Hi All just a quick question,

Do you play your chords in the same shape/inversion, all the time (I use G-C-E for the C chord all the time ) or do you change it to suit the tune your playing and the other chords in the tune?

Brian

Golden rule is to keep all the chords as close as possible, resulting in minimum movement from the left hand. However, there will always be times when you need to play chords in different inversions, just for comfort and convenience. And when you start to use AI mode for slash chords and more exotic and 'impossible' chords, then your left hand will be moving around a little more.

I always recommend keeping chords centred around the left hand's Middle C, so a C chord would be G C E. I've taken on students who have always played chords in lower inversions but have tried hard to 'convert' them with varying degrees of success!

What Andy said. Also sometimes the octave makes a difference in the sound and the way a song flows. Especially if you're singing along.

Hi Brian don't know much to help but expect a marked improvement on Monday as it sounds as if you are practising. All the best .John

Hi Andy and Wally,

Thanks for the advice, its more or less what I expected so no big shocks there, I am on the right track

Hi John, I could hardly get any worse unless I made a concerted effort too ? see you Monday matey

Brian,

It's a while since you posted this question .. 2014! You are not a 'beginner' any more, and I'm sure that you can play any chord in any inversion at the drop of a hat now!

Here's a video showing what is meant by 'Chord Inversions'. The demonstrator is showing how the chords are formed with the right hand (and on a piano). Keyboard players need to form these chords with the left hand, and below the split. But whatever, the notes forming the chords are the same in either case.

How to Invert Chords on Piano



The general idea seems to be to play your chords with the minimum of movement with the fingers, so notes that are common to two chords should be shared between them. But really and truly, you don't need to just play the chord inversion to where your fingers are as there are other considerations besides playing the chord. And so long as there is some 'reverb' or 'sustain' applied to the chords you are playing, and you can get to that chord before the previous one completely fades away, you will get a smooth sounding performance.

If you are playing a piece with an accompanying STYLE, the 'pattern' of the Style is the same wherever you play the chord, be it high up, or right over to the left. Try it. Play your G C E in the middle, and then try C E G at the very left end of the keys.

What will make a difference is if you have any 'voices' attached to the notes you are playing your chord with .. eg. some strings. I like your G C E for the C chord, as the ear picks up the 'highest' note you are playing more than the other two. So the over-riding harmony is a 'third'. If you were to play C E G, then the predominant sound would be the G. A 'fifth'. And that is not as pleasant a sound as the third. I play those notes as my 'preferred' C chord too.

If I was playing an F chord I think I would play F A C or A C F 50/50. The F on the top gives the sound of the 'root' of the chord, which is better than the fifth. Then if I was to play a G chord, I may very well play B D G .. for a reason. If the piece is in C, then that G may very well be a G7 (going back to C). Now I reckon that if you're playing a 7th chord, you want to have the 7th sounding on top .. always. So if you think about what I am saying here, G to G7 to C as a chord progression, if you play the chord inversions I am talking about above you get a G at the top (G chord), followed by an F on top (G7 chord), and then an E on top (C chord). So you get a little counter melody 'run-down' with the left hand .. G, F, E.

Then another thing. If you have 'voices' allocated to the notes, then the further down you play them the more 'bassy' the voices will sound. The expression is that they 'growl'. And this with the STYLE just batting on just the same wherever you play your chord.

This is what I said at the start, there are other considerations with the music other than just managing to get your hand playing a chord that's closest to where your fingers are.

Here is a short piece with some strings allocated to the notes as well as a Style playing. The consideration here was to position my chords to give a pleasant sounding 'middle of the range' harmony to the piece.

Click the below to listen; then afterwards, click the back-button to get back to this page.
Whispering (MP3)

Hugh

Hi Hugh,
A good article, I do in the main go along with Andy's post but I think that you are right, you have to experiment to get the sound you want.
There are no hard and fast rules.
I think pop tunes generally are better with triads and dom 7 chords other than that, I normally play four note left hand chords.
I learned what is generally called position 1 and position 2. These positions facilitate adding and altering chords
very easily. It is very much easier to show a quick video than to try to explain it verbally.

Hugh has asked me to redo the above video as it is poor quality, I will get round to it soon but I want to press on with the following.
I am putting a tutorial together to demonstrate how position1 and position 2 can be used to make left hand accompaniment more interesting,
I am looking at 12 bar blues. The tune is After Supper by Neil Hefti. Count Basie also plays it.
An accomplished jazz player would not have to analyze this, he or she would be able to play it instantly.
This is a learning project for me but I do have some idea of where I am going with it. I hope at least some of you find it interesting.
I will have to do it in a series of short videos.




Ha Ha, I didnt mean I am making it up, I meant it is unscripted and that I am trying to find the best way to put it across.
In the next video, I will look at the Neal Hefti chords and see how I can add to them to keep the accompaniment
interesting. I will change over to my left hand for this. Eventually I will add the melody and
demonstrate how to improvise using the blues scale on top of the accompaniment.
Please comment if you want me to continue. There will be no point in going any further if no one is interested.
The melody line on the music is fine but there are a couple of errors with the chords. it should read-
Bar (1 F9) (2 Bb9) (3and 4 F7) (5and 6 Bb9)(7 F9)( 8-D7#9)(9 G7)(10 Gm7 then C9#5)(11and 12 F7).
Happy practice,
Brian

Brian. Please do carry on. It is always good to have different 'methods' and 'ideas' on record. It airs things we may not have thought about before, and without carrying on we don't know what is to come. Hugh

After thinking about this a little I realized that when I first play a chord when composing something I start with the 4th finger on the root and go up from there. Once the chords within the song are determined I will alter/invert them for ease of playing and effect that sounds good to my ears. Starting with the 4th finger on the root also makes it easier to go from major to minor chords with the 2nd finger. Just drop the index finger up or down 1/2 step. I'm obviously not a trained musician but I do what's easier and best for me. I'm sure a music teacher would be slapping my hands with a ruler.

Give me Easy everytime