Three Chords and the Truth

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In this piano lesson we're going to discuss the most basic chord progressions. Click on a certain chord progression if you'd like to know specifically about it or read the whole lesson through (Which I highly recommend to do).

Three Chords and the truth, that's all you need in order to start playing piano. This lesson is a natural step to go through once you've learned about the basics of chord theory.
If you started our piano chord lessons from the beginning you might be wondering why I'm suddenly mumbling about the concept of three chords and the truth. We covered many chords by now and suddenly I come with a strange statement like that?
That all you need is basically three chords?
Yes my friend, the truth is that life is full of contradictions. It's complicated and simple at the same time. In the world of harmony many chords exists, it's a reach world. However the connection between all the chords in the world comes down to three chords and the truth.
The opening chord, the suspension chord, and then the tension chord that directs us back to the opening chord which is usually the closing chord of a song or a piece.
Huh? Does it sound like Hebrew to you? Well, what do you know? I happen to speak Hebrew fluently :)
So let me explain the concept of three chords and the truth in details.
To begin with I'd like to explain the meaning of a progression in western music.
When we speak about a certain progression we mean that something has to start from a beginning point, develop in a certain way and reach somewhere.
Let's see how we implement this with the three chords and the truth.

The Tonic - Three Chords and the Truth

The tonic is the first degree we're going to deal with. It is the first out of the three chords and the truth.
When we speak about common harmony (music has developed in many other ways where chords don't always apply) we tend to start a song from the root chord.
We recognize the root chord as the first triad built upon the scale degree.
In this lesson we'll take the C major scale as an example and therefore C major as the root chord. Later on we'll discuss all the other major scales (All the rules apply in the same way... but let's take it one step at a time).
So, when we speak about C major as the beginning point we actually say that this chord contains no tension within its voices. Its notes don't attract towards any other chord. It's a pure chord and a great starting point to start with since all the voices within the chord feel at ease.
Basically what we're doing when we play chords is start with the root chord, for example C major, play some chords along the way that will create interest in the harmony and end up with C major again. The first degree of the chord is called "Tonic Chord".
C major is the Tonic chord of C major scale.

The Dominant Chord - Three Chords and the Truth

Let's move on to the second chord within the three chords and the truth. So far so good; now, every story with a good end must have a climax. In music the fifth degree of the scale is a climax, in C major scale, G major.
The tension within the voices of the chord of the fifth degree is pointing us almost always directly back home. The fifth degree knows exactly what it wants, to go back home. That's why it's called the dominant chord.
A chord progression of I-V-I in C major scale.

A chord progression of I-V-I in C major scale.

Perhaps the most basic chord progression is this one of I-V-I.

Click here for a free piano chord chart of the I-V-I chord progression in all major scales.

Some chords however, might appear in between in order to create more interest between these two chords.
C major is the Tonic chord of C major scale.

The Subdominant Chord - Three Chords and the Truth

The subdominant is the last chord in the series of three chords and the truth.
Alright, so until now we've learned about the starting point, the climax and the ending point. But what happens between the starting point and the climax?
Well, that is also pretty simple. All we do is try to suspense the tension until it is unavoidable to ignore the necessity to play a dominant chord (fifth degree remember?). So, in other words we find substitutes for the dominant. The fourth chord is the strongest example for such a substitute. That's why it's called the subdominant.
C major is the Tonic chord of C major scale.

A chord progression of I-IV-V-I in C major scale.

Here is how this chord progression could be played on the piano in C major scale.
C major is the Tonic chord of C major scale.

Maybe the most common example to show this is the ending of a prayer we all know...
We start with a subdominant that is holding the tension before it's unavoidable to play the fifth degree towards the tonic.
A chord progression of I-IV-I in C major scale.

A chord progression of I-IV-I in C major scale.

By the way, it is also possible to play such a chord progression: I-IV-I or in C major for example C-F-C. In this chord progression the tonic is moving to the subdominant and then moving back to the tonic without creating a climax. The only impact which is created is the postponement of the tonic.

