How to Play the Piano (or Keyboard) Like a Pro in Ten easy Lessons: Lesson Five -- More complex Chords

So far we've concentrated on chords for C, F, and G, and indeed, they are the main chords that you will be using, as many songs are written in these keys. But A, D, and E chords occur in songs occasionally so we'll discuss them in this lesson. Besides C, F and G, two other keys are used frequently; they are Bb and Eb. And if you're familiar with the chords in these five keys you'll be able to play almost any song.

A, D, and E Chords

Using the rules I gave earlier, it's easy to set up these chords. In case you've forgotten them I'll briefly restate them:

• For the minor, take the third down a half tone.
• For the diminished, take the third down a half tone and the fifth down a half tone.
• For the augmented, take the fifth up half a tone.

Thus, for A-major we have A - C# - E -(A'). We get A minor by taking C# down a half tone; this gives us A - C - E - (A). In the same way we can get Adim and Aaug; they are shown below.

For D-major we have D - F# - A - (D'), and from it we get Dmin as D - F - A -(D'). Dmin is a relatively common chord in songs written in C, F and G. Again, we can form Ddim and Daug in the same way; they are shown below. Finally, for E we have E major as E - G# - B - (E'), and Emin as E - G - B.

Bb and Eb chords

Chords associated with these keys have a distinctly different sound -- a ringing sound. And even though there are several flats in them, once you learn them, songs in either of them are just as easy to play as those in C, F or G. Let's begin with Bb; Bb-major is Bb - D - F - (Bb'), so Bb min is Bb - Db - F. Similarly, Bbdim is Bb - Db - E and Bbaug is Bb - D - F#.

For Eb we have Eb major as Eb - G - Bb - (Eb'), and Ebmin is Eb - Gb - Bb; Ebdim and augmented are shown below.

Something else you see occasionally in sheet music are symbols such as C/A. They are called a slash chords and important only in the base. The above one, for example, tells you to play a C chord with A as the bottom note.

Tenths in the Base

One of the best sounding chords in the base is the tenth. Tenths may be difficult for some people (with small hands) to play, but they are worth it if you can play them. A few stretching exercises may help   if you have problems. Don't feel bad, though, if you can't play them, as there is a way around playing the two notes together (besides, they say that Chopin had trouble playing them and was always doing stretching exercises). Before we get to it, let's look at tenths themselves. A tenth is an octave plus a third; for C it is C - E' (E in the next octave). Similarly for F it is F - A, and for G it is G - B.

If you find the notes of tenths difficult to play together, you can "roll" them; in other words, you can play the lower note, then the upper note as quickly as possible.

Even better than two-note tenths are three-note tenths, but of course, they are even more difficult to play. In this case you add the fifth; so for C you would have C - G - E'. And again you can roll them. As a matter of fact, they sound particularly good rolled, so even if you can play them together, you should try rolling them occasionally.

A good place to use tenths is in the first beat of the bar, and they also sound particularly good in the first bar of the song. In the next lesson we will see that there are many things you can do with tenths to vary them, and they are, indeed, a good sign of a professional.

Other Chords

You were introduced to the seventh earlier (it is sometimes called the dominant seventh). There is another seventh that is used extensively by jazz musicians. It is referred to as the major seventh, and it is formed by adding the note that is a half tone down from the upper key note. In the case of C this is C - E - G - B -(C'); for F it is F - A - C - E - (F'), and for G, it is G - B - D - A# - (G'). You may find the sound a little dissonant at first, but as you play it more and more I'm sure you'll soon learn to like it.

So we now have the sixth, seventh, and major seventh, and any of them can be added to the minor, diminished and augmented. The most common addition, however, is the dominant seventh. With it you can form Cmi7, Cdim7 and Caug7, and in the same way you can form Fmi7, Fdim7, Faug7, and Gmi7, Gdim7, and Gaug7

Even though they aren't used much I'll mention a couple of other chords. We saw earlier that you can form the augmented chord, by upping the fifth by a half tone (it is designated as Caug or C+). You can also form a chord by lowering the fifth by a half tone (it is designated as C-)

And finally there are suspended  chords. In this case the third is raised by a half tone. For C this is C - F - G.

