Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano

Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano

If you understand the concept of triads but don’t have a complete grasp on them, this article will give you the tools you need to find any Major triad based upon any note that you choose on the piano.  You only need to learn one simple pattern to find any Major chord on the piano.

What tends to cause “triad confusion” on the piano is the combination of black and white keys within a chord.  Having all white keys can also be confusing because there’s a certain pattern involved in creating a Major chord.

 Introducing: the “Tetrachord Plus Pattern”

A simple tetrachord by itself is a series of four notes separated by three smaller intervals.  It actually spans the interval of a perfect fourth.  In ancient Greek it literally means four strings.

Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-c tetrachord pattern

In order to build a tetrachord, you need to understand the concept of half steps and whole steps which are among the smallest intervals in music.  An interval is just the distance between notes.

A half step is the distance from one key to the very next with no key in between them.  It doesn’t matter if the keys involved are black, white, or a combination of both.

A whole step is the distance from one key to the next with one key in between them.  The same rule applies in respect to black and white keys as with half steps.

A simple tetrachord pattern consists of the following:Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-c tetrachord pattern

The “Plus” refers to adding a whole step at the end of the pattern.

Using C as an example of the tetrachord plus pattern:

Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-c tetrachord plus pattern

…F tetrachord plus patternLearn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-f tetrachord plus pattern

As you can see from the example of the F tetrachord plus pattern, you can have combinations of white and black keys.

The simplest way to play the tetrachord plus pattern is to reach out with one hand (let’s use the right hand) and play it with all five fingers melodically.  That means to play it in succession from the bottom up.Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-c major tetrachord plus pattern illustration played with all 5 fingersIt’s very important to listen to the notes as you play them.  No matter what key you play the tetrachord plus pattern in, they will all relatively sound the same.  If one of your fingers play the wrong note, your ear will tell you.

The Practical Way to Find any Major Chord

Now let’s use the tetrachord plus pattern and find any Major triad by following this sequence:

  • Choose the root of the chord you wish to build a Major triad upon by playing it with your thumb. (we’ll use C as an example)Learn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-creating tetrachord plus patter-choose the root
  • Now proceed by moving up the tetrachord plus pattern as you say out loud:

Whole-Whole-Half-WholeLearn One Simple Pattern To Find Any Major Chord on the Piano-c tetrachord plus pattern

  • Now take your first, third and fifth fingers and play the notes underneath them. This will be your thumb, middle finger, and pinky.creating tetrachord plus patter-c major chord 1st 3rd 5th fingers

You now have a Major chord under your fingers.  By executing this movement, you’re not just going through the motions of finding a major chord, you’re giving your fingers an education in intervals.  You can find the root Major chord of any Major key by using this pattern.  Although the combination of black and white keys are different in other keys, you can still use all five fingers to play the pattern.

Also, just a quick note:  You can also use your left hand with this exercise and the only difference would be the finger order would be reversed.

Here’s some good news:   You won’t even need to go through this pattern once you’ve learned all 12 Major chords!  This is a simple learning tool that you only use when you’re learning your Major chords.  I should know.  It’s exactly how I learned mine. 

The Tetrachord Plus Pattern is an easy to use tool for beginners who don’t quite have their Major Chords down yet.  You’ll go far beyond this once you actually do know your Major Chords.  Be sure to learn them in visual order which will make it even easier to cement these important chords inside your mind permanently.

Until next time, Go Play!

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Greg Lee

Hi, my name is Greg Lee. I'm the creator of the Color Score Professional/Visual Chord Learning System. I love to share ideas and concepts about piano and keyboard playing in all styles of music. I believe the key to learning is having fun and making complicated things simple with visual tools and illustrations.

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