subject: Piano notes and chords - the easy way to learn them [print this page] Piano notes and chords - the easy way to learn them
It may look overwhelming to you, but the piano is really just composed of 12 basic notes that are repeated over and over with an increasing pitch toward the rightmost end. Yes, there is a pattern in the piano and once you figure that out, locating your notes and chords won't be as hard. This article will talk about the piano notes and chords, and how to locate each in the piano.
First, let us describe the basic layout of the piano. It is composed of white and black keys. The white keys are composed of seven notes named after the first 7 letters in the English alphabet and the black keys, which can be found just on top of the white keys, are composed of the sharps and flats. There are basically 5 black keys and they are grouped into 2 or 3 and are arranged in alternating order.
To make locating the white notes easier, we will use the black keys as a marker. C is the left most white note and can always be found to the left of the first of the 2 black key group. D is then found in the middle of the 2 black keys. E is to the right of the second black key and F is to the left of the first black key in the 3 black key group. That is, F is to the left of the third black key. G is the white key in between the third and fourth black key, or the first and second black keys in the 3 black key group. The note A can be found in between the second and third black key in the 3 black key group. Lastly, B is the final white note and can be found to the right of the last black key or the third key in the 3 black key group.
Few as they are, black keys are quite difficult to name since they can hold two identities. Each key is named according to the keys that surround it. It can either be a sharp or a flat. It is a sharp if you consider the white note to the left of the black key and it is a flat if you consider the white note to the right. To put it simply, for example in the first black key in the 2 black key group, it is both a C sharp and a D flat because it is surrounded by note C to the left and note D to the right.
Now that you know the basic notes, it's time to put them together to make a chord. A chord is a combination of notes played simultaneously. Because the number of notes varies in a chord depending on its scale and type, this article will only discuss the position of the minor and major chords.
The major and minor chords are composed of three notes. Usually, in the major chord, the second note is the fourth key after the first note, and the third note is the third key after the second note. It's the opposite for the minor chord. The second note is the third key after the first note, and the third note is the fourth key after the second note.
With that knowledge you can now locate all these notes in your piano and practice playing them in major and minor chords.
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