Speed Read Piano

HOW TO SPEED READ PIANO CHORD SYMBOLS

Index of Chapters

I N TR O D UC TI O N

About the System Page 1 About “Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method”

C H A P T ER 1

Chord Basics Page 22

The note names on the piano How chords are named The intervals you’ll need to know

C H A P T ER 2

Fourths Page 51

How to Find Fourths

How to Use Fourths to Find Major Chords

C H A P T ER 3

Major 7th _{Chords Page 65}

How to use the starting position to find Major 7th _{chords using smooth voice leading.}

How to move from Major 7th _{chord to Major 7}th

chord

C H A P T ER 4

Minor 7th _{Chords Page 78}

How to use the starting position to find Minor 7th _chords

How to move from Minor 7th _{chord to minor 7}th

Moving from Dominant 7th _{to Dominant 7}th

Moving from Minor 7th _{to Dominant 7}th _(The

“two – five” pattern)

C H A P T ER 6

Diminished 7th _{Chords Page 96}

Using the starting position to find diminished 7th _chords

How Dominant and Diminished chords relate More tricks to find Diminished chords

C H A P T ER 7

Major and Minor Chords Page 103 Using the starting position to find major and minor chords

“Greensleeves” ”Be Still My Soul”

C H A P T ER 8

The Extra Stuff Page 116 An introduction to 9ths and 13ths

Slash Chords

C H A P T ER 9

Using the System Page 132 “The Water is Wide”

“They Didn’t Believe Me ”

Introduction part 1: Breaking

chords down to their essential

elements

When people first start to learn to play piano chords, they probably learn a few of them either out of a chord encyclopedia or out of a general book on how to play piano. The problem with the way chords are taught in these books is that they demonstrate the chords in a way they are easy to understand, rather than in a way in which they’ll sound the best. So, you’ll learn a chord usually all in one octave starting around middle C.

C Major – as you might see it in a chord encyclopedia

Middle C

R

R

3 5

You’ll notice that we have four notes here, the Root, the 3rd_{, the 5}th _{and the octave}

of the Root.

The problem is, you’ll hardly ever see a C chord in music used in this fashion. Usually, only part of the chord is used, and usually it’s divided up between the left and the right hand.

In this book, we’ll learn how to structure your chords so that they sound great and are easy to find and play. Also, we’ll learn how to move between chords in a way that sounds great – another thing a chord encyclopedia can’t teach you.

Let’s look again at the chord diagram of the C chord. First of all, the 5th _{is not}

necessary – so let’s drop it for now. We want to simplify the chords and learn the most essential elements and leave out the extra stuff while we are learning the basics of the system. Later, you’ll be very glad that we kept it simple. As my grandfather the circus clown always used to say, “learn to juggle three balls before trying to juggle six balls, a scimitar, and a flaming torch.” So for now leave out the 5th_{. That will give us this:}

C Major – leaving out the unnecessary fifth

R

R

3

Now another thing we’re going to learn in the book is what notes in a chord you can double. While doubling the Root of the chord is perfectly fine and nice sounding thing to do when you want your chord to sound fuller, it is also unnecessary – so again, let’s leave out the unnecessary elements. So take off the higher Root.

C Major – leaving out the unnecessarily doubling of the Root

R

3

Now we are down to the essential elements in a C chord: the Root and the 3rd_.

Now we’re going to do one more thing to the chord, which is we’re going to drop the Root down the octave.

C Major – Root dropped down the octave

Play in left hand

R

3

When you listen to music on the radio, there is usually a melody line (usually sung) and there are chords played on such instruments as a piano, keyboard or guitar, and there is usually a bass line. We want to imitate these three distinct voices when we play on the piano. By dropping the Root down an octave, we move it

Introduction part 2: Chord Quality

When you learn piano chords, it’s better to understand how they are constructed than to memorize them one by one. This is because there are patterns in the way chords are constructed that will allow you remember them more easily.

For example, many chords are one note away from being other chords. The chord:

C Major 7th

R

7

3

has only one note different from

C Dominant 7th

7

R

₃

Do you see how only the middle note is different?

What if next time you wanted to figure out a chord, instead of looking in a chord encyclopedia, you said to yourself, “Oh, I’ll just take the middle note down a key”? Knowing how chords are constructed will keep you from having to always refer to chord encyclopedias.

Knowing how chords are constructed also will help you when you get into playing more creatively and improvising. Specifically, you’ll know how to move from one chord more smoothly to the next, and you’ll know which notes in a chord to choose depending on the melody note.

Chart 1: Seven Flavors of C chords

In this book, the notes played in the right hand are written in notation AND written below the staff, for those who don’t read music

As you can see from the notes written underneath the staff, most of these chords are only a note or two different from the rest of the chords.

Learning the differences between these seven different qualities and how to find them quickly is the major focus of this book.

The first chord above in chart 1 would look like this on the keyboard.

C Major 7th

C

B

E

Seventh Chords

All Seventh chords are made up of these three chord elements: The Root, the 3rd

and the 7th_{. In fact, Seventh chords are so named because they contain the 7}th_{. As}

you’ll remember from above,

to make a simple C chord, all you needed was ƒ the Root

and

ƒ the 3rd_.

To Make a C major 7th _{chord, you would need}

ƒ the Root, ƒ the 3rd

and ƒ the 7th_.

The first four chords below are 7th _chords.

The Root of the chord is in the name of the chord. The Root of all these chords is the note C.

The next row is the 7th

of these chords

The top row is the 3rd

of these chords

Both the 3rd _{of a Seventh chord and the 7}th _{of a Seventh chord can either be Major}

or Minor. See in chart 1 how some of the notes have the note “E” and some have the note “Eb”? “E” is the Major 3rd _{above C. “Eb” is the minor 3}rd _{of above C.}

Depending on the pattern of 3rds and 7ths in the chord, it will be one of these qualities of 7th _chords.

Here are the four seventh chords above put on a piano diagram for you. Play through them and notice how the Major and Minor 3rds and 7ths sound.

