3 WAYS TO BRING YOUR PIANO CHORDS TO LIFE

I’m super excited to share this post with you because I think you’re gonna love this! Today, I want to show you how to spice up your basic piano chords using these 3 simple ways that are super easy to perform yet they’re totally gonna rock your songs!

So, here’s what we’re going to do today:

• How to improvise
• How to play some cool intros
• How to end a song with a bang! (outro)

Now, I must say that you don’t always have to incorporate all of these ways into your playing.

Some songs do not have an intro, they just begin right away, for example, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queens (I’m sorry, I really don’t know why I chose this song as an example :-P), and some songs just end without any bang bang boom and some songs are just played with single piano chords throughout.

There’s really no rule to this. You just gotta try them out and see for yourself what sounds good.

So, how do we bring the piano chords to life?

Now think of yourself dressing up for a date with your girlfriends. Perhaps you throw in a pair of jeans, a basic t-shirt, and a pair of high heels to go with them. Then you start to get a little bit creative and start putting on a jacket, a pair of earrings, a scarf and a belt. Voilá’! Suddenly, a basic pair of jeans and a t-shirt become so luxurious.

Dang! Lookin’ good gurlll….

I believe this is what it’s all about. You have that basic piano chords but then you work your magic and add beautiful things to them and bring the whole song to life with your touches and your style.

So, I want to show you how it is like before and after applying these “makeovers”. This will give you a better idea of what we’re trying to achieve today.

But before I begin, I want to share with you my free 30 days roadmap to playing the songs you love which you can download by clicking on the button below. This roadmap is perfect for you if you’ve always wanted to play a song from beginning till the end but have no idea how to.

1. How to improvise

Before we dive into how to improvise, what is improvisation to begin with?

Improvisation is creating or inventing musical composition at the spur of the moment.

Now, I’ve created this article for beginners and perhaps for you to know how to improvise could be a little bit far fetched for now.

But it’s totally okay if you’re not able to do that just yet. You can always improvise with simple notes formations and repeat them until you get the hang of it.

And I’ve also got you covered. I’ve simplified how to improvise so that they are perfect for beginners and I’ve used some of the songs that you’d know. I mean, I could improvise bombastically, but what’s the point if they are too difficult to follow ammaright?

If you’ve been playing the basic piano chords only, they are great and amazing.

However, sometimes playing the basic piano chords isn’t always enough to express yourself fully in a certain type of songs because they may sound a little too “choppy”(chords tend to sound segmented) or they may sound too “heavy” for the mood that you’re trying to create in a song.

When you improvise and start adding some notes or melodies in between each of the piano chords, they will begin to sound more fluid and natural. This is because these notes help to transition your chords from one to the another “gently”.

The notes that are played in between the chords are either notes from the chords itself or passing notes (not from the chords).

Are there rules to this you asked?

Well, I don’t like to call it rules because music is supposed to give us the freedom to express ourselves but there’s definitely note that I would personally avoid because it does alter the sound of the chords quite significantly.

Usually, when I improvise, I would avoid using the 7th degree of a scale and play it on top of a chord.

For example, if the key that I’m playing in is in C major, the scale would be C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.

The 7th degree is B so I would avoid using this note in most cases when I’m playing it together with the chords. It sounds so strange unless of course, that’s your intention. You can improvise with any other notes but that note.

But! You don’t have to avoid the 7th-degree note completely because you still can use it as passing notes. Just make sure that you play this note in between the chords and not on top of the chords. Cool?

The bottom line is, do what sounds good to you. So, here we go…

Key points:

• Know the key to the song that you want to play and identify the notes of its scale.
• Use the notes of the scales to do wonders.
• Use 7th degree of the scale as passing notes and try to avoid playing it on top of a chord.
• Use simple note formation that you can use over and over again without sounding boring. Can use single notes or double notes.
• Keep it simple and cool 😉
• Feel your song and put your emotion into it.

Go on now, let your creative juice flows in you and start playing something awesome!

How to figure out what key a song is in?

The easiest way to find out what key a song is in is by finding out what is that very first chord or the last chord used in that song.

For example, in the video where I’ve shown you earlier on before and after improvision, I started with the chord G major.

So, most likely the key of the song is in G major but it is best to also find out what are the other chords used in the song to confirm that the key of the song is in G major.

Using the same example from the video, if there are chords such F# major or B minor, it usually confirms that the song is played in the key that we suspected it to be. This is not only because G major has the key signature of F# but also the chords progression used throughout the song.

Another way to confirm that the song is played in the key that you suspect it to be is by finding out what is the last chord used in that song. This is also a good indicator of what key a song is in.

2. How to Play Intros

As its name suggests, an intro of a song is a section that comes at the beginning of the song. An intro creates the mood of a song. It is the beginning of a story.

It’s like saying “Once upon a time, there lived papa bear, mama bear, and baby bear in a jungle”, but in music form. Bad example? But my son loves this story. Ok, nevermind, you get the point.

An intro can also create suspense, like “hey what’s coming up next?” and when the intro ends and the verse comes, it’s like a relief and there’s a sense of satisfaction to it.

The intro of a song is usually made of the chords or melodies that either uses some of the verses from the song or something totally different.

Here are some ideas on what you can do for your intros:

• Play a short verse of the song and repeat that until the song starts.
• Create an interesting notes formation that can be used repetitively without sounding boring.
• If playing church hymnal or for the church in general, play the very last short verse of the song. It gives the congregation the cue to begin singing.
• Play the chords but add a little passing note in between the chords.

3. How to End A Song (Outro)

So, how do you like the ending of your songs to be? Is it a grand ending or is it a solemn ending?

However, you wish your ending to be, you can create it with really simple tricks that I am about to show you in the video.

The ending of a song is super important because not only it gives a lasting impression to a song but it’s like ending a story properly, it’s like saying, “They live happily ever after”. 😛

But its often that a song just ends abruptly because that’s the intention of the songwriter. So again, there’s really no rule to this. It’s totally up to you how you want to end your song.

Here’re some ideas on what you can do:

• Use arpeggios or broken chords and ascending up.
• Play slower and slower until the last note.
• Use arpeggios or any interesting notes formation and descending down.
• Use full chords and play powerfully to end.

Playing the intro, improvising or ending a song with some nice melodies aren’t that hard really.

You just gotta know what key you’re playing in, list down the notes of its scale and start using these notes to create something magical.

So I hope you will incorporate these new tactics into your playing and start creating your own style of playing. Do tell me how you go with it. Have fun and keep playing!

Got questions, buddy? If so, leave a comment and let’s chat.