David Wayne Lawrence
Free Piano By Ear Lesson
Course Outline
PIANO-BY-EAR LESSON #4
The next step of development is to understand that we need to group notes together to establish CHORDS. Chords will be the fabric of our playing. In order to play songs, we will need to use chords with rhythm to accompany melodies.
A CHORD IS A GROUP OF NOTES
The foundation of all chords is the MAJOR CHORD. To establish a Major Chord, which is a combination of three notes, we have developed a simple method called the 4-3 Method. It works by putting your right thumb on the name of the chord you want to create, this is your first note. Then count up 4 half-steps with your next finger to find your second note. Finally, count up 3 half-steps with your next finger to find your third and final note of the Major Chord.
When you create these chords, the chord will be in its creation arrangement, which is called ROOT POSITION. You must create all 12 major chords in this position, then practice them until you are comfortable with playing each one. When you can play each chord without really thinking about it, you are ready to go on to the next process.
12 Major Chords - 396 KB - mp3
The following is a list of the chords to create and practice.
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C __ __ |
F __ __ |
Bb__ __ |
Eb __ __ |
Ab __ __ |
C# __ __ |
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| F# __ __ | B __ __ | E __ __ | A __ __ | D __ __ | G __ __ |
All of the Home Study Courses provide a PRACTICE TRACK that will both help you to learn each of the chords, and secondly, cause you to develop an automatic response with the chords. These PRACTICE TRACKS also develop your accompaniment techniques and abilities.
Go on to LESSON 5