C Major Seventh

R

7

3

Major 7th_{and Major 3rd}

C Minor Seventh

7

3

R

Minor 7th_{and Minor 3rd}

C Dominant Seventh

7

R

3

Minor 7th _{but Major 3}rd _{– creates}

Major vs. Minor clash!

C Diminished Seventh

3

7

R

Diminished 7th _{and Minor 3}rd _(same

clash as in Dominant, but with both 3rd

Non-Seventh Chords

The last three chords below are non-seventh chords. The top row is the 3rd

of these chords

The next row is the 5th

of these chords

The non-seventh chords that you’ll learn in this book are commonly called triads, because they traditionally use three notes, the Root, the 3rd _{and the fifth. But you}

don’t need the fifth, you could simply play the Root and 3rd_.

C Major

R

₅

₃

3

5

R

5

₃

R

Introduction part 3: Chord Quality

determined by 3

_{and 7}

_{of chord}

Look at the chart below. You’ll see the same sevenqualities of C chords we saw previously in chart 1, except that now the interval from the Root of the chord is written underneath the staff instead of the note name.

If a chord has a minor 3rd_{, it}

will have a mellower, sadder sound.

If a chord has a major 3rd_{, it will}

have a brighter more energetic sound.

Minor chord (m) Diminished chord (dim)

Minor 7th _{chord (m7)}

Diminished 7th _{chord (dim7)}

Major chord (no symbol) Major 7th _{chord (M7)}

Dominant chord (7)

Root with Minor 3rd _{(C and Eb)}

Root with Major 3rd _{(C and E)}

R

3

These four chord qualities will contain at least the Root and the Minor 3rd_.

These three chord qualities will contain at

Using Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method, you’ll find the starting position for a chord, and then you’ll learn how to move the fingers in order to reach the final chord. This is going to save a lot of time during the learning process.

Starting position

R

R

4

Actual Chord

R

7

3

Do you see which notes moved between the Starting position above and the actual chord? That’s right, the top two notes both moved to the left.

Learning the chords using this starting position will help you to see how different qualities of chords with the same root are related.

For example, how

C Major 7th

R

7

3

7

3

R

Do you notice how in the C Minor 7th _{chord the 7}th _{and the 3}rd _{are down one key}

from where they are in the C Major 7th _chord?

Here the 7th _{and 3}rd _{are Major:}

C Major 7th

R

7

3

And here the 7th _{and 3}rd _{are Minor:}

C Minor 7th

7

3

R

Since the quality of a chord is determined by the 3rd _{and 7}th _{of the chord,} all we need to make a great sounding chord is the root, the seventh and the third. There are many more notes you can add, but at first you’ll want to keep it simple

If the chord is a non-7th _{chord, all you’ll is the Root and the 3}rd

This relationship will be true for all Major 7th _{and Minor 7}th _{chords. Once you}

know this logic, you’ll know how to find chords you haven’t memorized!

For example, if you need to find F Minor 7th _{from F Major 7}th_{, you’ll just lower the}

top two notes down a half-step each.

F Minor 7th

7

3

R

are each down one key from the top two keys of F Major 7th

R

7

3

.

Ok, well, how do we find the 7th _{and 3}rd_{? From the reference point, from this}

starting position.

The starting position will put us close to the 3rd _{and 7}th_{, but leave open whether}

they are major and minor.

For example, the starting position for all C Chords will look like this: Starting position for C chords

C, C and F or the Root, Root and 4th

from the note C.

R

R

4

Here’s the starting position written with the note names Starting position for C chords

C

C

F

Well learn rules on how to arrive at the different qualities of chords from the starting position.

For example. To find C Major 7th_{, you would know to move the top two notes down}

a half-step from the starting position.

Starting position for C chords

R

R

4

Top 2 notes down ½ step for Major 7th _chords:

C Major 7th

R

7

3

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty theory of it, ƒ The Major 3rd _{is down a half-step from the 4}th

and the

start to learn the rules on how to find certain qualities, you’ll find you can read chord symbols very quickly. In fact, I taught one student who had played piano for years but didn’t know how to read chord symbols. She learned the system and played very well with it after only 20 minutes! Now many of you it will take weeks to master because you don’t have the foundation in theory that she had. But if you’ll take the time to understand the logic, the system will fall into place for you very quickly!

The Essentials of Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method

Here’s a quick sketch of the system. If this doesn’t make sense yet, don’t worry, I’ll work through this in more detail in the upcoming chapters.

1. m7 chords. If the chord is a Minor seventh chord, move the top two notes down two keys (two half-steps) each from the starting position.

C Minor 7th

7

3

R

2. M7 chords. If the chord is a Major seventh chord, move the top two notes down one key (one half-steps) each from the starting position.

C Major 7th

R

7

3

3. 7 chords. If the chord is a dominant seventh chord, move the top note down one key and the middle note down two.

C Dominant 7th

7

3

R

4. dim7 chords. If the chord is a diminished seventh, move the top note down two keys and the middle note down three.

C Diminished 7th

The Essentials of Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method for

Non-Seventh Chords

1. m chords. If the chord is a Minor chord, move the top note down two keys (two half-steps) from the starting position; then move the middle note down a 4th

(I’ll teach you fourths soon!)

C Minor

3

R

5

2. M chords. If the chord is a Major chord, move the top note down one key (one half-step) from the starting position; then move the middle note down a 4th_.

C Major

R

5

3

3. dim chords. If the chord is a Diminished chord, move the top note down two keys (two half-steps) from the starting position; the move the middle note down a 4th_{, and then move the middle note down a half-step (so that it’s the flat}

fifth!)

C Diminished

5

3

A Note on Fingering:

Depending on the melody note, you may use different fingering. Generally for now, play the root in the left and all the other notes in the right. This is how you would play if you’re doing chord stabs in the right hand and a walking bass in the left.

A more advanced discussion of mixing the melody

and the chords

The following discussion maybe too difficult for those who are very new to reading music, so if you find this too much to grasp, skip it for now and go on to chapter 1. The first thing we’re going to learn is how to find chords from the symbols written in popular fake books. Look at the example below. You’ll see a written melody with chord symbols written above certain notes. You will hit the chords on those notes.

