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Home » piano chord notes » How to know what piano chords go with notes?

How to know what piano chords go with notes?

Q. So I'm composing a song and I need to know what chords go with the notes. Last year my teacher told us something about 1,3,5 and 2,4,6 and how from C to C there are numbers. Like C would be 1. If someone could tell me that method it would be awesome.

A. The method you're talking about is numbering the notes within a scale; also known as "scale degrees". Each note in a scale has a certain spot, or position within the scale. You can think of it kind of like rungs on a ladder. How high up are you on the ladder? Each rung has a specific position on the ladder (e.g. the 2nd rung is always a certain number of feet off the ground, etc.).

How well this works depends on how well one knows their scales. In C major, C would be scale degree 1, D is 2, E is 3, F is 4, G is 5, A is 6, B is 7, and finally back to C again.

In D major, D would be 1, E is 2, F# is 3, G is 4, A is 5, B is 6, C# is 7, and back to D again.

This works just as well with any conventional scale. For example, in C natural minor, C is 1, D is 2, Eb is 3, F is 4, G is 5, Ab is 6, Bb is 7, and back to C.

Now as far as finding the right chords, so in C major scale, a C chord contains the scale degrees 1, 3, and 5. D minor chord is the notes 2, 4, and 6. E min is 3, 5, and 7. And so on. So the easiest, most basic way to harmonize a melody would be to choose a chord that has that note as one of its chord tones. If you have the note A in a C major scale, that's 6, or the 6th scale degree. That fits a D minor chord (2,4,6), an F major chord (4, 6, 1), and an A minor chord (6, 1, 3).

There are many, many more choices as your ear for harmony continues to improve. But for starters, that's a fine way of choosing chords. (Also, the best way to choose chords is by ear; this whole discussion about scale degrees means a whole lot more once you can hear them, meaning when a person develops the ability to identify scale degrees just by listening. In other words, t's not some magic formula, it's just a way to describe how music sounds.)

Hope that helps!

Original Question

help with piano chords?
Q. could you please answer with the notes in these chords.
you dont have to answer all.

Em9
D9
C9
Em9/D
Em9/C
Em
Dm/F
C/G
Gm
they're on piano
is Em (9) the same as Em9 but just written differently?
and finally what exactly is Em9/D , Em9/C?
oh and 10 points to anyone who answers seriously :)
Prince M :],
normally i dont reply to hate comments but im not raping any little boys at the moment so i have nothing else to do.
So im a 'geek/nerd/really butty loser from high school who doesn't have any cliche he can call his own and just messes up with anyone on Y!A?'

firstly, im a girl. i didnt know piano was a nerdy thing to do, if i did i wouldnt have learned it, just so i can please you!
i never knew there was anything wrong with being smart or playing an instrument.
secondly, how short is your memory? first im a 'loser in high school' and now im a 'really ********* Y Pervert!'?
do you self a favour and stop banging your head on the bed head when you get ploughed by your giant, hairy sister who is actually your mother.

what kind of person goes through other users answers and then calls them a 'L'?
seriously...
seeing as you called me fat, i suppose im going to go eat some cake now.
i hope you get raped by a hairy lesbien who hot pockets you.
goodbye.

A. Em9 - E,F#,G,B - This is going to sound a little strange. If you play E and G with your left hand and play F# and B with your right, it sounds okay. You know chords can be split between the two hands. You also have the option of playing F instead of F#. F would be the minor 9th, but since it's a minor chord anyway, a minor 9th would sound good.


D9 - D,E,F#,A - This sounds okay in a higher register - above middle C. If you play it lower, I would play D,F#,A with my left and E and F# with the right.

C9 - C,E,G left C,D,G right - this sounds good. The D in this chord is the 9th.

Em9/D This is easy. The slash and then note just means you begin on the note after the slash. D is the 7th for E. So this would be D,E,F#,G,B (However since it's an Em alot of people would play the ninth also as a minor, so it would be an F, not an F#) The thing with ninths is you end up playing three notes in a row, in this case with the seventh - four notes in a row. You just have to experiment and see how you can make it sound okay - using two hands and switching inversions. An inversion is the order. There are three inversions.

Like with a C chord - The first inversion is C,E, G
The second inversion is E, G, C
The thired is G, C, E

Em9/C C,E,F,G,B (You could also play a D, since the D would be the 7th and anytime you have a 9th you can also play the 7th) The only set rule for this one is that is has to start with C. So the bottom note of the left hand has to be C. Try it different ways. CDF - left CE right sounds okay. Of course this leaves out the B, but sometimes you have to play it a little different to get it to sound okay.

Em - E,G,B When I play it I play it E,G,B,D - Technically the D makes it a 7th, but it sounds good.

Dm/F - F,A,D - Again if you play it as a 7th it sounds better. Add the C. F,A,C,D I like minor chords with 7th's

C/G - G,C,E

Gm - G,Bb,D

I don't know if Em (9) is the same as Em9


There is a book called "Ultimate Keyboard Chord Book" You can get it at any music store that sells instruments and books. Its by the Hal Leonard Corporation. It has all the chords.

Chords are based on scales. The basic chord is 1st, 3rd, 5th.
A 9th is really the 2nd note.
So the C scale is C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C
The 9th is D
They call it the 9th because they are thinking of it as being in the next octave. So it would be 7 notes above the 2nd note.

Here are the scales
C - C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C
D - D,E,F#,G,A,B,C#,D
E - E,F#,G#,A,B,C#,D#,E
F - F,G,A,Bb,C,D,E,F
G - G,A,B,C,D,E,F#,G
A - A,B,C#,D,E,F#,G#,A
B - B,C#,D#,E,F#,G#,A#,B

The basic chord is 1,3, 5
The ninth is the second
The seventh is the seventh
The 11th is the fourth
The 13th is the 6th

There are also scales for the flats - Bb, Db, Eb, Gb,Ab

Without writing them all out, just think of it this way. Think of the chord with the same letter but not flat. Like for a Bb, think of B. Now which notes were a half step higher? In B, the notes a half step higher are C,D, F, G, and A because those notes were all sharps. So for Bb, those notes would also be a half step higher, meaning, C,D,F,G and A would be played as regular notes and B and E would be flat. So for any scale, the flat scale would play the regular notes as flats and the sharps would become the regular notes. Like in D - you have C# and F# - So for Db- C and F would be regular, everything else would be flat.

Db - Db,Eb,F, Gb,Ab,Bb,C

Original Question

What is a piano chord?
Q. I'm trying to learn how to play piano, and I saw something called a piano chord. What exactly does that mean?

A. A piano chord is no different from a regular chord except that it's played...on the piano. By simplest definition, a chord is a group of at least three tones. This could be, for example, A C# E, which is the A major chord. Any less than that would be a single tone or interval, which doesn't really establish key. Any more than three notes would produce seventh chords (for example, A #C E G, which is the A 7th chord) ninth chords (A C# E G B), and so on, usually up to thirteenths in jazz music.

There are entire courses built on the study of chords, or tonality. If you're interested in pop or jazz chords, you might want to look into this lightweight guide:
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chord-Dictionary-Handy-Guide/dp/0882841548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272218959&sr=8-1

Note that it takes an entire lifetime to learn about all the possible chords and their functions in music, to really get to know what role each chord plays and which chord falls in place most naturally and meaningfully in a piece of music. Chord identification and other purely theory-related exercises won't take all too long, though.

Good luck with your studies, and I hope you keep it up. :)

Original Question




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Title : How to know what piano chords go with notes?
Description : Q. So I'm composing a song and I need to know what chords go with the notes. Last year my teacher told us something about 1,3,5 and 2,4...

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