Q. I have started studying harmony theory and I question why it is necessary. So far, they have taught chord progressions and rules for the various voices (soprano, alto, tenor and base). However, most of the rules they teach get broken in music. So why is it required to study harmony?
A. If you study harmony, then it will be easy to play piano at any level!
How long should I ideally learn piano chords before moving onto a different key?
Q. I started on the C chords and now I have to learn the Sharps. I don't feel I'm ready to learn these yet until the C chords are sunk well and truly in, That said I don't want to be learning each one for months at a time. I get it, I have to practice but as a rule, how long each day would you suggest a beginner learn his chords for?
Cheers.
A. The only rule is learn the chords until you know them. It might help to remember this:
All major chords are constructed this way: first play the note that is the name of the chord, then go up 4 half-steps (counting all notes, black and white) and play that note, then go up 3 half-steps and play that note. You can actually play the notes in any order and it is still the same chord; whether you play C, E, and G, or E, G, and C, or G, C, and E, it is still C chord, but to find the notes of a particular chord, start this way.
It should not take long to remember what C chord is.
What exactly is a chord(instrument, piano) and how do I learn them all?
Q. I don't know if this is right or not but is a chord just a bunch of keys pushed together at the same time? And how do I learn them all, practice is one thing but I looked it up and there is like a hundred of them. Do I have to memorize every one of those along with the names?
A. There are as many chords as there are combinations of notes - so pretty much an infinite number. Fortunately the chords we use every day follow rules.
There are two basic types of chords, major and minor. All major chords have the same intervals (more on that in a minute) as do all minor chords. You only need to learn the intervals to begin with; once you start playing the chords you'll simply remember what each one sounds like, and what notes you need to play.
Intervals are the distance between one note and another. On a piano the distance from one note to the next note-but-one is a tone. The distance from one note to the very next note is a semitone (this is true for all instruments, but it's easy to see on the piano). To form a major chord we take a note (say C) then we go up 2 tones. So take C and miss one note and we have D - one tone. Then from D we miss a note and take the next - E. Therefore the first two notes of a major triad of C are C and E. Next we go up a tone and a semitone. A tone from E is F#, a semitone from F# is G. Therefore the major triad of C has the notes C E and G.
This is the way to find out the notes in ALL major triads.
To find out minor triads we firstly go up a tone and a half, and then 2 tones. So if we're in C we go up a tone and a half (one tone = D + 1/2 = Eb) and then up 2 tones from there (1 tone = F 2 tones = G). Therefore the notes of a C minor triad are C Eb and G.
The thing about triads is it doesn't matter what order we put the notes in. A C major chord only has to have the notes C E and G in it; the order isn't important. So we could have E G C, G C E etc.
As far as learning the chords goes I would suggest working out the notes in each major and minor triad (you could also look it up, but working it out will help you understand WHY it works) and then playing them all, so start with a triad of C, then Db, then D etc.
There are a LOT more chords, but they also follow rules - and there are only a few (about 100 or so) chords which are really used often, and most of them are simply the same but with one note different. I have been playing the piano for 15 years and playing jazz piano for about 7 and I still don't know ALL the chords off the top of my head!
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Title : Why are advanced piano players required to study harmony?
Description : Q. I have started studying harmony theory and I question why it is necessary. So far, they have taught chord progressions and rules for the...