As you become more sophisticated in your playing, you may hit them around those notes. There are many ways to do this, and we will get into those in later chapters. To understand the sort of thinking involved in playing the above example, I want to walk you through it. You obviously, don’t know how to find the elements of the chords yet, so just pretend you do, for a minute so that you can understand where I’m taking you in the book, before you set out on the journey!

On the word “am” from “I am a melody”, you’ll see you have the note E in the melody and a CM7 chord written above. Using Nate’s three finger piano method, you’ll learn to find a CM7 chord quickly.

So assuming you already know this, you’ll see that you’ll need to play: ƒ C in the left hand (the Root)

ƒ B and E in the right hand

ƒ E in the melody (which always goes on top)

Now since E is both the top note of your chord, and the melody note (which should generally go on top), you see you have some overlap. This means, you’ll only be playing 3 notes, instead of the four notes you would play if the melody note were different from the notes in the chord.

C Major 7th

7

R

3

ƒ The R stands for Root, which will be played in the left hand.

Both the melody and the top note of the chord

ƒ The 7 stands for the 7th _{of the chord, and it will be middle note (for now)}

ƒ The 3 stands for the 3rd _{of the chord, and it will be the top note (for now)}

OK, so now let’s look at the next part of this selection. On the “dy” of “melody”, you’ll see we have Am7 with C (an octave above middle C) in the melody.

So again assuming you already know the method, you’ll see that you need:

ƒ A in the left hand (the Root) ƒ G and C in the right hand

ƒ C in the melody (which always goes on top)

Now, again you’ll see the the top note of your chord and the melody note are redundant, so again, you’ll only play three notes.

A Minor 7th

R

7

3

OK, let’s look at the next part. Using Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method, you’ll see that you need:

ƒ D in the left hand (the Root) ƒ C and F in the right hand

ƒ E in the melody (which always goes on top)

Now we have a problem. It’s much easier when the melody and the top of the chord are the same note. So we need to put E on top, so take the F (the top note of the chord) down the octave and you’ll have a decent solution:

This is how Dm7 usually looks:

D Minor 7th

7

R

3

Now if you add the melody note on top, and take the top note of the chord down an octave, so as not to conflict with the melody note, you’ll get this:

Dm7 with the melody note E added

7 M

R

3

M Stands for Melody Note

Now later on in this book, we’ll learn that the note E is the 9th _{of the D chord, so you}

could call the above chord Dm9 instead of “Dm7 with the melody note E added”. Many times in fake books such as the “Ultimate Jazz Fakebook C Edition”, you’ll see a 9th _{chord written, but it is the melody note as well, so you don’t need to figure out the}

9th_{. The 9}th _{of the chord is always optional anyway, so while you’re learning to read}

chords, you can just leave it out at first (Unless, of course, it’s also the melody note!). OK, now to the next part of the selection. Using Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method, you’ll find that you need to play:

ƒ G in the left hand (the Root) ƒ F and B in the right hand

ƒ D in the melody (which always goes on top)

Now if you play your G7 chord so that all three notes fall below middle C, you can just add the D melody note on top, like this:

G Dominant 7th _{with added melody note D}

7

3

R

M

You can play the top three notes in the right hand

OK, now to our final part of this selection. You see you have a C chord, with C in the melody. Using Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method, you see that all you need to make a C chord is the Root and the 3rd_.

ƒ C in the left hand (the Root) ƒ E in the right hand

Now, you can always add the fifth to a chord to make it richer, and in this case, since you only have two distinct notes in your chord, I think it’s a good idea, so add the fifth as well. C

3

R

3

R

5

C with added 5th _{and C in the melody}

M

R

3 5

I took the 3rd _{down the octave,}

1

The Essentials of Piano

Chords

All about Chords and Intervals

efore we get into the system, you’ll need to know some basics of music theory. If you’ve already studied music, you can glance over this chapter and then move right on to chapter 2. If you’ve never studied music before, you might need to spend a little more time on this chapter.

B

Chords

A chord is a group of notes played at the same time that sound good together. For example, go to your piano and play the note C in your left hand. (It’s the note that’s just to the left of the two black keys.)

C

E

Now in your right hand, play the note E. (It’s the note just to the right of the two black keys).

These two notes played together make a chord! Chords can have lots of notes or just two notes.

For example, we could add another C to the chord, just below the E, and the chord would still sound about the same.

C

C

E

Play the top two notes in the right hand for now. Fingering doesn’t matter just yet.

Certain notes tend to change the flavor of a chord. For example, if we add the note B Flat to the notes C and E, we’ll get a very different sort of sound.

B Flat is the right-most of the three black keys. It is written with the flat symbol, which looks like a cursive letter b.

B

b

C

E

So when you add the note B Flat to the notes C and E, you get what’s called a C7 chord.

What you see here are two chord symbols, the symbol for the chord C7 (“pronounced C Seven”) and the symbol for the chord F. Underneath you see five notes. This is the melody.

So what we’ll want to do is play the chord along with the melody note written below it. Often, the melody note will be part of the chord – as we see here. The note E, which is the first note of the melody, is also the top note of the C7 chord you’ve learned. So you would play those three notes, the C in the left hand, the Bb and E in the right. Then you would play the three melody notes that follow, the D, C and E. You can either hold down the chord while you play those other notes, or let go of it, depending on the style and your skill at the keyboard.

You would then play the next chord along with its melody note. (We’ll learn the F chord in a minute.)

That’s the essence of how to use chords. Now let’s learn how Chord Symbols constructed.

HOW CHORDS SYMBOLS ARE BUILT:

Root

Usually the bottom note of a chord, the Root is the fundamental note of the chord to which the other notes relate.

7

3

R

Related notes

Quality

The next part any chord symbol is the Quality of the chord. This changes depending on the related notes. For example a C chord has the note E in it, while a Cm chord (pronounced “C minor”) has the note Eb in it.

