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30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

This course includes:

  • 6 hours on-demand video
  • 3 articles
  • 97 downloadable resources
  • Full lifetime access
  • Access on mobile and TV
Music Music Fundamentals Piano Chords

Piano Chords

Learn to read chord symbols from classics such as "Creep", "Hallelujah", "Mad World", "Always On My Mind", etc.
Rating: 4.5 out of 54.5 (519 ratings)
5,406 students
Created by Benedict Westenra
Last updated 11/2020
English
English [Auto]
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

What you'll learn

  • Interpret basic chord symbols, including major and minor triads, sus chords, and 7th chords
  • Have multiple ways of playing the same chord, so that you can choose the one that sounds best

Requirements

  • You need to be able to play the piano already
  • Even though chords are explained at the keyboard, you need to be able to read music to do the exercises

Description

"After buying loads of books on piano chords nothing has come close to this excellent course … it has to be the best on Udemy" - Michael Fallon

"Even if you already know your scales and chords, this course brings you through the variations so that you can do more than just play a triad each and every time." - Richard

This course teaches you how to interpret basic chord symbols at the piano, and explains them:

  • at the keyboard
  • in a visual and intuitive way
  • using real pieces of music

I'll teach you concepts using original techniques that I've tested on hundreds of students over a decade, including signed artists and other industry professionals. By the end you'll know many ways of playing any chord symbol that's likely to crop up in popular music. (I'm working on a follow-up course that teaches more advanced chords that you find in jazz.)

What this course is

This course shows you many ways of playing:

  • major triads (e.g. C, Eb, F#)
  • minor triads (e.g. Dm, Fm, G#m)
  • sus chords (e.g. Esus, Gsus, Bbsus)
  • 7th chords (e.g. F#7, Am7, Cmaj7), and
  • slash chords (e.g. Ab/Eb, Bm/E, Dmaj7/E)

so that you can:

  • read a "lead sheet" (a score with a melody and chord symbols but no LH)
  • accompany yourself singing using just chord symbols, and
  • understand how the chord symbols fit a score

I'll show you many ways of playing each chord so that you can not only work out what chord to play but also turn it into a complete accompaniment.

What this course isn't

This course doesn't teach you how to play the piano - it assumes you know how to play the piano already. And the pieces used are mostly extracts that are designed to illustrate certain types of chord, so the goal isn't to play complete pieces but to acquire skills that you can apply to other pieces.

Also, this isn't a music composition course: I don't talk very much about why certain chords sound good together. However, if you are interested in learning about chord progressions this is a good starting point.

In conclusion

So, if you've ever wondered what Dm7/G means then give this course a try! You can always get a refund if you decide it isn't for you.

Best of luck on your musical journey,

Benedict

Who this course is for:

  • This course is for people who can already play the piano and read music, and who'd like a solid foundation in how to interpret chord symbols on the piano
  • This course is not for people learning to play the piano from scratch, or for people wanting to learn how to interpret chord symbols on other instruments

Featured review

Tony Tanner
Tony Tanner
71 courses
25 reviews
Rating: 4.5 out of 5a year ago
The content was well within my grasp of things because I was already familiar with the chords as a guitar player. Application to the piano however, can be thwart with difficulty, so considering a course like this was valuable in that sense

Course content

17 sections • 124 lectures • 6h 4m total length

  • Preview01:40
  • Bonus, 13/01/16: all the scores in 4 PDF's
    00:31
  • Preview00:58

  • Preview01:32
  • Preview06:35
  • Preview01:29
  • Preview01:44
  • Preview03:30
  • Root-5th-root chords
    04:08
  • Example: "Rolling in the Deep"
    02:40
  • Example: "The Heart Asks Pleasure First"
    01:58
  • Exercise: harmonize "Fields of Gold"
    01:24
  • Solution: "Fields of Gold" harmonized
    02:13
  • What is an arpeggio?
    01:55
  • Example: "Fields of Gold" with arpeggios
    03:07
  • Exercise: harmonize "Always on My Mind"
    01:05
  • Solution: "Always on My Mind" harmonized
    01:31
  • Example: "Always on My Mind" with arpeggios
    01:04

