Slash Chords

A confusing chords type to come across is the slash chord. It looks like this on a chord chart -

Here, the A/Ab is the slash chord. Basically, reading from left to right ( as we do in western culture ), you play the first chord in your right hand and then the other side you play the note only as a bass. To visualise it would appear like this:
 

 

Obviously you can't play all these notes with one hand. You would play the chord in your right hand and the bass note (the right side of the / ) in your left hand. It might also be effective to play an octave in the left hand as well.

Playing Chords with a Chord Chart

Now you have a basic understanding of how to construct chords all you now need to do is put it into practice by playing a song.

A popular website to get chords for all your favourite songs is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

The site formats the chords like this:

Em                 G                            
All around me are familiar faces

D                A                               
Worn out places, worn out faces

All you need to do is play each chord as the song goes on and there you have it! You can play chords!

I Recommend

Mariocast!

This guy knows his music. Check out one of his more recent podcasts on music theory here:

Feel free to check out his youtube channel also on the link for product reviews, online music lessons and piano tutorials.

Is Piano Theory Important?

Yes .. and no.

As a self-taught pianist, I have over the years come to appreciate music in all it's forms, including the theory side. It has really showed me how it all fits together not just in a musical sense but expresses pure logic both in and out of the musical world. Having said this I would greatly incourage anyone to one day learn music theory in all its aspects, however, if your just starting out you don't need to know much at all.

Music theory isn't necessary (there I said it) for those who are just wanting to learn there favourite songs or tunes on the piano. I see it more as an extension of music that people grow to appreciate as they appreciate music more. 

Because of this I created pianochordmethod.blogspot.com

Although there are many methods of learning piano out there I thought the methods I relate are simple and easy to understand with a little practice. I intend to allow the site to grow more and more in the future.