# Melody and chords

Interactive version: [`melody-and-chords.html`](melody-and-chords.html). Part of **In C**. Next: [Independence](independence.md).

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](simple-melodies.md) is the right hand alone. This page puts both hands on **C–G–Am–F**. [Independence](independence.md) is the long practice of keeping those two jobs apart.

On the interactive page, each stage has a hear button for the right hand and for both hands together.

## Where each hand sits

Right hand: thumb on middle C, then D, E, F, G. That is the five-finger shape from the [introduction](introduction.md). 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.

On the interactive page, **Together** plays the three notes at once, **Right hand** rolls them, and **Both hands** puts the low root under the roll.

The same shape, up an octave and back, is the broken-triad drill on [Exercises](exercises.md). 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

1. **Left hand alone.** C, G, A, F, one note per bar, with a metronome. The pinky plays each root.
2. **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.
3. **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.
4. **Two chord tones**, then **the step between them**. The left hand still plays once per bar.
5. **Another loop.** When C–G–Am–F is easy, take a different loop from [Chord changes](songs.md) 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](independence.md). Faster patterns with no tune in them are on [Exercises](exercises.md).