Picking Up Chords - Example 1

Let's get back to the tune which we were looking at before - the 1st line of "Hoto Se Choolo Tum".

In the earlier post, I mentioned that I played the chords are F C and F when I was playing in the accompaniment mode, (or when I was sequencing the keyboard track for Strings/Guitar). Now we'll see why we chose those chords to play.

Step 1: Writing the Tune

First let's write down the keys for the tune. You can try to do this in your head, but I think writing down would help when you are trying this for the first time (I know it's a bit tedious).  I'd like to include the following information:

Beat count
Lyrics
Keys ($ = previous key held)
Chords (X = possible chords position, F/C/F = matching chords)

Here's how I'd write it down (I am also filling up the chord information - see Step 2 for explanation):

1    2     3    4      5    6    7    8
---- ----- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ----
                                 Ho-  -
                                 A    G
X                      X 
[F ... same as 33-40   F] (pick these later)


9    10    11   12     13   14   15   16
---- ----- ---- ---- | s---- ---- ---- ----
To    -    Se   -      Choo  -   lo   -
A     G    F    $      F     $   G    F
X                      X
F                      F    


17   18    19   20     21   22   23   24
---- ----- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ----
Tum  -     -    -      -    -    Me-  -re
E    $     $    $      $    $    E    F 
X                      X  
C                      C


25   26    27   28     29   30   31   32
---- ----- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ----
Ge-   -    -et   A-    -ma  -r   Ka-  -r
G     $    $     F     A     A   G    F 
X                      X 
C                      F


33   34    35   36     37   38   39   40
---- ----- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- ----
Do-  -     -    -      -    -    (Ho-  -)
F    $     $    $      $    $
X                      X
F                      F
   
Here's a picture which shows the name of the keys, if you want it for a quick reference.

 Image Link (Borrowed from this site, hope the author doesn't mind)


Step 2: Finding the chords

Finding the chords consists of two things:
a) Positioning the chord in the rhythm cycle.
b) Matching the chord with the note

Positioning the chord

To start with, let's fix the position of the chords at the 1st beat of every rhythm cycle (X at 1, 5, 9 ...). It's always a good first guess, but keep in mind it doesn't work always. E.g., sometimes the chord can change in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th beat for a 4/4 rhythm cycle, or even change multiple times within one cycle. We'll talk about those later on.

Anyway, assuming that the guess works, now we only need to match the chord with the tune!

Matching the chord

The possibilities: To find the chord corresponding to a note, there are six possibilities - three Major Chords and three Minor Chords (ok, I'm making some mild assumptions here).

For example, say that you are on the note 'A'. If it is a Major (Happy) chord, then it is probably the 1st key of the Major Chord, or the 5th, or the 6th. On the other hand, if it is a Minor Chords, it probably the 1st, 4th or 8th key of the chord.You can quickly find the exact possibilities by numbering your key (i.e. 'A') as 1 or 5 or 8 or 4, and counting down (going left on the keyboard) and get the name of first note of the chord.

So, theoretically here are the possibilities which goes with the note 'A':  A, F, D, or Am, F#m,  Dm.

The probabilities: Mostly you don't need go through all the 6 chords to eliminate 5 out of them. Make the initial guesses based on the following thumb-rules:

a) Happy vs Moody: If the song is happy sounding (that's not a very scientific definition - but you will start to relate very soon) - it must be a Major chord, Otherwise, if is sounds moody or sad or creates some suspense, it may be a minor chord. So, that takes the available choices down to 3 corresponding to the note A - A,  F and D.

b) Hierarchy: Chances for note corresponding to the 1st key of the chord > Chances for note corresponding to 5th (4th if minor) 1st key of the chord.  > Chances for note corresponding to the 8th key of the chord. That means, to find the chord matching with the word "-To ..."  (the first word in the tune with X mark, note A) we should try A, then F, and then D.

c) Family: Quite often chords for a song belong to pre-existing families - so you can limit your searches to the candidates within that family. This is the most helpful hint, once you have gained some experience (already picked up chords for 5-6 songs). Some popular families are C-F-G, Bb-Eb-F, A-D-E, etc. (I will try to add a complete list of this later).

