One of the most important aspects of any pianist’s repertoire is the understanding of how to play chords. To play chords, you must learn some simple theory. To make it easier, you’ll mainly be playing the white keys.
Look at the white keys on the keyboard and find a C. If you don’t know how to find a C, then look at the sets of black keys. The black keys are grouped two ways: in a set of two or a set of three. Find a set of two black keys and move to the white key immediately to the left. This is a C. Now that you’ve found a C, learning how to play chords comes easy.
To begin learning how to play chords, start with the C chord. Hold the thumb of your right hand on C. Now skip the next white key and put your middle finger on the white key after that. This is an E. Holding those two fingers in place, skip the next white key and play the white key after that with your pinky. This is G. Play all three of these notes at the same time and you’ll have created a C chord. Learning how to play chords is that simple.
By holding your hand in this position and moving it up and down the white keys, you’ll be able to play chords in the key of C. Just remember the basic pattern: play a white key, skip one, play the next, skip, and play the next key. Move to the right with your fingers in this shape and you’ll be playing D minor, E minor, F, G, A minor and B diminished. A whole world of chord progressions is already at your fingertips. Play chords and hear the differences in each. You may even start to hear songs that you know and love by playing chords in this key.
Another way to learn how to play chords is to number the keys. Starting at C, number the white keys up to seven. C is one, D is two, E is three, etc. When you reach the number seven, start over at one. Now that you have each white key numbered, you understand the relationship between each note. A C chord is numbered 1-3-5. These are called the chord tones. A Cmaj7 is 1-3-5-7, while a C7 is 1-3-5-b7. The flat indicates a black key, at least when you’re playing in the key of C.
To make a minor chord, start at C and play the following tones: 1-b3-5. This will be C, Eb and G. Your thumb is on C; your middle finger is on the black key just to the left of E; and your pinky is on G. Congratulations! You’ve learned how to play the C minor chord.
This is just a basic explanation of how to play chords. There are many more chord shapes to learn that make piano music great, but it’s best to start at the beginning. Even the greats have written entire songs playing chords in the key of C.
Duane Shinn
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/how-to-play-chords-on-the-piano-512932.html
————————
Get your ex back with the magic of making up
January 20th, 2010 at 8:21 am
How to play piano Chords?
Say I want to play this song on the piano….http://www.911tabs.com/link/?4612862
Which hand do I play the chords with and then what notes would I play with the other hand. I just don’t understand how to play chords…I can read notes but I realyl want to learn chords.
but how do I know what the melody is?
January 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Which had do you play the chords with?
What do you do with the other hand?
Those are questions that you would ask about a particular musical STYLE. In general, there are no rules about what you do with your hands at the piano. You just do whatever sounds right.
If you have a good music store in you area, you probably can find books that will teach techniques and exercises to help you improvise in a specific style or play lead sheets in a specific style. Even if you don’t know yet what style is right for you, spending some time with a book like that can help you figure it out. And meanwhile, even if you haven’t figured out what kind of music "does it for you," practicing ANY kind of music will help you out.
I myself walked into a big music store and asked, "do you have any books to teach rock piano techniques or blues piano techniques?" Almost the entire store was devoted to scores for specific classical piano and orchestral works, but the clerk lead me directly to a shelf that had a dozen or more books that fit exactly what I was asking for.
Personally, I would prefer to play a bass line with my left hand, chords with my right, and (ideally) somebody ELSE would sing the melody.
References :