1.

Most common keys in dance music Amin (relative C), Dmin (relative F; 1 flat), Cmin
(relative Eb), Fmin (relative Ab), Emin (relative G; 1 sharp). Note all in minor. Easiest way to
play a minor key is to look at the major key and start on the 6
th
degree of the major key.
2. Major Chord shapes
- Straight (C, F, G, F#)
- Up wedge or pyramid (D, E, A)
- Down wedge or cone (Db, Eb, Ab)
- L shaped (B and Bb)


They can also be grouped this way:

White keys (C, F, G)
White keys with sharps (D, E, A)
Black keys with naturals (D-flat, E-flat, A-flat)
The two Bs (B and B-flat)
Black keys (F-sharp)

3. Major chord
Root + 4 intervals + 3 intervals
C + E + G


D + F + A
F + A +C
MAJ7 Chord R + 4i + 3i + 4i
Fingering is always 1 3 5 for right hand


1Maj 2Min 3Min 4Maj 5Maj/Dom 6Min 7Dim

The secret to learning the chords is to approach them in patterns. You dont have to memorize 12
wildly different chords. The chords are all related, and once you see the relationships, youll realize
that its much easier to learn all the chords at once.
Instead of 12 different notes, think of 4 different patterns. Each group forms its chords in the
same way.
Group One: C, F and G.
Group Two: D, E, A
Group Three: D flat, E flat, A flat
Group Four: B and B flat, plus the orphan F sharp
Group One: C, F and G The Straight Line
The three notes in these chords are formed straight across, all on the white notes:
C Major: C, E and G.
F Major: F, A and C.
G Major: G, B and D.
Play these chords on the piano. With the right hand, youll use the Thumb, Middle Finger and Pinky.
Start by playing C Major with the Thumb on C. Then move your hand to the right, keeping the
fingers frozen in that position. Play F Major and then G Major.
Thus with this one hand position, you can play three Major Chords.
Note that C, F and G chords are harmonically related and often appear in the same piece.
Group Two: D, E, A The Up Arrow


In these chords, the middle note is one of the black keys. The chord shape that results is an Up
Arrow.
D Major: D, F# and A
E Major: E, G# and B
A Major: A, C# and E
Play these chords on the piano, and note again that you can use the same hand position for all of
them. Not surprisingly, the D, E and A chords are harmonically related and often appear in the
same piece.
Group Three: D flat, E flat, A flat The Down Arrow
The notes in this group are the same as in Group 2 except that they are flatted. D flat instead of
D, for example. Note that the chord shapes are exactly the opposite as in Group 2 whites are
blacks and blacks are whites. The fingers form a Downward Arrow instead of an Upward One.
D flat Major: D flat, F and A flat
E flat Major: E flat, G and B flat
A flat Major: A flat, C and E flat
The middle note goes down to the white keys, while the 1st and the 3rd are black keys.
With one hand position, you can play each of these chords. They are harmonically related to each
other.
Group Four: B and B flat The Hockey Stick
F Sharp The Orphan
B Major and B Flat Major are exactly the opposite of each other. The shape is that of a hockey
stick.
B starts on a white note, then goes to black notes for the 3rd and 5th.
B flat starts on a black note, then goes to white notes for the 3rd and 5th:
B Major: B, D sharp, F sharp
B flat Major: B flat, D, F
The chords arent related harmonically.
The F sharp chord is an orphan. Fortunately, its easy to remember. Its all black keys straight
across. In a way, it is the opposite of the F Chord: all blacks instead of all whites.
F Sharp Major: F#, A# and C#.
Mastering the Majors
There you have it. Just learn the chords in groups. Practice them. Meditate on the underlying
patterns.







4. Minor chord
Root + 3 intervals + 4 intervals
To memorize the shapes, learn the Minor Chords in terms of the four groups weve mention:
Group 1: C, F and G the Minor Chords all have the shape of an Up Arrow. -^-
Group 2: D, E and A the Minor Chords are all straight across (same for minor 7) ---
Group 3: D flat, E flat and A flat 2 of the minor chords are Down Arrows, one is straight across
Group 4: B and B flat the Minor Chords are again hockey sticks, this time of a different shape.
The F Sharp Minor Chord is a Down Arrow. v-




Minor Scale Intervals

WHWWHWW

5. Inversions

Play Cmaj, then move one note to the 6
th
to form its relative minor, which is Amin, then go
down a major 3
rd
from A to F in the left hand

Practical exercise

No 1:
Take 3 chords, within the same group, say C F G majors, the straight line chords, then play
through R to 1
st
inv to 2
nd
inv, up and down keyboard, block and arpeggio, while thinking of
note names and memorising visually the shape. Then move to next chord, and then next. Do
for 10 minutes, then rest. Note that fingering for R is 1 3 5, 1
st
inversion is 1 2 5 (due to gap)
and 2
nd
inversion is 1 3 5.

Play the following chord progression, which cycles through in the order of R, 1
st
inversion,
2
nd
inversion and repeats, and go up and down.
C Amin F Dmin Bb Gmin Eb Cmin Ab
R (CEG) 1
st
2
nd
R 1
st
2
nd
R 1
ST
2
nd

Then, play the same chord progression, which starts from the 1
st
inversion, then.


1
st
(EGC)
6. Play basic scales

Major, Minor, Blues scale and Minor Pentatonic for C F G, right hand left hand
Major (C and G) - RH 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5; LH 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 / F RH: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4;
LH: 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1

Minor:
Right Hand (C Minor Penta) - Notes: C Eb F G Bb C. Fingering: 1 2 3 1 2 3
Right Hand (F Minor Penta) Notes: F Ab Bb C Eb F. Fingering: 1 2 3 1 2 3

E minor pentatonic: Notes: E, G, A, B, D, E
Starts with group of 4 notes, then a group of 3 notes, and a group of 4 notes (2 octave)
First group of 4 notes, fingering is 1 2 3 4
Middle group of 3 notes, fingering is 1 2 4
Last group of 4 notes, fingering is 12 4 5

Note E G A B D E
RH 1 2 3 1 2 3
Deg R min3 4 5 b7 R
Interv -----3---------2---------2---------3---------2------

Amin Penta
Note A C D E G A
RH 1 2 3 1 2 3
Deg R min3 4 5 b7 R
Interv -----3---------2---------2---------3---------2------

F major is just C major with one flat (Take 7
th
note of C scale and flat step), and starting
from F.

G major is just C major with one sharp (Take 4
th
note of C scale and sharp step), and
starting from G. D is just G major with one sharp (Take 4
th
note of D scale and sharp step)
7. Blues Scale

C blues scale RH 1 2 3 4 1 2 3; LH 3 2 1 4 3 2 1
R b3 4 b5 5 b7 R R b3 4 b5 5 b7 R
8. Chromatic

The standard fingering for the chromatic scale, starting from C, is 1313123131345 for one
ascending octave of the RH

9.