| Play By Chords |
| What are Chords and how are they formed? |
Chords are the basic building blocks of music. Whether you know it or
not, scored music is a collection of chords just written out on a music
staff. Many people who can only read sheet music are surprised to find
out they have actually been playing chords all along, they just didn't
recognize them. But learning to play by chords is much faster than
studying scored music for years. That's because it involves a series of
patterns you learn by heart and repeat over and over.
The basic definition of a chord is three or more notes played together.
Chords are formed from SCALES, and knowing your scales is vital to
understanding the theory of playing by chords. So first, let's take a look at
scales.
Do you remember in elementary school when you learned the little sing
song, do re mi fa sol la ti do? You were singing the scale from a
particular key. It is composed of 8 notes, actually 7 with one that repeats
itself. Let's look at the C scale:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
do re mi fa sol la ti do
Here's what it looks like on the piano:
The most common chords, called the primary chords, are the 1, 4 and 5
chords, or the C, F and G chords in the key of C as above.
The C chord is played using the notes CEG. The F chord is FAC and the
G chord is GBD. Just knowing those three chords alone will allow you to
play thousands of popular songs. Try playing the nursery rhyme tune
below by using the three chords of C,F & G.
The notes in parenthesis is the individual notes in the chord. Play them
together.
C(CEG)
Mary had a little lamb,
G(GBD) C(CEG)
little lamb, little lamb
C(CEG)
Mary had a little lamb
G(GBD) C(CEG)
his fleece was white as snow.
Actually that tune only used two chords! Look at Old McDonald Had a
Farm below:
C(CEG) F(FAC) C(CEG)
Ole McDonald had a farm
C(CEG) G(GBD) C(CEG)
ei ei oh
C(CEG) F(FAC) C(CEG)
And on this farm he had a pig
(CEG) G(GBD) C(CEG)
ei ei oh
See how easy that was!! You just played your first songs by chords. And
it is just that easy to learn the popular songs you want to play. This is just
a primer study to let you see how simple it is to play by chords.
Chord Piano For Beginners will start you from scratch and teach you the
theory of chording so you will be able to understand what you are doing
and why. You will love, love, love it. Just go for it and start a lifetime of
enjoyment.......
not, scored music is a collection of chords just written out on a music
staff. Many people who can only read sheet music are surprised to find
out they have actually been playing chords all along, they just didn't
recognize them. But learning to play by chords is much faster than
studying scored music for years. That's because it involves a series of
patterns you learn by heart and repeat over and over.
The basic definition of a chord is three or more notes played together.
Chords are formed from SCALES, and knowing your scales is vital to
understanding the theory of playing by chords. So first, let's take a look at
scales.
Do you remember in elementary school when you learned the little sing
song, do re mi fa sol la ti do? You were singing the scale from a
particular key. It is composed of 8 notes, actually 7 with one that repeats
itself. Let's look at the C scale:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
do re mi fa sol la ti do
Here's what it looks like on the piano:
The most common chords, called the primary chords, are the 1, 4 and 5
chords, or the C, F and G chords in the key of C as above.
The C chord is played using the notes CEG. The F chord is FAC and the
G chord is GBD. Just knowing those three chords alone will allow you to
play thousands of popular songs. Try playing the nursery rhyme tune
below by using the three chords of C,F & G.
The notes in parenthesis is the individual notes in the chord. Play them
together.
C(CEG)
Mary had a little lamb,
G(GBD) C(CEG)
little lamb, little lamb
C(CEG)
Mary had a little lamb
G(GBD) C(CEG)
his fleece was white as snow.
Actually that tune only used two chords! Look at Old McDonald Had a
Farm below:
C(CEG) F(FAC) C(CEG)
Ole McDonald had a farm
C(CEG) G(GBD) C(CEG)
ei ei oh
C(CEG) F(FAC) C(CEG)
And on this farm he had a pig
(CEG) G(GBD) C(CEG)
ei ei oh
See how easy that was!! You just played your first songs by chords. And
it is just that easy to learn the popular songs you want to play. This is just
a primer study to let you see how simple it is to play by chords.
Chord Piano For Beginners will start you from scratch and teach you the
theory of chording so you will be able to understand what you are doing
and why. You will love, love, love it. Just go for it and start a lifetime of
enjoyment.......
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Each note in a scale has a number assigned to it of 1-8. Here's the
C scale with the numbers:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C scale with the numbers:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8