Piano Cheats

In “The 3 Basic Chords” post, we learned the following 3 chords:

Chord I – i.e., the I major chord

Chord IV – i.e., the IV major chord

Chord V – i.e., the V major chord

Then, in “The 3 Minor Chords”, we learned the following 3 chords:

Chord IIm – i.e., the II minor chord

Chord IIIm – i.e., the III minor chord

Chord VIm – i.e., the VI minor chord

Here, we are going to learn the corresponding major of the above 3 chords. These are:

Chord II – i.e., the II major chord

Chord III – i.e., the III major chord

Chord VI – i.e. the VI major chord

Unlike their minor counterparts that can be improvised using the 3 basic chords, I don’t know of anyway one can improvise II, III and VI major chords, but to learn it by hard. Too bad.

However, they don’t appear in many songs. And even when they appear in a song, they do so in relatively small part of it.

In the key of C, the II, III and VI major chords are D major, E major and A major chords respectively. This is how you play them:

D major comprises the following 3 notes:

D – i.e,. the “doe” note of the D major scale,

F# – i.e., the “me” note of the D major scale, and

A – i.e, the “so” note of the D major scale.

Figure 1: D Major

Likewise, E major comprises the following 3 notes:

E – i.e., the “doe” note of the E major scale,

G# – i.e., the “me” note of the E major scale, and

B – i.e., the “so” note of the E major scale.

Figure 2: E Major

Similarly, without elaborating, A major comprises A, C# and E notes (i.e., the “doe”, “me”, and “so” notes of A major scale).

Figure 3: A Major

If you were playing in the key of G, then the II, III and VI major chords would be: A, B and E major respectively.

Tags: A major, chord, D major, E major, II major, III major, major, piano, VI major

Very often, a certain chord would naturally lead to another chord. You can find this in many songs. I call this ‘Chord Association’, i.e., associating one chord with another. The following are some examples:

· Chord IIIm usually leads to Chord VIm

· Chord VIm usually leads to Chord IIm

· Chord IIm usually leads to Chord V

· Chord V usually leads to Chord I

· Chord I usually leads to Chord IV

You must have noticed that the above makes use of pretty much all “the 3 basic chords” and “the 3 minor chords”. In the key of C, the above translates to:

· Em usually leads to Am

· Am usually leads to Dm

· Dm usually leads to G

· G usually leads to C

· C usually leads to F

They don’t happen all the time, of course, but they do occur often enough that I feel it a useful tip to know.

I have entitled this post as ‘part 1’. There is a ‘part 2’ to come but before that, we will have to shift to the ‘Advanced’ gear. Please buckle up.

Tags: associating chords, cheat, chord, chord association, piano, play, shortcut

This song by Chris Tomlin is a good example to illustrate our Chord Mixing trick (See “Chord Mixing (part 1)” and “Chord Mixing (part 2)” posts).

The whole song can be simplified to the following chord pattern:

I –> VIm –> IV –> V

That is, Chord I followed by Chord VIm, followed by Chord IV, and then by Chord V.

In the C key, that means:

C –> Am –> F –> G

To make the progression above interesting, however, let’s play the 4 chords by mixing them with their corresponding chord pairs that we have learned in the “Chord Mixing” posts.

That means, we will play (I hope you already know what chords to mix them with in your head straightaway, as that familiarity will help you A LOT!) the following:

C (+G) –> Am (+G) –> F (+C) –> G (+F)

Here is the illustration on video…

If that chord mixing skill does not come automatically to you, then you will have to learn it the hard way, by following your music score or chord chart strictly, which will probably read something like this…

C2 C C2 C G/A Am G/A Am F2 F F2 F F/G G F/G G

Doesn’t that look very complicated? But really, let me say it again, you only need to know the 3 basic chords!

Tags: cheat, chris tomlin, how great is our god, mixing, piano, play, priase, shortcut, superposition, worship

If you remember “the 3 minor chords”, and how we play them by substituting them with the 3 basic chords, and simply combining each of these 3 basic chords with a different bass note, then the summary is as below:

Chord VI m = Chord I (right hand) + Bass 6 (left hand), i.e., the “la” note

Chord II m = Chord IV (right hand) + Bass 2 (left hand)

Chord III m = Chord V (right hand) + Bass 3 (left hand)

To recap the chord mixing from part 1, see the summary below:

Chord I + Chord V

Chord IV + Chord I

Chord V + Chord IV

Now, since the 3 minor chords are made up of the 3 basic chords, we can actually mix them with the same chords as above too. I.e.,

Chord VI m + Chord V

i.e., Chord VIm can be mixed with Chord V. Afterall, to start with, we actually play Chord I on the right hand with a different bass note (the 6^th note, i.e., “la”) to implement Chord VIm. In the key of C, that means the Am chord can be mixed with a G chord.

Similarly,

Chord II m + Chord I

i.e., Chord IIm can be mixed with Chord I. Afterall, to start with, we actually play Chord IV on the right hand with a different bass note (the 2^nd note, i.e., “re”) to implement Chord IIm. In the key of C, that means a Dm chord can be mixed with a C chord.

However, here is the exception. We can’t exactly mix Chord IIIm with Chord IV. You can try. I have tried it, but I don’t like the resulting sound. That means, in the key of C, I usually do NOT mix Em with an F chord.

I will show an example of chord mixing as soon as I can with the song “How Great Is Our God” by Chris Tomlin using a video.

Tags: cheat, chord, chris tomlin, how great is our god, illustration, mixing, piano, praise, shortcut, superposition, worship

This is about playing 2 different chords alternately while playing the same bass note(s). And the technique comes in very handy quite often.

In general, this is how I mix chords…

When the chord you are supposed to play is Chord I, you may mix Chord V to it, i.e.,

Chord I ( + Chord V )

Similarly, you may mix Chord I to Chord IV, i.e.,

Chord IV ( + Chord I )

And to Chord V, you may mix Chord IV, i.e.,

Chord V ( + Chord IV )

Let’s use the C key as an example again. It’s always easier to use the C key.

If you are supposed to play C (Chord I of C key), then try playing two chords instead, i.e., first play C (Chord I), and followed by G (Chord V), while the bass continues to stay on C. In terms of sequence, you may also do it the other way round, that is, to play G first, and followed by C. (That depends on the melody that is supposed to go with the chords. Use you own discretion.)

Similarly, if you are supposed to play F (Chord IV of C key), then try playing F (Chord IV) and C (Chord I) alternately instead.

As for G (Chord V), try playing the two chords: G (Chord V) and F (Chord IV) alternately instead.

Here is an illustration on video…

In fact, if you haven’t noticed, what we are doing to Chord I by mixing it with Chord V is essentially producing a Chord I2 (i.e., Sus2 of Chord I) sound.

That’s what we have done to Chord IV as well. That is, by mixing Chord IV with Chord I, we have produced Chord IV2.

Well, they are indeed the Sus2 chords that we have learned in my “Improvising Sus2” post. The point, however, that I would like to make here is, whenever you see a Chord I and Chord IV on your music score or chord chart, try to have it in your mind that you can always mix those chords with their corresponding “pairs” above. You will be surprised how much enhancement you can make to the music by doing so (appropriately, of course).

As for Chord V, by mixing it with Chord IV does NOT give you a Chord V2. So, this is slightly different. However, the same point needs to be made, i.e., whenever you see a Chord V on your music score or chord chart (especially if the chord following it is Chord I), do remember that you can mix that Chord V with a Chord IV. You will like the sound!

Tags: cheat, chord, illustration, mixing, piano, shortcut, superposition