Things You'll Need:
- Piano
- Some basic knowledge of music theory
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Step 1
Determine what key you are playing in on the piano. Before you can pluck the keys of the chord, you must find its root. The root is the first note of the chord. So if you are playing in the key of C then C is your root. If you are playing in the key of G, then G is your root.
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Step 2
Find the root note on the piano. For our purposes, let's use G as the root. So a G major chord consists of the note G followed by B followed by D. Play these three notes so that you can hear the G major chord.
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Step 3
Move your fingers so that they are playing 4th of the G chord. The 4th is found three full steps above the root chord. Each key represents a half step. So between C and D there is C#, which counts as a half step. Then D gives you one full step. Extrapolate from there and you'll get three full steps as you count from G to C. Once on the C chord, strike the "major" for the 4th. A major is two full steps, followed by one and one half steps. (Use the same counting technique as above.) That means you'll hit C followed by E followed by G.
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Step 4
Change hand positions on the piano so that you are now playing the 5th in the key of G. The 5th starts on the D (because it's one full step up from a C) and is completed by adding the keys F# (two full steps above the C) and A (one and a half steps above the F#).
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Step 5
Return to your original chord starting on the G to complete playing the 1 4 5 chord progression in the key of G.