Click here for a free piano chord chart of the I-IV-I progression in all major scales.

The song Imagine by John Lennon starts with this chord progression.
Another option that can be created with these three chords is to play the following chord progression. I-V-IV-V-I.
A chord progression of I-V-IV-V-I in C major.

A chord progression of I-V-IV-V-I in C major.

In this chord progression we move from the tonic to the fifth degree. Now as we've learned we must come back to the tonic again. However it's possible to postpone this verdict by moving the Sustain chord and then going again to the dominant which now increases the tension to the tonic.
Now let's see how the different chord progressions occur in some other music we're familiar with.

Happy Birthday - Three Chords and the Truth

This is a classic example. The song starts with the tonic, C major; then is progressing to the dominant, the fifth degree of C major scale, G major and after eight counts going back to the tonic.
Then another line starts from the tonic. Then next chord is the subdominant, the fourth degree, F major which suspense the tension before the dominant appears again and demands us to move back to the dominant. There you have it; three chords and the truth.

Jingle Bells - Three Chords and the Truth

Jingle bells starts with four chords of the tonic. Harmonically speaking not much is happening. It starts to get more interesting when we're moving from the tonic to the subdominant in the fifth bar and then go back to the tonic.
Until now the tonic was being played and the subdominant created a suspension that didn't reach a climax. In the last to bars of the line the subdominant is being played again aiming toward the dominant this time.
The dominant wants to go back to the tonic. Since the dominant is located at the end of the second line it gives a feeling that the song is not over yet. There is a lot of tension waiting to be solved.
For that reason we go back to the tonic, starting from the beginning all over again and at the last line we will play the dominant in the third bar and that will demand us to go back to the tonic at the last bar which will relief the tension and reach a close end. There you have it again... three chords and the truth.

One Love / Bob Marley

One Love by Bob Marley, Chords and Melody.

Let's check the song One Love by Bob Marley. Bob was terrific at making amazing songs with three chords and the truth which gets here a double meaning. Not only he made music with the concept we've learned during this lesson, he also combined his spiritual vision through his words and soul and made this song a piece of art.
This song starts with a tonic and going directly to the dominant.
Remember what we said about the dominant? Now we know that the chord progression will be pointing toward the tonic again.
What Bob does is play the subdominant after the dominant.
He inserts a substitute to suspense the tension but then he has no choice but going home back to the tonic.
Now you may ask; once we've reached the tonic we should be at home. How come there are more chords afterwards?
Well that has to do with the fact that music is symmetric.
A musical line is often built out of four bars of four counts.
Bob has reached the Tonic at the third bar but he still had two more bars to go.
That's why he has added the subdominant for two counts, then the dominant for another two counts and then the unavoidable tonic which now at the end of the line sounds like a real resting point.

Exercise

Now that you know all about the three chords and truth behind chord theory you can easily play by ear many songs that have only three chords. All you have to do is trust your ear and relate to the logic of what I've been teaching you.
That's what the next piano lesson is all about.

Piano Chord Chart

Click here to download a printable version of the Major Chord Chart.

Here's a useful exercise...What I suggest is that you choose a key on the piano (Gradually you'd like to find the major chord of every chosen key) and look for its major chord. Trust your ear. Don't be too logical about music since it won't get you to having a musical intuition on the long run.

If you think you got the major chord correctly check it here in the piano chord chart to see if you're right!

Good luck!

Before we continue I'd look you to pay attention to something in this piano chord chart. Look at C# major. You may be wondering why its middle note is stated as E# and not F. Well, this is important to the understanding of how chords are built.

Chords derive from a scale. For example C major derives from C major scale. We form the chords by playing the first, third and fifth note of the scale. In C major scale for example we press on C we skip the D press the E etc....

