How to Play E Major and E Minor Piano Chords

People start playing the piano by learning the individual notes—C, D, E, F, G, A, B. You can play beginning songs with these notes, but soon you'll want more of a challenge. That challenge starts with learning chords like E major and E minor.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Piano

1. Recognize that E major is one of the major chords. It uses 3 notes with white keys on the outside and a black key in the middle.

2. Locate middle C on a piano; travel 2 keys to the right to the E note. Play it with your thumb. The next note in the chord is G-sharp (the second black key to your right). Play it with your middle finger. Use your little finger to play the third note, B.

3. Play E major with your left hand as well. Place your little finger on E, your middle finger on G-sharp and your thumb on B.

4. Practice E minor, which also starts with your thumb on E if playing with your right hand. The only difference when playing E minor is that the middle note is G (a white key) instead of G-sharp. You can also play E minor with the left hand as in Step 3; just put your middle finger on G instead of G-sharp.

5. Try playing your chords one note at a time as presented, and then play all three notes together.

6. Repeat playing E major and minor chords until they sound smooth. You also want to move quickly to E major and E minor on the piano.