mickey figure posed on piano figure

27 Jul Major Chords – How To Figure Them Out on a Piano or Keyboard

Posted at 08:10h in Practice

Getting “back to the basics” to answer a bunch of recent questions about chord theory on a piano, Scott “The Piano Guy” Houston shows you the formula for building a Major chord on a piano in any key.

 

20 Comments
  • Charles J. Johnson JR
    Posted at 12:42h, 24 October

    Well Hello and I have learned from your very simple video “How to Count a Major Chord.

    Keep me In-touch with me>

    Best regards
    your student
    Charles J. Johnson JR

  • Chinnette Stokes
    Posted at 18:47h, 14 January

    Thank you I learn had to figure out what a major
    but how to find minor?

    • Scott Houston
      Posted at 13:48h, 16 January

      If the major chord formaula is R-4-3 , the minor chord formula is R-3-4. Simple!

      Basically you just take the middle note of the 3 notes and lower it one half-step to turn a Major into a minor.
      🙂

  • Joy
    Posted at 16:45h, 24 April

    Thank you for including me in your tips and notes. I am hoping to have a piano and time to practice these lessons one of these days. Until then, I pray God will bless you for the kindness you have shown including me in your free lessons.

    • Scott Houston
      Posted at 15:43h, 28 October

      You are most welcome!

  • Christine A Anderson
    Posted at 15:52h, 08 September

    Thank you for the explanation!

    • Scott Houston
      Posted at 15:42h, 28 October

      You are most welcome!

  • Kishore Banerjee
    Posted at 17:53h, 25 October

    Dear Sir

    Is it compulsory to play only on left hand. What about Minior Chords? What are they?

    • Scott Houston
      Posted at 15:41h, 28 October

      If what you mean is “Do you have to play the chords with your left hand?” then the answer is no. We suggest you do in the beginning, so that it leaves your right hand free to play the melody line. A minor chord is a Major chord with the middle note lowered 1/2 step. We get into all that in the online courses.

  • WmMatt Harris
    Posted at 18:27h, 30 May

    I’m a professional pianist–I learned to read in the way you teach…..Scott you are an original…..I have sat in pedagogy classes of Dr. Amanda Vick Lethco at the Univ. Tx….she was right on of course….but you’re approach is quicker and more practical.

  • Diana Hages
    Posted at 10:21h, 12 July

    I studied piano as an adult for 2 years, 35 years ago. Of course it was traditional, classical. After 2 years, we hadn’t even gotten into chords and I found the music sometimes “boring”. When I retired, I decided to take up piano once more. I started lessons with a local teacher, and was doing fine, but seem to linger on music that just didn’t interest me. When the pandemic struck, I had to stop private lessons. I started to look for online courses and found you. I took the free lesson and low and behold, I was playing out of rock and popular song books almost immediately. What a thrill. I am signing up for your courses to advance and can’t wait to learn and PLAY more. Thanks Scott…..regards, Diana Hages

  • Hannah Derleth
    Posted at 17:59h, 10 August

    Glad you enjoyed it, Orna! Sign up for our PIAF courses and we can make that happen.

  • June Gainous
    Posted at 08:17h, 22 September

    Thank you for these short tips snd lessons! Life is full and it is so nice to be able to pick up these tips in bite size sized pieces! ❤️

  • Samuel jella
    Posted at 13:58h, 24 September

    Very interesting way of explaining piano.like to learn more

  • Anouk
    Posted at 05:33h, 03 October

    Only playing by ear , scared of theory untill now. You seem to make it look so easy. Great. Thanks🙏🏻🙏🏻

  • Kusum Maheahwari
    Posted at 08:44h, 12 October

    Cool stuff ..Look forward to learning more would love to be able to play some songs

  • Sally Isaksen
    Posted at 21:36h, 13 October

    Interested in your online course, just to help me actually play a tune without practicing for hours—is that possible? My left hand never did do well by following music in front of me—help! 🙂

    • Hannah Derleth
      Posted at 12:09h, 14 October

      Hey Sally!
      It’s totally possible— once you get the ball rolling and understand some of the basics of playing with lead sheets as Piano in a Flash uses in the lessons, you could be picking songs up in a day or two, instead of weeks! I struggled with my left hand too, and using the lead sheet version of music makes it 10x easier to understand and play both songs together. Best part is, if you don’t understand something in a song, you can reach out to our support team and one of the piano tutors can help you through it!

  • Emmanuel
    Posted at 15:11h, 11 November

    I wanna play on adavance.. Minor chords

  • Anne Beardsley
    Posted at 16:49h, 24 July

    I came across your session on creating major cords — so simple and easy — I’m delighted to benefit from your teaching. Many thanks!!