A question about chords

Questions on learning to play the piano, and piano music.

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Gill the Piano
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Post by Gill the Piano »

You can get picture chord books which have photos of hands in the apposite positions for various chords - is that any help? For me chords are too much like maths for comfort and I go all of a doo-dah if I have to work 'em out, so a book like that would be useful for me in your situation. However, it sounds as though you're fairly clued up already! :)
Geminoz
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chords

Post by Geminoz »

Hi there
You can also get a very different and softer and more mellow sound if you open the chords ie: play each note seperately....it allows a lot of improvisation depending on the music you are playing.
slofinger
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Post by slofinger »

Sounds like you need to start either learning by ear harmony from your favourite music and apply that or buy yourself a god theoretical harmony book. One excellent one based around choral harmony as practised by Bach et al is 'Elementary Harmony' by C.H. Kitson - Oxford University Press. It explains and gives examples of all chord forms from simple diatonic inversions to more complex 'added note ' chords such as you mentioned.
slofinger
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Post by slofinger »

Sounds like you need to start either learning by ear harmony from your favourite music and apply that or buy yourself a good theoretical harmony book. One excellent one based around choral harmony as practised by Bach et al is 'Elementary Harmony' by C.H. Kitson - Oxford University Press. It explains and gives examples of all chord forms from simple diatonic inversions to more complex 'added note ' chords such as you mentioned.
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Bill Kibby
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Chords

Post by Bill Kibby »

A "chord" is often defined as two or more notes played together" but, in practice, it is really THREE notes or more, and the vast majority of the seven hundred or so that I use do not fit into the very basic system of chord notation which you have learnt so diligently, because pieces do not always stay in a single scale. You need to look at them differently, and learn to locate the notes of a major scale in any key. Then, don't just think in terms of melody and chord, experiment with adding a simple harmony, such as a third below the melody, or a sixth, or both together. If you are in East Anglia, you can contact me for lessons, at
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/index.html
Piano History Centre
http://pianohistory.info
Email via my website.
If you find old references or links on this site to pianogen.org, they should refer to pianohistory.info
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