Spice Up Your Playing With Chord Style Piano

[Dawn Carrera]

Have you ever gone to a nice restaurant or a mall and heard a pianist
playing beautifully without any sheet music at all? She might have
memorized every note of the piece you are hearing, or she might be
playing by ear, but chances are she's using chord style piano to help
her play the harmony parts. Chord style piano is used by many pop/rock
artists and performers, and it is also a learning style that is well-
suited to adult piano students who can more easily comprehend the
intellectual framework it provides.
When I was growing up, we had a piano that didn't serve much purpose
other than to hold lamps and picture frames. Every once in a while I
would sit down and plunk out a melody, playing mostly by ear. I even
learned a few basic chords and added harmonies to simple songs. That's
about as far as I got before deciding as an adult to finally take
piano lessons. I wanted to learn how to play the piano "right," so I
ignored those little symbols above the notes on my sheet music--
symbols like "Cmaj7, D, G7, Bb7#9"--and learned to play notes exactly
as they were written on the treble and bass clefs. I made good
progress over the course of a few years, but learning was sometimes
slow and frustrating. Then I was introduced to chord style piano and
discovered that a knowledge of chords gave me a "map" to the piano and
let me pick and choose notes that would sound good in a given song. I
combined this knowledge with the classical piano skills I had already
learned, and soon was regularly receiving compliments on my playing.
Chord style piano even helped me site read and play classical music
better, because I had increased confidence and my hands were already
familiar with many of the shapes and movements found in other piano
styles.
Here's a very brief description of how chord style piano (sometimes
called "popular piano") works. Think of a simple song like "Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star." This song consists of 3 chords: C, F, and G7.
These letters are both names of chords and the names of the root note
each chord is built on. The C chord contains three notes: C, E, and G.
The F chord also contains 3 notes: F, A and C. The G7 chord contains 4
notes: G, B and D and F. These notes could be written on the bass clef
using standard notation (with stems and rhythm values), but in chord
style piano the bass clef is eliminated or ignored and the left hand
part is simply notated with letters and other chord symbols. This type
of notation is very common in jazz and popular music. It can be found
in "fake books," in music marked "Piano - Vocal - Guitar" and in most
non-classical arrangements. Advanced chord style pianists with a good
knowledge of theory can even look at music without chord symbols and
determine which chords to play.
The pianist who is learning to play chord style piano has three key
challenges to overcome. First, the pianist must memorize a variety of
chords. Basic 3-note chords are either major (happier sounding chords)
or minor (sadder sound chords). Beyond these, there are diminished
chords, augmented chords, and extended chords such as G7 (mentioned
above) and F13 (a chord that contains 7 notes in its original form,
although sometimes certain notes are dropped to improve playability).
While the sheer number of possible chords may seem overwhelming, they
follow consistent patterns, so the same hand shape can be used to play
several chords. As an example, the same hand shape used to play the C
major chord can be used to play D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A
minor, and B diminished. The only thing that changes is the note you
start on. Also, since chords are the building blocks for songs, once
you learn a C chord you can use it in thousands of other songs that
call for it. It is helpful to learn some of the theory behind how
chords are constructed, to make it easier to find the right notes for
a given chord. There are also chord reference guides that show
pianists which notes to play for each chord.
The second challenge the chord style pianist must overcome is that of
variety and interest. Playing the same chords the same way in a song--
especially if the chord is only played once during a measure of music--
is boring and unsatisfying for both pianist and listener. Fortunately,
chords can be much more versatile than a written bass clef, because
the pianist gets to choose how he wants the song to sound, and can
either plan what he will play in advance or make up the left hand as
he goes. An experienced chord style pianist rarely plays a song the
same way twice, creating interest by inverting, arpeggiating, and
playing chords in different places on the keyboard. Chord notes can
also be dropped to create different sounds (as an example, try playing
just the C and G notes of a C chord). Chord notes can be played with
just the left hand or with both hands, and if the pianist isn't
satisfied with the chords for a given arrangement, he can experiment
with others that may sound better (this is called chord substitution).
For example, Cmaj7 can sometimes be substituted for C to give songs a
jazzier sound, and Em can sometimes be substituted for C to create
variety. He can also vary the rhythm in the left hand, playing eighth
notes instead of quarter notes, for example, or syncopating the
rhythm. The right hand can add additional variety with run-ups,
trills, fills, slides, octave melodies and glissandos. There is no end
to the possibilities chord style piano allows. This is personal,
expressive, creative piano at its best! Just remember to keep a steady
rhythm while playing. Experiment with different sounds and techniques,
and let your ears tell you when you've found something that works.
The third challenge the chord style pianist must overcome is that of
her own perception and the perceptions of others. Unfortunately, chord
style piano is sometimes touted by dishonest web scams as a way to
"play piano instantly," "learn to play piano in just 10 days" or
"learn to read music in 30 minutes." These utterly ridiculous claims
of overnight success would be laughable if so many people weren't
fooled by them. Chord style piano is a valid technique for improving
your playing, but it can't take the place of years of correct
practice. On the other side of the equation, many classical/
traditional piano teachers think that chord style piano is "cheating."
This may be a valid claim for classical music, since chord style piano
is usually not well-suited to that type of playing. However, when
playing songs like "Moon River" or "As Time Goes By," chord style
piano can allow the pianist to produce far more satisfying results
than when playing notes exactly as written. Too many piano students
get stuck on the mental process of reading and playing notes, and
never really teach their fingers how to play quickly and creatively.
Chord style piano allows pianists to make use of notes but not be
entirely at the mercy of the arranger. It also reduces sheet music
expenses, since a chord style pianist can experiment with a variety of
styles using the same piece of music. Ultimately, the best defense
against those who think chord style piano is "cheating" is simply to
ignore them. As long as you are satisfied with the results you are
getting, that's what matters.
Chord style piano can also provide a great foundation for successful
improvisation. Ironically, improvisation was a common practice by
classical era composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, but it is
typically marginalized by modern classical piano teachers. At first,
learn to improvise over a standard chord progression (such as C-F-G7-
C), and then experiment with creating your own progressions, planning
them in advance or making them up as you go. When you invent a new
melody and play it over your chord progression, you're improvising.
Jazz musicians do this all the time, and it's a great exercise for
songwriters too. Another improvisation technique involves taking an
existing song like "Silent Night" and playing its exact chord
progression with the left hand while making up a new melody in the
right hand using scale notes. This may seem intimidating at first, but
keep in mind that the improviser never makes mistakes--she just takes
unexpected turns. The goals is to create, learn, experiment, develop
your own style, express yourself and most of all to have fun.
So how do you learn chord style piano? Get a chord reference book, get
some arrangements of your favorite songs, find a competent teacher who
is willing and able to instruct you in this style, and start playing.
With time, effort and consistent practice, chord style piano can bring
you a lifetime of enjoyment.

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