So we always measure chords in intervals of thirds. (C-E-G) (D-F#-A) (E-G#-B). In C# major for example the root note is C#, therefore its third note must be E# and not F. The distance between C# and F is of a four notes (C D E F) instead of three (C D E). That's how we know if a certain interval is diminished or augmented.

Chord Inversions

Inverting Triads

A triad is a chord which is made up of three notes and is based on the interval of a third. We covered three triad chords until today: C major chord, F major Chord and G major.
When we figured out how these chords are built and how they sound I showed you how to play these chord with the right hand and add the bass note with the left hand. We played the song jingle bells while counting four quarters and I emphasized how important it is to keep the left hand connected in order to create a feeling of a musical continuity.
The right hand however had to perform big jumps from one chord to the other. Is there a way to create musical continuity between one chord and the other? Sure there is! That's why we learn about chord inversions today!

Imagine we have to play two chords one after the other. The first chord would be C major and the second one would be F major. These two chords are often played one after the other. Try to play them.
You probably noticed that lifting your hand and jumping to another area on the keyboard was unavoidable. This jump creates an unfriendly pause between the two chords and that disturbs the continuity in the music.
Our ear likes to have a musical connection between chords. This connection is created when chords are kept close to each other. That's because continuity in music is based on moving in half steps or whole steps. A music that is made out of too many gaps often is harder for us to understand since we can't make the connections in our mind related to what we're hearing.
The reasons we love to hear whole and half steps is because it's easier to sing notes that are closer to each other. It's hard to perform big jumps when singing and stay in tune and historically speaking the first born music was vocal.
So today I will show you how to keep chords close to each other with the help of chord inversions and to create a logical movement of steps between the different voices of two chords.
We'll use the same chords as we did before (C-E-G for C major for example) but we'll switch the order of the notes of the chord in order to locate it closer to the previous chord (So instead of playing C-E-G we might use E-G-C or G-C-E). We're still going to use the C note in the bass which will point out that we're playing a C chord, only in a different chord inversion.
By connecting chords with the right chord inversions you create a voice leading. Western music is built out of harmonic progressions. The voices inside each chord are leading smoothly to the next chord in a way that creates tension or release. We'll focus on voice leading later in our study. For now let's move on to practical inversions and you'll get the rest soon enough.
Alright, back to C major. C major is built out of three notes C, E and G. When you play these notes in this order you play the root position of the chord. That means that C, the note which the intervals of the chord are built on, is also the lowest note of the chord.

In order to move to the first chord inversion all we have to do is place the root note above the notes E and G instead of under these two notes. This is what we call the 1st inversion.
If you'll listen to this chord inversion you'll notice that it has a more open sound. The replacement of the root note above the two other notes allows the chord to develop harmonically more easily.

Now for the second inversion; we have to repeat the same procedure by replacing the E chord, which is now the lowest note of the first inversion, above G and C.
If we continue this procedure and place the G above C and E again we'll get back to the root position of the chord. To conclude one can say that triads (three voices chords) have three inversions: The root inversion, the 1st inversion and the 2nd inversion.

Here's a clear view of how three three inversions of C major look on the keyboard.

We can perform this process with the F major and G major as well, and with all the triads we're going to learn in the future.

Fingerings of Chord Inversions

The correct piano fingerings for each chord inversion are provided in the above image next to the letters of the notes that create the chord. You should basically stick to 1, 2, and 5 through all chord inversions except from the second one.
The reason the 2nd chord inversion get a different fingering is because there's a bigger gap between G and C and if you'll press on the G note with the 3rd finger you'll stretch your hand in an uncomfortable way.
So now that you understand the concept behind chord inversions and their fingerings let's understand how to work with chord inversions while we play songs.

How to Practice Songs with Inversions?

Remember the example I showed at the beginning of this chord piano lesson? Where we tried to find a smooth way to change from C major to F major? Let's take Jingle bells again for example. These are the chords of the first part of the chorus.
4/4 | C | C | C | C |
| F | C | G | G |
Before this chord inversions lesson we would play a basic C chord for four bars with the right hand and on the fifth bar we would jump to an F chord in the root position. Now however, we can invert the F chord in order to locate it closer to the C major chord.

