Chord Fingering - Most Efficient Method

[DaveD]

My granddaughter wants to learn to play. I want to help teach her.

Is there a chart or book which details the most efficient way of fingering each chords? My own method may not be correct.

DaveD

[Graham UK]

Myself I learnt to play chords with the least amout of hand movement, so some chords are inversions to obtain less movement.

[Fred Smith]

"efficient" is a function of what you want to achieve.

I play chord inversions (=Fingered), as that's what I learned as a child.

However, if I was to do it again, I'd learn Fingered on Bass, as it would be nice to play slash chords with ease.

I'm too old to learn this method, but your granddaughter isn't.

Cheers,
Fred

[Al Ram]

I learned to play mostly inverted chords . . . . . now I kind of regret it . . . . sometimes . . . . . not sure . . . . 

Not sure if this is what you are looking for . . .  .

see below
https://www.pianochord.org/

Hope it helps

thanks

[mikf]

It's not about 'efficient'. Older people coming to the instrument late in life want 'easy' because they just want to learn to make music quickly. But if she is young and a beginner she should to learn to play properly and that includes chords with both hands in all positions. And I am not even sure that learning chords is that high on the agenda for a young learner. Are you even the right person to be teaching her. Can you sight read, can you rattle off all the scales and arpeggios in every key, with both hands at speed?
Mike

[Toril S]

Mike, take it easy BUT, you are rignt of course. A young person should learn things properly.

[mikf]

Toril -  Apologies, I didn't mean to sound rude. But I believe that young people should get a solid grounding. People coming to these instruments late in life need short cuts, but that limits the ability to develop.
Mike

[keyplayer]

In my opinion the best way to remember chords is to learn each major scale and know how to form major and minor chords from them. Then it is easier to recognise them in all inversions and they have a basis on which to learn 7ths etc. Otherwise there are just too many chords to commit to memory. You've not said how old the child is and I appreciate it may be a bit long winded for a child wanting to just get on and play but they only need to learn a few at a time and subsequent ones will probably be learned quicker and the achievement will improve their overall enjoyment of playing.  Just my opinion.
Pam

[pedro_pedroc]

My suggestion is to only learn full chords (at least three keys).
Don't start her with simplifyed chords (as you could do using AI fingered, or One finger)...

All chords at least 3 KEYS, that's my suggestion.

Regards,
Pedro Eleuterio

[Afton72]

Hi DaveD & All,
                  Having learned as a country boy 60 to 70 years ago, I do know someone who was pushed too hard, and just chucked music altogether, has never tried since.
But encouragement of some kind is of course good, & as a rough muso as I am, I have been able to enjoy making music over the years.
Anyone who can help children to learn and ENJOY music, are to be aplauded.
     4&1/2 hrs of heart surgery recently seems to have mucked up my memory though, finding it hard to play.
       Cheers,      Alan

[EileenL]

AI fingering is the best one to use as you can produce slashed chords with ease whilst playing normal chords.
  Single fingered chords are very restrictive of the types of chords you can play.

[AndyMark]

If "DaveD" means learning chords, using styles on the keyboard (not the piano)?
I think that a child should not be discouraged from learning too ambitiously, because the effect may be the opposite, as mentioned in "Afton72".
Once upon a time I found a chord table like this.
Some chords are inverted, but when playing styles it doesn't matter.
The table gives you an idea of ​​which fingers to use when starting learning.
At a later stage of learning, it is often done a bit differently, depending on the need, as "Graham UK" wrote earlier.

Link to the table:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fpJ5t14O9YNnKsMyQlUQn5Y-pMMh-QD6/view?usp=sharing

[PhotoDoc05]

DaveD,

I just happened to run across this YouTube video today from "Heart of the Keys", and think you might find this useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG_pXV42H9w

As you can see from the replies, there are a lot of things to consider, to answer your question about "efficiency". You might want to clarify that further!
I agree with the suggestion from Al --- PianoChord.org is an excellent resource for not only how to form any chord, but also shows the recommended fingers to use.

There are "recommended" fingers to use, "best", etc. but a common theme I have seen on many sites, is that each player has to develop their own sense of how they intend to use each finger in any situation. But you have to start somewhere, so try the recommendations. Do a search on YouTube for "keyboard fingering", and you'll see plenty of demonstrations to at least get started.

It's not only which fingers are used, it's also a decision as to which "Fingering Mode" to use on your keyboard. You have several choices depending on your model.
Regards,  Jerry

[Afton72]

   Can I "Come back" for a minute please.   
  Returning to original post about teaching children, remembered this morning, a comment by a Music producer that people who had "learned music professionaly", were easier to work with in the studio, due to their extra technical knowledge.
    But I know a lot of people who have a lot of joy thanks to "Having a go".

              Alan

[Toril S]

I never learned music, but I have had fun with it all my life. All the rules and regulations about how to play just scared me, so I pretty much stayed away from  the strict teachers and played by myself. I am still doing it 50 years later, while my friend who had a lot of music lessons because her parents made her, is not touching the piano or her violin any more. She had much more talent than me, but lost the will tobplay because she was always forced to practice. So watch out! Music had to be FUN!

[mikf]

And are you telling us Toril that in all that time, there were not moments when you wished that you could have had that fun, but still had some of that early training and practice so you could play much better ?
Mike

[Toril S]

Oh yes, Mike! Many times!

[tbaroghel]

Playing 'chords' remains a mystery to me:

when I play the guitar, my fingers go directly to the right position as soon as I 'think' of the chord, and I can dynamically change my fingering almost instinctively. Like i had memorized the shape over the function.

On the keyboard, it is a completely different affair, as I have first to mentally convert the chord I am thinking of into a series of notes and then rush my fingers on the keys in a sub-optimal fingering as inversions do not come naturally to my mind. Go figure (I cannot believe my age does it  ).

Anyway, if I were to help a young person, I would advise

* to stay away from simplified chords and learn to play them with at least 3 notes
* to quickly take professional lessons and not miss important aspects such as inversions
* to learn at the same time to play chords on a guitar or, even better/cheaper, a ukulele in order to develop the sense of 'chord shape'
* to have fun playing, at least sometimes, as this is the real driver to learning

Regards,
Thierry

[Rick D.]

Dave,

I would teach her the root positions of the chords first. Then introduce her to inversions as she progresses and knows exactly which notes are in each chord without thinking about it. This will get her playing songs quickly and keep her interest peaked. Then you can introduce her to playing efficiently without much left hand movement to play any combination of chords, using root positions and inversions. This is the way I was taught as a child.
Stay away from any of the simplified chord  systems, like single finger chords, A1 Fingering, Fingered on Bass, until she becomes more familiar, it will only confuse her and she will never know how to play full chords.

If she is showing interest that is great, just be careful not to overwhelm her.

Rick D.

[Afton72]

Does anyone know the OLD Samson Piano  Course by mail.
   They taught the main note with thumb, then an octave by little finger then fill in two more middle fingers. I broke right hand down to three mostly.   But I got to play by ear after a while. If ONLY I had learned a few more chords.  But I covered a lot of keyboard at once.  
     Alan

[DaveD]

Sorry for the late reply due to a family bereavement.

Thanks to "most of you" for your useful replies.

As I mentioned in my initial mail, I want to help my 8 years old granddaughter. I, like her, started with a proper professional teacher, in my case 64 years ago. I just intend to teach her a few chords to enable her to play a some songs when she visits.
Obviously her span is much smaller than an adult and I was looking for chord inversions with the smallest span.

DaveD

[Al Ram]

DaveD

Now that you have explained that your granddaughter is 8 and you just want to teach her a few chords when she visits .   . . . .i would think that you want to spend a fun time with her and make her feel happy to be with you . . . . . because of that . . .. i would suggest that instead of focusing on the chords, why not teach her to play an easy song . . . . . once she learns this one easy song, then another easy song and so on . . .  the chords will come with the songs . . . . . if you explain the chords to her . . . . but the main think is that she will then be focusing on the fun and great time she is spending with you . . . . not necessarily focusing on the chords. 

Whatever you do, enjoy the time with your kid.

Have a great day 

[Ed B]

Hi
This book may be of some interest.
https://wiac.info/doc-viewer
Regards
Ed B

[andyg]

If you want all your chords placed in the most logical inversions with as little movement as possible, this chart will do the trick. And all the chords are grouped in 'key families', so the most likely chords for any given key are close together.

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[Fred Smith]

If you want all your chords placed in the most logical inversions with as little movement as possible, this chart will do the trick. And all the chords are grouped in 'key families', so the most likely chords for any given key are close together.

This is very useful, Andy. I especially like the learning order.

Cheers,
Fred

[Rick D.]

Andy,

Thanks for the chord chart, it is much quicker to find a chord then using the Genos chord finder.

Rick D.

[DaveD]

Thanks for all the further replies. Andy, your chart was very useful.
DaveD

[Toril S]

Thanks a lot Andy!

[YvonP]

An easy way to play chords from any note is as easy as being able to count up to 12: easy for most people 4 years old and up

Let's say you want to play a major chord, you do 1-5-8. What do I mean? For instance, a C major is C-E-G. How does it relate to 1-5-8?

1 is the fundamental, C.  E is 4 semitones higher: you count while playing up 2 is C#, 3 is D, 4 is D#, 5 is E. Continue counting 6 is F, 7 is F#, 8 is G.

Try a F# instead: 1 is F#...5 is A#...8 is C#!  Need to do an inversion? You know what notes to use, just play them in another order.

A minor chord instead? It's 1-4-8 (symbol for C: Cm ), 7th: 1-5-8-11 ( C7 ), minor 7th: 1-4-8-11 ( Cm7 ), major 7th: 1-5-8-12 ( CM7 or Cmaj7 ), diminished: 1-4-7-10 ( Co ), augmented: 1-5-9 ( C+ or C+5 ), sixth: 1-5-8-10 ( C6 ), etc.

Rely on your keyboard to teach you the others it can recognize. Write down the combinations. Memorize your findings and their inversions: no choice! 

Hope this is useful. Can't be easier in my opinion. ( Of course, there a some exceptions. An inverted C6 may become an Am7... )

Yvon

[dtah80]

DaveD,

When it comes to chords, I would check this link out https://psrtutorial.com/music/chords.html

Enjoy the time helping out your granddaughter.

David