Piano chords help (again)?

[Oswlek]

I don't actually CARE about chord names except when I need to tell someone else who may be playing them later. I DO need a memory aid to help me keep track of where to put my fingers for each chord change, as I find it difficult to focus and get them all memorised when I try and do a song the whole way through. Cause to me, the keyboard notes are just an expanse of whites and blacks...with not much differentiation. So I lose track of where exactly my fingers go for each chord.

 

 

I think you're underestimating the value in knowing chord names and construction.

 

First off, when you know the chords it is easy to remember where your fingers go, which solves your memory issue. More importantly, knowing the construction allows you to approach the keys from a point of knowledgable expectation rather than dabbler. "If a D added to an Emajor made an E7, then a Bb in a Cmajor creates a C7!" Finding that elusive chord you hear in your head but just can't figure out just became a lot easier.

 

Granted, their is some liberation in not knowing. Testing new fingerings will often expose you to sounds you haven't experienced or even heard (that you know of) before. But knowledge doesn't have to limit your experimentation. On the contrary, if you find a divine combo, understanding of chord structure will allow you to easily find a comparable when you are putting together another song in a different key.

 

Everyone is different, but I found knowledge to be far more liberating than ignorance.

[onelife]

I have to agree with one point that zaccus made.

Until you've read up on harmony, chord names won't make any sense. It's a waste of time trying to memorize them all. There's a logical way it all works, and I'll bet you could learn it in a week if you wanted to.

I notice some players who do not have and understanding of chords will have to memorize a progression as a sequence of names that don't have any relationship with each other or to the key they are playing in.

For example, a player may know the next chord is some kind of an A but they don't remember if it is Ab, Am or A7. If they understood that the piece was diatonic in the key of C the chord would obviously be Am. It would be even better if they knew it was a I vi ii V progression.

Trying to remember what seems to be an arbitrary sequence of names does distract from the actual performance of the music.

An understanding of harmony can make this a much easier process along with knowledge of common chord progressions. If a piece of music uses an uncommon progression, the player may only have to memorize what is different about it compared to something more familiar.

[Johnny-Boy]

I don't actually CARE about chord names except when I need to tell someone else who may be playing them later.

Then I misunderstood your opening line to this thread Grace: "What are these chords?"

Best, John

[grace_slick]

Oh. lol. Well, I don't care in GENERAL but I do care (and the point of my original thread post was) when I need to know them to give to someone else or something else...