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Home » piano chord theory » Learning Piano Chords?

Learning Piano Chords?

Q. Where do I begin? Majors? Is there a good free site which has pictures included?
Would it be good to learn scales before chords? Or after?

Thanks in advance

A. I was taught to play piano classically and I'd say if you want to be able to sightread and play classical pieces of music then there's no substitute for learning the scales. It was boring as anything but it'll stand you in good stead when playing piano generally because you'll already know the key signatures/fingering.

However, I know some other types of piano-playing particularly jazz and blues (and to some extent I guess rock) are built more around chords. This method is also supposed to be a fast-track method to learning to play? So if you're wanting to learn more for fun - to play around with songs or maybe write your own then maybe you don't need to know the more "correct" fingerings.

There's plenty of websites out there doing this kind of stuff but be warned a lot of them are trying to sell you something.
I've just had a quick look and I think this is my favourite because it shows you all the variations and how they should sound: http://www.8notes.com/piano_chord_chart/

If you prefer videos this is kind of basic but shows you exactly what you're doing and what fingering etc.
http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/464_basic-piano-lessons-chords.htm

I think the normal order would be to learn them in the order of fewest sharps and flats so starting with C, G, D, A and F majors and A and D minors. (look at the ABRSM syllabus for the order they teach the scales: http://www.abrsm.org/resources/pianoComplete0608.pdf)

I think if it was me I'd learn both at the same time, so start with a basic scale like C major, and then learn the C major chord at the same time - maybe playing around with some of the variations a bit too.

I'm sure some other people will disagree though and if you're already familiar with music theory or play another instrument pretty well you can probably skip the scales. Or if you're not too serious about piano and doing it just for fun by all means learn the chords.

Original Question

Any piano teacher explain this basic chord progression theory?
Q. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChV5AJQwBcw&feature=related


Any one knows the theory of the E overG# chord? And what I mean by that is how it's build theory wise. Certainly the notes are in the A major scale and it's a slash chord. But I want to know why choose that particular voicing for that kind of music and if I have other options. thanks!

A. The E over G# chord is just an E major chord with the third of the chord (G#) in the bass.
So it is one inversion of E Major.

If you played regular E instead, it wouldn't sound like a wrong note or anything.

E major shows up in a lot of keys, not just A major.

But, the E chord is the "dominant" of A major. meaning it is the chord built on the 5th note of the scale.
It is the most important chord other than the chord built on the 1st note of the scale.

The reason for choosing that voicing is that it makes the bass line have a smoother motion.
A G# F# is a nicer line than of A E F#.

I guess if you had played E instead of E/G# it would have sounded more like you should play A again, because it would have been the dominant in root position, whereas using an inversion makes it sound like you might go somewhere else first...?

Just experiment with it. In this style its totally ok to rearrange things.
Your ears will tell you if you've done something wrong.
If you play by yourself or with only a singer, you have a lot of freedom to make your own accompaniment.
If you play with other instruments, you have to make sure you all agree if you make more significant changes to the accompaniment.

Original Question

Can you please translate these piano chords, I dont know how to read them?
Q. These are the chords.
Ab Bbm7 Cbm7 Bbm7 Ab Bbm7 B Ab Verses: Ab Bbm7 Cbm7 Bbm7 (x4) Cbm7 Bbm7 Cbm7 B Bbm7 Chorus: Ab Bbm7 Cbm7 Bbm7 Ab Bbm7 Cbm7 C# C#m Bridge: B Bbm7 Ab (x2) C# C#m Ab Fm F# Ab Bbm Ab F# Please Help!

A. Ok this is in no way going to teach you how to play piano, but a basic understanding of music theory would help a lot. Chords are structured based on scales and keys yadah yadah. the letters (i.e. A B C D) are root notes to the chords. Now for the symbols. b=flat so Ab= A flat major chord. It's major because is has nothing denoting it's not. anything with a little m next to it is minor. That means that rather than playing the chord major, you drop the third note in the chord down a half step. The 7 means you add in the 7th note in the scale to that chord. # is the opposite of flat. It means sharp, so c# is a C sharp chord. Verse chorus and bridge are self-explanitory. Chords are generally 3-5 notes on average played together. So the first chord on there the Ab chord is an A flat major chord. your root note is Ab, and the other two notes you play are C and Eb I believe. If you don't know the notes on a piano, you need to buy a book. If this makes sense, it should be easier to figure out now. Another note. A major chord consists generally of three or four notes. Your root note, the next note is 4 half steps above that, and the next note is 3 half steps above that.

A minor chord has the root note, the next note is three half steps above that, and the last note is 5 half steps above that. I'm certainly not saying "this is how you play piano". I play, and it's not something you can just pick up and learn, but this should give you somewhat of a better understanding of how to read these charts. If you go out and spend like ten bucks at a local music store, you can get a music theory book that will explain all of this in great detail. btw what song is this?
Hope this helps and good luck.

Original Question




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Title : Learning Piano Chords?
Description : Q. Where do I begin? Majors? Is there a good free site which has pictures included? Would it be good to learn scales before chords? Or aft...

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