Super Chords

The term "super chord" covers several different types of chords. Some of the above are frequently considered to be superchords, namely, the maj7, susp and two augmented chords. The major ones, however, are the 9th, 11th, and the 13th, and they are used extensively by jazz musicians. They may look like they're impossible to play, and indeed there are more notes in them than fingers in your left hand. We'll begin with the 9th; as the name suggest, it consists of the addition of the 9th, and usually the ninth is added to the seventh chord. In the case of C this would be C - E - G - Bb - D, which is an almost impossible stretch, so you will have to play some of the notes with the left hand. In fact, you can leave out some of the notes (and in most cases , you should) -- anything except D. For example, you could play E - G - Bb - D.

The next superchord is the eleventh, and it is formed by adding the 11th in addition to the 9th. And again,  you will have to play some of the notes in the left hand. For the case of C, the 11th is C - E - G - Bb - D - F. Some people like the 13th, but I will not say anything about it; it's easy to see how it is formed.

Why would you want to use 9ths and 11ths? As I mentioned, they are used extensively by jazz musicians, so I guess you can say they "jazz up" your music. They do, indeed, give it a different sound.

Chord Substitutions

You won't see 9ths, 11ths and so on in the score of many songs. So how do you use them? This is where "chord substitutions" come in. Again, they are used extensively by jazz musicians, but in reality almost all professional piano players use them.

If you look at the chords in most songs you'll see that they are relatively simple; in most cases they are major and minor chords with an occasional diminished or augmented chord. Most professional piano players like to add in more complex chords to make the piece sound better. This is done by what are called "chord substitutions;" they are are changes in the chords that are shown on the sheet music. There are no rules for these substitutions, and the player has to use his or her ingenuity, but there are substitutions that are frequently used. Several of them are as follows.

1. Quality Changes: In this case the root chord is used; in other words, if the chord is a C chord, you stick with it. But you can experiment with changes of type within the key. For example, you could try Cmi or C dim for C. In general: major -- minor -- diminished --augmented and sevenths can be used interchangeably. Your ear is the best guide. If it sounds good, use it.
2. Add Notes to the Chord: You can add notes to any chord. You can also take away some of the regular notes that are in the chord (at the same time). For example, you could substitute C6 for C, C7 for C, Cmaj7 for C, or C9 for C, or C11 for C. And when you do it, you don't have to play all the notes of the new chord; in fact, it's a good idea to skip a few.
3. Any Chord that Shares Several Notes With the chord Can be Substituted: If you look at C and G7, for example, you see that they share several notes. Also, Amin shares several notes with C, so it can be substituted for it.
4. The Tritone Substitution: A tritone is three tones from the key note. In the case of G this takes us to C#, and it means you can substitute C# for G. An easy way to remember this is that the tritone is the flatted fifth. For F this is B, and for C it is F#. You can take this one step further in that you can substitute  C#dim or any of the other similar chords for G.
5. Stepping into a Chord: Any chord can be "stepped into" from above or below (usually a half tone above or below). For example, if you have a sequence of chords C, G7, you can step into G7 using an F# chord, so that you get C - F# - G7. You have to be sure, though, that there is room to add the extra chord.
6. Add Extra Chords as Fillers: Earlier, I mentioned that you should try to add fillers to regions in the score where there are long notes. This is a good place to show your ingenuity. Play a sequence of chords -- any sequence that sounds good (I'll have more to say about sequences in the next lesson).
7. The Best Advice: You can easily become confused  when confronted by what substitution you should use. One of my early teachers gave me some advice that seemed strange at first (and made me laugh). But it works. He said. "Look at the second and third fingers in the octave chord you are playing -- move one or the other, or both up or down a note or two, and listen to what you get. If it sounds good, use it. You may not know what note you're playing, but it doesn't really matter.

Practise

1. Practise playing inversions of the new chords : A, D, E, Bb and Eb,
2. Play tenths. Begin with C, F, and G and two-note tenths. Gradually add in the fifth for three note tenths. Practise rolling them.
3. Play inversions on Cmin 7, Cdim7, Caug7. Do the same thing for F and G. Also play sustained and augmented (+ and -) chords.
4. Practise the superchords -- particularly the 9th and 11th.
5. Memorize the basic rules (suggestions) for chord substitutions. Try adding new chords to some of the pieces you have learned. Try the tritone substitution and "stepping into a chord," and adding notes at random.

How to Play the Piano (or Keyboard) Like a Pro: Lesson 2 - Chords and More Chords

We now come to the heart of the method I will be showing you. It's called the "chord method" and as you'll soon see it simplifies things a lot. You won't have to read pages of complex music, but you'll be playing as if you are. The first step in this method is to learn a few simple chords, where a chord is a group of several notes played together. We'll start with the simplest chord, namely two notes played together. It forms a dyad, and the most important dyad is the third. When you play middle C and the E above it on the piano, you are playing a third, and it is very important in music, so it's a good idea to get used to playing thirds. Play C and E, then D and F, and E and G, and so on up the keyboard. Stick to white notes as first, but then try a few black note thirds, such as F-sharp and A-sharp. Practise playing them all over the piano until you get used to them.

