Well future readers, this is the last section with theory (hopefully), here you'll learn how to use and form major and minor chords, and we'll have a little intro to Arpeggios. We'll also play the very first lines of the song "Just they way you are" by Bruno Mars and you'll find a picture of a sloth in a box on the very end of the post.
It's like Christmas without physical presents ^^
Following the definition, we know that chords are groups of 3 or more notes played together. But, what notes? Well, let’s find out.
Find the middle C key; and press it (remember; press it with your Root finger - #1 on the right hand).
Sounds bland, no flavor at all.
Lets create some tension, press C (#1 finger) and D (#2 finger); Sounds strange huh? Lets create a more pleasant sound, press the C(#1) and E(#3) keys. More easy on the ears right? Notes must blend harmoniously to be called “chords”, so in the end we just need to find the correct combinations (don’t freak! It’s actually easier than it sounds).
Chords are representations of sounds that are pleasant, that means that they should create tension, find a balance and release it (Insta pleasure for the ear), and if we play with more chords, we create tension with different chords, and release them with more chords. (You can find a more in-depth explanation of this concept on the Piano Encyclopedia – check it out, its free)
Lets create a pleasurable chord, press the C (#1), E(#3) and G(#5) notes.
Sounds like a pretty happy sound doesn’t it?
That’s called a C Major chord. All of the major chords have that happy feeling into it; they sound bright but not too bright; a perfect balance.
Wait loth, but what’s that “major” thing?
“Major” for now think of it like a label for that “happy” kind of sound. The name “Major” will identify happy and neutral sounding chords.
Every Major Chord is composed of notes that create this effect;
They are created with Root note, a third note from that root, and a fifth note from the root.
The Root is simply the first note played: for example for the C chord, you play C first(with your root finger), then the third note from C -> E, then the fifth note from C -> G; all major chords that are formed like this are called the Major Triads.
To play chords, you have to know the correct way to position your fingers; That’s why I posted the little picture above and explained the finger numbers before going into chording.
Chords can’t really be named only by saying “first, third, fifth”, lets look at it the reverse programmer’s way;
Let count the notes of the C chord, including the black keys.
C C# D D# E F F# G
Now the major chord is no longer the first, third, and fifth; you can form it with the:
1st – 5th – 8th
We just counted “half tones”, when we count the white keys directly we are counting whole notes, when we count the notes that are between them we are counting half notes.
Forming chords with half tones is actually better than using whole notes to form chords, why? Well, can you form the D major chord without counting it’s half notes?
Try it. (1st note – 3rd note – 5th note)
Looks good enough, and it sounds kind of ok; but that’s not a major chord. That’s a D Minor chord (we’ll explain these in the next section).
Now form the D major counting half tones (1st – 5th – 8th)
There’s that happy sound! See the difference? A Major chord is always formed with the 1st, 5th and 8th half notes of a scale.
A scale is formed with all of the notes that sound good inside an octave. And an octave is just the 8th note in a set (c d e f g a b -> c <- that’s the octave, going from c to c).
Can you form the rest of the chords?
Try forming the G and B chords.
That’s G
And that’s B
Let’s form minor chords now shall we?
Minor chords are the same Major chords, with the difference of moving the 5th half note one half note down. And are identified by a little “m” by the note name.
So, a Cm (C Minor) chord, will look like this:
Can you form Gm and Bm?
That’s G Minor
Positioning to play chords:
As to how you should play these chords, is simple; your #1 finger should play the root note (the one that bears the name of the chord), and then you’ll use your 3rd and 5th finger to play the other 2 notes.
That order is applied for every Major and Minor Chord; your left hand should imitate what the right hand is playing, so practice a bit with your fingers; make your left hand pinky follow your right hand thumb and so on.
Since Major and minor chords can be used to play any song; you should practice moving the 3 most used fingers (the #1, #3 and #5) on both hands at the same time in the same order.
After you get accustomed to playing the same chords at the same time; your left hand will be in charge of doing the “Bass” and chording, while your right hand will “sing” the song.
---That's all there is to forming major and minor chords; of course you can play them right away, just remember to use both hands, and make sure you press the same notes starting with your hands on the root of each chord.
You should also practice pressing the keys in sequence instead of pushing them at the same time; playing a sequence of notes that form a chord is called "Arpeggio". Once you get the hang of playing and making sound with chords, you'll notice that you'll be using Arpeggios unconsciously, they come naturally once you follow a rhythm.
For example you can play an arpeggio of the F chord, by playing the 1st and 8th half notes together first, and then following the progression by pressing the 1st and 5th half note together.
Let's play something!
If you hear carefully and if you're familiar with the song that we want to play at the end of the lessons; you'll notice that you're singing.
"her hair, her hair"pretty cool huh?
If you remember what I explained about the positions in the section above I said that the left hand would be in charge of doing the bass and chording, and the right hand will sing the song right?
Well, try it out with that verse; press the F chord with your left hand right after you finish your F chord arpeggio.
The movements should be natural if you followed the exercises, since your left hand should be imitating what your right hand is doing.
You left hand will press, the F chord and the right hand will start the arpeggio with just the 1st and 8th half notes. Every time your right hand does the F chord in arpeggio, hit the F chord with your left hand once right after you finish "singing" the part that says "her hair, her hair"
Note: remember you're playing the F chord twice with your right hand; so you should press the bass once after every "her hair".
:D there's more than just arpeggios to sing a song though, and it's fun to practice and see that all these concepts I've been making you memorize apply pretty well when you play a song BUT we need to work with scales to understand how these chords can be applied to a song and we need to define sharp chords for those black keys.
I mean, not every song starts singing with an F chord right? Our next lesson will be Scales and Sharp/Flat chords.
Don't fall asleep!
lol
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