Flying Over Chordland
Before We Begin
The 48 Basic Chords Times 3
Before we get down to the actual
details of building chords, I would like to take you on
an airplane ride over "Chordland" so you can look down and
get the lay of the land -- get a good overview of how Chordland
is laid out -- where the rivers and freeways and lakes and
towns are, and how it all works together.
Lots
of people know a few chords, but aren't sure just how many
chords they need to know to cover the basics in an average
song -- in other words, enough to "get along."
Sure,
they would like to know how to play 9th chords and suspended
7th chords and chords built on the church modes, such as
Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian, and so forth,
but they could live without ever knowing those -- they just
want to know enough chords to get by in a playing situation,
from accompanying a singer at a musical to playing with
a worship group at church to playing for Girl Scouts.
Well,
I have good news for them.There are only 12 major chords,
12 minor chords, 12 augmented chords, and 12 diminished
chords. That makes 48. Then each one can be turned upside
down (inverted) 3 times. Three times 48 is 144. These are
the basic 12 dozen chords a person needs to know to get
along. It would sure be helpful to know how to add a 7th
to a chord, but not absolutely necessary (even though it's
as simple as pie!).
|
12
Major Chords
12
Minor Chords
12
Augmented Chords
12 Diminished Chords
48
Basic Chords!
Every
3-note chord (called a triad) can be
turned upside down 3 times:
Root
position
(name of the chord on the bottom)
1st
inversion (name of
the chord on top)
2nd
inversion (name of
the chord in the middle)
So.....
3
Inversions of Each Chord
|
The second part of the
good news is that these 12 dozen chords can be learned much
more quickly than most people suppose -- it shouldn't take
over an hour of concentrated practice to get somewhat of
a handle on these 144 chords. Here's why:
Once
a person learns the 12 major chords, all there is to finding
minor and augmented chords is to move just one note from
the major chord! And all there is to finding diminished
chords is to move 2 notes from the major chord.
Next time
we'll cover all of the 12 major chords.
Meanwhile, be sure to go on over to
www.chordpiano.com if you want to get a running start
in chord piano playing!
If you are
one of those people (like me) who just can't get enough
of piano-playing ideas, be sure to go over to www.chordpiano.com
and check out " How
To Play Chord Piano...In Ten Days!"
It is the greatest course on chord piano playing in the
world, and it will get you off to a flying start!
You'll absolutely LOVE it!
|
