RMIM Archive Article "131".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: To learn to play Chords on the keyboards - 2
#
# Posted by: anandv@flip.eecs.umich.edu (Anand Varadharajan)
# Author: anandv@flip.eecs.umich.edu (Anand Varadharajan)
#
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KEYBOARD CHORDS - PART 2
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At Last...... The long promised 2nd part of "Learning to play Chords
in Keyboards" is here!!
I had written about playing Major and minor chords in part 1.... In
this, let us check out 7th, 4th, diminished and augmented. This also
includes the minor versions of these chords. These chords together
form the majority of usage....
I will probably split into three separate postings.. As usual, please
forgive me if you find errors crept in!
If anyone is interested in a more theoritical study, I can mail a
postscript version of a "Basics of Jazz" primer.
If someone is interested in basics of music, I have some pointers from
my web page "http://www.engin.umich.edu/~anandv/" (my web page is all
crap, just the pointers ;) ).
OK... here we go:
The various keys in each octave is given below.
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
The notations I usually follow are as follows:
eg.,
The white keys are usually called just by the alphabets. The black keys
may either be for eg., C sharp (C*) or D Flat (C*). I am consistently
follwing the "sharp" notation, ie., the black key above C, for eg., will
be C sharp (C*), and similarly the black key in between G and A white
keys is G Sharp (G*). Please note that there are no "sharps" for B and E
keys.
7th chords:
Here again.... look at the intervals... Follow the same intervals
for all other 7th chords. Let us look at Cmajor and C 7th... Gives
you a better picture.
C Major:
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
|_##_|____|_##_|____| ##_|____|____|____|
A keypress is denoted by "##"
C seventh:
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |##| | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
|_##_|____|_##_|____| _|____|____|____|
It is C E and A* pressed together... 2 semitones after G, which was
the third key for C major.
Lets see for D 7th...
D MAJOR
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |##| | | | | | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | ## | | | | ## | | |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
So, D major is now, D, F* and A pressed together. Please note that F* is the
fourth note from D (after D*, E and F), and A is the third note from F*.
D seventh
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |##| | | | | | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | ## | | | | | | ## |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
So.... Got it??? D, F* and C ie., instead of A, go 2 semitones after and
press C!!
Try E 7th and F 7th by yourself. Lets see F* seventh:
(since I did not have the patience to draw one more octave, I am
using $$ to denote the next octave key press! Hope, no confusions!
F sharp major:
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |##|
| | | | | | |##| | | |##| | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
F sharp 7th (F* 7)
(technically this may also be referred to as G flat seventh too)
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |##| | | |##| | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | $$ | | | | | |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
Hope... 7th has been made clear!!
Lets now move over to the "MINOR SEVENTH" chords.
Again... minor 7th is only a "minor" modification of major 7th!
So... now, C minor 7th will be (compare with C 7th)
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |##| | | |
| | | |##| | | | | | | | | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| ## | | | | | | | |
|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|
as against C 7th, which was
C seventh:
-------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | |##| | |C*|
| |C*| |D*| | |F*| |G*| |A*| | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
|_##_|____|_##_|____| _|____|____|____|
Please note that, instead of E key, you would now play the D* key. So, the
sequence for C minor 7th would be C D* and A*... Actually guitar players
also play G with this... So, no harm if you wanna play 4 notes together!
The same "truth" holds good for all the "minor 7th" chords.
With Smiles
Anand
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian