by Kuba Czudek | Piano Tips
Probably all of us face moments when we reach a plateau in our playing. Those are times when it’s a good idea to seek out some inspiration to overcome the rut.If you’re bored of playing the same chords over and over again, wondering how to make your chords sound more interesting, you’ve arrived in the right place.
In this post, you’re going to learn my favorite ways to make piano chords sound better, fuller, jazzier – simply more interesting!
1. Rhythmic patterns/variations
One of the easiest ways to make piano chords sound better is by using different rhythmic patterns. The great thing about this approach is that even if you are a complete beginner, you’ll likely be able to come up with simple rhythmic patterns, such as shown in the video below.
There are many ways you can create different rhythmic patterns.
For example, by:
- Alternating notes of the chords in your right hand,
- Alternating notes of the chords in your right hand with different accents in your left hand (and vice versa),
- Changing the rhythm of the whole chords in your right/left hand,
- Changing the rhythm of the whole chords in your right hand with accents in the left hand,
- Playing different accents with both hands at the same time,
- Etc.
I hope you’ve got an idea of the variety of options that you can get with this approach. With literally thousands of different patterns that you can create, your possibilities are basically limitless.
2. Chord Inversions
Another great way to make your chords more interesting is by using chord inversions. As fancy as the term may sound, inversions are merely different ways you can arrange the notes of a particular chord.
Based on the number of notes in a particular chord, we can determine the number of inversions it has. For example, a C major triad has two inversions. It is a three-note chord consisting of notes C-E-G. This basic form with the note C in the bottom is calledthe root position.
Another way how we can play C major triad is by rearranging the notes toE-G-C, which is called the first inversionorto G-C-E, which is called the second inversion. As you can see, in order to determine the number of inversions of a chord, you take the number of notes the chord consists of and subtract the root position.
As it is with any new technique or piece of knowledge we learn, the purpose of it is to make better music. Although we could randomly use inversions to add variety to our playing, it won’t mean that the song we’re working on will automatically sound better.
One of my favorite ways to use chord inversions is to use them as a tool for creating smooth voice leading. Are you wondering, what do I mean by voice leading? Think of it as a way to move from one chord to the next with the least amount of changes between the intervals of the chord you are moving towards.
For example, let’s say we have a G major triad moving on to C major triad. We could play those chords in either their root position (example 1.) or as a G major second inversion moving on to C major first inversion (example 2.), as shown in a diagram below.
