PSR-OR700 - Yamaha PSR-OR700 » Bass Note

Piano Chords A Chord Book And Forty Eight Popular Chords For Beginners

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:53:32 +0000

I am sure you have heard of Piano Chords. Well, that can be a little misleading because when you play chords, normally with you left hand, you would play chords on an electronic keyboard or electric organ rather than a piano.
When learning to play the piano you would normally learn, what I call a moving left hand rather than a three note or four-note chord. You can still use chords with a piano but you must put the bass note in first before playing the chord. So if you are playing a C chord you would play the C bass note first with your left hand then the C chord. With an electronic keyboard, you would just play the C chord and the auto-chord feature that most keyboards have will add the bass note for you.
So, for all you keyboard and organ beginners out there all you need to start with is some basic triad and seventh chords. There are hundreds of chords to learn, but guess what; you don’t need to learn them now.
Let me give you an example, if you are playing your favourite song on your keyboard and you come across a chord called C6 or C9 or even C11 what do you do, stop, and learn these chords or carry on playing and learn these chords later, if you want to. Sound confusing, it’s not really, what you do is play a simple C chord instead of the C6, C9 or C11.
When you see a number attached to a chord it means you are adding another note to that chord. So for example C6 means play a C chord and add a sixth to it, and if you don’t know what the sixth is just play the C chord and learn the sixth later.
Now I don’t want to bombard you with theory but there are certain rules when playing ninth and eleventh chords, the rule being you must include the seventh when playing these types of chords. Now, as a beginner you can substitute ninth and eleventh chords with seventh chords. So now, you have a choice, if you see a C9 chord, you can play either a C chord or a C7 chord, both are adequate and both will sound correct.
Here are the chords I recommend beginners learn first.
12 Major Chords
12 Seventh Chords
12 Minor Chords
12 Minor Seventh Chords
The 12 Major Chords are:
C, G, D, A, E, B, F#/Gb, C#/Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F
The 12 Seventh Chords are:
C7, G7, D7, A7, E7, B7, F#7/Gb7, C#7/Db7, Ab7, Eb7, Bb7, F7
The 12 Minor Chords are:
Cm, Gm, Dm, Am, Em, Bm, F#m/Gbm, C#m/Dbm, Abm, Ebm, Bbm, Fm
The 12 Minor Seventh Chords are:
Cm7, Gm7, Dm7, Am7, Em7, Bm7, F#m7/Gbm7, C#m7/Dbm7, Abm7, Ebm7, Bbm7, Fm7
That’s 48 of the most popular chords used in modern music today. If you learn these chords, you will be able to play hundreds of songs that are widely available in songbooks and sheet music.

Learn Lots Of Left Hand Chords Quickly (For Organ Players)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:23:35 +0000

All keyboard players as well as organists can use this method of learning chords if you are prepared to play your own bass notes or bass pedals to match the chord.
Electronic keyboards with the “Auto-Chord” feature cannot use this method because the keyboards computer selects the bass note for the chord you are playing. For example if you play an F6 chord on a keyboard using “Auto-Chord” the keyboards computer will insert an F bass note or riff based on F6 chord. However, F6 chord is also a Dm7 chord as long as there is a D bass note played.
Organ players have the choice to play there own bass notes which means when you have learnt to play F6 you have also learnt to play Dm7. One chord position with the left hand but two chords learnt just make sure to use the correct bass note, F pedal for F6 and D pedal for Dm7.
There are many examples of these chords. I won’t list them all but the examples I do list you can work out a lot more for yourself.
Using the above example F6 is also Dm7. There are two ways to look at this. To find the minor chord from the sixth chord we need to know the sixth in the F6 chord. The sixth in F6 is D so we can make Dm7.
Let’s check the notes in both chords. First F6:
F, A, C, D. F = Root A= Third C = Fifth and D = Sixth plus an F bass note reinforce or emphasise the Root.
Next Dm7:
F, A, C, D. F =Minor Third A =Fifth C =Seventh and D = Root plus a D Bass (more important this time) to emphasise the Root.
If you don’t like the theory then try counting notes from the name of the chord. For example, if we count three semitones to the left from F, you get D or if you count three semitones to the right from D, you get F.
So F6 = three semitones left to get Dm7.
Dm7 = three semitones right to get F6.
So using one of the above methods C6 is also Am7 don’t forget the correct bass notes or pedal notes make the chord what it is.
Using the above method by learning all twelve sixth chords you will also be learning all twelve minor seventh chords or vice versa.
There are many other examples of finding chords just by changing the bass note or bass pedal. Here is another example for you to check out for yourself.
Diminished chords. There are three diminished chord positions that cover twelve different diminished chords. For example, to play F Sharp Diminished chord, play F sharp, A, C and E Flat and play an F Sharp bass note or pedal. Now, keep playing the same chord but move your bass note or pedal to A, which will now make the chord A diminished, C which makes C diminished and E flat which makes E flat diminished.
In fact, I can give you another four chords using the above example. As well as the above being four diminished chords it is also four ninth flat chords. Again using the bass note or pedals, play F bass for F Ninth Flat (F9b), play A flat bass for A Flat Ninth Flat, C bass for C Ninth Flat and D bass for D Ninth Flat chord.
With just three chord positions, you can play twenty-four different chords just by changing your bass note or pedal.

Left Hand Chords for Arranger Keyboards and Electric Organs

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:26:37 +0000

All keyboard players and organ players can use the following examples of learning chords if you are prepared to play your own bass notes to match the chord.

Keyboards and organs have an “Auto-Chord” feature which many new players use.

However, to learn the chords described in this article, this must be turned off. When using the “Auto Chord” feature the keyboards computer selects the bass note for the chord you are playing. For example if you play an F6 chord on a keyboard using “Auto-Chord” the keyboards computer will insert an F bass note or riff based on F6 chord. However, F6 chord is also a Dm7 chord as long as there is a D bass note played.

Organ players have the choice to play there own bass notes which means when you have learnt to play F6 you have also learnt to play Dm7. One chord position with the left hand but two chords learnt just make sure to use the correct bass note, F pedal for F6 and D pedal for Dm7.

At the time of writing this, the latest crop of arranger keyboards such as the Yamaha Tyros, the Ketron SD5 and the Korg PA800 have the facility to redirect the bass line so that if you attach MIDI bass pedals, you can still make use of the “Auto Chord” feature and choose your own bass notes.

There are many examples of these chords. I won’t list them all but the examples I do list you can work out a lot more for yourself.

As already mentioned above F6 is also Dm7. There are two ways to look at this. To find the minor chord from the sixth chord we need to know the sixth in the F6 chord. The sixth in F6 is D so we can make Dm7.

Let’s check the notes in both chords. First F6:

F, A, C, D. F = Root A= Third C = Fifth and D = Sixth plus an F bass note reinforce or emphasise the Root.

Next Dm7:

F, A, C, D. F =Minor Third A =Fifth C =Seventh and D = Root plus a D Bass (more important this time) to emphasise the Root.

If you don’t like the theory then try counting notes from the name of the chord. For example, if we count three semitones to the left from F, you get D or if you count three semitones to the right from D, you get F. So F6 = three semitones left to get Dm7. Dm7 = three semitones right to get F6.

So using one of the above methods C6 is also Am7 don’t forget the correct bass notes or pedal notes make the chord what it is.

Using the above method by learning all twelve sixth chords you will also be learning all twelve minor seventh chords or vice versa.