Chord Hacks #3: Left Hand Magic

SHARE THIS:        

So now that you know some amazing chords in all of their inversions, you’re going to want to find some great ways to play them in the left hand.  It’ll make learning songs and cool keyboard patterns so much more fun!  Here’s how to add some magic to your left hand accompaniment.  

The simplest way to add magic to your left hand chord progression is to actually strip them right back to just their root notes.  If you play them a few octaves below middle C, you’ll have a deep, rich, open sound that won’t get in the way of your right hand chords and melodies.  Wanna make that bass sound even deeper?  Add an octave note to the bass notes.  

If you want to hint at the chord progression in the left hand without voicing all the notes in the chord, try simply playing just the 5th intervals of the chord, leaving the 3rd to be played in the right hand.  Most times the best approach for the left hand is to keep it simple.  The last thing you want is to cover all your beautiful melody playing with some muddy chords down below.  

Once you get good at all of that, you can combine some of these skills and play broken arpeggios in the left hand consisting of the root, the fifth and the octave.  Before long, you’ll have developed your instincts in the left hand to create your own patterns on the fly!

SHARE THIS:        

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.