Chord System- Learning Piano

“ A SYSTEM “

WHAT IS IT? IT’S WHAT YOU NEED!

SCALES - 12 BASIC SCALES:

C- C#- D- Eb- E- F- F#- G- Ab- A- Bb- C

8 NOTES TO A SCALE

KEY C#- ( one note scale of the 12 )
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Root degrees C# Eb F F# Ab Bb C C#

The 3rd and 5th scale degrees are critical notes to chord types.
Chord Extension is the same chord types with notes added to change voicing- like adding the 7th.
Extensions never, ever, change types.........

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CHORDS - 8 NOTES ARE CONVERTED TO 8 CHORDS
RULES TO CHORDS - THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF CHORDS:
NAMES OF CHORD TYPES:
“MAJOR_MINOR_DIMINISHED_AUGMENTED”

60 Free piano Lessons

KEY C# -
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

(C#FAb) (EbF#Bb) (FAbC) (F#BbC#) (AbCEb) (BbC#F) (CebF#) (C#FAb)

MAJ MIN MIN MAJ MAJ MIN DIM MAJ

YOU PLAY THE ROOT NOTE OF SCALE IN LEFT HAND...
EX: C#/C#FAb

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PROGRESSIONS - 4 basic progressions you need to know in every key scale.

Here is C# -

Eb/F#BbC#F____Ab/F#BbCEb___C#/FAbC# - 251
C/BbCEbF#____F/ACEbF_____Bb/AbCC#F - 736
A/F#BbBEb____C#/FBbBEb____F#/F#AbBbC# - 514
F/EbAbB_____Bb/AbC#DF#____Eb/F#BbC#F - 362

Now all these chords have names, and they consist of the different types, and extensions, as well as substitutes in some chords............these particular set of chords designed within this basic pattern of progressions are where we are going!

SUBSTITUTES - what makes a chord a substitute; is placement! The chord in and of itself is nothing more than one of the 4 types of chords. But as you move into putting chords and making progressions together, it’s hard to avoid subs.....subs enhance your playing....... all of this done in repetition will take you where you want to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are really two groups of piano players:

Those that play from a jam and do level of feeling and those that know all the rules and how they fit together.

Both musicians can arrive at the same point but they get there from different routes. That brings me to chord systems. Some players get these sounds naturally. Others need some guidance in order to get there.
There is no judgement here as to which is better. They are just different means to get to the same ends.

I wish I had a real intelligent answer as to what a chord system actually is but I don’t. So I will explain it this way… Let’s say you want to play chords in the left hand and solo in the right… there is a system of chords that facilitate this goal. Your left hand chords sound too muddy? Go to a system to show you how low certain formulas go.

You see a lot of complex chords but you don’t have enough fingers to play all the intervals. Systems offer a way to use your four or five fingers to play all the tensions… #11 b13 add 6 #9 b9 etc

You want to play bigger chords. How do you find which notes to add which ones to leave out?

Two hand voicing formulas are there for you.

You want to have real tight clusters. Again there are systems that deal with this.

In other words, whatever sound you want to have, there is a voicing system out there to help you achieve the sound you are looking for.

rootless left hand voicings
quartal voicings
lock hands voicings
open chord
clusters
combinations
These are all jazz systems that have been played in most contemporary styles.
If you want to add some polish to your chords or you want a more uniform sound, pick up a jazz book that deals with chord formulas and study them. The difference is not in how they look but how they are played. They all have the same keys and could all be played exactly the same way but if you did that you would not be getting the best out of all the instruments.

A piano uses hammers that strike strings which vibrate and resonate within the cabinet of the piano. Therefore you have to strike the keys firmly in order to produce good tone. Also because the strings vibrate, they create harmonic overtones that cannot be duplicated by an electronic instrument. If you are going to play piano, you have to have good technique because there are no string sounds or effects to cover up your mistakes.

Keyboards imitate other instruments like horns, pianos, organs, and strings. They are used to play everything from worship music to contemporary gospel. Musicians often layer bass guitar in their left hand while combining keys and horns or strings. Some keyboards have piano patches that sound almost as good as the real thing but overall if someone wants a keyboard player they want someone who can get the best out of a keyboard such as synthy sounds and layered sounds to emulate a band or a horn section.

Organ:
This instrument has foot pedals so it is common to play the bass lines with your feet and chords with your left and right hands and sometimes solo with your right hand. They also have over a million possible sounds by combining the draw bars in different ways. All the sounds still sound like an organ but the organ sounds are different… flute like, string like, etc.
Although they all have the same keys, your approach is very different. They have different roles.
So, learn all you can with different chord voicings and systems.

Learn to Play those foot-stomping Praise Songs on the organ!


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