How to Play Chords on a Piano
Learning how to play chords on an instrument is one of the most important skills you can have as a musician. Read this article to learn how to do just that!
What are chords?
In music, chords are three or more notes played at the same time. Chords can be used to accompany songs by playing chords in the left hand while playing the melody in the right hand. The chords give meaning to the song based on the type of chord you use over the melody note. Another way to use chords is by playing chordal accompaniments with both hands. This is especially effective when playing with a singer. You can still add melody in with the right hand, but in this scenario, you will probably be performing chordal accompaniments. There are also different rhythms you can do by playing chords. These rhythms determine the style of music you are playing.
Chords are played in a progression. A chord progression is a sequence of chords played in a specific order that revolves around a central tonality called a key. If you are playing a chord progression, the chords being played will sound really well together. Without getting to technical and throwing music theory terms out there, it is just a sequence of chords that work well together and can make up a song.
What Piano Chords Should I Learn First?
If I were teaching a student how to play chords on a piano for the first time, the first chord progression I would teach is the basic I – V- vi – IV progression in the key of C major. This chord progression is used in so many mainstream pop songs and if you master changing between the chords, you will be able to play so many songs! The chords we will be focusing on are C major, G major, A minor, and F major. If you master these four chords, we will be able to play so many songs. At the end of this blog post, I will post a list of songs that you can play with these chords.
Below, you will find pictures of the chords:
How to Play the Chords With the Correct Fingerings?
All of the chords above consist of three notes. The first note is the root note. The next note is called the 3rd. The last note is the 5th. For example, the C major chord consists of the root note (C), the 3rd (E), and the 5th (G). When playing chords with your right hand, you should play the root note with the thumb, the 3rd with your 3rd finger (middle), and the 5th with the pinky. You can support this chord by using your left hand to play a root note (C) below the right hand “C” that is fingered by your thumb. Don’t use the same “C” but use the one 7 white keys below the right-hand C. You should be playing all of these notes together.
How Should I Practice The Piano Chords?
If I were practicing these chords for the first time, I would make sure to isolate one of the chords (C Major) and make sure you are playing it correctly. Once you play it correctly, I would play that chord four times to a steady beat. After playing it four times to a steady beat, I would then isolate the next chord (G major). Play that chord four times to a steady beat. Then I would try to piece it together with the C major chord. Play the C major chord four times to a steady beat and then play the g major chord four times to a steady beat. When I got that down, I would then isolate the A minor chord and play that chord four times to a steady beat. After playing the A minor to a steady beat, I would then try adding it to my chord progression of C, G, Am playing each chord four times to a steady beat (slowly) and making sure that you are having smooth changes between the chords. I would then isolate my last note (F major). I would play the F major chord four times to a steady beat. I would then add that F major chord to my chord progression to finish it up (C, G, Am, F). I would play each chord in the chord progression four times and slowly make sure that we have smooth transitions between each chord. Once we have this and are able to play these chords smoothly, we can start playing real songs. Here is a list of songs that can be played with these four chords!
Thank you for reading “How to Play Chords on a Piano”.
Need help labeling your piano keys with note labels? Read this article here!