Here’s a C chord.

C

E

E

b

C

The quality usually depends on two related notes: the third and the seventh.

For example the note E is the third of the note C. The note Eb is the minor third of the note C.

Minor 3rd Major 3rd

When you play the Root and the third together, you get a chord. If you play C and E together you get a C Major chord (Often just called a C chord – the Major quality is assumed). If you play C and Eb together you get a C Minor chord.

The other most important note for determining the quality of a chord is the seventh. The seventh of the note C is the note B. The minor seventh of the note C is the note Bb.

(The note B is just to the right of the three black keys.)

When you play the Root, the 3rd _{and the 7}th_{, you get what’s called a seventh chord.}

C

B

E

This is a blanket term for all the different types of seventh chords. There are four qualities of seventh chords you will see:

ƒ the Major 7th _chord

ƒ the Minor 7th _chord

ƒ the Dominant 7th _chord

ƒ The Diminished 7th _chord

Confusingly the Dominant 7th _{chord is often the “default” seventh chord, so if}

someone said to you, “play a C Seven chord,” they would actually mean a dominant chord. Most people don’t use the proper term, dominant, because it’s a long word. To distinguish the dominant from the other chords, these improper folks will describe the other seventh chords by their whole name. “Play C seven, and then play C minor seven”. You would understand this to mean “Play C dominant, and then play C minor seventh”.

To save yourself from confusion, remember that All “seven” chords are “seventh” chords, but not all “seventh” chords are seven chords.

In other words, the dominant chord (which is often called “seven”) is a type of seventh chord, but not all seventh chords are dominant.

The chord above using C, B and E, is a Major 7th _{Chord. The chord on page two}

C Major 7th _{uses the notes B and E in the right hand. C Dominant 7}th _{uses the notes}

Bb and E in the right hand.

C Minor 7th _{uses the notes Bb and Eb in the right hand. C Diminished 7}th _{uses the}

notes A and Eb in the right hand.

(The note A is the right-most of the two white keys between the three black keys.)

E

b

C

A

Extra Stuff

The “extra stuff” is the third thing you’ll see tacked on after the quality. This is for alterations to the chord or for added-on notes. For example, the symbol C7b5 (pronounced “C Seven, flat five”) is just a C Dominant chord with the flat fifth added on.

The flat fifth of any C chord is the note G Flat. It’s the left most of the three black keys.

b

G

Here’s a C7b5 chord. Compare it to the C7 chord we talked about earlier. Do you see how it’s the same chord, just with one added note? That’s the essence of the “extra-stuff” part of chord symbols.

B

b

G

_b

C

E

Try playing these two notes in the right hand, while the C and Bb are played in the left

Now the extra stuff adds some complexity to what we’re doing, so we’ll leave off the extra stuff for now. If you see C7b5, just play C7. OK? This will make things easier at first, and then, whenever you’re ready, you can it back in.

Learning the Sharp and Flat Note Names

The black keys on the keyboard don’t have their own names. They borrow their names from the keys to the left and right.

For example, look below at the notes A and B. B is the note just to the right of the three black keys. A is the right-most of the two white keys between the three black keys. They have one note in between them, which can be named either B flat or A sharp. In this first diagram you see the sharp names for the black keys. These names come from the note just to the left. So C sharp is one key “higher” than C. “Higher” on the key board means to the right on the keyboard.

D#

F#

B

A

A#

G#

C#

F G

C D E

In this second diagram you see the flat names for the black keys. These names come from the note just to the right. So D Flat is one key “lower’ than the note D. “Lower” on the keyboard means to the left.

Eb

Gb Ab

Db

Bb

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

Often, you’ll see sharps as the music goes up in pitch (as you move from left to right on the keyboard).

Often, you’ll see flats as the music goes down in pitch (as you move from right to left on the keyboard).

Usually a chord is spelled with either all sharps or all flats, not both. So an Eb minor chord would only use flats. You would spell it Eb and Gb, not Eb and F#. Even if F# is much more common way to spell that piano key.

An E flat minor chord is spelled with all flats.

b

E

b

G

You could also call this a D sharp minor chord. But then you need to spell all of the notes with sharps.

A D sharp minor chord is spelled with all sharps.

The Intervals You’ll Need to Know

The method this book will teach you requires you to know a few intervals. Intervals are the distances between notes.

First of all, you’ll need to know half-steps. Half-steps are the smallest interval. Basically from any one key to the next key is a half-step – regardless or whether that key is a white or black key.

Here are some examples of half-steps. ƒ C to C# is half-step. ƒ D to D# is a half-step. ƒ E to F is a half-step. ƒ D# to E is a half-step.

D#

F#

B

A

A#

G#

C#

F G

C D E

This is what half-steps look like.

So it doesn’t matter whether the key is white or black, as long as it’s adjacent, the distance is a half-step.

The next interval you’ll need to know is a whole-step. A whole-step is basically two half-steps. Whole-steps have one key in between them.

For example ƒ C to D is a whole-step (C# is in between) ƒ D to E is a whole-step (D# is in between) ƒ E to F# is a whole-step (F is in between) ƒ F# to G# is a whole-step (G is in between)

D#

F#

B

A

A#

G#

C#

F G

C D E

Examples of whole-steps. Notice most whole steps either go from a white key to a

white key, or a black key to a black key. They’re a little tricky around the notes E and F because there is no black key in between. So, these ones use both white and black keys. The same is true between B and C, although you can’t see it on this diagram.

Here are some of the trickier whole-steps that use both white and black keys. ƒ Eb to F

ƒ E to F# ƒ Bb to C ƒ B to C#

The last interval you’ll need to know for the system, and the most important one, is the

fourth.

Fourths have four keys in between.

Eb

Gb Ab

Db

Bb

A

F G

C

D E

B

ƒ C to F is a fourth (Db, D, Eb and E are in between) ƒ D to G is a fourth (Eb, E, F and Gb are in between) ƒ F to Bb is a fourth (Gb, G, Ab, and A are in between)

Easy Two Easy Tricks for Finding Fourths

To find a fourth between white keys, just skip two white keys. So for example: ƒ To find a fourth above C, skip two white keys (C and D) and you’ll find the

fourth, F.

