{"id":6786,"date":"2022-01-07T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=6786"},"modified":"2024-03-01T08:06:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T16:06:24","slug":"first-piano-song-4-chords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/first-piano-song-4-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"Play Your First Piano Song With Just 4 Chords"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:24px\"><em>Yes, you can play your first piano song on your first day of playing by using just four chords!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was a kid, I wanted piano lessons SO BAD. I begged for them, and I still remember the day our piano arrived at our house! I was so excited!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I was disappointed when the songs I learned at my piano lessons were tunes like &#8220;Mary Had a Little Lamb.&#8221; I wanted to play other songs. The songs I love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, my piano lessons taught me many useful skills. They were just&#8230;not that inspiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But <em>I\u2019m <\/em>the piano teacher now, and I know that beginners can play their favorite songs within Day 1! <em>If<\/em> you have the right tools. This is what I want to show you in this lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Subscribe to <i>The Note<\/i> for exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Your First Piano Song: Everything Is Chords!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a fun fact: most songs are based on something called a <strong>chord progression<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A chord progression is a series of chords that repeats itself. In popular music, this series is often <em>just four chords.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And while there are many ways to make them fancy, in their most basic form, these chords are very easy to play and very easy to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:24px;\"><b>Chords Made Easy<\/b><\/h2><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/12112819\/easy-chords-logo-cart-1024x839.jpg\">\n<p>Change chords better and master two songs in just 10 minutes a day for 30 days with expert support from <i>real<\/i> teachers. Next cohort starts <b>Jun 5, 2023<\/b>.<\/p><a class=\"join\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/shop\/easy-chords\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SAVE YOUR SEAT<\/a><p><\/p><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Find the 4 Chords<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To find our four magic chords, we first have to learn a scale. We\u2019ll use the C scale, which is a row of notes from C to C on the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\">The C Scale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First, find C. It&#8217;s the white key on the very left of the group of two black keys.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/Finding%20C.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram with group of two black keys highlighted in red and white key to the bottom left of it labelled as C.\" style=\"width:450px;height:194px\" width=\"450\" height=\"194\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>These are the names of the notes in the C scale. It\u2019s just the alphabet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/letters%20on%20keyboard%20-%204%20chords.png\" alt=\"Diagram of a keyboard with group of two black keys highlighted in red. Keys CDEFGABC labelled in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\">Scale Numbers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, we\u2019ll assign each key a number. C is the first note, so it\u2019s #1. D is #2, E is #3, and so on. When we get back to C, we\u2019re back to #1. So there should only be numbers 1 to 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/letters%20on%20keyboard%20-%204%20chords%20-%20numbers.png\" alt=\"Diagram of keyboard with group of two black keys highlighted in red, notes C to C labelled, and numbers 12345671 under those notes.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\">The I Shell Chord<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let\u2019s start building chords!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to note #1: C. Put your thumb on C. If you let your hands naturally fall on the keys, one to one, then you\u2019ll see that your pinky lands on G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\"\u201c\u201d\" autoplay=\"\u201c\u201d\" src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/c%20shell%20chord%20-%20min.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Play C and G together. This is a<strong> C shell chord. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A full C chord would be C-E-G (using your middle finger to play the E). You can play this if you like, but it can be a challenging movement for beginners, whose fingers can get squished together. So, a shell chord works just fine for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, play C-G. We also call this the <strong>I chord<\/strong> because it is built on the first note of the scale (C). We\u2019ll use Roman numerals to number chords (more on this later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Subscribe to <i>The Note<\/i> for exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\">The Other Shell Chords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Using this same concept, we\u2019ll find the rest of our chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, our magic four chords are the I, the V, the vi, and the IV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means we\u2019ll build shell chords on the first, the fifth, the sixth, and the fourth notes of the C scale. Don\u2019t remember what these are? Refer back to the graphic where we numbered each note of the scale \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The first note of the scale is C. Make this a shell chord by playing C-G. This is our I chord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To play the next chord, just scooch the same hand-shape over to G&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/C%20shell%20chord.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram of C shell chord with notes C and G highlighted in red and labelled.