Melody and chords
In C: Simple melodies · Major scale · How chords are built · Diatonic chords · Chord changes · Melody and chords · Independence
The right hand is the tune. The left hand is the harmony and the beat: the root under the bar, and later the pulse that keeps going when the tune moves. Simple melodies is the right hand alone. This page puts both hands on C–G–Am–F. Independence is the long practice of keeping those two jobs apart.
Where each hand sits
Right hand: thumb on middle C, then D, E, F, G. That is the five-finger shape from the introduction. Fingers are numbered 1 (thumb) through 5 (pinky). Left hand: pinky on the root, in the octave below middle C. One left-hand note per bar, for the whole bar.
| Bar | Chord | Left hand | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | C | 5 |
| 2 | G | G | 5 |
| 3 | Am | A | 5 |
| 4 | F | F | 5 |
The left hand does not change for the rest of this page. Every new idea is in the right hand.
The chord, one note at a time
Play C, E, and G together and you are holding a C chord. Play C, then E, then G, and you are rolling it. That roll is an arpeggio. The notes are the chord. The thumb takes the root, finger 3 takes the 3rd, and finger 5 takes the 5th. Fingers 2 and 4 stay up. On the next bar the thumb moves to the new root, and the shape is the same.
| Bar | Chord | Right hand, low to high | Fingers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | C, E, G | 1, 3, 5 |
| 2 | G | G, B, D | 1, 3, 5 |
| 3 | Am | A, C, E | 1, 3, 5 |
| 4 | F | F, A, C | 1, 3, 5 |
On G, the D is the one above B, so the hand has left the five-finger shape. A and F move the same way: thumb on the root, then up the chord. The left hand still holds the low root for the whole bar.
The same shape, up an octave and back, is the broken-triad drill on Exercises. The next section keeps one note from the roll and lets the others go.
One chord tone on the beat
Bring the thumb back to middle C. The arpeggio played every chord tone. A tune keeps one of them, landing with the left hand. Each note is already under a finger of the five-finger shape. The tune is E D E F.
| Bar | Chord | Right hand | Finger | Why this note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | E | 3 | 3rd of C |
| 2 | G | D | 2 | 5th of G |
| 3 | Am | E | 3 | 5th of Am |
| 4 | F | F | 4 | root of F |
Two chord tones in the bar
The left hand still plays once. The right hand plays a second chord tone halfway through the bar. Both notes belong to the chord. The hand stays inside C D E F G.
| Bar | Chord | Right hand | Fingers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | E, then G | 3, then 5 |
| 2 | G | D, then G | 2, then 5 |
| 3 | Am | C, then E | 1, then 3 |
| 4 | F | C, then F | 1, then 4 |
A step between them
The note on the beat is still a chord tone, and so is the note the bar ends on. The note between them is the next white key — a step from the C major scale. It is not in the chord. It passes through, and the hand lands on a chord tone again. That passing note is where the scale and the chord meet.
| Bar | Chord | Right hand | Fingers | The step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | E, F, G | 3, 4, 5 | F is not in C |
| 2 | G | D, E, G | 2, 3, 5 | E is not in G |
| 3 | Am | C, D, E | 1, 2, 3 | D is not in Am |
| 4 | F | C, D, F | 1, 2, 4 | D is not in F |
Hear the two chord tones again, then this one. The extra note is the only difference.
How to practice
- Left hand alone. C, G, A, F, one note per bar, with a metronome. The pinky plays each root.
- Roll the chord. Thumb on the root, then finger 3, then finger 5. The same shape on C, G, Am, and F. Then both hands: the roll above, the root below.
- One note on the beat. Thumb back on middle C. Right hand alone: E D E F. Then both hands, the right-hand note landing with the left. If they miss, slow down.
- Two chord tones, then the step between them. The left hand still plays once per bar.
- Another loop. When C–G–Am–F is easy, take a different loop from Chord changes and do the same stages. The chord of the bar still decides the note on the beat.
The twelve steps that follow — one hand holding still, then the hands on different beats, then a tune over a pulse — are on Independence. Faster patterns with no tune in them are on Exercises.