ƒ To find a fourth above D, skip two white keys (D and F) and you’ll find the fourth, G.

Just watch out for the one exception! F to B is not a fourth. See below under Exceptions.

Between Black Keys

To find a fourth between black keys, just skip one black key. So for example:

ƒ To find a fourth above Db, skip one black key (Eb) and you’ll find the fourth, Gb.

ƒ To find a fourth above Eb, skip one black key (Gb) and you’ll find the fourth, Ab

Just watch out for the one exception! Gb to Bb is not a fourth. See below under Exceptions.

Exceptions

There are two exceptions to our trick for finding fourths. Here they are. Exception 1

If you use the trick for white keys starting on F, it doesn’t work. This is the one exception to the white key rule.

F to B is not a fourth! The “skip two white keys” rule will mislead you here. You just have to memorize this exception.

B

F

The fourth above F is Bb.

Bb

F

Exception 2

If you use the trick for black keys starting on F# (or Gb – same note just spelled differently) it doesn’t work. This is the one exception to the black key rule.

F# to A# (or Gb to Bb) is not a fourth! The “skip one black key” rule will mislead you here. You just have to memorize this one exception.

F#

A#

The fourth is F# to B!

F#

B

Here’s a list of fourths. For homework, see if you can find them all on the piano: ƒ C to F

ƒ C# to F# ƒ D to G ƒ Eb to Ab ƒ E to A

ƒ F to Bb – (exception to the white key rule) ƒ F# to Bb – (exception to the black key rule) ƒ G to C

ƒ Ab to Db ƒ A to D ƒ Bb to Eb ƒ B to E

The Essential Elements of a Chord

So far we’ve talked about the Root, the 3rd _{and the 7}th_{. The Root is the foundation of}

the chord around which the other notes relate. The 3rd _{and 7}th _{are the notes that}

determine the quality of the chord.

There is one more element of the chord that you will see much more in other chord books, but I try to minimize, and that’s the fifth. The fifth is not an essential element of the chord. You will often see it in other chord books because they teach you the chords in terms of triads. Triads are chords that use the Root, 3rd _{and 5}th _{(all three}

notes are third away from one another, hence the name triad).

The fifth helps strengthen a chord and make it more powerful, but it can also cause problems as far as voice leading, and until you are more advanced, I would recommend leaving it out. Eventually, when your ear is stronger, you’ll sense when you should add a little fifth, or when you should leave it out.

On the following pages, we’ll review the essential elements of a chord and how to find them.

The Third

The third is the next most essential note in a chord after the root. In fact, you can make a chord with simply the root and 3rd_{. Remember the 3}rd _{for C Major? Thanks}

right, E.

3

R

Root Note

The third

Major Thirds and Minor Thirds

Thirds can either be higher or lower in pitch. If they are higher in pitch, they will be more to the right on the keyboard.

3

R

Major 3rd _{is further to the}

right on the keyboard Root Note

And if they’re lower in pitch, they’ll be more to the left on the keyboard.

3

Finding the Minor or Major 3

_{of a chord}

In this book we’ll be learning to find the 3rds of your chord by first finding the 4th _and

then counting down either a half-step or whole-step.

This is why we needed to learn how to find fourths!

3

4

R

The 4th Root Note

Minor 3rd _{is down a}

whole-step from the 4th

The major 3rd _{will be down a half-step from the 4th}

3

₄

R

The 4th Root Note

Major 3rd _{is down a}

Practice finding the Major 3rd

First, find C on the key keyboard with your left hand.

C

Then pair it with another C higher on the keyboard (further to the right).

C

C

Now find the note up a fourth from the higher C. Remember the rule for white notes? Just skip two white notes to find it. (So skip D and E, and you’ll land on F). To test to make sure it’s a fourth, you can count the number of keys in between, and it should be four. (So, Db, D, Eb and E – that’s four!)

C

_C

_F

Now to find the major 3rd_{, just take the top note down a half-step. And there we have}

the Major 3rd_{, the note E. If you play all three notes, you’ll get a C Major chord.}

Practice finding the Minor 3rd

First, find C on the key keyboard with your left hand.

C

Then pair it with another C higher on the keyboard (further to the right).

C

C

Now find the note up a fourth from the higher C, which is F.

C

C

F

Now to find the minor 3rd_{, just take the top note down a whole-step. Remember, with}

a whole step we skip one note (in this case the note E), so the minor 3rd _{is the note Eb.}

If you play all three notes, you’ll have a C minor chord.

b

E

The Fifth

The fifth is an extra note that is added for flavor. Unlike the 3rd_{, it’s not necessary to}

make most chords.

5

3

R

The fifth The third

Finding the fifth

The fifth can be found down a 4th _{from the Root.}

_{Another good reason to know how}

to find fourths!.

5

R

3

R

The fifth – down a 4th _from

the Root

Root Note (up the octave)

Triads

Triads are chords that use only the Root, 3rd _{and 5}th_.

5

3

R

7

_Chords

7th _{chords use the Root, 3}rd _{and 5}th_{, and add one additional note, the 7}th_.

5

7

3

R

Finding the 7

The 7th _{of a chord is a lot like the 3}rd _{of a chord, except, instead of finding it from the}

4th_{, you’ll find it from the Root.}

5

7

3

R

Down ½ step from 4th

Down ½ step from Root

The minor 7th _{will be down a whole-step from the Root}

7

R

R

Root (up the octave) Root Note

Minor 7th _{is down a}

whole-step from the Root

The major 7th _{will be down a half-step from the Root}

7

_R

R

Root (up the octave) Root Note

Major 7th _{is down a}

Practice finding the Major 7th

First, find C on the key keyboard with your left hand.

C

Then pair it with another C higher on the keyboard (further to the right).

