| In this free beginner piano lesson, learn the difference | | | | Let's Look at an Example |
| between Major and Minor chords and how to play | | | | We saw in our article in this series about how to play |
| them quickly and easily! | | | | 'Away in a Manger', that: |
| When you listen to popular piano music, what creates | | | | -- the D Major chord is: D F# A. |
| the tone or the atmosphere of the song? Why are | | | | To find the D Minor chord, you lower the middle note |
| some songs bright and cheerful, such as the Beatles' | | | | of the D Major chord by one half-step or semitone |
| 'The Yellow Submarine' or 'When I'm Sixty Four'? And | | | | from F# to F. Therefore, |
| why are other songs filled with sadness and pathos, | | | | -- the D Minor chord is: D F A. |
| such as the Beatles' 'Yesterday' or 'The Fool on the | | | | Play these two chords one after the other and hear |
| Hill'? | | | | how different their tone is! |
| Much of the difference is due to the common use of | | | | Chords are represented by chord symbols in books of |
| Major chords in the cheerful songs, and Minor chords in | | | | popular piano music. Here are the chord symbols for |
| the sad songs. | | | | these two chords: |
| Basic Major and Minor chords are just three notes | | | | -- D Major chord: D |
| played together. So it is fascinating that this dramatic | | | | -- D Minor chord: Dm |
| difference in tone, between a Major chord and a Minor | | | | What About All the Other Types of Chords? |
| chord, is achieved by just a slight adjustment of one of | | | | If you look in a book of popular music, such as one of |
| the three notes in the chord! | | | | those in Hal Leonard's Fake Book series, you will see |
| How to Make a Minor Chord from a Major Chord | | | | many other types of chords that are used in the |
| To construct a Minor chord, you take the | | | | accompaniments. These include Seventh chords, Sixth |
| corresponding Major chord and simply lower the middle | | | | chords, Diminished chords, Augmented chords and |
| note by one half-step or semitone. | | | | Suspended chords. |
| On your piano or keyboard, the keys that are directly | | | | In a similar way to the relationship between the Major |
| adjacent to one another are one half-step or one | | | | and Minor chords, all of these other chord types have |
| semitone apart. The adjacent note can be either black | | | | simple relationships with one another. It is quite easy to |
| or white. So to lower a note by one half-step or | | | | learn to play all of these chord types without reading |
| semitone you simply go down to the next adjacent | | | | complex musical scores, memorizing huge numbers of |
| piano key on the left. | | | | individual chords or counting up endless rows of |
| For example if you lower the following notes by one | | | | half-steps or semitones. |
| half-step: | | | | Once you understand the simple key that unlocks the |
| -- F# becomes F, | | | | huge variety of piano chords, you can learn beautiful |
| -- A becomes Ab, | | | | embellishment techniques for these chords. Then you |
| -- C becomes B, and | | | | can create your own unique accompaniments for your |
| -- F becomes E. | | | | favorite style of popular music - with ease! |