39 Left Hand Ideas: Your Left Hand Will Never Be The Same Again [Intermediate Players Only]

I’ll be showing you 39 left hand ideas that will strengthen your left hand like never before.

As an intermediate player, one of the things that should not be missing in your playing is fullness and one thing you can never joke with if you want to play full-sounding chords is the left hand.

Attention: This lesson is written with intermediate players in mind and it’s also important to note that some of the left hand ideas may require a little stretch to reach.

The left hand ideas we’ll be covering in this lesson will be based in the key of C major:

…and it is recommended that once mastered, you can go ahead and transpose them to other keys.

Left Hand Ideas For Scale Tone Chords

Although there are seven unique scale tones in the major (and minor) key, we’ll be focusing on the left hand ideas of the first six tones of the major scale.

Attention: The seventh degree of the scale is usually omitted in rare situations like this and I’ll tell you why this is so in a subsequent lesson.

Let’s go ahead and explore these left hand ideas.

“For The 1-chord”

The 1-chord is major in quality. Consequently, the C major triad, C major seventh, and C major ninth are some of the common options for the 1-chord in the key of C major.

“So, Here Are Some Left Hand Ideas…”

Idea #1:

Idea #2:

Idea #3:

Idea #4:

Idea #5:

“For The 2-chord”

The 2-chord is a minor chord and some of the chords you can use the left hand ideas I’m about to show you on are the D minor triad, the D minor seventh chord, the D minor ninth chord, and the D minor eleventh chord.

“Check Out These Left Hand Ideas…”

Idea #6:

Idea #7:

Idea #8:

Idea #9:

“For The 3-chord”

Left hand ideas for the 3-chord (which is a minor chord) are useful for playing the following chords:

The E minor triad

The E minor seventh chord

…and other extended minor chords starting from E (optional).

…all in the key of C major.

“Check Out These Left Hand Ideas…”

Idea #10:

Idea #11:

Idea #12:

Idea #13:

“For The 4-chord”

The 4-chord is a major chord and the F major triad, F major seventh, and F major ninth are some of the common options for the 4-chord in the key of C major.

“Here Are Left Hand Ideas For The 4-chord…”

Idea #14:

Idea #15:

Idea #16:

Idea #17:

Idea #18:

“For The 5-chord”

The 5-chord is the dominant chord and some of the chords you can use the left hand ideas I’m about to show you on are the G major triad, the G dominant seventh chord, the G dominant ninth chord, the G dominant thirteenth chord, and other G dominant chords.

“Check Out These Left Hand Ideas…”

Idea #19:

Idea #20:

Idea #21:

Idea #22:

Idea #23:

“For The 6-chord”

The 6-chord is a minor chord and depending on the situation, you may want to play the A minor triad, or the A minor seventh chord, or the A minor ninth chord, or the A minor eleventh chord.

“You’ll Find These Left Hand Ideas Helpful…”

Idea #24:

Idea #25:

Idea #26:

Idea #27:

Additional Left Hand Ideas (Bonus)

There are chromatic notes in the key that I’ll love to share their left hand ideas with you. Check them out in the key of C major:

C# (the #1):

D# (the #2):

F# (the #4):

G# (the #5):

Let’s go ahead and explore them.

“For The #1-chord”

Attention: The #1 resolves to the second tone of the scale. Each of these left hand ideas will resolve to left hand ideas for the 2-chord.

Idea #28:

Idea #29:

Idea #30:

“For The #2-chord”

Attention: Keep in mind that the #2 resolves to the third tone of the scale and all the #2 left hand ideas will resolve to the left hand ideas for the 3-chord.

Idea #31:

Idea #32:

Idea #33:

“For The #4-chord”

Attention: The #4 is the chromatic note that resolves to the fifth tone of the scale (aka – “the dominant”). So, all the #4 left hand ideas will resolve to left hand ideas for the 5-chord.

Idea #34:

Idea #35:

Idea #36:

“For The #5-chord”

Attention: The #5 resolves to the second sixth of the scale. Each of these left hand ideas will resolve to left hand ideas for the 6-chord.

Idea #37:

Idea #38:

Idea #39:

Final Words

You probably may be wondering why there are 39 left hand ideas instead of 40 left hand ideas.

Well, I’ll give you the mental task of coming up with the 40th left hand idea. But just in case you’re unable to come up with one, here’s a left hand idea you can add to the list of left hand ideas for the 5-chord:

Idea #40:

I’m sure you enjoyed this lesson. Feel free to use the comment box below to post your questions, contributions, suggestions, and any other feedback.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in the next lesson.

All the best.

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Chuku Onyemachi

Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group

Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.

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