C

C

Now to find the major 7th_{, all you need to do is go down a half-step from the higher C.}

Remember, a half-step is the next (adjacent) note.

C

_B

Practice finding the Minor 7th

First, find C on the key keyboard with your left hand.

C

Then pair it with another C higher on the keyboard (further to the right).

C

C

Now to find the major 7th_{, all you need to do is go down a whole-step from the higher}

C. Remember, with a whole step you skip one note (in this case the note B). B flat is the minor 7th _{of C.}

B

b

Finding the 7

_{and 3}

_{in pairs}

One of the best tricks you’ll learn in this book is to think of the 7th _{and 3}rd _{in pairs}

when finding them. This will eliminate many steps and allow you to visualize them more easily on the keyboard.

7

3

R

Both notes down a ½ step from “starting position”

The Starting Position

The starting position is a visual guide to help you find any chord; it is a valuable learning tool while learning to read chords. A fancy way to describe would be that it’s a metachord – a reference point to the other chords you’ll learn.

Since the 3rd _{is found from the fourth, and the 5}th _{and seventh are found from the}

Root, you will want to start with The Root and the 4th_.

4

R

So our starting position will look like this. It’s going to be the Root note, twice (in octaves) and then the note a fourth above the higher root.

The Starting Position

R

R

4

How we’ll use the Starting Position.

Once you have found the starting position for a chord, you’ll move down to find the major or minor 7ths depending on the quality of the chord. This will be discussed in great length in later chapters.

But let’s look at an example quickly.

If you take the top two notes down a half-step each you’ll get a Major 7th _{chord. For C}

Major 7th_{, the top two notes would be B and E.}

Major 7th _chord

R

₇

3

Maj 7th _{and the Maj 3}rd

If you take the top two notes down a whole-step each you’ll get a Minor 7th _{chord. For}

C minor 7th_{, the top two notes would be Bb and Eb.}

Minor 7th _chord

7

3

From the starting position you’ll find different

qualities of chords

As you can see, once you have found the starting position for a chord, it’s simply a matter of knowing the right moves to find the quality of chord you want.

If you are looking for an F minor 7th chord, you would first, find the starting position for F:

Starting Position for F Chords

4

R

R

You would then take the top two notes down a whole-step each. (Remember, down means to the left on the keyboard). This would give you an F minor 7th

chord.

F Minor 7th

7

3

R

So you can see the system breaks down into two major parts: ƒ First, learning to find the starting position for the all 12 keys.

ƒ Then, learning the moves from the starting position (in terms of half-steps and whole-steps) to finding the final chord

While learning the system takes some thought, it will save you from having to think in the long run, because you’ll know the theory in a visual way, rather than having memorized the chords by rote, therefore you’ll be much more flexible to improvise around a melody with accompaniment you come up with.

An Overview of Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method

Steps 1-2: Finding the Starting Position

At first, you will want to find the Root of the chord in octaves, then the fourth above the higher root. This will be the starting position.

For example, for all C chords, you will find C, C and F. Then depending on whether it’s Major 7th_{, Minor 7}th _{or many other qualities of chords, we’ll move the top two notes}

to find the chord.

The Starting Position for All C Chords

R

R

4

Step 3: Finding the Quality from the Starting Position

Depending on the quality of the chord (M, m, 7, M7, m7, dim7), you will move the top two notes to the left in certain patterns.

The 7 Common Qualities of Chords

(You don’t need to know all of this right now, just take a quick look at it for now) ƒ M – Major Chord{R, Major 3rd _}

ƒ m – Minor Chord {R, Minor 3rd _}

ƒ dim – Diminished Chord {R, Minor 3rd_{, Flat 5}th_}

ƒ M7 – Major 7th _{Chord{R, Major 7}th _{and Major 3}rd _}

ƒ m7 – Minor 7th _{Chord {R, Minor 7}th _{and Minor 3}rd_}

ƒ 7 – Dominant 7th _{Chord {R, Minor 7}th _{and Major 3}rd_}

2

Fourths

The interval you’ll use most in the system is the 4th.

Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method uses the interval of the fourth a lot – so we’re going to take this chapter to get to know this very important interval.

Look at the diagram below. Each of these notes is a fourth away from the next.

F

C

G

D

A

E

Can you figure out the pattern between them? Try counting the white keys between them. Do you see how there are two white keys between of these keys with a letter written on it?

This is going to be our rule for finding fourths between white keys.

Rule: To find fourths between white keys, go up three white keys, or down three

white keys.

Now to show you a little of how the system works. I want you to play the first note on this chart, the note E.

Now play both E and A.

A

E

Now I want you to play the black key just to the left of A. This note is called G sharp.

E

#

G

Now play both E and G#. Since the note A is a fourth above E, the note just to the left is called the major 3rd_{. So G# is the major 3}rd _{of E. They sound nice together,}

don’t they? A major chord can be made simply from a note and its major 3rd_{. Of}

course in music, the third will probably be an octave higher than the root note – like this:

E

#

G

Now let’s go back and find E again, only this time, let’s find the note E higher on the keyboard.

E

Now find the note a fourth down from E. Remember it’s the third white key down (skip two white keys).

You should get this note:

B

E

B

Now add back in your note G#:

E

B

E

#

G

So the note E is the root of the chord. The note G# is the major 3rd_{, and the note B?}

The note B is the fifth.

It maybe a little confusing at first, but the 5th _{of a chord is down a fourth from the root!}

Rule: The 5th_{of a chord is down a fourth from the root.}

6

7

E

3

2

4

B

E

Now this principle will work for all of these chords. Say you want to form a D chord, look at the fourths chart again.

F

C

G

D

A

E

The fifth will be the note a fourth to the left (A).

The third will be down a half-step from the note a fourth to the right (F#)

G

D

A

D

#

F

A

So this is a D chord. Very easy to find when you know fourths! Of course, the root will usually be played down an octave or two.

#

F

How about a G chord? Again, look at the fourths chart.

F

C

G

D

A

E

Now take the notes a fourth up and a fourth down.

