Q. I have a book that shows all the chords on the piano but I have no idea where they got the names from. I understand what inversion means by looking at the patterns but I have no idea what the other stuff is. Like Csus4, C6, C7,C(degree sign)7,C minor 7 flat 5. What does the sus mean? What do the numbers mean? What does 7 flat 5 mean?
A. Chord Naming
http://www.standingstones.com/chordname.html
Usually the lowest note played becomes the letter the chord is named after (there are some exceptions eg inverted chords and slash chords but that is not important right now) - the other notes determine what "type" of chord it is.
So say the lowest note I play is A, I know it is an A chord of some description (well almost always) and I can work out what type of A chord from the other notes if I know my major scales and my chord formulas.
If you skip ahead in PMT a few pages you will note that major chords have the formula 1, 3, 5 - minor chords have the formula 1, b3, 5 - this is consistant and you might see or hear of them referred to as a triad.
So say I'm playing a chord but don't know what to call it - the way to work it out is to identify the notes I'm playing. For the example, if the lowest note is A and I also work out that I am playing C#, E - I align that to the A major scale and I would see that I am playing the 1st, 3rd & 5th notes of the scale so therefore I would call it an A major chord NB in tabs a single letter eg "A" really means A major but by convention it isn't stated as such.
If I discovered I was playing A, C, E - I would still call it an A chord but when I compared it to the A major scale I would see that C would actully be a flat 3rd - so this would make it a minor chord and I would call it Am
Note the 3rd controls the character of the chord i.e. whether it is a major or a minor - straight 3 = major, b3 = minor
Often when we play major or minor chords we actually play more than 3 notes but that is because we duplicate some of the notes - take A major for example, we play the A open string (which gives the chord its name), E on the 4th string, A again on the 3rd string, C# on the 2nd string and the open E on the little e string but essentially all the notes are A, C#, E
Now for lots of other chord types we add in a fourth note (a quadad). So when you see D7 it really means D dominant seventh (not a minor seventh, a major seventh, or a diminished 7th) the formula for a dominant seventh chord is 1, 3, 5, b7
So in this case we use the D major scale and see that 1, 3, 5, b7 are the notes D, F#, A, C and we call this D7
If we played D, F#, A, C# that would equate to 1, 3, 5, 7 of the D major scale and that would be called a D major 7 chord.
D, F, A, C would be 1, b3, 5, b7 of the D major scale and would be a D minor 7 chord (note the b3 is calling the shots on it being a minor)
And so on, and so on - this is the same for all chords - as long as we know the chord formulas for the different types of chords and we know how to relate that to the relevant major scale then we can work out what notes to play if we see a chord on a tab but haven't learned that chord shape yet simply by applying the formula. Alternatively if we are playing a chord shape that someone has shown us but are not sure what to call it we can work it out, again by seeing what the notes are and seeing which formula it fits.
Now onto your Cadd9 - that just means add the 9th degree of the C scale to your C major chord - so instead of playing 1, 3, 5 or C, E, G we add in a D NB not the D at the 2nd degree of the scale but an octave higher at the 9th degree.
Sometimes you will see a "sus" chord - either a 2 or a 4. That just means suspend the 3rd (take it out) and replace it with the 2nd or the 4th. So this chord is neither major nor minor but is a sus chord.
All the common chord formulas are in PMT
Taylor swift piano chords?
Q. My little sister has a big interest on piano. She wants to play the piano with Taylor Swift songs. But when I searched over google, they display chords but my sister doesn't know to read it. You know, she's just 6 years old. I don't have interest on piano but I won't disappoint my little sister. I'm finding piano chords showing 'numbers/letters type. Please.
califran: That's letters but, different tune.
A. Sorry, I don't understand. Did you want notes for a specific song? If so, which one?
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Try this. Let me know if it isn't the kind of thing you're looking for.
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Simple piano notes for "Today Was A Fairytale," by Taylor Swift
Introduction
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
First Verse
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
Second Verse
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
First Bridge
C-E-G |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
C-E-G |C-E-G |D-F#-A |D-F#-A |
First Chorus
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
Third Verse
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
Second Bridge
C-E-G |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
C-E-G |C-E-G |D-F#-A |D-F#-A |
Second Chorus
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
Instrumental section
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
Third Bridge
C-E-G |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
C-E-G |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
C-E-G |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
C-E-G |C-E-G |D-F#-A |D-F#-A |
Third Chorus
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |C-E-G |E-G-B |D-F#-A |
G-B-D |
Please help me with these piano chords!!!!?
Q. I really want to learn to play Boyce Avenue's cover of Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' on the piano. I have all the words memorized, but I want to be able to play and sing on the piano.
I looked up the chords online, they are as follows:
Verse: (D for first part of 1st verse) GA
Pre-Chorus: GAGA GA Bm A/C# Chorus: GAGA GA Bm D
Bridge: GA Bm F#m
Breakdown: GA Bm A/C# G Bm A
I have had minimal piano lessons before, so I can't really remember what these chords look like when you're playing them, if that makes any sense. What I'm really trying to say is that I need a visual interpretation of these chords, such as picture, video, or diagram.
The answer with picture/video/diagram that makes sense will be chosen as best answer! Thank you sooo much!
A. A single letter G or A means a major chord, Bm is a B minor chord. A/C# is an A major chord with C# in the base (slash chord).
For a printable piano chord diagram:
http://www.play-the-piano.org/piano-chords-chart.html
For info how chords are built:
http://www.play-the-piano.org/chord-piano.html
Enjoy!
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Title : How do they name chords?
Description : Q. I have a book that shows all the chords on the piano but I have no idea where they got the names from. I understand what inversion means...