• Full-Sounding Right Hand Chords For Intermediate Keyboardists

    in Chords & Progressions,Experienced players,General Music,Piano

    You arrived at this page because you’re interested in learning full-sounding right hand chords.

    In the growth from the beginner stage to the intermediate stage in keyboard playing, one of the aspects that must not be left behind is chord vocabulary. Someone an distinguish between a beginner and an intermediate player by listening to their level of harmonic sophistication.

    In this lesson, I’ll be showing you, step-by-step, how to form full-sounding right hand chords in 3 steps.

    Attention: Although this lesson is for intermediate keyboard players only, advanced players and beginners might benefit from this lesson.

    A Quick Review On Scale-Tone Chords In The Key

    There are seven unique scale tones in every key (whether major or minor). In the key of C major:

    …there are seven unique scale tones:

    C is the first tone

    D is the second tone

    E is the third tone

    F is the fourth tone

    G is the fifth tone

    A is the sixth tone

    B is the seventh tone

    …and the chords that are formed on each of the scale tones are referred to as scale degree chords.

    Using the traditional principle of chord formation in thirds, the following chords can be formed in the key of C major:

    The 1-chord:

    …which is the C major triad.

    The 2-chord:

    …which is the D minor triad.

    The 3-chord:

    …which is the E minor triad.

    The 4-chord:

    …which is the F major triad.

    The 5-chord:

    …which is the G major triad.

    The 6-chord:

    …which is the A minor triad.

    The 7-chord:

    …which is the B diminished triad.

    Let’s go ahead and learn how these scale tone triads can be turned into full-sounding seventh chords.

    The 3-Step Process To The Formation Of Full-Sounding Chords

    Playing full-sounding seventh chords is not rocket science. Once you follow the steps given, you’ll come up with full sounding seventh chords.

    If you give me your undivided attention, you’ll be learning how to turn boring triads into full sounding seventh chords.

    The 3-Step Process — Explained

    There are three steps to take, that would turn boring triads into full-sounding chords and here you are with them:

    Step #1. Play the triad in its root position (with its root on the left hand)

    Let’s use the 1-chord in the key of C major:

    …which is the C major triad:

    The C major triad should be played in its root position:

    …with its root on the left hand (which is C):

    Altogether, here’s what we have: the 1-chord in root position (with the root on the left hand):

    In the same vein, the 2-chord can be played in root position:

    …with its root on the left hand (which is D):

    …and here’s the outcome:

    Step #2. Reinforce the triad (by playing it in octave position)

    In this step, we are taking the outcome of step #1:

    …a step further by reinforcing the root position triad on the right hand:

    “Here’s How It Works…”

    Duplicating the root of the C major triad:

    …which is C:

    …produces the C major triad (in octave position):

    Any other scale-tone chord can be reinforced when its root is duplicated. Duplicating the root of the D minor triad (the 2-chord):

    …which is D:

    …produces the D minor triad (in octave position):

    Step #3. Lower the root and “octave” (by a scale-step)

     

    Full-Sounding Scale-Tone Chords In The Key Of C Major

    Let’s go ahead and put all the scale-tone chords in the key of C major together.

    The 1-chord:

    The 2-chord:

    The 3-chord:

    The 4-chord:

    The 5-chord:

    The 6-chord:

    The 7-chord:

    Final Words

    Now that we’ve covered how full-sounding seventh chords can be formed in 3 easy steps, it behooves on you to take these steps to other keys on the keyboard.

    It might not be easy initially, however, with a little mental and physical effort, it’s possible to play these chords effortlessly in all the keys.

    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.

    Related posts:

    1. Here’s Another Reason Why Seventh Chords Are Harmonically Ahead Of Triads
    2. An Introduction To 6-4-3 Chords
    3. Beginners: Forget About Passing Chords And Learn Scale-Degree Chords.
    4. A Lesson On The Clustered Voicings Of Scale-Tone Chords
    5. How To Play A Major 2-5-1 Chord Progression Using Mutual Intervals
    6. PHATness 101: Introduction To The School of PHATness
    7. Harmonization 202: “Drop-2 Voicings” Of Neighboring Chord Couples


    Related posts:

    1. Here’s Another Reason Why Seventh Chords Are Harmonically Ahead Of Triads
    2. An Introduction To 6-4-3 Chords
    3. Beginners: Forget About Passing Chords And Learn Scale-Degree Chords.
    4. A Lesson On The Clustered Voicings Of Scale-Tone Chords
    5. How To Play A Major 2-5-1 Chord Progression Using Mutual Intervals
    6. PHATness 101: Introduction To The School of PHATness
    7. Harmonization 202: “Drop-2 Voicings” Of Neighboring Chord Couples



    Tagged as: full-sounding seventh chords, scale degree chords, scale-tone chords, seventh chords


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