hi guys,iv,e learnt most of the chords in the left hand i need for now ,ie,major, minor, 7, major7 ,minor7 ,dim and aug.plus the inversions,here,s my problem iv,e got into the habit of going from root c7 to f or g7 to c root,ect,ect,ect,is there an exercise that i can do ,that i can practice to be able to learn to play the above in all inversions,my teacher says that normally if a piece of music start in the chord of ,lets say f,then the chord of f is usually in the root,to start with, mike.

Hi Mike: A key to acheiving professional sounding chords is to strive for 'smooth' as possible voice leading, meaning not to move your hand (and fingers) unneccesarily when transitioning to succesive chords, but to find appropriate chord voicings (chord inversions) which minimize jumping around the keyboard. If at all possible, keep the finger (individual chord voice) on the same note(s) or move them only a 1/2 or whole step, during a chord change.

I recommend practing (memorizing) all the basic 'left hand' chord types (and in every key) in all inversions, and then practicing & memorizing them (with smooth voice leading) in these most commonly played chord progressions:

I - VI - IV - V - I

I - VI - II - V - I

Ok, I guess that should keep you busy . I believe with your teacher's guidance, you're headed in the right direction to succesful left hand chord playing. Good luck.

Scott

Back in the 70's a popular teaching technique was the 'pointer system' where the root was played with your left pointer finger and the 3rd of the chord above and the 5th below. Try this with a 'C' only and build all your other chords around that center. I think you'll find that it's pretty easy to form most of the chords you will need without too much movement.
I agree with Scott that it would be best to practice some common chord progressions. Also, look at your music and see what key signatures you use most often and then concentrate your practice in those keys. Practice, practice, practice.

Here you go. Practice playing/memorizing all the below chords in all inversions as well as memorizing the following chord progressions in all keys (especially in the keys you described above) and you'll be on the right track to playing success. After you've memorized these, you can build upon this by adding 7ths to all these chords, learning the 'minor' chord progressions, and then learning alternate voicings (including rootless type jazz). The musical learning path is a life long road, so no matter where you're at now, there's always going to be 10x more to discover.

I - VI - IV -V - I

key of C: C - Am - F - G7 - C

example of above left hand chord progression utilizing smooth voice leading:

(C: C,E,G) - (Am: C,E,A), (F:C,F,A) - (G7: D,F,G,B) - (C:E,G,C)

key of G: G - Em - C - D7 - G
key of D: D - Bm - G - A7 - D
key of F: F - Dm - Bb - C7 - F
key of Bb: Bb - Gm - Eb - F7 - Bb

I - VI - II - V - I
key of C: C - Am - Dm - G7 - C

example of above left hand chord progression utilizing smooth voice leading:

(C: C,E,G) - (Am: C,E,A), (Dm: D,F,A) - (G7: D,F,G,B) - (C: E,G,C)


key of G: G - Em - Am - D7 - G
key of D: D - Bm - Em - A7 - D
key of F: F - Dm - Gm - C7 - F
key of Bb: Bb - Gm - Cm - F7 - Bb

thanks scottyee.mike

Hello...........There are some excellent lessons/tutorials available free at
http://psrtutorial.com/Resources/R_ChordSecrets/r_chordsecrets.html

They aren't just for Yamaha PSR users either! I used these lessons and now play full chords and "special" chords regularly. I used to be a "single finger" chord player.............darn I wish I learned this stuff earlier! Good luck. -charley

Scott,
Nice lesson. I sure would like to see you start a thread to share some of your vast amount of knowledge in this area. Basically a music making/playing tutorial. Also if you could start a second thread in addition where others could post their comments to keep your original post clean and just with lessons in it would be very cool.
Thanks for the tips.
Terry

------------------
jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Scott,
I agree with Terry. It would be great if you could find the time to present a mini-course to share some of your knowledge along these lines.

I have a question relative to the Roman numeral chord sequence notation. I understand that the sequence of say I-V-II in the key of C (for example) represents chords whose roots are
C-G-D. But as far as determining whether the chord is a major, minor, 7th, etc. I don't see how that is determined by the Roman numeral sequence. What am I missing?
Paul C.

Hi Mike

The thing about what fingering and and hand position for the left hand is indeed important to sound good and make it an easy thing to do.

When playing left hand chords on your arranger keyboard, the MOST important thing to know is are you playing it in a piano style, or an organ/keyboard style.

If you are playing in a piano style where you are moving around a bit more, and/or using actual piano music, (with treble and bass clef), then yes you need to know and be able to play around in all the different inversions.

If you are playing from a "lead sheet", meaning music that only shows the melody and a chord symbol, and you are only playing and holding a chord in the left hand while the keyboard supplies the backround accompaniment, then the VERY BEST way to play your left hand is between the notes "F" to "F"! This would be playing "organ/keyboard style".

In a nutshell, if you are playing piano style/music you move around like you see piano players do. The organ/keyboard style between "F" to "F" you play all chords without hardly moving your hands, never going out of position.

I make my living showing hobbyists how to play organ (and keyboard). And while we now teach the fingering system "which ever finger gets there first wins", this is intended for senior citizens who want to learn to play, know they don't have a lot of time to learn, want to play for fun as a hobbyist, and sometimes have physical elements to deal with like arthritis.

Anything that works for fun as a hobbyist is ok. BUT, if you are serious and are just learning it is easiest in the long run to learn it the "right way".

Any fingering system that requires one to take their eyes from the music to see if their fingers are in the right place after a little practice means extra hard work, missed notes, loosing your place in the music, etc. This would include the pointer system.

I myself play from the "C" chord root postion, and then play the closest inversion, without moving out of position if possible. The problem with this position however is some chord in order to sound good requires you to jump out of postion like FM7, G13 just to name a couple of often used chords. If I had the time and desire now there is no question I would learn the "F" to "F" approach.

As to regarding what inversion to use on the first chord, if you are playing piano style, then first choice most often would be to play in root position.

If playing organ/keyboard style, regardless of key, you play your chords (almost always) in the same position all the time.

Here are a few examples of playing "F" to "F" with the bottom note shown first:

C chord: GCE,
F chord: ACF,
G chord: GBD,
G7 chord: GBDF,
Am chord: ACE,
Am7 chord: ACEG,
Dm chord: DFA,
Dm7 chord: DFAC

Hope this helps.

Best

Scott Langholff

[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 06-17-2003).]

Actually after reading over my post, if I had the time, patience, desire etc, I would learn the piano style left hand. Because in the real world, away from the nice arranger style backrounds, (even with the backrounds), your music will sound better, being able to add stuff that will make it sound richer.

I really wish now I would have continued with my piano lessons. But after two years (3rd and 4th grade) with a nun as a teacher (she didn't use a ruler on my hands, but she sure had a mouth), that was all I could take. So, what if I was in 3rd grade and told the nun I wanted to learn how to play swing music? True story, I think you know where that went.

I am first a trumpet player and decided that the left hand was made to hold a trumpet and to hold chords in the left hand organ style.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Scott