Back to our Example:

If we apply the above ideas of probabilities and possibilities, we immediately see that the most appealing (pleasant to the ears) chords corresponding to the notes:

A, F, E, $(E), G, A, F, $(F) (starting from beat 9, corresponding to X) are
F, F, C, C,     C, F, F, F

The other possibilities will sound very "weird" (e.g., (1) if you try A or D with note A, or (2) G or Eb with note G) - you can count on your musical ears for that!

Hope that was not difficult to follow! Post questions if you are still in doubt.

Picking Up Chords - Getting Ready

Ok, it's time to play with some chords!

So, where do we begin?

After thinking for a while I came up with the following progression of topics. I've tried to filter out unnecessary details, so that it's easy for the beginners to keep themselves motivated.

I will list the topics first, and then I will expand on them one by one. And of course, I will try to provide ample examples (in the next post).

Topics

> What Keys Make Up a Chord?
> Major vs. Minor Chords.
> Memorizing the Bare Minimum.

What Keys Make Up a Chord?

Chords are what you hear when multiple keys are played together. The most popular chords are Major and Minor chords. These are called triads, since they are made of three keys (in a particular order). There are many others (dominant, sixth, augmented ...) which are played with three or four keys - but we can live without those in the beginning. :)

Now, say we number the keys relative to a key (root key) we play. We count both black and white keys. If the number for the root key is 1, then we can denote

* Major Chord = 1-5-8

If you are coming from the Harmonium world, play Sa-Ga-Pa together in the scale you sing. This immediately gives the Major Chord of your scale. For example, if your scale is Bb (called B-flat), then you just played the chord Bb-Major (common for female vocalists), also simply called Bb. If your scale is C (common for male vocalists), then it's the C-Major or C chord you just played. Now if you use the above numbering system and count, you will see that Sa-Ga-Pa corresponds to 1-5-8.

If you don't care a lot about the Harmonium world, then just choose any key. Then call it number 1, and count up to identify the 5th and the 8th key. Now if you play them together, then you just played a Major chord. The chord is named after the name of it's key 1. So, now if you identify the name of the Key 1 (say F), then you played F-Major Chord. That's it!

So, how many Major Chords are there in the Major Chord family? The answer is 12 (all the keys in between two octaves - the lower Sa and the upper Sa).

A point to note - Major chords are happy sounding. In this blog, I'll often refer to them as Happy Chords.

Major vs. Minor Chords

Minor chords are a different family of chords. If you repeat the above exercise, but instead of the 5th key, if you use the 4th key, then you are a playing Minor Chord. In others words,

* Minor chord = 1+4+8

A simple change in finger position, but creates an immensely different mood!

In the Harmomium world, you'd be playing Sa-KomolGa-Pa.

Once again as above, there are 12 Minor chords in this family.

A point to note - Minor chords are often moody or sad sounding. In this blog, I'll often refer to them as Moody Chords.

Memorizing the Bare Minimum

Here are the two (and probably the ONLY TWO) things you need to remember if you aim is to pick up and play accompanying chords for a song:

* Major chord = 1-5-8 (Happy Chords)
* Minor chord = 1-4-8 (Moody Chords)

I'm not kidding! You don't need to memorize anything else.

Ok, I think now we are ready to try out a few songs (coming up in the next post)!

Example for Different Playing Styles

Oops ... need to get the player back!

Let us look at the 1st line of a popular (perhaps over-abused) Hindi Ghazal ... "Hoto Se Choolo Tum".

Note: I updated the embedded mp3 player - thanks to Saurav. Hope it works now!  (Nov 10, 2009)

Style: Playing the Tune (or Melody)

Tune: I chose Grand Piano as the instrument for playing the tune.



Style: Playing Auto Accompaniment

Auto Accompaniment: I chose the rhythm as Rhumba and set the tempo at 100. I played the following chords (using single-key) with the Auto Accompaniment mode switched on: F C F.



Tune + Auto Accompaniment: Here's how it sounds like when I play the tune along with the auto-accompaniment music.



