I'll take a minute here to explain the basic fingering that you should be using with the three note and four note chords taught on this site. Correct chord fingering is important as it will allow you to play chords easily as well as change between different chords quickly.

Your Hand

Shown above is the left hand with each finger numbered. Remember the finger numbers as I will be using them in this section. The right hand is similarly numbered.

Major and Minor Chord Fingering

Lets take the G major chord we learnt in the last section, it looks like this.

G major

Left Hand

The simplest fingering for a three note chord such as this with the left hand is 5-3-1, that is, pinky, middle finger and thumb. The pinky would go on the G, the middle finger on the B and the thumb on the D. This fingering can be used for all major and minor chords on the keyboard regardless of whether they have black keys or not.

Right Hand

The same fingering reversed can be used for playing this chord with the right hand, 1-3-5. So in this case the thumb goes on G, the middle finger on B and pinky on D.

Excercises

Try working out and playing these chords and playing with either hand to test out this fingering. You can play each hand separately or play both hands together:

C Major

E Major - Notice that the fingering still works even though G# is a black key.

G Minor - B flat is a black key in this chord.

A flat Minor - This is a tricky one, its notes are A flat, B and E flat.

7th Chord Fingering

Remember from the common chords section that 7th chords are four note chords, because of this we cannot use the 5-3-1 or 1-3-5 fingering used to play major chords otherwise we'd have no fingers left to play the top note!

Lets take the G7 chord for our analysis, it looks like this.

G7 Chord

Does this make sense? If not try going over the common chords section again.

Left Hand

The fingering for this chord with the left hand is 5-3-2-1. Pinky on G, middle finger on B, index finger on D and thumb on F. If you have small hands this might be difficult to play.

Right Hand

The same fingering reversed can be used for the right hand, 1-2-3-5. Thumb on G, index on B, middle on D and pinky on F#.

Excercises

Try out this new fingering on the following four note chords - G7,A7,B7.

These fingerings should work for all 4 note 7th chords on the keyboard. In the advanced chords section the major and minor 7th chords are explained and these fingerings will work for those as well. Basically what you have just learnt is that two basic fingerings will work for all major, minor, 7th, major 7th and minor 7th chords! Too easy isn't it?

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The Major Chord

You've already seen three of these(C F and G) before, in Silent Night. Now I am going to give you the power to work out any Major chord anywhere on the keyboard.

Say we wanted to work out the major chord G Major the process is as follows(its probably best to practise this at the keyboard).

Find the note G on the keyboard this is known as the root note of the chord.

G major chord

 

Next count up 4 half tones from G to get you to B, this is the second note of your chord. Now count up 3 half tones from B to get you to D. This is your G major chord G-B-D!

So the Major chord consists of the root note, a note 4 half tones above the root note, a note 3 half tones above the middle note. Thats it! As soon as you read that you just learnt all the major chords on the keyboard!

The Major chord consists of the an interval of 4 half tones followed by an interval of 3 half tones

Lets try another one, work out the A Major chord.

Find the root note, in this case A.

Count up 4 half tones from A to get C#.

Count up 3 half tones from C# to get E

And wolah! we have the A major chord, A - C# - E!

Ok you're almost there, two more chords to go.

The Minor Chord

The minor chord is another chord that is used commonly in many popular songs, it has a sadder more laid back tone to it then the major chord.

The Minor chord cosists of an interval of 3 half tones followed by an interval of 4 half tones

What does this mean? Well the process is the same as the process to work out the major chord. Suppose we wanted the G minor chord (commonly denoted as Gm) we would start by finding the root note, in this case G. Now count up 3 half tones from G to get Bflat, now count up 4 half tones from Bflat to get D and theres your Gm chord, G - Bflat - D!

I want you to convince yourself that the following minor chords are indeed correct, it will be easier to do this if you have a keyboard in front of you.Am = A C E

Cm = C Eflat G

Fm = F Aflat C

Excellent! One more chord to go then we can start looking at some tunes.

The 7th Chord

This is another very popular chord in music, it is known as the 7th chord or dominant 7th. It is usually written on chord sheets as C7, D7, E7 etc, and it is very similar to the major chord.

