Piano & Keyboard All-in-One For Dummies
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To be a good piano or keyboard player, you need to understand the anatomy of a triad. Chords begin very simply. Like melodies, chords are based on scales. To make a chord, you select any note and play other scale notes at the same time.

Generally, the lowest note of a chord is called the root note. The root note also gives the chord its name. For example, a chord with A as its root note is an A chord. The notes you use on top of the root note give the chord its type, starting with major and minor chords.

Most chords begin as triads, or three (tri) notes added (ad) together. Okay, that’s not the actual breakdown of the word, but it may help you remember what triad means. A triad consists of a root note and two other notes: for example, the root plus a third interval and a fifth interval.

Check out this typical triad played on the white keys C-E-G. C is the root note, E is a third interval from C, and G is a fifth interval from C.

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You build new chords by altering this C triad in any of the following ways:

  • Raising or lowering notes of the triad by a half step or whole-step

  • Adding notes to the triad

  • Both raising or lowering notes and adding notes

For example, here are four different ways to change the C triad and make four new chords. Play each of these chords to hear how they sound. The note intervals are marked in each chord.

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About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.

Jerry Kovarsky is a regular columnist for Keyboard magazine and longtime product management guru with Casio, Korg, and other companies who have been instrumental in bringing keyboard technology into people's homes and onto stages and studios around the world.

Holly Day and Michael Pilhofer are co-authors of all editions of Music Theory For Dummies and Music Composition For Dummies. Blake Neely was a contributing author to the 2nd edition of Piano For Dummies. David Pearl is author of Piano Exercises For Dummies. Jerry Kovarksy is a contributing writer to Electronic Musician magazine.

Holly Day and Michael Pilhofer are co-authors of all editions of Music Theory For Dummies and Music Composition For Dummies. Blake Neely was a contributing author to the 2nd edition of Piano For Dummies. David Pearl is author of Piano Exercises For Dummies. Jerry Kovarksy is a contributing writer to Electronic Musician magazine.

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.

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