How to Play a Piano Lead in Melody Line

Play a piano lead in the melody line anytime you want to feature the piano on a particular song or lead the other instruments from the piano. If you are not a trained musician already, this is a fast and easy way to learn to play most any type of piano music from a lead sheet or a fake book.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Look at the melody line in the right hand of the song you want to play. You can find the melody line in the treble clef of a piece of music. In a fake book the only line of music you will see is the melody line.

2. Locate the first note on the melody line and play that note. Follow with the other notes and play them smoothly until you have a tune you recognize.

3. Find the chord charts written above the melody line in your music. These are the chords you play and they correspond to the key of the song.

4. Practice the melody line alone several times before trying to add the chords in the left hand.

5. Identify the key you are playing in to learn the chord progression that goes along with the melody. If the key signature has flats, the next to the last flat names the key. If it has sharps, take the last sharp to the right and go up one. That line or space names the key.

6. Play the chord progression for the song through several times before adding the melody back in. Example: the key of C has a C chord, F chord and a G chord.

7. Put the melody and chords together. Use the chart about the melody line to know when to change chords, or listen for when the melody line and the chord don't match and change to the next chord.

Tips & Warnings

• Write in the names of the lines and spaces in the treble clef for quick and easy reference. The spaces are F, A, C, E and the lines are E, G, B, D, F.