News Release

     A free piano lesson on minor chords is now available from PlayPiano.com covering all 12 of the minor chords, and showing photos of both the notes that are played and the fingering of each chord. It can be found at: http://playpiano.com/101-tips/4-minor-chords.htm

Minor chords are formed by lowering the 3rd of a major chord, so once a person knows major chords, it is an easy transition to minor chords. For those who missed the free lesson on major chords, it can still be accessed at: http://playpiano.com/101-tips/3-major-chords.htm

     I hope that you noticed that the ONLY DIFFERENCE between major and minor chords is that the 3rd of the chord is lowered 1/2 step -- that's all. Every major chord is made up of the root, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale, so all you do is lower the 3rd 1/2 step.

     And that's it.

     Like we did with major chords, practice playing the first 3 chords over and over until you can move between them smoothly and quickly. Then practice the next 3 minor chords -- then the next 3 minor chords-- then the last 3 minor chords. After you can play them by 3's, practice playing the first 6 without stopping. Then practice the first 9 without stopping. Then finally practice playing all 12 minor chords without stopping.

     Then play them in major-minor sequence: In other words, C major then C minor; F major then F minor; G major then G minor, and so on through the 12 chords. Now you have 24 chords under your belt -- 12 major and 12 minor.

     There's no particular virtue, of course, in playing them quickly, except for the fact that it makes you confident you can find them in a hurry when you need them in a song. But you'll find that as your confidence grows, your enjoyment and competence in piano playing with grow commensurately.

     Now -- to see if you were paying attention, let me give you a little test. One of the minor chords (above) has one key that is mis-labeled. Can you find it? The answer is at the bottom of the page at http://playpiano.com/101-tips/4-minor-chords.htm.


For those who would like to take the entire series of free piano lessons online, the signup form is at: http://www.playpiano.com/FreeLessons.htm

PS By the way, you might want to read a facinating article that shows the relationship between brain development and music theory. So learn your minor chords and get smart!

These free piano lessons are a service of www.PlayPiano.com, www.ChordPiano.com, and www.PianoLessonsByVideo.com.