If you add another note you get a triad.  Begin with C-E-G; play it with fingers 1-3-5. This is a triad in C, and it's referred to as the root position of the C major chord. Now, move up to G and play the triad   G-B-D. This is a G major chord, and again it is the root position. In the same way, play F-A-C; it is the root position of F major.

In the last lesson we analyzed scales in terms of tones (T) and half tones (h). Let's do the same thing here. Looking at the C major chord C-E-G we see that there are four half tones between C and E, and three half tones between  E and G (count them in the diagram). This means that our basic major chord is made up of:

• A key note (C).
• A note 4 half tones above it (E).
• A second note 3 half tones further up (G).

What is important about this is that all triads are made up in the same way, so it means you can easily figure out the basic triad for any key. Try it for D, E and A, but be careful; they'll have some black notes in them. Incidentally, the above "formula" can be abbreviated as R-4-3, where R stands for root note.

I'd like to add something useful to this that will be helpful later on. In the case of C-E-G, add the upper C (we refer to it as C'). The chord will then have four notes, namely C-E-G-C'. People with small hands may have a problem playing this chord, but you should try, as it will be very helpful later on. Also, go to G-B-D and add G' to get G-B-D-G'; similarly for F you will get F-A-C-F'.

Inversions

Let's go back to the  C major chord C-E-G. I mentioned that this is the root position of the C major chord. Consider the upper two notes in this chord; play them with C' so that you get E-G-C'. If you listen carefully to this chord you will find it is harmonious, and sounds similar to C-E-G. Indeed, it has the same notes; the only difference is that it has C' instead of C. It is referred to as an inversion of the root position of C major. Similarly, you can go up to G-C'-E'; it is another inversion. Try playing these inversions up and down to familiarize yourself with them.

You can do the same thing for F and G. For F you will have the root position F-A-C, and the two inversions A-C-F' and C-F'-A'. I think you'll be able to figure out the inversions of G quite easily. And again, practise them up and down the keyboard several times until you are quite familiar with them.

As you'll see, we will be using these chords in both the right and left hand, so it's also a good idea to become familiar with them in the left hand. Go down to the octave below middle C and practise the inversions upward for C. Then do the same thing for F and G. Don't worry about memorizing them; they'll come naturally to you once you begin playing a few songs using them. And, indeed, you're
almost ready to do that, but first let's look at some other chords that will be useful.

Minor Chords

Songs with only major chords in them can be a bit boring. So let's look at what we can do to spice things up a little. If you've ever listened to someone playing a song on the piano I'm sure you've noticed that it sounds different in certain places; in other words, the chords sound different, and they certainly aren't all major chords. So, what can we do to make them different?  To answer this, let's look back at the root position of the C major chord, namely C-E-G. One way we can change it is to change the E into an E-flat; if we do this we get what is called C minor. We can write it as C-Eb-G, where I'm using b as a flat symbol (in practise it's a little different but b will do here). And again, the inversions are
Eb-G-C' and G-C'-Eb'.

We can make the root form of  F and G into minors in the same way. In the case of F we flat A, and for G we flat B, so we have F-Ab-C and G-Bb-D. The inversions in this case are Ab-C-F', C-F'-Ab' and Bb-D-G', D-G'-Bb'. Spend some time playing these chords on the piano so that you become familiar with them. Finally, note that in terms of half tones the minor scale has the root, 3h's and 4h's, or R-3-4.

Diminished Chords

Another important chord is referred to as the diminished chord. In this case we add a flat to the C minor chord; this gives C-Eb-Gb. Listen to the sound; it is quite different from that of the minor chord. And again, the inversions are Eb-Gb-C' and Gb-C'-Eb'. Applying these same changes to F we get F-Ab-Cb (actually, Cb is B), and its inversions are Ab-B- F' and B-F'-Ab'. And for G we have G-Bb-Db and its inversions. Practise each of these until you're completely familiar with them. You'll find that it doesn't take long. Finally, in terms of half tones, the diminished chord is R-3-3

Augmented Chords

I don't want to scare you with too many chords, but there are a few more. Don't worry, though, we're almost there, and you have already learned enough to play a large fraction of popular songs. The augmented chord is not used very often, but it has an interesting sound and is useful to know. To get it, go back to the C major chord, C-E-G. This time sharp the G so that you have C-E-G#. Try it on the piano; it sounds somewhat like a chord you would hear in a Russian folk dance, and indeed, that is one place you will find it.

