Beginner Piano: A Piano Player’s Best-Kept Secret

Let me tell you a secret…

If you know chords, you know how to play the piano.

I’m not kidding. A basic understanding of chords allows you to play hundreds of your favorite songs. You don’t need to know how to read sheet music, go to music school, or spend hours and hours on theory lessons. Just knowing chords will take you far.

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Why Chords Are Everything

We often think of music as being made up of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Not chords.

But if you break songs down, they are really a series of chords. You can learn more about this here.

This goes for all songs, not just guitar pop songs. Chords form the basis of classical music too!

What You Need to Know About Chords

So what exactly do you need to know about chords to unlock the piano? A good place  to start is diatonic chords. These are the chords that naturally occur on a given scale.

Take C Major. The first note of C Major is C. If we build a chord on C Major (C-E-G), this is the I chord. If we build a chord on the second note, D (making D-F-A), this is the ii chord.

Degree of Scale (C Major)	Diatonic Triad
1 – C (tonic)	C-E-G
2 – D (supertonic)	D-F-A
3 – E (mediant)	E-G-B
4 – F (subdominant)	F-A-C
5 – G (dominant)	G-B-D
6 – A (submediant)	A-C-E
7 – B (leading)	B-D-F

String a bunch of diatonic chords together and you get a chord progression.

One of the most common chord progressions ever is the I-V-vi-IV. This progression is everywhere, so if you know it, you can play, like, half the songs on the radio.

An Exercise to Get You Started on Chords

Try this:

1. Play a fifth (C-G) on your right hand. This is like a C chord without the middle note.
2. With your left hand, play the first, fifth, sixth, and then fourth note of the C Major scale. That’s C – G – A – F.

Then, try to sing one of your favorite pop songs on top of that. In the video, I use “The Rose” by Bette Midler.

And voilà, you’re playing a SONG!

This is just the beginning…

Many of you will want to play something fancier than this, but what we’ve just done is the foundation to playing piano with chords. Master it and you WILL master the piano!

When you’re ready for the next step, check out our course on riffs and fills to fluff out your playing.

In the meantime, practice, practice, practice! Try the same exercise in a different key, such as G or F Major. Try it in a minor key!

And if you want to learn more, here are some related free lessons to inspire you:

• How to Play Piano Chords: Triads, 7ths, Chord Extensions and More
• Diatonic Chords, Explained
• Piano Chord Inversions, Explained
• The Nashville Number System for Piano (Beginner’s Guide)

Happy practicing!

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