The 7th chord consists of an interval of 4 half tones followed by an interval of 3 half tones followed by an interval of 3 half tones

The 7th chord thus is comprised of four notes, not three like the previous chords.

I will walk you through the process of working out a 7th chord. Suppose we want E7, we find the root note - E on the keyboard.

Now count up 4 half tones from E to get to G#

Now count up 3 half tones from G# to get you to B

Now count up 3 half tones from B to get you to D

So your E7 chord would consist of E - G# - B - D

Try to work out the following 7th chordsG7 = G B D F

A7 = A C# E G

E7 = E G# B D

 

Phew! That was a lot of information wasnt it? Well now that its done, you are ready to forge on and play some tunes!

If you like my site, please support me by linking to me from your site, add this to your site. <a href=http://www.pianobychords.com>Learn How To Play Piano By Chords</a> - How to play piano by chords, a simple chord based method for learning piano.

Advanced Chords

Dont be fooled by the title here, there is nothing more complicated about the chords I am about to show you from the ones you already know. These chords are just different thats all. I'm showing you these chords because they are also quite common in popular music and as such, come up quite often on chord sheets you may find on the internet. Once you learn these, even more songs will open up to you!

Major 7th

If you've been following the pages in order then you would already have come across the major 7th chord in Under the bridge and Imagine. The major 7th chord is commonly denoted as Gmaj7, Amaj7, Bmaj7 etc. Its quite simple to play

The Major 7th consists of an interval of 4 half tones followed by an interval of 3 half tones followed by an interval of 4 half tones.

Suppose we wanted to work out the Gmaj7 chord we would take the following steps

G major 7th chord

Find the root note G, count up 4 half tones to get B, count up 3 half tones to get D, count up 4 half tones to get F#. Giving you the Gmaj7 chord.

Please take care to notice that the Gmaj7 is different from the G7 chord which has notes G B D and F. The musical guru's who came up with this stuff are really out to confuse us!

Minor 7th

Just as the major 7th chord is very similar to the regular major chord, the minor 7th chord is very similar to the regular minor chord. In a chord sheet the minor 7th chord would be denoted as Cm7 Gm7 Am7 etc.

The minor 7th chord consists of an interval of 3 half tones followed by an interval of 4 half tones followed by an interval of 3 half tones.

So here are some minor 7th chords make sure you understand how to work out the notes they contain. The process is exactly the same as every other chord, just follow the formula for the minor 7th chord.

C Minor 7th chord

G Minor 7th chord

Ok if you're getting confused by all these new chords then dont worry, in the next section you can review all the chords you know to get them clear in your mind. Then you'll be ready to try out some tunes that use these new chords!MIDDLE C – THE STARTING POINT

So, where is middle C? The placement of middle C on a musical staff can be researched on the person’s own time. I am sure it is found in a number of other places on the Internet. This lesson will show how to finger all the major chords, minor chords, and dominant 7th chords, hopefully without overwhelming you with music theory. So, let us have a look at a diagram of the some keyboards.

Note that middle C is off centre and not the middle note in the keyboard. This is because this and many other keyboards as well as full-size pianos are not symmetrical about middle C. The reasoning behind that is for some other topic of research that goes into the development of music as a whole. What is important is that you can learn how to locate middle C with a little practice.

Other common sizes for keyboards are 73 keys, 76 keys, and 88 keys. These can be seen below in Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5, respectively.

While middle C is not usually (see Figure 3) in the middle of the keyboard, it is almost there. It makes a practical place to start in terms of range of musical sounds. It also makes a very good place to start when studying music theory.

THE C MAJOR SCALE

The notes of the C major scale are:

Each note in the C major scale can be numbered using regular numerals and Roman numerals:

Note that I listed the next C in the scale while showing an octave instead of stopping at B as shown in Figure 2. This has to do with showing the formula for a major scale. This will make learning how to apply the formula to other notes easier later.

Notice that when the C major scale is numbered using Roman numerals, some are numbered with capital letters and some are numbered with lower case letters. (Jumping a little bit ahead, all chords in the C major family are built using only notes from the C major scale.)

When playing chords in the C major family, very little thinking has to be done because only the white keys are played. When each finger of the right hand assigned to one key, everything falls into place. If you place the thumb of the right hand on middle C, the rest of the fingers will each fall on one key naturally. Refer to Figure 6 below as an example.

So, start by playing the C major chord, commonly referred to as C. Place the thumb of the right hand on middle C (or any C), skip using the index finger, place the middle finger on E, skip the ring finger, and place the little finger on G. That is the simplest C

chord you can make. To play the D minor (commonly shown as Dm) chord, just move the hand to the right one white key so the thumb plays D, the middle finger plays F, and the little finger plays A. To play the E minor chord (commonly shown as Em), move the hand to the right one white key. This is the same for all successive chords for the C major scale.

Now go back to the C major scale where it is numbered with Roman numerals. Those notes numbered with capital Roman numerals have chords that are major chords. Those numbered with lower case Roman numerals have chords that are minor chords. The exception to this last statement is the vii° chord. The vii° chord is a diminished chord. (It is a chord with a minor 3rd and a 5th that is lowered by a half a step. This information can be left for later exploration of knowledge of music theory.)

So:

CHORD NAMES

When it comes to playing chords an octave higher, it is easy using a piano or other keyboard instrument. When playing guitar it is different because you can form different version of the same chord in different places on the fingerboard. If playing an electric guitar it is easier to play chords one octave higher because the fingers can be placed that high on the fretboard (fingerboard) more easily due to the way the guitar is built.

For the C major scale, the chords are shown for the respective note below:

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAJOR CHORDS AND MINOR CHORDS

A full chord must be constructed of at least three notes. Any chord in the family of the C major scale (and any major scale for that matter) begins with the note which is the name of the chord, the third note up from that note and the fifth note up from the note of the name of the chord. For a C chord, that means the chord is made up of the notes C (I), E (iii), and G (V) of the C major scale.

What makes a minor chord minor? The answer is that the 2nd note in the chord (the major 3rd) is made a minor 3rd. This means that the 2nd note is reduced by a half-step. Example: D notes: D, F#, A – note that F# is not a note in the C major scale. Now it can be seen that the D chord is not a chord in the C major chord family. Dm note: D, F, A – note that the major 3rd (F#) is reduced to F.

I once saw a musical play about a couple of piano students that made humorous the stories their careers starting from their early days. The piano teacher asked the question of the students “What makes a minor chord sound minor?” The answer was that a minor chord sounds sad whereas a major chord sounds happy. When you play a minor chord in comparison this generally sounds true.

Just using the knowledge associated with the C major scale we know where the major chords are for the notes: C, F and G. We the know the minor chords are for the notes D, E, A, and the diminished chord is associated with the note B. Remember, the method for playing all of the chords in the C major scale is provided in the paragraph below Figure 6. All chords in the C major chord family can be played by using the thumb, the middle finger and the little finger. Actually, for later use and knowledge, the same holds true for playing the chords to the left of the right hand but starting with the little finger and moving to the right. The fingers used on the left hand are the little finger, the middle finger and the thumb.

EXTENDING THE KNOWLEDGE OF MINOR CHORDS TO FIND THE REST OF THE MAJOR CHORDS ON THE KEYBOARD

Figure 7 shows an octave of keys from the notes C to C. The top of the figure shows how an octave normally looks while the bottom of the figure shows the octave as if the black keys in the octave were extended to the full length of the white keys. The extension of the black keys is done to show that there is movement of one half-step between all keys, black or white even though some white keys have no black keys between them. Note that there is no sharp (#) or flat (b) between the notes E and F and B and C.

Aside: However, the movement from the notes E to F and B to C or the movement of F to E and C to B is still only one half-step. This is important to understand because using this knowledge along with of what notes are in the C major scale allows us to

figure out for ourselves the formula for the major scale if we so wish. More importantly, with this knowledge, if we forget the formula for the major scale, we can refer to the C major scale to figure out the formula.

Because we know what makes a minor chord minor, we can extend that knowledge to figure out what the major chords are for the notes D, E and A by using the chords Dm, Em and Am. Place the right-hand fingers on a keyboard for one of the minor chords mentioned. Just move the middle finger (the one on the 2nd note of the chord) up a half-step. To moved up a half-step is to move up by one key – black or white. Refer to Figure 7 above for reference.

