Practising chord progressions is a fun way to improve your skills as a keyboard player or pianist. This post introduces a basic progression that incorporates three of the key concepts covered earlier – triads, inversions, and counting with the metronome.

This progression is based on the C Major scale, using the chords – A Minor (in root position), F Major (1st inversion), C Major (2nd inversion), and G Major (in root position). Let’s take a closer look at how to construct the progression – both in terms of notes and timing.

The notes you would play are A Minor (A, C, E), F Inversion 1 (A, C, F), C Inversion 2 (G, C, E), and G (G, B, D). Where we haven’t mentioned Major or Minor, it’s always safe to assume we’re referring to a Major chord. These chords/group of notes are to be played with your right hand. So, how about the left hand?

Place your left hand on the middle C and move it one octave down. You can play the root note with the left hand while the right hand plays the triad/inversion, for example G for the G Major triad. Your left hand thus functions as a lead of sorts while the right hand plays the progression.

Now coming to the counting. We play two chords in a bar, 1st chord (1-2-) and 2nd chord (-3-4), with 4 beats in a bar (4/4). In the second round of Am-F-C-G, switch from crotchets to minim for the C Major and G Major chords. Set a slow tempo (75-80) on the metronome to practise this. You can set it even slower if you are not comfortable with this speed.

As a beginner, your goal should be to perfect the piece you are playing, and not focus on playing faster. The right posture and technique take precedence, at this stage at least. You can gradually increase the tempo as you get more comfortable with a piece of music.

In the upcoming post, we look at the sustain pedal on the keyboard – its function and what it means to a beginner who is just getting acquainted with scales, notes, chords and progressions. Keep reading, keep practising, and keep learning.