Major Piano Chords – Do You Know All Of Them?

Good morning, this is Duane and today we’re going to learn the twelve major piano chords in seven minutes or less. Seven minutes from now, you’re going to know all twelve major chords. I know you don’t believe me at this point, but you really will because there’s only twelve points on the keyboard that you could learn chords. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.

Twelve roots, twelve basic notes that you can build chords on. OK? There’s only twelve major chords because when you get done with those twelve, you just play the same chord an octave higher or an octave lower, so they’re the same thing.

The twelve are very easy to learn because chords are made out of scales. The word scale comes from the Latin word “la scala” which means the ladder of notes the runs from the root up to the octave, the octavo, the octopus note. Eight notes higher.

If I take the root, the first note, the third note and the fifth note of the scale, that makes the major chord for that particular note. That’s a C chord, C major chord.

Now, if I build a chord on any other note, then I have to know that scale. Let’s learn the formula for a major scale first of all. Then once you learn that, you’ve got it made. The formula for a major scale is a whole step, not a half step, but a whole step, then another whole step, then a half step, then a whole step, then a whole step, then a whole step, then a half step. You see, that’s a whole step because it’s got a black key in between. It’s got a key in between. That’s a half step because that’s nothing but dust in there. Just a crack. Hopefully not too much dust, or I’ll get in trouble with my wife.

That’s a whole step, that’s a whole step, that’s a whole step, and a half step, so quickly you know the formula now for a major scale, don’t you? Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
If I start on any other note then, I have to go up a whole step from that note, don’t I? I can’t go there because that’s half step, so my rule says go up a whole step.

Now we go up another whole step. Now I go up a half step. Then whole, whole, whole, half. That’s a major scale starting on B. You see how I figured that out? By the rule, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. It may seem confusing at first, but you catch on real quickly.

If that’s the scale of B and it is, and if I take the root, third and fifth of the major scale, that’s the B major chord.

Let’s get down to learning those chords quick. We’re going to learn twelve major chords quickly and inside five minutes you’re going to know them all by memory, because three of them are all white. The C chord is all white. The F chord is all white and the G chord is all white. Every other white note up from the bottom note, called a root. That’s a C major chord, the F major chord and the G major chord.

Henceforth and evermore you know three major chords, don’t you? C, F and G and you know they’re all white. You know you can play them anywhere on the keyboard. Not only that, you can play them upside down. You don’t have to put them in root position, but you can turn them upside down like that or you can break them up. That’s how we develop runs, that we’ll talk about later.

There’s three major chords that are all white. What are they? C, F, and G, OK? There’s three major chords that have a black third, a black middle note. They’re D, E and A. D, E and A. Which three major chords were all white? C, F and G. Which major chords had a black third? D, E and A.

Now, there’s three chords that are like Oreo cookies: black on the outside and white on the inside. They are D, E, A, too, but D flat, E flat and A flat. See the Oreo cookies here, black on the outside, white on the inside. D flat, E flat and A flat. What are they? D flat, E flat and A flat.

What were the three chords that had a black third? D, E, and A. Which chords were all white? C, F and G. Which chords have the black middle note, third? D, E and A. Which chords are like Oreo cookies? D flat, E flat and A flat. That’s nine major chords. You’ve learned three quarters of all the major chords there are all ready. There’s only three left.

One’s all black. That’s real easy, G flat. We can call it F sharp, by the way, because that note is both G flat and F sharp. I’ll call it G flat, OK? The G flat is all black.

Now there’s only two left. One is the B chord that I made reference to earlier, which is white, black, black, and B flat which is black, white, white. It’s kind of like a duck, white, black, black, black, black, white, white, black, black, black, white, white. I guess a chicken.

Which three are all white? C, F and G. Which three have a black third? D, E and A. Which three are like Oreo cookies? D flat, E flat and A flat. Remember that DEA, DEA, DEA. Which three are leftover? The one that’s all black, G flat and then the two chickens, B and B flat.

Here is the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eq4r8EskpU&feature=youtu.be
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