15 Feb Moving Smoothly From Chord to Chord on the Piano
Here is a simple but effective chord jumping practice exercise you can before you sit down to play/practice your tunes. Below, you’ll find an easy to follow transcript of the above video. I hope it helps!
“I know that people understand that they need to jump from one chord to the next, but their “target practice” kinda stinks! Luckily, I have a simple exercise to help with this. Doing this exercise a little bit every time you sit down at the piano with help a lot!
“I use major chords in this video. First, I suggests starting on a simple chord, like a C, and move up the scale every note at a time; you keep the same hand position, but move up one key at a time. Speed is not important, simply accuracy; you just want to nail it down and get your brain connected to the distance between the keys.
“First, simple move up and down hitting every single note.
“Next, I suggest skipping one note at a time. So if you start at a C, you’ll go up to an E, then a G, and finally a B. When you go down, you’ll want to start with your pinky on a C, then work down the scale skipping every other note (C, A, F, then D). Do these about four or five times – no need to do it for any great length of time, maybe just a few seconds.
“Now, let’s skip two notes at a time, starting at the C with your pinky, and working up the scale skipping every two white notes.
“Finally, let’s skip three notes. Again, starting at the C and moving up the scale – C to G, to D, and then back.
“There it is! It’s not very creative, but if you practice each of the these – jumping every note, every other, every two, then every three – just a little bit each time you sit down at the piano, you’ll be able to burn this target practice in your brain and start connecting your hands to your brain and memorize the distance between these keys.”
Happy playing!
Sandy
Posted at 20:40h, 15 FebruaryThanks this will really help . But it seems like my left & right hand doesn’t come together at the right time .
Jeannette
Posted at 22:22h, 15 FebruaryThank you that was a good lesson.
Ethel
Posted at 11:53h, 16 Februaryyour news letters are helpful i enjoy them i am having trouble playing deep in the heart of texas on my counting could you play it thank you
Scott Houston
Posted at 12:32h, 06 MarchI’ll try to get that covered in a future post Ethel…
Ron
Posted at 18:22h, 16 FebruaryI’ve been putting the wrong fingers on the wrong keys. I use my thumb on the root note and play the chord with my right hand, doubling the root note with the thumb again. this clears that up. ha ha ha.
wanda
Posted at 19:29h, 16 FebruaryI shall do this, left-hand does not cooperate.
wanda
Posted at 19:31h, 16 FebruaryThanks for the lesson.
Barbara L Bennett
Posted at 12:07h, 18 FebruaryThank you for the lesson. Appreciate your teaching style.
Daryl Kennedy
Posted at 23:12h, 18 FebruaryOnce again Scott excellent tips in a compact lesson. It’s great when a lesson pops up which nails a playing issue which I have been grappling with. ESP Extra Sensory Piano lol. Daryl K
Arthur Glover
Posted at 10:45h, 19 FebruaryI would learn the I-IV-I-V-I pattern of moving through the major and minor chords for moving smoothly and minimizing your movement around chords.
Pip
Posted at 18:32h, 26 JulyHi Scott
Thanks so much, I’m really enjoying and benefiting from your posts. I was classically trained on the piano many years ago and can still sight read but would like to learn more about chords. Do you have courses specifically for this purpose?
Kindest wishes
Pip
Hannah Derleth
Posted at 17:09h, 10 AugustHi Pip!
Hannah the marketing gal here. PIAF lessons are a mix of things, we actually start teaching basic concepts of chords in the first course! I do recommend starting with course 1 still if you need help with chords, but since you have some background with music, the musical concepts might come to you that much easier!
Mary
Posted at 13:00h, 21 AugustThank you for your friendly and engaging approach, Scott. Really appreciate your encouragement.
Ray Garafano
Posted at 08:38h, 03 JulyPretty Good Scotts, sometimes I do the hand in a cast thing, It does work good, s
Sometimes If I just did a C then to an F 5th on the C,3rd on F and 1 on A. yup
knowing 1st and 2nd inversions is handy as in Chopin’s fantasy impromptu, there
are some quick cord changes. Happy 4th!