In the same way for F you get F-A-C#, and for G, G-B-D#. By now the inversions should be obvious, so I won't bore you. For those of you who are interested, in terms of half tones this chord is R-4-4.

So you now know the major, minor, diminished and augmented chords for C, F, and G. The next step is to see how you use them in music, or what we call the "score" of a song. For this we have to look at sheet music.


Sheet Music

The best way to become familiar with sheet music is to take the score for any popular song and look it over. I'm sure you have one somewhere. The first thing you see is a simple arrangement of the song that is relatively easy to play, but this isn't what you are interested in. What you will be playing is much more complicated than this arrangement, but you won't have to read a lot of notes to do it. For the most part you can ignore the written  arrangement. What you are looking for is the single treble clef above it. Here you'll see the melody notes of the song, and what is nice about it is that it is a sequence of single notes, so they're not hard to read. And in the chord method this is all the notes you have to read.

Above these notes you will see letters such as C, G, F and so on. They will frequently be at the beginning of a bar, but they can occur anywhere within the bar. They are telling you what chord to play at that point. In the above case (after the first two notes) it is G, and G major chords should be played for the next two bars; at the end of those two bars you see the letter C. If nothing comes immediately after the C, it is assumed to be the major chord. In many cases, however, you will see other letters, and they are designating one of the other types of chords we discussed above. The usual designations are:

               Chord Type                        Symbol
                 Major                                  C (G, F, and so on)
                 Minor                                  Cmin
                 Diminished                         Cdim
                 Augmented                         Caug,   C+

In the above sample, try playing the chords for the notes. Begin by playing the first two notes as single (or octave), then play the G chord for B and so on. Play them down from the written notes. Don't worry about playing them all through from the beginning, just practise playing  them in any order.

At this point it is also useful to begin practising the chords in the left hand. Try them separately from the right hand. They don't have to be in the same position as the chords in the right hand, so play them in the root position initially, but also try the various inversions we learned. They should be played below middle C.

You may have thought I forgot to mention the stuff at the beginning of the clef. I didn't and I'll do it now. It tells you what key the song is in, and its timing. In the above case F is sharped so it's in the key of G (and all the F's throughout the song should be sharped). The 3/4 refers to the 3 quarter notes per bar, which is a waltz.

While we're talking about sheet music I'll mention what are called "fake books." Buying the sheet music for every song you want to play can get rather expensive, and in recent years there's the problem of finding it (single sheet music scores for individual pieces are no longer published for a large fraction of songs). The best way around this is fake books. They're not really fake; they give you the melody notes of a large number of songs and a listing of the chords to play along with them, and they're not very expensive. So it's a good idea to invest in one or two (they usually have hundreds of songs); they're available at most music stores.


Tetrads

I hate to make things even more complicated, but tetrads, which are chords with four notes in them are also very useful. You can do a lot with them and they make you sound a lot better. The major tetrad is the seventh; for it you add the note that is one tone (T) down from the upper key note. For the C major chord this is B flat, so C-seventh (C7) is C-E-G-Bb. Try it on the piano, and play its inversions. Similarly for F we have F7, which is F-A-C-Eb, and for G we have G7 as G-B-D-F.

Another tetrad that is quite useful is the sixth. In this case we add a note 1 1/2 tones down from the upper key note. For C major this is A, so we get C-E-G-A and it is written as C6; in the same way for F we have F-A-C-D, and for G, G-B-D-E. As it turns out, sixth chords are particularly versatile; they can be used in place of any major chord of the same key. For example, whenever, the C chord is called for, you can use C6.

Practise

This section is just to remind you of some of the things you should practise from this lesson.

1. Play and practise the inversions of all the major chords of C, F, and G.
2. Play and practise the inversions of the minor, diminished, augmented, and seventh chords of C, F, and G.
3. So far we haven't said anything about A and D chords, but they do appear in songs in the keys of C, F and G. Pick out the major, minor, diminished, augmented, and seventh of these two keys using the information I gave you earlier. It shouldn't be too difficult for you at this stage. (just in case you are having a problem I'll give you some of them: The major of A is A-C#-E and for D it is D-F#-A, and the minors are A-C-E and D-F-A.