Just remember two numbers: “four” and “three.” Count four half steps from the first note of the chord to the second note, and three half steps from the second to the third. These notes form a major chord. Understand the chord shape : Some charts may also show the shape of the chord, helping you visualize how your fingers should be placed on the keys. A major chord sounds bright, joyful and light. A minor chord can be described as melancholic or sad.

All the piano chords we have worked on so far have been root position chords. The downside of only practicing root position chords is that they limit your playing and can sound clunky. The way around this is to start practicing your chord inversions. For example, consider a C major chord (below); it’s notes are C E and G. There are four half steps from C to E – C♯, D, D♯, and E. Then there are three half steps from E to G – F, F♯, and G. A C major chord has 4 half steps from C to E and 3 half steps from E to G. Screenshot taken from Musicca’s virtual piano.The term chord progression is used a lot in piano books and tutorials. But what does it actually mean? A chord progression, also known as harmonic progression, is a term used in musical composition and describes a succession of chords. So chord progression simply means to play different chords in a particular sequence. The root note is the first note of a chord. E.g. ‘C’ for ‘ C Major’, ‘G’ for ‘ G Major’, and so on. This article comes from Julian, a knowledgeable pianist who will take you through his guide on how to play piano chords!

Before you can start creating harmonic progressions, there are several types of chords that you should familiarize yourself with. Each one carries a unique sound and plays a distinctive role in music composition. Let’s take a closer look at these fundamental piano chords for beginners. Major chords Sometimes you’ll see a slightly different variation, written C maj 7. That just means to use a major third instead of a minor third on top of the chord, or C, E, G, B.

Learning Major Chords: Piano Tips

The 13 basic piano chords you will learn are in smaller groups according to their key signatures. These keys are C major, D major, and E major. After learning these 13 piano chords for beginners, you will see how you can use just a small group of chords to play many kinds of songs. Key of C Major Slash chords are another way of notating chord inversions. They are written as a fraction [chord]/[note], for example, C/E. This means a C major chord should be played with ‘E’ as the bass note. These chords add variety and smoothness to chord progressions. Now that you can form major and minor chords, what’s next? If you just play the three notes of the chord, that will sound empty and clunky! We need some strategies for arranging the chords so that they sound interesting. Use arpeggios: Play each note of the chord separately (also known as a broken chord). E.g. 1353 1353 1353 1353