\" style=\"width:300px;height:200px\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-2 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The fifth note of the scale is G. Make this a shell chord by playing G-D. This is our V chord.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/G%20shell%20chord.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram of G shell chord with notes G and D highlighted in red and labelled.\" style=\"width:300px;height:200px\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Our sixth note of the scale is A. Make this a shell chord by playing A-E. This is our vi chord.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/A%20shell%20chord.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram of A shell chord with notes A and E highlighted in red and labelled.\" style=\"width:300px;height:200px\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-4 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Finally, the fourth note of the scale is F. Shell chord: F-C. This is our IV chord.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2021\/4%20Chords\/F%20shell%20chord.png\" alt=\"Keyboard diagram of F shell chord with notes F and C highlighted in red and labelled.\" style=\"width:300px;height:200px\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\"\/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\">The Left Hand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Our left hand has been sitting idle for a while, so let\u2019s invite it to the party!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll use it to play the same note that each chord is built on, just lower. Remember that we can find all the Cs on the keyboard by looking at the bottom-left white key of a group of two black keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So your bass notes are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\" style=\"color:#f61a30\">C &#8211; G &#8211; A &#8211; F<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try playing them together with your right hand shell chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now play the chords one after the other\u2026and guess what? You\u2019ve basically played every pop song ever written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Need proof? Watch the video and see me use these chords to play \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019\u201d (Journey), \u201cLove Story\u201d (Taylor Swift), and \u201cLet It Go\u201d (from <em>Frozen<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\">\ud83c\udfb9 <b>Learn more about chord progressions:<\/b> No two songs are the same, but many songs use the same handful of chord progressions! Each has its own character and mood. Learn more about chord progressions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chord-progressions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Chord Names<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two ways to name the chord progression we just played. One is by using numbers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\" style=\"color:#f61a30\">I &#8211; V &#8211; vi &#8211; IV<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other is by using chord names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\" style=\"color:#f61a30\">C &#8211; G &#8211; Am &#8211; F<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chord names are what you most often see on chord charts, where there are lyrics on the bottom and chord names on top. This means the chords change when a chord name matches up with a lyric.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Pianote%20Guide%20to%20Pop%20Piano\/Don%27t%20Stop%20Belivin%20chord%20chart%20markup-2.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:679px;height:450px\" width=\"679\" height=\"450\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>You can see a demonstration of this in action when I play \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019\u201d with the chord chart at the bottom of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re wondering why there\u2019s a little \u201cm\u201d next to the A. That\u2019s because this is a minor chord. It has a \u201csad\u201d sound. If you play the full chord (A-C-E), it\u2019ll sound \u201csad.\u201d This is also why we use lowercase Roman numerals (\u201cvi\u201d) to represent this chord numerically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a bunch of theory that explains this. Don\u2019t worry about it right now, but if you\u2019re curious, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/diatonic-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here\u2019s<\/a> a more thorough explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Applying this to other songs\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll be delighted to know that you now have the four magic tools to start playing hundreds of songs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some songs that use these chords. Not always in the same order, but the same shapes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/d1923uyy6spedc.cloudfront.net\/Don&#039;t%20Stop%20Belivin&#039;-1641426844.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Don&#8217;t Stop Believin'&#8221; (Journey)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/d1923uyy6spedc.cloudfront.net\/Love%20Story%20-%20Taylor%20Swift%20(no%20key%20change)-1641426797.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Love Story&#8221; (Taylor Swift)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/d1923uyy6spedc.cloudfront.net\/Right%20Here%20Waiting%20(edited)-1641426925.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Right Here Waiting&#8221; (Richard Marx)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/d1923uyy6spedc.cloudfront.net\/Torn%20-%20Natalie%20Imbruglia-1641426958.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&#8220;Torn&#8221; (as performed by Natalie Imbruglia)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on those links to get free chord charts for all these songs&#8230;and start playing your first piano song!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can play your first song on the piano using only four chords! Start playing the songs you love from day 1. Here&#8217;s how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[507],"tags":[1088],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6786"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16689,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786\/revisions\/16689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}