Before now, we have been playing songs with Melodies on the right hand alone but today we will talk about Chords.
Chords are the basis for creating harmonies in music.
With Melody alone the song isn’t yet complete, you need Rhythm & Importantly Harmony to accompany and make the music both full and enjoyable.
A Chord is a harmony of three or more notes played simultaneously (together).
For instance, play C+E+G together as a combination it gives you a C Major Triad (Chord)
A triad is a “3 note” chord
To create a Major Triad we will employ the Major Chord Formula
Root + Major 3rd + Perfect 5th (135)
This is very easy to interpret on the Piano
To Get the C Major Triad;
Begin by finding the root note of the chord on the piano
- In this case C is the Root note, hence this will be the starting point for building the C major triad. If it’s an F Major Chord, it will start with the note F.
- Next, count up four half steps from the root note to find the major third ( you get E) or simply the third note of the C Major Scale. This note E (3rd) will give the chord its distinct major quality
- Finally, count up seven half steps from the root note to find the perfect fifth (you get G) or the fifth note of the C Major Scale. This note G (5th) adds stability and richness to the chord.
- Play all three notes together to hear the full C Major chord (C+E+G = C Major Chord).
Below are all 12 Major Chords on the Piano. You might want to save it for future references.
NB: As an Exercise please try and see how we arrived at these Major Triads by Applying the Major Chord Formula.
How do I place my fingers on these Triads Properly?
On your Right Hand (R.H) use :
1 3 5
On your Left Hand (L.H) use :
5 3 1
Thus, if you were to play a C Major Triad do this :
Now you know how to create and play Major Chords. Let’s examine how to play songs with Major Chords in the Next Lesson.