C

G

D

Now find the note down a half-step from the highest note. This time it won’t be a black key, because there isn’t a black key to the left of the top note.

B

G

D

And there you go, the G chord. Now try it with the middle note down an octave (and in the left hand)

B

Fourths between the black keys on the Piano

Below you see another chart of notes a fourth apart, only this time, between black keys. Do you see how there is one black key between each key with a name label on it? This is our rule for black keys.

B

b

E

b

A

b

D

b

G

b

Rule: To find fourths between black keys go down two black keys, or up two

black keys (skip one black key).

The same process I was showing you for finding major chords works with the black keys as well. For example, let’s say we want to find the chord Ab Major. Simply take Ab, the note a fourth to the left on the keyboard and the note a fourth to the right on the keyboard – this will be your starting position for figuring out the chord.

A

b

E

b

D

b

Now take the right-most key down a half-step and you’ll have a major chord.

C

A

b

E

b

The First Exception to the Fourths Rule.

There are two exceptions to the fourths rule. First, remember the rule for white keys, well, this doesn’t work between the notes F and B. These two notes, even though they have two white keys between them, are NOT a fourth! This exception you simply have to memorize. The fourth above F is Bb.

B

F

NOT A

FOURTH

A Fourth Above F is Bb. A Fourth Below Bb is F.

F

b

B

The Second Exception to the Fourths Rule.

The interval between F# and A#, while it skips one black key is NOT a fourth. But F# to B is!

A

F

#

#

NOT A

FOURTH

A Fourth Above F# is B. A Fourth Below B is F#.

F

_#

B

Practice Finding Chords Around the Exceptional

Fourths

To find an F chord, you’ll need a fourth above, Bb, and a fourth below, C.

C

B

b

F

Then take the top note down a half-step, so Bb will go to A.

A

C

F

This is an F chord. The note C is the fifth, the note A is the major 3rd_.

How about an Bb chord? You can use the rule for black keys to find the note above (Eb), but the fourth below is one of the exceptions, so you just have to know that a fourth below Bb is F.

b

B

E

b

F

OK, now take the top note down a half-step and you’ll have a Bb chord.

D

b

B

OK, now let’s look at chords that are built using the fourth between F# and B. The first such a chord is the chord F# major. Here’s F# and the notes a fourth down and a fourth up from F#.

#

C

F

_#

B

OK, now bring the top note down a half-step. This is an F# Major chord.

#

A

#

C

F

_#

How about a B chord? The fourth down from B is F# and the fourth above B is E.

E

#

F

B

Now take the top note down a half-step and you’ll have a B chord.

D

#

F

_#

Now practice finding fourths on the keyboard, from this notation. In this first example, you see two measures of music. In the first measure are the notes A and E played simultaneously. In the second measure, you will take the A down a half-step to G# (to the black key just to the left of A). Above these two notes, you’ll see the chord symbol for the chord E, which is simply the letter E.

Here’s another example. The D, the fourth above it (G) – and then the note a half-step down from G, F#. F# is the major 3rd _{of a D chord.}

Using Fourths to Find Eb

Chords

3

Chapter 3: Major 7

_{Chords and}

How to Find Them

OK, Now let’s get into using the system!

Demonstration: Finding CM7 and Cm7 from the

Starting Position for all C Chords

Starting Position for C Chords

R

R

4

From the Starting Position (R, R and 4th_{), you will move the top two notes down a}

half-step each to find a Major 7th _Chord. C Major 7th

7

R

3

Down a half-step from Starting Position

From the Starting Position (R, R and 4th_{), you will move the top two notes down a}

whole-step each to find a Minor 7th _Chord.

C Minor 7th

7

3

R

Note: a whole step is the same as two half-steps.

Down a whole-step from Starting Position

NOTE: People sometimes are confused that you move the top two notes a

half-step for a Major 7

_{and a whole step for a Minor 7}

_.

They wonder, why do you move “more” for minor than major?

The starting position is higher in pitch, and therefore more to the right on the

keyboard than

any of the final chords. That’s why you move further to the left

for a Minor 7

_{chord than a Major 7}

_{chord, because the Root and 4}

_{(in the}

starting position) are the highest position in the chord, you will be moving down

(to the left) to find the 7

_{and and 3}

_{of each chord.}

---

When you talk about “high” and “low” on the keyboard, “high” is more to the

right, “low” is more to the left.

Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method: Finding the

Starting Position

Step 1

Find the Root of the Chord in Octaves. If it’s a C Major 7th _{Chord, you would find}

two Cs:

R

R

Play the left Root in the left hand and the right Root in the right hand.

If the chord were F# Major 7th _{Chord, you would find two F#s:}

Step 2

Now find the root in your right hand and find the note a 4th above (to the right). If you’re finding a C Major 7th _{Chord, the 4}th _{above the Root (C) would be F.}

R

R

4

If you’re finding a F# Major 7th _{Chord, the 4}th _{above Root (F#) would be B.}

R

4

Finding the Quality from the Starting Position

What you have so far is what we’ll call the starting position. The starting position is the Root of the chord in octaves with the fourth above the higher root (the one in your right hand). The Third step is to move the top two notes to left. You will do it one of six different ways. The first way is when you want to find a Major 7th _Chord.

Step 3 for Major Seventh Chords, Move the top two notes (the higher Root and 4th₎

down a half-step (one key to the left). For C Major 7th _(CM7): Starting Position for C Chords

C Major 7th

R

R

4

3

7

R

Starting Position for F Chords

F Major 7th

4

R

R

7

R

3

OK, while you don’t have to read music to understand this book, it will help if you have a sense of it.

Here are steps one through 3 for both CM7 and FM7. If you read music, this will be a review of the last few pages. If you don’t read music, use this opportunity to try to start understanding music some.

Here is the same thing, but with the notes written out for those of you who don’t read music well yet.

