Playing the Piano in an Hour

For those of you who joined me in the "Learn to play the piano by ear in an hour" session at Ashland Woods, here's a little summary of what you learned.

1. All music is written in a key. The easiest key to learn piano in is C because it avoids the black keys and displays music's mathematical precision very simply and clearly.

2. Each key has three main chords you need to learn.

• The Tonic. This is the main chord, the one the song usually begins on and usually ends on. It is the "Home" chord, if you will. It is also the same name as the key. Hence, a song written in C has C major as its main, or tonic, chord.
• The sub-dominant. This chord is exactly 5 half-steps up from the tonic's starting point. If the tonic is C, 5 half-steps (half-steps are every key on the piano, white and black) up is the note F. Ergo, the sub-dominant of C is F.
• The dominant. This chord is exactly 5 half-steps down from the tonic. Count down the keyboard from C and you'll arrive at G.

Nice precision, eh? Five half-steps up is sub-dominant, five down is dominant. This works no matter what key you're in but again, for the sake of simplicity, this discussion will be about C.

Once you know the three crucial chords for any key, you must now learn how to build the major chords. That's a simple counting exercise as well. Count up 4 from the tonic note, then 3 and you'll get a major. Example: In C you'll get C, then E (that's 4 up), then G (that's 3 beyond E.) Thus, C-major is composed of the notes C-E-G.

This 4 + 3 formula works anywhere on the keyboard for any major chord. If we apply it to F, we'll be able to count these notes out: F-A-C. If we apply to G, we get G-B-D.

Use your right hand to form C-major (C-E-G). Most people use their thumb on the C note, their middle finger on the E, and little pinky on the G. That's one way to play C-major. But it's not the only way. You could put your thumb on the E, middle finger on the G then go up to the next C using Lil' Pinky. If you play it this was you're playing the "2nd inversion."

You could also start with the thumb on the G and go up from there.

It doesn't matter how you play the notes as long as you are hitting C, E, and G. That is a key component to understanding ear-play. When you play the notes C, E, and G together you are playing a C major. Sidenote: NBC was originally owned by General Electric Corporation. They chose the initials of General Electric Corp as notes for their famous NBC little tune: G-E-C. Try it and see if it doesn't bring back memories of NBC.

Let's review: a key has a starting point called the tonic. From this point you build chords. The key has three main chords, the tonic, the sub-dominant, and the dominant. They can be discovered simply by counting up five and down five from the starting point (the tonic note). Major chords can be formed from each of these positions by simply adding 4 + 3 to them, counting up all half-steps.


Let's Start Playing

Now we're ready to play. Form a C-major with your hands frozen in a thumb-middle finger-pinky formation and strike the middle of the keyboard with the thumb on C. Begin singing "What a friend we have in Jesus." Sing until until you get to "bear" in "All our sins and griefs to bear." At this point something in your brain will trigger a shout: "Change chords!"

That shout is a gift everyone has. If you don't believe me, keep singing without changing your C major chord. You won't like it. You instinctively know you must change chords but where to? Here's where simple trial and error comes in handy. Try the sub-dominant (F in this case) and if that doesn't work, the dominant (G). You'll find G works.

Continue chording your way through the song, changing whenever things just don't sound right. Look for the correct chord among the three choices. You can play this entire song with just these three chords.

How many songs can be played with just three chords? A lot, especially hymns, folk songs, and early rock songs. I'd estimate half the song in the land can be played with just three chords. Amazing Grace can. Just as I Am. Be In Time. Jesus Is Getting Us Together. Try 'em all.


Review and practice

Try each of the above and/or any other song on the planet you'd like to play and sing with. Start with the tonic C major and sing your way through the song. When your brain screams, "Change the chord!" try the two available options. If it's a three-chord song, you will find it.

As you may be beginning to understand, playing piano by ear requires two, odd-bedfellow skills: the ability to count out chords and the ability to hear disharmony. The first is a left-brain activity that you have just learned: you count. The second is an innate ability that almost everyone has: you listen. That's a right-brain thing.

With these two elements you truly can learn to play piano by ear, but not in an hour. You have to learn how to play in keys other than C (easy: you start from a different tonic note), how to use the left hand for bass (pretty easy too, more on that in the next installment), and how to play melodies as you chord (a little trickier but easily within the grasp of anyone who has gotten this far).