Studying piano chords may seem like an overwhelming task; there appears to be an endless sea of chords to learn. However, in reality pianists only require knowledge of about sixty essential chord types.
Our first chord is the major seventh, an essential chord found across many genres of music.
Major Seventh Chord
A major seventh chord is an excellent way to begin any melody, featuring strong yet romantic tones that will help unleash all of your piano’s potential.
To create a major 7th chord, add one note a third higher than its root chord. This makes the chord very stable and easy to play while creating an enjoyable sound compared to dominant seventh chords that may sound dissonant.
Listening to different genres of music will help you to gain more knowledge about seventh chords. Jazz or blues music provide excellent examples of how these chords are used to craft melodies using these chords.
Once you’re confident with major seventh chords, it is time to advance to half diminished seventh chords – more difficult yet still doable! In order to form one of these chords you will need a major triad with a flat fifth added and invert it for your half diminished seventh chord.
Minor Seventh Chord
Minor seventh chords are jazzy sounding chords that you might come across when performing music. Its construction involves stacking three minor triads with one minor seventh (ten semitones above the root).
Jazz, R & B and Blues often utilize this chord progression, often serving as the final chord in a perfect cadence.
To read a minor seventh chord on a staff, start by drawing its root – an extra-long snowperson – then apply any accidentals from its key signature to its third, fifth, and seventh above its root (or simply use its major key signature). For instance, an Fmi7 has C major triad with D minor seventh.
Minor seventh chords based on augmented or diminished triads are less often heard; these tend to be used more in film scores and some forms of Jazz music; nonetheless, these chords can still prove useful additions to your harmonic toolkit.
Half Diminished Seventh Chord
A half diminished seventh chord (sometimes known as minor seventh flat fifth or m7b5) is a diatonic chord in the major scale composed of three notes – major second, minor third and diminished seventh – in combination with their relative positions within it. A half diminished seventh is similar to suspended chords but doesn’t contain an indicator third that determines its status (major or minor).
A half diminished seventh chord differs only slightly from a regular diminished seventh chord in terms of interval difference; however, one notable distinction is its flattened fifth note compared with that of its regular counterpart.
As such, its sound is often unstable and uncertain, neither joyful nor sorrowful – which makes it perfect as a bridge between chords in major/minor key chord progressions or as the root for dominant 7th chords when their fifth note is absent.
The Mystery Exercise
Finding the appropriate chords can often be an exercise in trial-and-error, but knowing some basic principles of harmony makes the task simpler – leaving more time for fun learning new songs!
The Mystery Exercise is an excellent way to practice finger patterns for playing 7 year chord piano. It uses an innovative compositional technique known as Contrarious Motion which involves moving hands in opposite directions in simple patterns. Beginners find this exercise straightforward since both hands use similar finger patterns.
This major 7 chord progression creates a haunting matrix of possibility. It’s both consonant and dissonant at once – like when your relationship ends but you know something good lies ahead. These chords also demonstrate how any major triad can be played by adding a seventh interval to its root note; an essential concept when exploring chords on piano.