During the next piano tutorials I will limit myself to playing all piano chords on a very specific area on the keyboard. I will limit myself to playing all piano chords within middle C and B above it.
This is just one example of how I can limit myself. I could also say that I will play all the chords within A under middle C and G# sharp for example, but I will not go beyond and octave which is the distance between 8 notes (from middle C to the upper C for example).
You should know that as chords progress from one to the other they mostly move beyond the range of an octave but limiting yourself to such a narrow range is excellent for practicing reasons.

Moving from C major to the 2nd inversion of F Major.

If we are limited to playing chords from middle C to B for example we can't play F major in its root position since its upper note C is played above our limit, B. We have to invert the chord and place the C note under F and A. At the end we're left with C F and A; the 2nd inversion of F major.
If we go from the root position of C major to the 2nd inversion of F major all we have to do is raise the upper two keys (E and G) one white key to the right to F and A.
Bottom line, the upper two voices of the chord mover in one step. G move within a whole step to A and E moves within a half step to F.

Exercise:

1. Play C, F and G major on all 3 inversions on the keyboard.
2. Try to play Jingle Bells again but this time limit yourself to playing all chord within B under middle C and Bb above it.
Check out the piano tutorial above to see how I do it.
From now one when we're going to learn a new chord I'm going to also show you its chord inversions.

Inverting Minor, Diminished and Augmented Chords (For Advanced Students)

It is also possible to invert Minor, Diminished and Augmented chords by following the same process. Here's an example of chords from each of these types.

Examples of major, minor, diminished and augmented chords.

Inverting Four Voices Chords

Four voices chords are inverted in the same manner but since another voice is added to each chord we get another inversion. You can find an example of a G7 chord with the suitable fingerings for each of the four inversions of the chord.

This is basically it for this chord piano lesson. My suggestion to you is that when you pick up a song; first make sure you're familiar with all the chords in all chord inversions. Then find the correct chord inversion of each chord within a limited range of less than an octave. Try to pass from one chord to the other as smoothly as possible within the rhythmic frame.
This is the best way to learn to play inversions in a practical manner. If you don't seem to find an inversion of a chord right away, simply start from the root position and carefully climb the suitable inversion within the desired range on the piano.
Here's a list of songs to begin with:
One Love - Bob Marley

Piano Minor Chords

The story of the minor chords is a simple one. Let's start with the theoretical level.
When we spoke about the major chords we found out that every major chord was built out of a major third and a small third
The minor piano chords however, are built the other way around. The are formed by a minor 3rd and a major 3rd on top of it. So you basically switch the order of the intervals of the major chord.
Let's take a C major piano chord for example. It contains the notes C,E, and G. In order to turn it to C Minor all we have to do is lower the E note in half a tone and press on E flat instead. At the end we stick with these notes (C-Eb-G).

The difference between Major chords and Minor Chords.

The minor third intervals in the minor piano chords which defines the chords as minor. sounds more mellow and melancholic in comparison with the major third of the major chord and that's why the minor chords are being often interpreted in music as the sad, mellow ones.
Play a C minor chord, Listen to sound of the chord and try to identify and keep the mood of its sound in your ear.
Tip: If you're having difficulties with finding a certain minor triad, seek for the major chord first and then lower the major third into a minor third.
Remember: Developing your musical ear is the key to success on the long run. That's what we are aiming for.
When we'd like to state a minor chord, C minor for example we'll write the root note in a big letter just as we did with the major chord and we'll add a small m letter next to it.
C minor would be written as Cm for example.
So to conclude, in order to find a minor piano chord we should basicaly work intuitively and confirm our trial by checking out if we play the right notes according to the formula (A minor third and a major third on top of it.)
Work in Steps: First find the minor third (One and a half tone), then complete the chord with a major third. And other way around to do it is play the major chord and lower the middle note in half a tone.

