How to Learn to Play Different Chords on the Piano Using Two Forms and Numbers 1 to 5

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How to Learn to Play Different Chords on the Piano Using Two Forms and Numbers 1 to 5
How to Learn to Play Different Chords on the Piano Using Two Forms and Numbers 1 to 5
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This article is based on learning two basic positions, which reproduce the same shape with the same fingers, but starting from different fundamental notes. This works for all piano chords, major, minor, seventh, major seventh and minor seventh, using 3 fingers and sometimes adding a fourth. Below you can find all the information you need. Have you thought until now that playing the main chords is too complicated and that too much information is required to be memorized? You will be happy to find that it is possible to simplify this learning process by using the shape of the hands and fingers. Learn to visualize the positions: this system will appear simple and logical to you.

Steps

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1

Step 1. Visualize the position relative to the chord shape your fingers and hands take by thinking about:

  • Three finger chords like a tripod.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1Bullet1
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1Bullet1
  • The four-finger chords like a fork. It's a nice simplification!

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1Bullet2
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 1Bullet2
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 2
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 2

Step 2. Number the fingers and thumb of the left hand from 5 to 1, starting with the little finger (5) and working up to the thumb (1)

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 3
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 3

Step 3. Practice playing by mentally following the images of your hand, as if they were visual advertisements that, in the long run, will make you gain confidence in yourself

  • When playing the chords, do not play all the notes together, but practice arpeggiating: this technique is also called the broken chord technique and consists of playing notes quickly one after the other. Each note is then played sequentially from lowest to highest, bending the hand slightly from left to right. Each sound is played individually, not as an overall chord.
  • Try to learn scales, as the arpeggio is just like strumming a guitar, but using a piano. The word arpeggio derives from the technique used to play the harp..
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 4
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 4

Step 4. Learn to arpeggiate

Try to reproduce a sound well by pressing the keys in rapid succession, one after the other, separated by a fraction of a second, depending on the rhythm of each piece of music.

Method 1 of 2: Position to Play Major Chords with Three Fingers

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 5
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 5

Step 1. Remember that a chord typically consists of at least three notes / tones / pitches (let's call them notes, for simplicity) that are played together

If we are talking about only two notes that must be played in succession we can speak of an interval (as if to indicate a distance).

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 6
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 6

Step 2. Compare the agreements

Note that the chord of do has exactly the same form as those of the fa and sol. You can also place stickers on the keys, to better remember the positions. Indicating do as three divided notes on the score would not illustrate the concept with the same clarity.

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 7
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 7

Step 3. Notice how the simplest three-note chords are the major chords, ie C, F and G, which are made up of only white keys with a practically equal distance and shape

Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 8
Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 8

Step 4. Visualize the left hand shape for the C, F and G chords:

you will see how the position is practically identical. This shape (just like a formula) uses fingers 5, 3 and 1. The other 3-note major chords use the same fingering, but change the shape slightly due to the sharps and / or flats:

  1. Find the root notes (C or F or G) e
  2. pass the ivory keys by reaching the third note using the third finger e
  3. press the fifth ivory note using the fifth finger (thumb).

    The formula for these three chords is simply to use the fingers of the left hand (numbered 5, 3 and 1) from left to right, starting with the basic root note that gives each chord its name

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 9
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 9

    Step 5. Note that the D chord has exactly the same shape as the A chord shown in the photo, using stickers on the keyboard starting from the left

    If the king were instead indicated as three lines on the score, it would not render the idea with as much clarity. Examine the shape that the hand takes to reproduce an A and a D and you will notice that it is almost the same as that used for C, F and G, only with the highest middle note (i.e. sharp which, like the flat, consists of a distance intermediate between the notes). Both require the middle finger to hit a black key: from left to right, on the left hand (5, 3 # and 1), where the # symbol means sharp - which is often represented by the black key to the right of the key. normal.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 10
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 10

    Step 6. Remember the eventuality in which two ivory keys are close together (adjacent, without a black key in the middle)

    In this case the white key will be sharp or flat (i.e. half a step away from the previous note), but only in certain chords and scales.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 11
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 11

    Step 7. Playing a flat note is similar to playing a sharp note, but a flat involves moving left (back) half a distance from the main note

    The flat is the adjacent note to the left of a main note, while the sharp is adjacent to the right of the same note: however, both are only half a tone apart.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 12
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 12

    Step 8. Remember that the combination of three (or more) notes used to form a chord and which consists in playing these notes simultaneously, respecting the distances between the notes (i.e. the intervals) is based on a model (or formula) related to the circle of notes

    This model foresees that the fingers, i.e. the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers, must be positioned in a specific way to form a certain chord, which could also consist of an intermediate distance (i.e. slightly to the right or left in the keyboard.).

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 13
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 13

    Step 9. Play the same chord with the right hand assuming the same kind of shape, with the thumb and fingers numbered once again from left to right 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, but this time starting with the thumb (1) and going up to the little finger (5)

    Even if it looks the other way around, just ignore the inversion between thumb and fingers - you will notice the same tripod shape.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 14
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 14

    Step 10. Practice fingering playing the invisible piano (on a table), moving your fingers thinking:

    "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5" from LEFT to RIGHT (no keyboard needed for this type of training!): Left hand: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 "Right hand:" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "Left hand:" 5, 3, 1 "Right hand" 1, 3, 5 ", and so on.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 15
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 15

    Step 11. Obtain or draw (accurately) a partial or complete paper model of a keyboard, so that you can use it for training if you do not have a real keyboard

    Your fake keyboard may be the same size as a real one, but remember that some electronic keyboards are shorter than a piano (they have fewer octaves, i.e. fewer black and white keys).

    Method 2 of 2: Position to Play the Four-Finger Major Seventh Chords

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 16
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 16

    Step 1. Learn to use seventh chords, which are four-note chords

    The following fingering works for all the seventh, major and minor chords that can be played on the keyboard (where the fourth finger plays a musical seventh).

    For example: the G seventh chord is found by counting the G as the first position on the circle of notes, and then selecting the third, fifth and seventh position. The chord will be composed of sol, si, re and fa respectively: all these notes have an interval of one, that is, they skip a whole note

    Step 2. Examine the left hand fingering for this chord, namely 5-3-2-1 (skipping the left ring finger):

    Little finger - g, middle - yes, index - d, thumb - fa.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 17
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 17

    Step 3. Examine the right hand

    You will notice the same fingering with the inverted fingers, that is 1-2-3-5 (skip the ring finger again): Thumb - G, index - yes, middle - D and little finger - fa.

    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 18
    Learn Many Chords on Piano Using Two Shapes and the Numbers 1 to 5 Step 18

    Advice

    • Think of your fingers as the numbers associated with them and try to memorize their position by remembering that of the numbers.
    • You can think of the numbering on the right hand: 1, 3, 5 as the same shape as the left hand, 5, 3 and 1 (obviously 1, 3 #, 5 corresponds to 5, 3 #, 1, but the shape always remains the same).

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