7 Essential major chords

A lot of people spend years thinking piano is out of reach. It isn't — they just never got shown the right shortcut. This reference sheet gives you the seven Major chords you need to start playing real songs today.

Keep it by your keyboard and use it alongside your free video lessons — the shapes make a lot more sense once you've seen them in action.

Minor chords — and the moment everything really opens up — are waiting for you in the full course.

Creating chords - It’s easier than you think you just need to remember these two things below.

The rst thing we need to do is memorise the names of the notes and where they are on the keyboard. This is essen al to know because if you want to play any chord we need to rst know what note to start on. The clue is always in the chords name! An A chord starts on an A, and a B chord starts on a B, C chord starts on a C and so on. So let's nd where ‘A’ always is, so we can use it to anchor ourselves when nding the names of white notes. This is easier than it sounds.

Anchoring ourselves. Find ‘A’ rst

A

B

C

D

E

F

A

G

The note ‘A’ is always tucked up on the inside right of any and all groups of three black notes. The white note to the right next to it is B, the next white note is C then the next white note is D etc un l we get to G because a er G we arrive back at the inside right of a group of three black notes, Which is ‘A’ again. Don’t worry about the names of the black notes for now. They come a li le later. Re cap….To nd any note. Start on A and use the alphabet to count up (or down) to nd the note you want. Prac ce by choosing a white key and working out what it’s called, by coun ng up to it from the nearest A.

A simple formula: Let’s play a chord (Root 4 - 3) 2

2

1

Start on a note that is the same as the name of the chord you want to play (Called your root). Here we’re going to play a C chord, so we start on C. If you are not sure where C is, nd ‘A’ and count up till you nd ‘C’.

1

3

C

3

4

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fi

fi

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fi

ti

ti

fi

fi

fi

ti

ti

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Welcome — and well done for taking the rst step.

Press and hold that note down. From C count up 4 keys, but don’t include C in your count, start counting on the note next to it. Count to the right, including each white and black note you come to, until you get to number four. That’s your next note of the chord Now repeat the process, but count up 3 this time and you have your last note - play all three together, cleanly! Use your right hand. Use your thumb on the C, middle nger on 4 and either of the other ngers on the 3 That’s the two things to remember - Where A is so you can work out the note names and Root 4-3….to play the chord

If you follow that formula you can play all seven Major (happy) chords, like this.

We’ll start with the three chords, that look like a bit like white picket fences Find your start note. Count up four keys (black and white) then up three keys from there to nd the three notes in your chord. Here we see C, F and G which are all white picket fence shaped (hit a white note, miss a white note, hit a white note, miss a white note, hit a white note).

C

3

1

3

4

F

2

2

1

F

fi

G

1

3

4

3

2

2

1

1

3

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G

4

3 fi

1

2

fi

C

2

These three use exactly the same formula, but because of where they start they end up looking like triangles (with a black note at the top) Same formula for these chords (root 4 3) but they make a di erent shape because of where you start counting. These three A, D and E make a triangle shape, with a black note at the top.

A

4

2

1

3

2

1

A

3

D

4

2

1

2

1

3

D

E

3

4

2

1

E

ff

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3

2

1

3

B

1

3

4

2

3

1

2

A

Same formula here again, but B ends up with a slightly di erent shape (don’t worry no one uses B (much)…oh the Beatles do…ok yeah, probably best learn it…

These diagrams are a handy reference to keep by your keyboard — but seeing the shapes on a real keyboard, and the psychology trick that makes them stick instantly, is what really makes them land.

Watch the free lessons to see it all in action.

You've learned 7 Major chords. Ready for the rest? 144 chords in an hour - So you can play any song you want?

You can already play hundreds of songs. But right now you're working with half the palette.

Minor chords are where music gets its emotion — and they unlock everything. Adele's Hello.

Johnny Cash's Hurt. Songs that actually give you goosebumps. One simple piece of knowledge doubles everything you already know, and you'll have it in the very next lesson of Part 2.

After that, the course keeps going: • • • • •

Sharp and at chords — those black notes nally make sense 7th chords — the sound that makes everything richer Arpeggios — instant professionalism Inversions, Sus chords, Diminished, Augmented — a full sound palette How to actually learn songs — beats, bars, and putting it all together

By the end you'll have 144 chords and the skills to use them musically — not just technically.

Get the full course and know 144 Chords today →]

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Here’s some other songs you can play with just those seven chords you’ve already learned Rock & Pop (Major Chords) "La Bamba" Ritchie Valens (G, C, D) "Bad Moon Rising" Creedence Clearwater Revival (A, D, G) "Twist And Shout" The Beatles (G, C, D) "Wild Thing" The Troggs (A, D, E) "Three Little Birds" Bob Marley & The Wailers (A, D, E) "Good Day Sunshine" The Beatles But what if you could play pretty much any song you wanted?

Over 18,000 students — 4.7/5 from 578 reviews.

Seems you actually can please everyone on the internet.

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