Question:

Now that we know how to build minor piano chords on the theorotical level and we have an impression of how a minor chord should sound let's try to built an A minor chord.
What we have to do is take the A key as the key note of the chord and count one and a half tones (a minor third) in order to reach the next note.
We end up with the C note. Now let's count 2 tones from C to look for the major third. So A minor chord is made out of the notes A-C-E.

Here's a handy list of all minor piano chords in the root position.

Piano Chord Chart of All Minor Chords

Remember!

The minor chords sound more mellow and moody in comparison with the major chords. All minor chords have the intervals of a small 3rd and a major 3rd.

Slash Chords

What's a Slash chord?

When we accompany a song we play the harmony (the chords) with the right in the middle register of the piano and the bass note of the chord with the left hand.
The bass note is the most important of the chord. So if a C major is made out of the notes C-E-G we'll mostly play the note C with the left hand. However when we would like to play a C major chord in the first inversion then E turns to be the lowest note of the chord (Because you invert the chord from C-E-G to E-G-C).
So how are we going to write a chord that needs to be played in a certain chord inversion?
This chord will then be written as a slash chord. Since the bass is the most important note of a chord you can say that a chord is identified by the bass note. When you play a different bass note you change the color and the identity of the chord.

A slash piano chord tells us that we need to play a different bass in the left hand. The letter by the addition of the slash tell us which CHORD we have to play in the right hand and the letter after the slash tells us which BASS NOTE we'll play with the left hand

Take this slash piano chord for example. The upper letter tells us we have to play a C chord in our right hand. The lower letter tells us we have to play an E note instead of a C note in the bass.
But why do we need the slash piano chords?

Well, we use it for two reasons.

1.Chord Inversions: Take C/E for example. This chord tells us we are expected to use the C chord in its first inversion. When we play C/E with E in the bass we basically play a C chord in an open position of the first inversion.
2.Extensions: When the bass note of a slash chord is not included in the notes of the chord in the right hand you can assume that this chord is an upper structure chord.
Later when we discuss some jazzy chords we'll learn about extensions which are extra notes you can add to a chord in order to spice up its sound. Sometimes you can use a slash chord instead writing all the extensions of the chord. Bottom line, a slash chord is sometimes just a simple way of describing complicated chords in a simple manner.
D/E is a good example for it. Try to play a D chord on the right hand and an E note on the bass and you'll here a magical chord that has a completely new sound. Now I could talk on and on about the relationship between the bass and right hand but it's so simple to write the chord as a slash chord ans save all the unnecessary explanations.

Two Examples that contain a song with slash chords.

Imagine / John Lennon
The song Imagine by John Lennon which we are about to play in the next lesson goes as follows:
| C | F | C | F | F/C | x2
| F C/E | Dm | G | G |
Imagine, Verse, 1st line.

The first line has two chords and I'll show you how to play it in the next piano lesson. We'll move from C major in the root position to F in the 2nd position because it's the closest inversion the C major in the root position.

How to play the second part of the verse of Imagine including the slash chord.

The first bar of the second line contains two chords. We have to move from the F note to the C/E chord after two counts so we have to be quick.
Our hand is already positioned on the second inversion of F. The chord C/E tell us we have to play a C chord in our right hand and an E chord in the left hand.
Moving to C in the right hand is easy. We simply place our fingers back on C major in the root position.
In the left hand we will move from the F note in the lower register of the piano to E instead of C and by doing that we will create a musical line that will take us to Dm with a logical bass line (which is moving from F to D stepwise.
We'll continue to move with the left hand to C in the bass in steps and we'll switch from Dm in its root position to an F chord in its second inversion to finish this smooth melodic line at the bass.
All together we haven't moved much on the piano and we performed a pleasant musical line at the bass thanks to the handy slash chords.

