Two-Handed Piano Chord Progression Variations
Two-Handed Piano Chord Progression Variations
Two-Handed Piano Chord Progression Variations
Progression Variations
askaudiomag.com by Lynda Arnold May 11, 2014
Take your music theory (and keyboard skills) to the next level as Lynda Arnold
shows some useful ways to play a simple chord progression with two hands, with
varying voicings, rhythms and patterns.
When I coach up-and-coming producers in piano technique, they often want to
explore ways to play through chord progressions with two hands. It's important
for producers to have some basic piano skills, not only for understanding music
theory, but also to perform or record their ideas with greater ease. Playing with
two hands takes practice, and it's often easier to get started by taking lessons for
a while privately or in a group.
In this article, I will explore some ways to play a simple chord progression with
two hands, with varying voicings, rhythms and patterns. Hopefully these
examples will inspire you to explore other ideas as well as study some of the
other piano accompaniments prevalent in modern piano driven songwriting. I
learn something from every song that comes my way, no matter how simple. It's
fun to have my teen students bring me songs they discover on the radio or online
to study and it's fulfilling for me as their teacher to see them connecting to the
piano with music that excites them. The key is to start simple and work your way
up.
Lets start with a simple chord progression in A minor:
Figure 1
Chord Progression played in both hands with voice leading.
First, concentrate on playing all six notes (3 in each hand) together. Make sure
that each note is represented at equal volume or velocity. It may take some time
to develop the left hand and especially the outer fingers of each hand as they
tend to be a bit weaker. The notes should make one complete sound. Keep your
hands in a round shape as you play (no flat fingers!) to provide extra support and
help with finger control.
chord or another designated note in the chord. In the example above, I keep the
chord voicings/inversions the same in the right hand and have the left hand play
the root notes. Learning to play octaves comfortably is another piano challenge.
After some practice, your hand will memorize the distance between the notes so
you can move around to other octaves easier. The use of the octave as well as the
addition of the fifth of the chord in the middle of the octave is a very common
left hand part in songwriting.
Figure 3
Creating More Forward Motion with Simple Rhythm Changes.
Video 1 A Demo of Examples 1 3
Adding Syncopation
One very common piano technique is the use of syncopation. Syncopation refers
to rhythmic playing that stresses the weak or upbeats instead of the downbeats.
Often, a tied note is involved that is held over the downbeat and then the next
note is played on the upbeat giving the rhythmic phrase a different feel. In terms
of piano playing, infinite variations can be achieved by using syncopation to play
alternating hand patterns. In other words, youll have the right and left hand
trade off more instead of playing at the same time. A recent pop song a student
brought me inspired the syncopated piano example below.
Figure 5
Arpeggiated Chord Pattern
Mix it up!
These are just a few ways to approach playing chord progressions on the piano
with two hands.
After you feel like you have mastered some of the above examples by putting in
those required daily practice sessions, try mixing up these concepts for even
more interesting and unique results. You will soon find your own way of playing
chord progressions on the keyboard as you develop your signature sound. Id
love to hear from you on how this works for you. Also, if you find this article
helpful and would like more coaching on piano technique and keyboard theory,
let me know what you would like me cover in future articles.