Chord Hacks #4: Putting It Together

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Have you ever wanted to put both hands on the piano and just play without worrying about missing notes or screwing up?  Then this lesson is for you.  

Now that you’ve learned about chord inversions and left hand patterns, it’s time to put both hands together.  You’re gonna be moving between chords and their inversions in the right hand, while the left uses some of the magic accompaniment patterns.  

In your last chord hack lesson, you learned a few ways to make your left hand move within the chords.  You learned how to use root notes to give the chords some depth, and you learned how to play octaves to give the chords and even deeper, richer sound.  You learned about the importance of the 5th interval for creating a subtle, open framework that will let the right hand chords and melodies really shine, and you learned about using arpeggio patterns to create some rhythmic movement.

So with all of these different rhythmic variations, you’re probably gonna want to work in your right hand as well, including those sweet chord inversions!  One of the most difficult barriers that a lot of students struggle with is understanding where the root is when you’ve made chord inversions.  That’s why it’s important to follow the name or number in the chord, especially when you’re just starting out.  Remember, the chords used in this song are the I, V, vi, IV.  Start out with the I chord in root position, then move to the V chord in 1st inversion before moving that chord shape up one white key to the right and making the vi chord in 1st inversion.  Your final chord movement of the progression will be the IV chord, but in 2nd inversion.  When changing from chord to chord using these inversion, you’ll notice that it’s really easy to hear exactly what chord you’re playing when you play the root notes in the left hand.  

So go ahead and create your own left handed patterns using these examples.  Don’t be afraid to experiment, and keep your ears open!  You never know what you can come up with until you try!

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Lisa Witt has been teaching piano for more than 20 years and in that time has helped hundreds of students learn to play the songs they love. Lisa received classical piano training through the Royal Conservatory of Music, but she has since embraced popular music and playing by ear in order to accompany herself and others. Learn more about Lisa.