Hello / Lionel Richie

The beginning of the verse of the song Hello by Lionel Richie provides us with a good example for how a complicated chord could be written easily with a slash chord.
An example of a slash chord in the song Hello by Lionel Richie.

An example of a slash chord in the song Hello by Lionel Richie.

We'll start from Am in the 1st inversion. When going to the next slash chord all we have to do is change the bass note in the left hand from A to G.
What happened? Not much!
We are actually still playing an Am chord but we perform a clear musical line in the bass which moves stepwise just like the song Imagine.
Going to F is the next natural step.
We move from G in the left hand to F and we play an F chord with the right hand.
The purpose of the slash chord in this line is to play an inversion of a seven chord called Am7 in the 3rd inversion. We will discuss the seventh chords later in our piano chord lessons but here's a simple way to write such a chord without having to explain so much.
So now that you know how to read slash chords we can play a song that contains one. Before we'll go to the next piano tutorial I want us to learn another major chord - the E Major chord.

How to Play a Diminished Chord on the Piano

Home » Piano Chords » The Diminished Chord on the Piano

Now that we know to form the major and minor chords on the piano (Don't you? we can move on further in our chord lesson to the third sort of chords, the diminished piano chords.

In order to change a major chord to a minor chord we lowered the major third in half a tone to a minor third. In fact we diminished it. When we diminish both the middle note of the chord (E in C major) and the upper note of the chord (G in C major) in half a tone we form a diminished chord.

An example of a diminished chord (C diminished).

Bottom line the diminished piano chords contain two small thirds. When we compared the minor chord with the major chords we heared that the minor chord sounded more introvert and mellow.
The diminished chords however, have a tensed impact since the two small thirds being so close to each other create tension.

Later when we dig dipper in the theory of the chords we will understand better the function of this chord in musical progressions. For now you should know that the diminished is often serving as a passing chord since its tension is obliged to bring you somewhere (to be solved).

Here's a list of all twelve diminished scales.

The Piano Augmented Chord

Home » Piano Chords » The Piano Augmented Chord

In order to play chords on the piano we have to get familiar with four basic chord types: The major and minor chords , the augmented and the diminished chords. In this page we're gonna talk about the augmented ones.
In the previous chapter we saw that if we take the major chords and we lower the middle note and the upper note in half a tone we get two intervals of small thirds. That chord is called "A Diminished Chord."
But what happens if we create a chord of two major 3rds?
Well, if we take C major, then we already have a major third between the root note (C) and the middle note (E). All we need to do is raise the upper note in half a note (From G to G#). This Chord is called "C Augmented."

The augmented chords as opposed to the diminished chord has a wide sound. I guess you can call it "spacey". The two major thirds create a musical expression which is expressed in music differently then in the diminished chords.
That's probably becuase the augmented piano chord often derives from the Whole Tone Scale.
When you play piano by chords you'll find that the augmented chords have a few functions in music. We're not going to explain them here fully because I'd like us to get to playing piano instead of talking forever.
For now you should know that the augmented piano chords can function as passing chords that provide an extra tension in harmony progressions or to support the melody when it contains the raised fifth note (G# in C augmented).
If you don't get it don't worry we'll get to it later.
Here's a list of all twelve major chords

Click here if you haven't signed to Piano Playground, our free E-zine yet make sure you do that in order to get the username and password codes for the Augmented Chords Piano Tab I provide here under.
It's interesting to realize that E augment C augmented and G# augmented contain the same notes. They are actually one chord in different positions. That's because the two major thirds create an inner symmetry whitin an octave.
To conclude one can say that we have only for augmented chords in music.
C augmented = E augmented = G# augmented
C# augmented = F augmented = A augmented
D augmented = F# augmented = A# augmented
D# augmented = G augmented = B augmented

Sus Chords on the Piano

Home » Piano Chords » Sus Chords

Suspension chords are chord which are put before dominant chords most often in order suspense the clear tension of the dominant resolving to the tonic.
What we have here is actually a clear case of a subdominant.