Style: Playing the Chords

Chords: I selected my instrument as Strings and played full chords (multiple keys), F C and F .



Style: Sequencing and Playback

In order to sequence, I used the Tune and the Chords from above. Then I added the following two tracks:

Drums: As before, I selected Rhumba with tempo at 100.



Guitar Strums: Played the chords in a strum like pattern after selecting the instrument as Steel Guitar.



Sequenced Music (Tune + Drums + Chords + Guitar Strums):  Here's how it sounds like when you put the Tune and the three accompanying tracks (which I prepared track at a time) all together. Note that I didn't make any effort to add any effects to the tracks, which is a big part of sequencing :)




(In this post, I decided to skip the details for how to select the instrument and the rhythm, since they are keyboard specific. The instrument you select in your keyboard may be called Tune or Voice or something similar. The rhythm is probably called Rhythm or Style.)

Hope you enjoyed!

How to Use the Keyboard?

I am assuming that you are reading this because you have an entry-level keyboard (something like a Casio or a Yamaha PSR). Perhaps you just want to get started, or get a bit more buzz out of your keyboard. On the other hand, if you have a Roland, a Korg or a Yahama Motif, I think you are in the wrong web-page :).

Different Styles

There are many different styles for playing keyboard as an accompanying instrument. You can

a) Play the Tune
b) Play in Auto-Accompaniment Mode
c) Play the Chords
d) Sequence and Playback

I will explain what I mean by these next.

Playing the Tune

You can play the tune of the song (e.g., setting your keyboard as ‘Accordion’ or ‘Strings’) and sing along. This is probably the most basic way of using a keyboard with songs. You may have had several years of training in playing Harmonium, and are currently using keyboard as a substitute. Or, you may have a very good ear, and can pick up the tune with a little bit of trial and error. Either way, you have crossed the first hurdle!

Playing in ‘Auto-Accompaniment’ Mode

The next level of complexity is to play in the ‘Auto-Accompaniment’ mode. So, what is meant by auto-accompaniment? Well, the quickest example I can think of is of a keyboard demo song. When you press the ‘Demo’ button in the keyboard, you can hear a song (tune) playing with some background music – drums, piano, guitar, etc. The background music is called the accompaniment music. An entry-level keyboard often gives you an option to choose a style of auto-accompaniment where you don't need to think about how the individual instruments are played.

Typically this style of playing involves selecting a rhythm, playing the chords with the left hand, and the tune (or parts of it) with the right hand – all together. Just selecting the chords makes the keyboard play various instruments in the background.

If you are a beginner, you may want to use the ‘single-key mode’ for the chords (the internal mechanism of the keyboard plays the full chords). Or if you have some practice, you may be able to play the full chords (multiple keys played together) with the left hand, and the tune with the right.

Playing the Chords

A third way you can play the keyboard is to play the chords for a song (e.g., setting as a ‘Piano’ or ‘Strings’). This can create quite a rich background sound and make your performance very lively. If you have been playing Harmonium for a while, you may be unknowingly playing some chords when you play a set of keys together. For example, you may be playing Sa-Ga-Pa together – and that is the major chord of the scale you are playing in (I will explain this more later). If you haven’t played Harmonium before, and don’t know what I am talking about … well … just hang on … and don’t feel left behind! Just keep reading and you will pick up the skill very soon!

Sequencing and Playing Back

The term ‘sequencing’ is used for arranging or recording the music ahead of time in the keyboard memory. If you have a high-end keyboard, you can record all the instruments for a song in multiple tracks. When you play back, all the tracks are played simultaneously, as if a music band is performing. So, for example, someone sequenced the demo music in your keyboard, and when you press the DEMO button on your keyboard, you are just playing back one of the sequenced music from a list of choice.

Sequencing music needs some understanding of how various instruments are played. You need to know a little bit of drums, piano, bass guitar, rhythm guitar … and so on. You don’t necessarily need the skill to play these instruments, just know how someone would play it.

Although it may sound intimidating, sequencing is not difficult at all! However, you’d require a lot of patience and time to adapt this style :).