The bottom note (the Root) will be played in the

left hand, and are written here in the bottom staff. Most of the time, I won’t write out the bass for you, since the bass note is given in the chord name. Top two notes

are written on the top staff, and are played in the right hand

Practicing moving from CM7 to FM7

These two chords are quite common, and I want you to familiarize yourself with them right away, because I will be using various C and F chords to demonstrate much of the theory in this book. Yes, there are many other chords, but it will be easier to

understand the concepts if we just concentrate on these two roots for now.

In the first measure above, you’ll see the two chords you learned on the previous page written out in notation. The numbers underneath indicate what chord degree the notes represent. In other words, in the first chord, CM7, the 3 represents that the top note of that chord is the 3rd_{. The 7 represents that the middle note of that chord is the}

7th_.

Where is the bottom note? Well, to save space in the book, I’ve written only the

treble clef. The bottom note will always be written in the chord name. So for the first chord, the bottom note (played in the left hand) is C! For the next chord, it’s F! That’s easy isn’t it. This is also good practice, because fake books don’t give you the bass either!

Common tone

Here, I’ve given you the same selection, but with the note names written underneath (very handy if you don’t read music). Notice that in the second measure the 3rd _{o f the}

CM7 chord (E) becomes the 7th _{o f the FM7 (E, as well, of course). This is a}

phenomenon that will become very clear to you as we go through the book. That’s because these two chords are related by the circle of fifths. I know, it sounds

mysterious and powerful doesn’t it? Like Stonehenge or the Knights of the Round Table. But the circle of fifths is quite easy. All it means is that the roots of the two chords are related by a 4th_.

C to F is a 4th

Chords that are related by the circle of fifths are used all the time in every style of music from Bach to Rap. Because they are used so often, it is good to learn patterns of chords moving around the circle of fifths with smooth voice leading.

Smooth Voice leading means that the notes in one chord move to the notes in the next chord in the smoothest way possible. As you can see below, in the second

measure, the B moves down a whole-step to the A, which is much smoother than what happens in the first measure, where the B jumps up almost a whole octave to the A.

Poor voice Leading Smooth voice Leading

Top note stays the same, bottom note moves down a whole step: much smoother! Both notes jump a

4th_{: not smooth}

Voices are the notes in a chord. If the top note of each chord above is a voice, in

would stay on the same note in the second measure (which is quite smooth) and it would jump up a 4th _{in the first measure (not very smooth). The middle voice drops}

down a whole step in the second measure (a smaller, smoother interval), and it jumps up a 4th _{(the same as the top note) in the first measure (not very smooth).}

them. In this book, we will learn two ways to play chords – in the first one, we’ll put the 3rd _{on top and the 7}th _{in the middle.}

As soon as you start to grow confident playing them in this first voicing, we will learn the second voicing, in which the order of the notes are reversed: the 7th _{will be on top}

and the 3rd _{in the middle. This is the voicing of FM7 you see in the second measure up}

above. By switching the order of the 7th _{and 3}rd _{of the second chord when you switch}

between two chords related by the circle of fifths – you will create very smooth, pleasing chord changes.

Since these patterns are used so often, it is usually preferable to memorize these “changes” or groups of two chords, and how to move between them smoothly, rather than learning the chords individually. So, for those who can start memorizing these patterns right away before learning all the chords, I would recommend it. When you read, If you can look at two chords and know what to do instead of one, it will allow you to read faster as well as smoother.

Moving from CM7 to FM7 with Smooth Voice Leading

C Major 7th

7

R

3

7

R

3

Things to remember when moving around the circle of fifths between two chords: ƒ The root will go up a fourth

ƒ the top note stays the same

ƒ the middle note drops either a whole step or a half-step (depending on the qualities of the chord – If moving from a Major 7th _{to a Major 7}th_{, as}

demonstrated above, the middle note will go down a whole step).

Moving from DM7 to GM7 with Smooth Voice Leading

D Major 7th

7

3

G Major 7th _{(voicing two)}

R

7

R

3

As an exercise, try to transpose this pattern up another whole step (EM7 to AM7) without finding it later in the book.

Practice Finding Major 7th Chords

voicing 2 chord, written as “v2” in parentheses. To find the second chord in each measure, just

a) take the middle note of the 1st _{chord in each measure down}

a whole step (for example, B to A in the first measure) and b) change the Root of the 1st

chord to the Root of the second (for example, C to F in the first measure). (Remember, I haven’t written the Root of each chord out in notation, because it’s in the name of the chord!

Moving from Major 7th Chord to Major 7th Chord

SAME NOTE DOWN WHOLE STEP

4

Chapter 4: Minor 7

_{Chords and}

How to Find Them

Major 7 chords, now let’s learn Minor 7 chords. The only difference is that instead of taking the top two notes (the ntoes in the right hand) down a half-step as you did for Major 7 chords, you’ll be taking them down a

whole-step for Minor 7

chords.

th

th

th th

Step 3 for Minor Seventh Chords, Move the top two notes (the higher Root and 4th₎

down a whole-step (two keys to the left). For C Minor 7th _(Cm7): Starting Position for C Chords

R

R

4

C Minor 7th

7

3

For F Minor 7th _(Fm7):

Starting Position for F Chords

F Minor 7th

4

R

R

7

₃

R

Learning the differences between Major 7

_chords

and Minor 7

_chords.

The only difference between Minor 7th _{chords and Major 7}th _{chords is that the 7}th _and

3rd _{o f the chord (the notes played in the right hand) are a half-step lower for Minor 7}th

chords than for major 7th _chords.

The right hand in these two measures

is down exactly a ½ step from the right hand in these two measures

So, if I were to tell you that B flat Major 7th _{is the notes “Bb, A and D”, you should be}

Practice Finding Minor 7th Chords

Use Nate’s Three Finger Piano Method. The right hand (the top two notes) is down a half-step from its Major 7th _{Chord equivalent.}

As with the Major 7

chords, when moving between

two minor 7

_chords

_using

smooth voice leading

,

the top note will remain the

same, and the middle note

will move down a whole step.

The Root note, in the left

hand, is in the name of the

chord, and therefore, I don’t

write it out. (For example,

the first chord, is C in the

left hand with Bb and Eb

in the right hand)