Visual Chord Shapes For Keyboard

The aim of this book is to give the student a complete knowledge of all chords and inversions. It is a visual aspect of the chords laid out on the keyboard (not notation) making it also useable by those who cannot read music.

As the title of the book suggests, you visualise the shapes of the chords, so that you only have to think of the upper or lower note and play the shape you see rather than all the individual notes.

As I have advised in the book it is suggested that it would be beneficial to learn at least the major scales. You can purchase a scale book with all the major and minor scales that will also have arpeggios, it will be beneficial to your technique and fingering if you took the time to use some of these each time you practice. The amount of practice you put in depends on the individual, I would suggest a minimum of one hour per day if possible, but the important thing, even if you do less than this, make sure you do this practice each day. Of course the more time you put in the sooner you will reach your goal.

To start with you should get some music that have chords and single note melody (if you cannot read notations, find the starting note and use your ear) the series of books called 101 hits for buskers contain lots of popular songs and have reasonably good chords with said single note melody. Pick a song you are familiar with and list the chords to be used, then go to my book and study the chords and inversions. Play the chords in order of the song and experiment with the inversions so that your left hand will remain in the one position, rather than jumping up and down the keyboard from one octave to the other. Once you are confident with these chords then add the single note melody.

Once you are confident you can then voice the chords i.e. (play parts of the chord in each hand) this is quite involved and can be looked at later, but realise if you have studied the book you will have the knowledge to do this.

Have a good look at pages six and seven of my book. This contains an exercise that helps you with modulation and will also help with improvisation, as you progress. Also be aware of the timing and syncopation of the notes, this will be dealt with as we progress.

I’m sure this will be enough information for now, the main thing is to be patient and enjoy the new sounds you will hear as you play. Read the helpful hints in the book as you go along!