Learning to Play the Piano with Chords Part 2

Do you want to learn how to play chords on the piano? Can you already read sheet music or basic notes on the treble and or bass clef?

Do you look at the notes on a piece of sheet music and are unable to name the chords?

Or do you look at a piece of sheet music, see the letter "C" and are not sure which notes to play?

If you answered yes to the first and second question this is easy to remedy. Knowing which chords are being represented by notes in sheet music comes with practice just like reading the basic notes does.

Chords are three or more notes played together. When you see these groups of notes on sheet music start saying aloud which chord is being represented. Of course in the beginning this will go slowly. You could start daily for about 15 minutes and probably quickly become proficient in a matter of weeks (if you are already reading sheet music). You will need a chord chart so that you know which chords you are reading. Visit my website at http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us and go to the free downloads page for a chord chart of the primary chords in each key. This is notation not the keyboard picture. This will help you to quickly see chords in notated music.

If your problem is the third question then this is even easier to remedy. You will be amazed how quickly your hands memorize the positions needed to play chords. Using the chord chart located at http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us in the free downloads page. This chart lists the primary chords in each key in music notation or written out on the grand staff.

Daily practice will also make you more proficient here. But instead of reading the bass clef in sheet music to know what chords look like written out, take an easy song that stays in one key and that lists the chord letters above the melody. Go through the chord chart and find the primary chords for that key. Practice playing those chords several times and then try them with the song. Work on a new key as soon as you feel proficient in the current one. Go through the chords using the circle of fifths or fourths (also a copy of this at http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us in the free downloads page). In no time at all you will be comfortable playing these chords and ready to move on to more!

Kemi is a church pianist and author of the book The Struggling Church Pianist. Visit her website and download some free musician tools at http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us

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Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy - Reuters

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#39;08 music sales hit record high - Hollywood Reporter

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Music marketers target female shoppers at home - Reuters

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/2-0fd=Rurl=http://uk.reuters.com/article/autoNews/idUKTRE5050KX20090106cid=1287391948ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNFZ8l-g-Wrkka5pMxYhXEt_xC4FywbMusic/b marketers target female shoppers at home/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fReutersnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Ed Christman NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the bmusic/b business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma - Reuters

A Year in Love and Music - New York Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4i-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNHwSBlS_8O-kSYWaezhK3VsvepJYwimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=-QR3ekXvzcMJimgurl=graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/01/05/opinion/jan2009.jpg width=80 height=55 alt= border=1brfont size=-2New York Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/a-year-in-love-and-music/%3Fref%3Dopinioncid=1287410618ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNHwSBlS_8O-kSYWaezhK3VsvepJYwA Year in Love and bMusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNew York Times,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1With bmusic/b now available with a single, offhand click, it#39;s easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Musebin: The future of music reviews? - Los Angeles Times

More schools getting in tune with mariachi - The Associated Press

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Read all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media - CNET News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7i-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNH9UnlLfJlAldS64CNxKVHTi7MHIQimg src=http://nt2.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=ipP30G3Vh4EJimgurl=news.cnet.com/i/ne/pg/fd_2009/090105_itunes.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2CNET News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html%3Fkeyword%3DMacworld%2B2009cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNH9UnlLfJlAldS64CNxKVHTi7MHIQRead all #39;Macworld 2009#39; posts in Digital Media/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNET News,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of digital rights management software from the three largest bmusic/b labels, b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-1fd=Rurl=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/05/apple_inks_deals_for_all_drm_free_itunes_3g_downloads.htmlcid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNF3TEvgKTKnsjekY6wAUxSuW1O8KAApple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrApple Insider/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-2fd=Rurl=http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/01/05/apple-finally-drops-drm-on-itunes-music-ota-3g-music-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNEnpOYntX9UsxBrmEekeXe_aBIYSgApple finally drops DRM on iTunes bmusic/b, OTA 3G bmusic/b downloads?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBoy Genius Report/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-3fd=Rurl=http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/05/drm-close-to-extinction-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNG-Btl8bDpWngeERrI3wBpONlx8eQDRM close to extinction on iTunes?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrVentureBeat/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-4fd=Rurl=http://mashable.com/2009/01/05/drm-free-music-on-itunes/cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNHtpOpZvqCIMR9xudZpRuCtmO9kbAnobrMashable/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-5fd=Rurl=http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/05/apple-ditching-drm-3g-itunes-downloads/cid=1287366747ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNFOyPXDuU-1YCyUOhAUO3-aBKZWagnobrCrunchGear/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287366747hl=ennobrall 14 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Bid to open prison doors for music - The Press Association

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5icNEOedSK_LTFgiCOMeprkHOXWGgcid=1287414181ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNG_G3S0VCh_3ry1Vwd77rHC0gaz7QBid to open prison doors for bmusic/b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Press Associationnbsp;-/font nobr51 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Organisers of one of the stages at the Glastonbury Festival will be taking their blend of bmusic/b and political campaigning to the heart of redneck Texas to b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music matters at Sundance - Variety

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998001.html%3FcategoryId%3D16cid=1286885000ei=BQNjSdDSCJ_S9QTUjvGRBAusg=AFQjCNE8p-BLsdDYRmmMIZWO6OYN4hBlBwbMusic/b matters at Sundance/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fVariety,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobr3 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By KATHY A. MCDONALD bMusic/b matters at Sundance. Both the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival have long supported the cross-pollination between b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Music - Google News

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