Using Dm to find D: Using the notes D, F and A => move the middle finger up by one half-step gives the notes D, F# and A. Refer to Figure 8 as an example. Imagine moving the fingers from the notes indicated on the bottom chord of Figure 8, Dm to the top chord of Figure 8, D.

Using Em to find E: Using the notes E, G and B => move the middle finger up by one half-step gives the notes E, G# and B.

Using Am to find A: Using the notes A, C and E => move the middle finger up by one half-step gives the notes A, C# and E.

Using Bdim to find B: Using the notes B, D and F => move the middle finger up by one half-step and the little finger up by one half-step gives the notes B, D# and F#.

We can also use the above knowledge to figure out what the minor chords are what the minor chords are for C, F and G. To do this, simply finger the chord and move the middle finger down one half-step. Cm has the notes C, Eb and G. Fm has the notes F, Ab and C. Gm has the notes G, Bb and D.

Now it is possible to figure out all of the major and minor chords for all the notes on the keyboard. It is good to note that this method is easiest to use for the white keys. The only chord that has not be explicitly discussed is Bdim. Bdim has a minor 3rd and a minor 5th. You should be able to figure out or research what the notes are for the chords B and a Bm. You could also use the major scale formula to obtain the B major scale and work from there.

NOTE: It is important to reference the keyboard (a real one or the diagrams) when studying this material to have a visual aid.

THE MAJOR SCALE FORMULA

The major scale (as well as every other scale) has a set formula. However, if you know the C major scale and the key spacing, you can figure out the formula every time. Again, it is important to know that there are no black keys between the keys B and C, and E and F.

Half-Steps and Whole-Steps:

A half-step is a movement (up or down) form one key to the one immediately next to it. (Refer to Figure 7). Examples: C to C#, G# to A, E to F, B to C, A# to A, C to B or G toF#.

A whole-step is a movement of 2 half-steps. Examples: C to D, E to F#, A# to C or F to D#.

C Major Scale Formula:

W = Whole-step H = Half-step

By using the major scale formula you can figure out all the major scales. This information can be used in many ways. Such as figuring out all of the major chords on the keyboard. However, because a major chord is made up of the 1st note of the chord, the major 3rd from the 1st note of the chord, and the major 5th from the 1st note of the chord the major scale formula will provide you with the major chords in the root note chord family for the root (I) note, the fourth (IV) and the fifth (V) notes of the major scales. Again, remember that you have already been provided with the method of figuring out all the major and minor chords for all the keys on the keyboard. Stick with the white keys for now.

NOTES ASIDE

By figuring out all of the major scales and putting them in ascending order you end up with half of the Cycle of Fifths. This is information used for chord progressions in many songs. The numbering of the notes in the chord family (originally presented in the scale) is also often used in chord progressions of songs.

When figuring out a major scale, it is a good indication that it is correct if the 7th note is a half-step below the 8th note.

If the chords in the music you are playing are contained within the major scale, you can use that scale to solo.

DOMINANT SEVENTH CHORDS

Dominant 7th chords are often associated with a bluesy sound. To figure out how to play a dominant 7th chord, reduce the (major) 7th by a half-step and fit it into the chord fingering. Dominant 7th chords are written as follows: A7, B7, C7, etc.

The 7th of the C major scale is B. The dominant 7th is A#/Bb. A# and Bb are the same note. They are called equivalent harmonics. The notes of the C7 chord are C, E, G, and A# or C, E, G, and Bb.

APPLYING THIS KNOWLEDGE TO THE GUITAR

One of the main advantages to learning about music theory using a keyboard is that the keyboard is a much more linear instrument than the guitar. One key follows directly after another. On the guitar, when you get to the last fret on one string, the next note on the next string is not the next note as it is on the keyboard. The same note of the same pitch appears at more than one place on the guitar.

To take this theory and apply it to guitar remember that standard tuning on a 6 string guitar is (low to high): E A D G B e. You can remember this by using the letters of standard tuning as an acronym for

Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good ByeEddie.

Another piece of information that is important to know about the guitar is that a movement of 1 fret (up or down) is a movement of a half-step. A movement of 2 frets is a whole-step. Now you can pick out scales and chords on the guitar as well as the keyboard.