are the names of the chordswhich are used in the song. These chords can be played either on the guitar, or on the piano. 

You will find that understanding how chords are formed musically will help your understanding of music overall. Understanding how chords are formed will enlighten you as to  how music is shaped. Chords represent the basis of the  musical system we use today, which is all about harmony.

Chords which harmonise are the sounds which back all those favorite melodies we love to sing or listen to.

Playing Chords: Being able to play  chords on the piano will be of enormous benefit to you,  as this will give you the ability to accompany  your own melodies, or to accompany other people when they sing. You will be able to play chords when somebody plays along with you on their guitar.

How to Play the Chord of C Major on the Piano.

The key of C Major has no black notes, and so it has no sharps or flats, which we will find out about later. For now, just accept that C Major is a simple key to play in, because it does not use any black notes.

So, let us see what the chord of C Major looks  like when it is written on the stave, in the key of C: Here is a diagram of the Chord of C Major written on the Treble Clef, or ‘G’ Clef.  The first chord is using Middle C as the tonic note, or root.  The second chord is still a C Major chord, but it is written an Octave higher.

So – What Do You See?  How is this C Major Chord Formed? You can see that the notes are formed with one note left out in between each note which is played. On the treble clef above, you see the note C at the bottom, with a line through it. The next note of the chord is the E, which is on another line. The third note of the Major Chord on C is the G note.

Play these three notes together, which are written on the stave:  – C, E, G.

Great – You are now playing the Major Chord on C - the notes C, E, and G.

Now, let’s look at the notation for the left hand. Here is the Bass Clef, or F Clef, with two examples of the  chord of C Major notated. The first example is written an Octave below Middle C but the tonic note, or root of the chord, is still C. The second chord is an octave higher, using Middle C as the root note, or tonic note.

It is such a logical system. Now look - the ‘root’ of the chord is the lowest note, the note which the chord is formed on, when it is written in its 1st position, like these examples above.

You will have spotted that if the first note is on a line, then the other two notes forming the major chord will also be on a line. They will take the next two lines immediately above the root note of the chord.

You will have spotted that if the ‘root’ of the chord is on a space, then the other two notes which form the chord are on the spaces directly above the first note, the root note of the chord.

So it is on the piano/keyboard: To form the major chord on C, you play the C, miss a note, play the E, miss a note, then play the next note, the G.

Practice playing the C Chord with the right hand.

Practice playing the C Chord with the left hand.

Play them often, and try to get the fingers to come down on the notes evenly, so that the notes are played all at the same time. This will become easier with practice, as your fingers will become more strong given time. When your fingers have developed strength, then your technical ability will have improved, and you will be able to play these notes altogether, without difficulty, and with a nice even sound.

So – now you can recognise the Chord of C when it is written on the stave. You also canplay the C Chord on the piano.

How to Form the Chord of F Major on the Piano:

Now – we are going to learn how to play the Chord of F Major. The formula to play the F Chord  is exactly the same as playing the C Chord. ….the play a note, miss a note, play a note, miss a note, play a note…..routine, using the F note as the root, or the base of the chord. In the right hand, we will use our thumb on the F note.In the left hand, we put our little finger on the F and build the chord up from there…………

So now we will build the F Chord

Right hand first: The thumb will be on the F note. Miss the G note, Play the A note with your 3rd finger. Miss the B note. Play the C note with your little finger, the 5th.

There you have it – the F Chord in the right hand. This is how the F Chord looks on the stave, in the Treble Clef. We have given you two different placings of the F Chord in the Treble Clef. They are an Octave apart from each other.

Now, here is what the F Chord looks like in the Bass Clef. We have again shown you two different placements of the chord of F. They are an Octave apart from each other, as you can see.

To play the F Chord in the left hand:

You will put your little finger, the 5th, on the F note. The 3rd finger of the left hand will take the A note, the thumb of the left hand will take the C note at the top of the chord.

Practice For the Next Few Days:

Read the chords which we have notated for you. These are just the two chords, on C Major, and on F Major. Play them all. Get familiar with these chords. Get good at moving from one chord to another quickly, with ease, so that you can play the chords without faltering.

Before Piano Lesson One. Now Piano Lesson Two : The Scale of C Major.

Greetings again, one and all.

This  is Lesson Two, on The Scale of C Major. This  follows on logically from the previous lesson, where we learned about the notes C,D, and E, and playing the Octave.

There are many different scales: you will learn the major scales and the minor scales in time. But for now, The Scale of C Major is the first important scale to learn: It is the easiest scale to remember, as it contains only white notes.

So – we have learnt where C,D, and E lie. Well – guess what? You have already learned the first three notes of the Scale of C. The scale of C begins with those same three notes – C,D, and E.

The diagragm below shows you what  the Scale of C looks like when it is written on the stave. This first example is written in the Treble Clef, or ‘G’ Clef, which is the clef most used for the right hand. It is called the ‘G’ Clef, because that elaborate  swirly circle, which we call the ‘Clef’  begins on the 2nd line up, and that line denotes ‘G’.

