{"id":90,"date":"2018-05-25T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-10T09:46:54","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:46:54","slug":"the-3-5-1-piano-riff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/the-3-5-1-piano-riff\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3-5-1 Piano Riff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t let the math intimidate you. The <\/span>3-5-1 Riff<\/strong> is an amazing way to take your triads and move them into a whole new space of creativity, taking a simple shape and flowing all the way down the keyboard.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever seen a pianist play a huge run across their entire instrument and wondered what the steps were to get them to that level of proficiency, well this is it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3-5-1 riff takes just two chords of your choosing. For the purpose of this lesson\u2019s demonstration, I chose a <\/span>D major <\/strong>chord and an <\/span>A major <\/strong>chord. You can also consider this a <\/span>I-V <\/strong>chord progression, with the <\/span>I <\/strong>being the <\/span>D major <\/strong>and the <\/span>V <\/strong>is the <\/span>A major.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the first step is to just play these two chords down the whole piano as solid chords. The goal of this exercise is to help your hands learn how far apart the <\/span>D major <\/strong>chord is from the <\/span>A major <\/strong>chord.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve become familiar with the distance between these chords, it\u2019s time to look at the pattern I\u2019m playing, the famous <\/span>3-5-1.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice how the lick starts on the <\/span>3rd <\/strong>note of the chord, then plays the <\/span>5<\/strong> and then the <\/span>1<\/strong>. <\/strong>The fingering is exactly the same as the notes you play:  <\/span>3-5-1<\/strong>!  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that covers your first chord, <\/span>D major. <\/strong>Now it\u2019s time to move onto the <\/span>A major <\/strong>chord. To do that, lead with your finger <\/span>3, <\/strong>landing on the <\/span>C#.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you land on <\/span>C# <\/strong>with finger <\/span>3, <\/strong>you\u2019re all set up to play this same pattern again but this time in <\/span>A major <\/strong>position. It\u2019ll feel very similar since both chords feature white keys on <\/span>1 <\/strong>and <\/span>5 <\/strong>and a black key on the <\/span>3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s the whole phrase! At this point, it\u2019s all about slowing it down and gradually building up that muscle memory through repetition until you can flow down the whole keyboard in one motion. Remember to see finger <\/span>3 <\/strong>as your guiding finger. It\u2019s the one that links the two chords together! <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best of luck! You can do it!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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