An Introduction To The Primary Chords

Why will knowing how to play your primary chords boost your confidence quickly? My decades of experience as a piano coach have made it clear to me that the majority of piano beginners want the shortest path to immediate results possible. This is understandable since even small successes breed further enthusiasm and interest. So what’s the best way to go?

Well, there is more than one option, of course. That said, it is my perspective that if you can get a handle on just a few of the most often used chords, the fun you can have with them can have you enjoying many hours at that piano or keyboard of yours.

Here’s How To Know What They Are

So, what are the chords used most often? Well, quite simply they are the the chords that are built on the first, fourth, and fifth degrees of a given scale. Let’s look at the note names in the key of C Major:

C D E F G A B C

The first, fourth, and fifth notes (or degrees) in this scale are C, F, and G. We use Roman numerals to refer to these scale degrees. Therefore, we can refer to these three degrees of the scale as I, IV, and V.

Once we build a chord on these degrees, we have the following:

C Major, F Major, and G Major (illustrated below)

The key furthest to the left in each of these chords is the name of the chord. We call this the Root of the chord.

These three chords, the I chord, IV chord, and V chord, form the “backbone” of the key of C Major. You will notice that if you actually play all these chords at the same time (not practical), you are playing all the members of this scale.

The I, IV, and V chords are known as the primary chords, or primary triads, of the key (a triad is a chord that consists of three notes).

These Primary Chords Serve As Your Foundation

The great news? Once you can play these three chords, you can play a lot of songs! That’s right… countless tunes include just these three chords. Here’s even more good news: all the other chords you will learn have their basic foundation in these three chords. Once you have a handle on these three, you are actually in a much better position than you might currently imagine.

Okay, since you know that there certainly is value in knowing this chord “trio,” let’s not put it off any longer. It’s time to play them!

Free Video Shows You How To Play These Chords And More

Rather than getting into a “wordy” explanation of how, it makes a whole lot more sense to show you how to play them. You have the opportunity right now to learn how to play all your major chords (including these three, of course) in a way that is so simply, it’s almost silly. Simply click on this link and you will be taken to a page that will direct you toward instant access to this very special video.

Your Ticket To Playing Piano By Ear

Since these three chords are primary, they are more apt to be used in most songs. A person trained to play by ear automatically listens for the existence of these chords. So, by making it a priority to familiarize yourself with them, you’re doing a world of good for your musicianship.

Keep It Fun

You’re on your way, so have fun mastering these major triads! By the way, if you ever have a question, feel free to send it my way. I would love to hear from you.

-Dave

Having Fun With Creativity From Day One

Playing chords on the piano To the beginner with little or no experience or even the classical player whose experience is limited to reading and interpreting the written page, I offer the same suggestions when it comes to being able to play piano creatively.

If you have subscribed to the mindset that playing creatively is reserved for the advanced player, I would like to encourage you to have an open mind about this. I promote creativity right from the start. It’s fun, boosts confidence, and serves as incentive to want to take future steps on your musical journey.

A Most Chordial Visit

Upon entering my piano studio for the first time, a beginner usually learns enough to be able to explore creativity on those keys, at least to a point. I believe – more accurately – I know that a person has the ability to speak music before completely understanding the language.

To help clarify this, let me ask you: At what age did you start expressing Learning to speak music yourself verbally? Did you utter your first words after you learned how to read or write the letters of the alphabet?

On the contrary. You were speaking long before you were able to spell those words and phrases that came from your mouth. Before you could read or write, you spoke the language.

To take that a bit further, you had no concern about how to read or write what you were saying. You spoke with confidence. When you were thirsty, you asked for a drink. When you were hungry, you asked to eat. When an adult handed you a phone, you said hello.

In other to do this, you had acquired the ability to use phonetics by hearing them from others and repeating them. By the way, there are people who can play music by ear quite well in this fashion without even knowing how to read or write music. How? The same way we just mentioned. They heard and repeated.

It’s true that knowing how to read a language, whether it’s English, French, Italian, or Music will expand your musical experience. You are encouraged to want to do that. Right now, I’m saying that you can take the first steps of speaking some music before that just like you were speaking your language prior to reading or writing it.

You can think of the “phonetics” that you need to know as the keys on your piano keyboard. Press a key and hear the sound. Go ahead and do that now.

See? You can speak.

Perhaps that was equivalent to “goo-goo” or “gaa-gaa” as a baby but, hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

Once we know that you can press a key, we take things a step further. We ask you to play two keys at the same time… then three.

Now, the good news. You only need to play three keys to play a chord.

See all those white keys on the keyboard? Pick any three that are not exactly each to other, but separated by one key, like this:

This is a chord!

You don’t have to be concerned with which particular keys you are playing. Just play three keys… you’re just making sure you’re playing “every other key.”

What fingers do you use? We’ll eventually get to that but simply play them. What you are playing is a chord! You might be playing one of these keys with your left hand and the other two with your right (or vice versa). It’s a chord no matter how you play it.

This can be the beginning of playing music for you if you are a beginner. If you are an experienced player, you likely know this is a chord but we’ll get more creative with chords in subsequent posts.

If you play any two of those notes, you are playing harmony. A chord is harmony that consists of three or more notes.

The next step is to start being comfortable playing these three keys with the fingers of just one hand. It may take some time for this to feel natural but that’s normal. The fingers you would use for either hand would be your thumb, middle, and pinkie.

To make the most of this session of ours, have some fun playing chords on the piano with your left hand and your right hand (not necessarily at the same time), using the fingers mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Remember, you can play any three keys as long as they are separated by a key in between so your chord looks a bit like our image above. Again, you don’t have to be concerned where on the piano you play these. That said, you will notice for yourself that they tend to sound a bit better when you don’t go too far to the left of the keyboard. However, don’t be afraid to play them there, too. It’s all an adventure!

Play a chord… listen…. move your hand and play another chord… listen… repeat… repeat… repeat.

Okay… ready to make more sense of this? Would you like to be playing chords with more confidence within a matter of minutes? Great! Click on the Free Chord Lesson in the menu above to download a free video. You’ll be learning how to play major chords on the piano. As a matter of fact, by the time you finish following the suggestions in that video, you’ll be able to play ALL 12 major triads on the piano with both hands… now that’s AWESOME!

[Sidebar] I realize that each person’s experience is different from another. I’ll ask that you simply bear with me through any of these sessions by understanding that my intention is to assume that the reader may have no experience at all. If you would like clarification of anything you’ve been exposed to hear, why not send me an email? I’ll be happy to try to help.

Dave
PianoAmore.com
ProProach.com

Tag: major chords

Learn These Primary Chords First