How to Learn Chords on the Keyboard

The most basic chords have three or four notes.

A chord is a group of three or four related notes played simultaneously. Learning to play chords is a matter of understanding which notes make up the chords you want to play. Although there are many types of chords, understanding how to play C Major triads (three-note chords starting on "C") and C Major seventh chords (four-note chords starting on "C") will help you grasp the basics of playing chords on the keyboard.

Things You'll Need

• Piano or keyboard

Instructions

1. Play a "C Major triad." Find the notes--"C," "E" and "G"--and play them one at a time and then together. See the alternating groups of two and three black keys on a keyboard? Find a group of two black keys in the middle of the keyboard. Put your first finger on "C," the white key directly to the left of the first black key in the group of two. With the same hand, put a second finger on "E," the white key to the right of the second black key in the group of two. Then put a third finger on "G," which is the white key to the right of the first black key in a group of three.

2. Understand the names of chords and the distance between the notes. The three notes you've just played are called a "C Major triad" because the chord starts on "C," it's composed of three notes and the "interval"--the distance--between "C" and "G" is considered "major."

   The distance between notes is measured in "half-steps" or "semitones," and the number of half-steps determines whether a chord is "major," "minor," "augmented," or "diminished." The distance between "C" and "E" is four half-steps, which is a "major third," and the distance between "E" and "G" is only three half-steps, which is a "minor 3rd." Any time you combine a major third and a minor third--seven half-steps or semitones--you'll get a major triad.

3. Play a seventh chord by adding one more note to the triad. To play a "C Major seventh chord," for example, play the "C", "E" and "G" notes you played in Step 1 and add a "B," the white key directly to the right of the last black in key in the group of three. The distance between "C" and "B" on the piano keyboard is 11 half-steps.

4. Play block chords and arpeggios. Playing the individual notes in a chord one after another is called playing an "arpeggio." Hitting all the notes at once is playing a "block chord."

5. Play in different octaves. Find a "C" note lower or higher than the one you played in Step 1--just look for another group of two black keys, and start your chord there. An octave is the distance between one note to another of the same musical letter, so if you start on the "C" to the right of your original "C," you're playing "up an octave," and if you start your C Major triad or seventh chord on the "C" to the left of your original "C," you're playing "down an octave."

Tips & Warnings

• Once you're comfortable with C major triads and seventh chords, try using your new knowledge of half-steps to build and play chords starting on all 12 notes. Ask a pianist or keyboardist (or teach yourself) how to play minor triads, minor seventh chords. Learn about key signatures and understand the Circle of Fifths, which is a complete diagram of all "sharps" and "flats" for major and minor chords and scales (see Resources).

Resources

• Ricci Adams' Musictheory.net: Introduction to Chords
• 8 Notes: Key Signatures
• 8 Notes: Seventh Chords
• 8 Notes: Major Chords
• Connexions: The Circle of Fifths