Piano Chords: building your keyboard awareness & knowledgePiano Chords, along with the piano scales, are the basic building blocks of most piano music. Learning the chords develops your keyboard awareness, and enhances your understanding of the music you read, memorize, compose, or improvise. The first chords a pianist should learn are the Major Triads and the Minor Triads. ("Triad" refers to a 3-note chord.) I've found that the best way for beginning students to learn these chords is by grouping them according to their appearance on the keys,or what I call their "keyboard image".
Major & Minor Triads: "Keyboard Image"To find the major and minor triads grouped according to keyboard image, go to "keyboard chords I" (major triads), or "keyboard chords II" (minor triads).Major & Minor Triads: ChromaticallyOnce you've learned the chords in these groups, the next step is to play them chromatically: up and down in half-steps. Thus, you will find the same major and minor triads listed in half steps if you go to "Major & Minor Triads" .Once you know these triads in root position and can play them proficiently up and down in half-steps for at least one octave, try playing them around the circle of 4ths. This will not only increase your knowledge and feel for each chord, but will improve your keyboard awareness. To learn more about developing keyboard awareness, go from "Piano Chords" to "Free Piano Lessons". Diminished TriadsTo see the diminished triads, listed chromatically, go to "Diminished Chords"The Common Chords By Root:A Chords
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