Major Chords

Finally! Chords! 

Chords are what make up a song. All songs can and usually do have what is called a chord progression, which is simply a number of chords played in a sequence to create a song.

Basic chords are made up of 3 notes.

 To play any song all you need to know are two basic types of chords - Major and Minor.

Major chords

To play a major chord you play the root note, skip three keys and play the next note, then skip two keys and play the next note.

This is the Major Chord Formula!

Root + Skip 3 + Skip 2

For example, first choose a note, the note you choose will be the name of the chord. In this case, a C chord.

 So here we have chosen the note C, skipped 3 notes and played the next note E and finally skipped 2 notes and played the next note G. This has given us a C Major Chord.

Following this formula will always give you the major chord for which ever root note you choose. For instance:

 

First is the D note therefore this will be a D major chord (NB the first note is not always the name of the chord however for this basic chord method it certainly is easier to think like this for the moment)

 This chord is an Eb ( E Flat ) major chord.

The best way to become familiar with this method is to practice practice practice! 

Remember: Root note + Skip 3 notes and play the next one + Skip 2 notes and play the next one

Intervals

Now, on to intervals!

You can measure almost anything. usually with a ruler. However, in music we measure distances with intervals.

There are only two types of intervals you need to know to have a sound understanding of how to play basic chords. These are semitones and whole tones or half-step and whole-step.

Semitones 

A semitone is the distance between any two keys on the keyboard that are right next to one another.

As you can see, the distance represented by each of the red lines is a semitone (half-step)

Whole tones

A whole tone is the distance between any two keys which skip one key in between. That is, a whole tone is comprised of two semitones and is often noted as the distance between two white keys as they skip over one black key.

It is easy to get confused with wholetones. As such I have accompanied the next image as well to help clarify.

Do not get confused with the distance here. A whole tone (whole step) from E will take you to an F#, not an F. Similarly, a whole tone from D# will take you to an F, not an F#.

Nonetheless, if you just keep in mind that a whole tone is made up of two semitones everything should make sense. 

Recap

A semitone is the distance going to the next or previous note.

A whole tone is the distance going to the note after the next or previous note.

Notes

Having a sound understanding of the notes on a piano will help you in understanding what chord you are playing as chords, basic ones anyway, are made up of 3 notes.

Here are the basic note names:

Notice how they repeat themselves over and over again.That is, to the left of the two black notes is a C and to the left of the next lot of two black notes is also a C and so on.

The black notes aren't given a unique name like the white notes, they get their name depending on the white notes around them. These are the sharps and flats.

If we move to the right of a white note to arrive at a black note then the black note is a sharp.

 

If we move to the left of a white note to arrive at a black note then the black note is a flat.

 

Therefore, the notes C# and Db are the same note, but have two different names.

In this easy to play series the note you play first ( or the note on the bottom of the chord ) will be the name of that chord. That is, if you are playing an F on the bottom then you will be playing an F chord.

Fastest Method to Mastering the Piano

There must be an infinite number of ways to learn how to play the piano, seriously. But how can you begin to play your favourite pop songs as soon as possible?

This will involve a combination of knowledge of 3 things:

• Notes
• Intervals
• Chords

If you can master these three things you will be able to play your favourite songs instantly!

You will have to apply effort and practice however. But once you have a sound understanding of these three factors you will be able to understand how songs work and play them.

Why is learning piano so difficult?

Truth be told, it doesn't have to be.

I am a self taught pianist and am aware of how frustrating it can be to learn piano given ridiculous teaching methods. I don't know what I would have done if I had to learn nothing but scales and scales and scales over and over. Some methods are just to hard to understand and some are just plain boring. Given my experience I plan to compile some of the best and easiest concepts together to help anyone learn to play the piano as soon as possible using the most basic method, chords.