  • Semitones
    02:36
  • Tones
    01:05
  • Major 3rds
    02:36
  • Exercise: harmonize "Amazing Grace" using major 3rds
    00:52
  • Solution: "Amazing Grace" harmonised using major 3rds
    02:47
  • Major triads
    11:49
  • Exercise: harmonize "Kumbaya"
    01:46
  • Solution: "Kumbaya" harmonized
    02:45
  • Exercise: harmonise the verse of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
    00:56
  • Solution: the verse of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" harmonized"
    02:15

  • Minor 3rds
    05:04
  • Example: "Clair de lune"
    04:22
  • Minor triads
    09:08
  • Exercise: harmonize "The Tetris theme"
    02:10
  • Solution: "The Tetris theme" harmonized
    01:39
  • What is a broken chord?
    01:42
  • Example: "The Tetris theme" with broken chords
    01:55

  • Exercise: harmonize the chorus of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
    01:30
  • Solution: the chorus of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" harmonized
    01:19
  • Example: "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" with arpeggios
    05:12
  • Exercise: harmonize "Mad World"
    00:58
  • Solution: "Mad World" harmonized
    00:34
  • Example: "Mad World" with broken chords
    02:52
  • Exercise: harmonize "La valse d'Amélie"
    00:41
  • Solution: "La valse d'Amélie" harmonized
    00:24
  • Example: "La valse d'Amélie" with broken chords
    00:47
  • Practice: "La valse d'Amélie" in 6 keys
    02:50
  • Exercise: harmonize "House of the Rising Sun"
    00:53
  • Solution: "House of the Rising Sun" harmonized
    01:50
  • Example: "House of the Rising Sun" with arpeggios
    02:37
  • Exercise: harmonize "Memory"
    02:15
  • Solution: "Memory" harmonized
    04:51
  • Root-5th-10th chords
    04:31
  • Example: "Memory" with arpeggios
    04:07
  • Example: analyzing the chords to "Für Elise"
    06:25

  • 4ths
    04:23
  • Major triads in 1st inversion
    09:20
  • Exercise: harmonize the accompaniment to "All Day and All of the Night"
    02:38
  • Solution: the accompaniment to "All Day and All of the Night" harmonized
    04:02
  • Major triads in 2nd inversion
    04:20

  • Example: "Kumbaya" harmonized using inversions
    05:48
  • Exercise: harmonize the riff to "Forget You" using major triads in inversion
    01:29
  • Solution: the riff to "Forget You" harmonized using major triads in inversion
    02:09
  • Exercise: harmonize "Green Onions" using major triads in inversion
    02:15
  • Solution: "Green Onions" harmonized using major triads in inversion
    03:23

  • Minor triads in 1st inversion
    03:48
  • Example: "Lean On Me"
    01:27
  • Minor triads in 2nd inversion
    03:00
  • Exercise: complete the chords to "Creep"
    00:46
  • Solution: the chords to "Creep"
    01:21
  • Example: repeating the chords to "Creep"
    02:23

  • Exercise: harmonise the chords to Pachelbel's "Canon"
    01:04
  • Solution: the chords to Pachelbel's "Canon"
    01:19
  • Preview01:29
  • Preview03:57
  • Recognising triads in inversion
    06:08
  • Exercise: analyze the chords to "Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi"
    01:56
  • Solution: the chords to "Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi" analyzed
    02:13

  • Using Roman numerals to describe chord progressions
    01:03
  • I-V-vi-IV
    02:55
  • Example: "With or Without You"
    01:31
  • Exercise: harmonize the riff to "Where is the Love?"
    01:21
  • Solution: the riff to "Where is the Love?" harmonized
    01:12
  • Exercise: harmonize the chords to "No One"
    00:56
  • Solution: the chords to "No One" harmonized
    01:36
  • Practice: I-V-vi-IV in C, Eb, F# and A
    01:57
  • Choosing inversions
    07:52

Instructor

Benedict Westenra
"The best piano teacher in London", 1,000+ 5* reviews
Benedict Westenra
  • 4.7 Instructor Rating
  • 5,794 Reviews
  • 22,704 Students
  • 5 Courses

I'm a London-based piano coach with over 10 years of teaching experience. Students include signed artists, senior record executives, and other industry professionals.

I'm currently workshopping a musical which I wrote the book, music, and lyrics to, and which I was invited to play to Stephen Sondheim, plus I've also worked as an official arranger for Beyoncé, Michael Bublé, Cher, and others.

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