1. Most common keys in dance music – Amin (relative – C), Dmin (relative F; 1 flat), Cmin (relative Eb), Fmin (relative Ab), Emin (relative G; 1 sharp). Note all in minor. Easiest way to play a minor key is to look at the major key and start on the 6th degree of the major key.

2. Major Chord shapes

- Straight (C, F, G, F#)

- Up wedge or pyramid (D, E, A)

- Down wedge or cone (Db, Eb, Ab)

- L shaped (B and Bb)

They can also be grouped this way:

White keys (C, F, G)White keys with sharps (D, E, A)Black keys with naturals (D-flat, E-flat, A-flat)The two B’s (B and B-flat)Black keys (F-sharp)

3. Major chordRoot + 4 intervals + 3 intervalsC + E + G

D + F + AF + A +CMAJ7 Chord – R + 4i + 3i + 4iFingering is always 1 3 5 for right hand

1Maj 2Min 3Min 4Maj 5Maj/Dom 6Min 7Dim

The secret to learning the chords is to approach them in patterns. You don’t have to memorize 12

wildly different chords. The chords are all related, and once you see the relationships, you’ll realize

that it’s much easier to learn all the chords at once.

Instead of 12 different notes, think of 4 different patterns. Each group forms its chords in the same

way.

Group One: C, F and G.

Group Two: D, E, A

Group Three: D flat, E flat, A flat

Group Four: B and B flat, plus the orphan F sharp

Group One: C, F and G – The Straight Line

The three notes in these chords are formed “straight across”, all on the white notes:

C Major: C, E and G.

F Major: F, A and C.

G Major: G, B and D.

Play these chords on the piano. With the right hand, you’ll use the Thumb, Middle Finger and Pinky.

Start by playing C Major with the Thumb on C. Then move your hand to the right, keeping the

fingers frozen in that position. Play F Major and then G Major.

Thus with this one hand position, you can play three Major Chords.

Note that C, F and G chords are harmonically related and often appear in the same piece.

Group Two: D, E, A – The Up Arrow

In these chords, the middle note is one of the black keys. The chord shape that results is an Up

Arrow.

D Major: D, F# and A

E Major: E, G# and B

A Major: A, C# and E

Play these chords on the piano, and note again that you can use the same hand position for all of

them. Not surprisingly, the D, E and A chords are harmonically related and often appear in the

same piece.

Group Three: D flat, E flat, A flat – The Down Arrow

The notes in this group are the same as in Group 2 — except that they are flatted. D flat instead of

D, for example. Note that the chord shapes are exactly the opposite as in Group 2 – whites are

blacks and blacks are whites. The fingers form a Downward Arrow instead of an Upward One.

D flat Major: D flat, F and A flat

E flat Major: E flat, G and B flat

A flat Major: A flat, C and E flat

The middle note goes down to the white keys, while the 1st and the 3rd are black keys.

With one hand position, you can play each of these chords.  They are harmonically related to each

other.

Group Four: B and B flat – The Hockey Stick

F Sharp – The Orphan

B Major and B Flat Major are exactly the opposite of each other. The shape is that of a hockey stick.

B starts on a white note, then goes to black notes for the 3rd and 5th.

B flat starts on a black note, then goes to white notes for the 3rd and 5th:

B Major: B, D sharp, F sharp

B flat Major: B flat, D, F

The chords aren’t related harmonically.

The F sharp chord is an orphan. Fortunately, it’s easy to remember. It’s all black keys straight

across. In a way, it is the opposite of the F Chord: all blacks instead of all whites.

F Sharp Major: F#, A# and C#.

Mastering the Majors

There you have it. Just learn the chords in groups. Practice them. Meditate on the underlying

patterns.

4. Minor chordRoot + 3 intervals + 4 intervals

To memorize the shapes, learn the Minor Chords in terms of the four groups we’ve mention:

Group 1: C, F and G — the Minor Chords all have the shape of an Up Arrow. -^-

Group 2: D, E and A — the Minor Chords are all “straight across” (same for minor 7) ---

Group 3: D flat, E flat and A flat — 2 of the minor chords are Down Arrows, one is “straight across”

Group 4: B and B flat – the Minor Chords are again hockey sticks, this time of a different shape. The

F Sharp Minor Chord is a Down Arrow. –v-

Minor Scale Intervals

WHWWHWW

5. Inversions

Play Cmaj, then move one note to the 6th to form its relative minor, which is Amin, then go down a major 3rd from A to F in the left hand

Practical exercise

No 1:Take 3 chords, within the same group, say C F G majors, the straight line chords, then play through R to 1st inv to 2nd inv, up and down keyboard, block and arpeggio, while thinking of note names and memorising visually the shape. Then move to next chord, and then next. Do for 10 minutes, then rest. Note that fingering for R is 1 3 5, 1st inversion is 1 2 5 (due to gap) and 2nd inversion is 1 3 5.

Play the following chord progression, which cycles through in the order of R, 1st inversion, 2nd

inversion and repeats, and go up and down.C Amin F Dmin Bb Gmin Eb Cmin AbR (CEG) 1st 2nd R 1st 2nd R 1ST 2nd

Then, play the same chord progression, which starts from the 1st inversion, then….

1st(EGC)6. Play basic scales

Major, Minor, Blues scale and Minor Pentatonic for C F G, right hand left handMajor (C and G) - RH – 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5; LH – 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 / F – RH: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4; LH: 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1

Minor:Right Hand (C Minor Penta) - Notes: C Eb F G Bb C. Fingering: 1 2 3 1 2 3Right Hand (F Minor Penta) – Notes: F Ab Bb C Eb F. Fingering: 1 2 3 1 2 3

E minor pentatonic: Notes: E, G, A, B, D, EStarts with group of 4 notes, then a group of 3 notes, and a group of 4 notes (2 octave)First group of 4 notes, fingering is 1 2 3 4Middle group of 3 notes, fingering is 1 2 4Last group of 4 notes, fingering is 12 4 5

Note E G A B D ERH 1 2 3 1 2 3Deg R min3 4 5 b7 RInterv -----3---------2---------2---------3---------2------

Amin PentaNote A C D E G ARH 1 2 3 1 2 3Deg R min3 4 5 b7 RInterv -----3---------2---------2---------3---------2------

F major is just C major with one flat (Take 7th note of C scale and flat ½ step), and starting from F.

G major is just C major with one sharp (Take 4th note of C scale and sharp ½ step), and starting from G. D is just G major with one sharp (Take 4th note of D scale and sharp ½ step)

7. Blues Scale

C blues scale – RH – 1 2 3 4 1 2 3; LH – 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 – R b3 4 b5 5 b7 R – R b3 4 b5 5 b7 R

8. Chromatic

The standard fingering for the chromatic scale, starting from C, is 1313123131345 for one ascending octave of the RH

9.