But don’t worry about learning all these details at once. You pick these things up as you go along: once you understand how the system works, then learning the terms becomes a whole lot easier.

For now, just look at the visuals: On the diagram here, you can see that at the beginning of the scale,  the notes are moving upward. This is because the scale is ascending to begin with.  Then, you will notice that after the scale reaches the highest point, which is anOctave higher than the beginning C, the scale turns around to descend back down the scale, until it reaches the original tonic note of the scale which we began on. 

Well, if you go to your piano or your keyboard, then you will see that these notes are  also moving upward as you play them. Starting from Middle C, moving up towards the right,you get a higher pitch with each ascending note that you play.

We play a total of eight notes ascending in the scale of C Major, before we descendback down the scale again.  We will start on Middle C and play all the white notes above middle C, until we reach the C which is an octave above. So – The Scale of C  Major, written on the Treble Clef:

Now let’s have a look to see what the Scale of C looks like in the left hand. Here, it is written on the Bass Clef, or ‘F’ Clef. The ‘F’ Clef has its name, because this swirly embellishment, the ‘Clef’,  has its beginnings on the 2nd line from the top, which denotes ‘F’. You can see that the notes move upwards, from space to line, from line to space, every time producing a higher note as the scale ascends.

Enough about that for the moment – let’s look at how the Scale of C  Major is written for the left hand, on the Bass Clef, or ‘F’ Clef.

Now – To Play the Scale of C Major in the Right Hand:

We call going UP the scale, from middle C up to the top C, ascending the scale. We call the movement down from that higher C to the lower middle C, which I will run describe for you in a moment, descending the scale.

Place your right hand on your keyboard or piano. Put  your thumb over middle C, in preparation to play the scale. Put your 2nd finger over the  D note, and your third finger over E.

Play these notes now, evenly, one after the other, slowly, C…D…E… Now, put your right hand thumb neatly under the third finger, which is playing E. Slide that thumb onto the next white note beside the E your 3rd finger is on. Now, position your hand so that all the fingers are neatly placed over all the remaining white notes. These notes are the rest of the white notes which comprise the scale of C. Play the rest of the scale with the fingers which lie comfortably over the remaining notes of the C scale – F, G, A, B, C.

Your little finger will be at the top of the sequence now, on that C. To descend, simply play the 4th finger on the B, the third finger on the A, 2nd on the G, thumb (1) on the F.

Now – when you have run out of fingers, and you are left with your thumb on the F note, just reverse that procedure which we used to smoothly ride, when we ascended the scale, from the F to the G, where we put the thumb underneath. This time, because we are descending the scale, we put the 3rd finger over the top of the thumb, so that the 3rd finger neatly falls on the E, leaving the 2nd to play the D, and the thumb to play the Middle C note.

This hand movement is the exact opposite of the arrangement we used to ascend. To descend, we simply slide the third finger over the top of the thumb, instead of the thumb sliding underneath which we did in ascending the scale.

‘Voila’ – you have played the scale of C major, with the correct fingering. This is the beginning stage of learning a good piano technique. The fingering must be learned, just as I have explained above. Learning correct fingering is imperative if you want to play well.

We use this fingering in the right hand so that the notes can all be played evenly, and without any wierd arm or hand movements which would  interfere with the smooth execution of your playing.

How To Play the Scale Of C Major with  the Left Hand

Now – Are you ready to learn the left hand fingering?  Do not be daunted. It is quite a logical procedure, really.  We are just going to reverse the sequence which you used for the right hand…..

Eazy peazy. Just put your left hand little finger on the C below Middle C. Now – evenly play the notes ascending – C, D, E, F, G….

So – you have run out of fingers  now that you have arrived at G in the left hand? Your thumb should be on that G. Now, put your 3rd finger OVER the thumb. Play the A with your third finger, as it stretches over the G note. Now, your 2nd finger will fall naturally onto the B, and your thumb will be left to play the Middle C.

Hooray – the ascending form of the scale of C Major has been played with the left hand. Now, descend evenly, using the exact same fingering to come down the scale. When you arrive at the third finger on A, slide the thumb neatly underneath, so that the thumb can play the G note evenly, without any hesitation. Continue to play the rest of the notes with the hand falling naturally over the rest of the notes – G, F, E, D,  and back to C.

When the hand is placed over the five notes, with one finger allotted to each key, this is called the Five Finger Position.

Learn to play the Scale of C using separate hands. Play each note evenly. Try to get an even touch, so that no note is played louder than the next.

Homework: After you have practiced your scale of C  Major with separate hands, and you have learned to  play it smoothly,  you could put the two hands together. Keep putting the effort into sitting at the keyboard and doing your practice. Do at least half an hour a day, every day, and you will see results.