As a beginner it is really important to learn popular chords that you will often come across when playing music on the piano.
Chords are very important when it comes to learning piano, as they are present in every song you will play. With piano you have two different clefs - one being the treble clef which is normally played with your right hand and are usually the higher notes above middle C.
Then you have the bass clef, which is normally played with your left hand and are notes below middle C.
Chords won't always be played as a single unit i.e. 3 notes struck together, but what you will very often find is they will be split up between the clefs, so you might have for example C Major Chord, but the E out of the chord is being played in the treble clef as the melody, and the C and G are being played lower in the bass clef.
This is why it is so important to learn all chords and become confident playing them as it will help your musical development if you understand where the music is developed from.
Chords consist of three individual notes but when struck together sound great. Chords are used in many ways. They are also present in most music you will play and perform and so learning piano chords will give you the opportunity to play many styles.
Learning chords is a way of opening up performing opportunities for you. It will allow you the freedom to accompany singers, or you may be a singer yourself, so it will give you the chance to accompany yourself.
You may also at some point wish to play together with other musicians in a band so chords will also come in handy for this.
The most popular types of chords you will come across are Major and Minor Chords. Major are often described as the happy sounding chords and Minor are described as the sad sounding chords. These common chords are found in most styles of music, but most commonly found in pop rock and classical music.
Below are two formulas to help you work out both Major and Minor Chords. It is a simple formula to follow, but will give you the information you need to work out any major or minor chords: -
To work out a major chord, you need to select a note in which you want the chord for. This is called your root note. Then moving up the piano you will climb four notes including white and black notes, and this will work out your middle note. From here you will climb a further three steps to reach your third note. You will then have formed a chord.
If we use C major as an example, your root note will be C, your Middle note will be E and your last note will be a G. So you have three notes C E & G which are then turned into C major chord.
Try working out some other chords yourself. Do them in patterns that fit, so try working out C Major, F Major and G Major. Then play these one after another and see how great they sound.
To work out minor chords, you select a your root note. Then you climb three steps and you will reach your middle note, and a further four steps to reach your last note for the chord. For example A minor Chord would have A as your root note, C as your middle note and E as your last note. So your three notes for A Minor chord are A C E.
Try working out some other minor chords yourself. Common minor pattern are D Minor a minor and E minor.
Use the information above to learn all your chords thoroughly, and write down the two easy formulas so you have them to hand should you need to work out another chord.
The correct fingering to play chords on piano in your right hand is 1 3 5. One is your thumb, and 5 will be your little finger.
The correct fingering to follow for your left hand with piano chords is 5 3 1. Five is your little finger and one is your thumb.
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There are some great free courses to teach anyone from complete beginners to advanced pianists to Learn How to Play Piano. A great way for beginners to learn is to start off with some really Easy Piano Songs which will get you started and help build that all important confidence.
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