Don’t overplay anymore!

Musicians can play too much. Some play too busy. Pianists and guitarists are often the greatest offenders. One of the ways to overcome this overuse of your instrument is to play diamonds and only on the dominant beats as the song calls for it. We will look at what are diamonds and dominant beats and why you should learn to use them appropriately in the article below.

What are diamonds?

Diamonds are typically whole notes. This means that a chord is hit once and sustained across the entire measure. Because the attack of the chord is hit at the beginning of the measure it enters with a short force, but then does not take up more musical space during the rest of the measure. The attack of a note is the most important part played. The decay, or sustain, is what remains afterwards and takes up less musical space in a mix.

We call these whole notes diamonds because they look like diamonds on the page when seen in professional rhythm charts. They aren’t always whole notes. Sometimes diamonds are half notes or dotted half notes. Ultimately, a diamond means playing sustained chords.

What does it mean to play on the dominant beats?

Perhaps a song calls less for true diamonds and more for chords played only on the dominate or down beats. This is often the case when a beat is syncopated. Syncopated means that the first note or hit is played on the first beat of the measure, but the second, where normally played on the third beat, is pushed forward to the “and” of the second beat. It creates a specific sounding rhythmic measure used often in popular music. It’s counted 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & where the second “&” is where the beat lands. Now the sustained chord, much like a diamond, feels pushed and you’ll play an extra hit per measure. This creates a strong rhythm without any busyness.

Why should you play diamonds and on the dominant beats?

Playing diamonds or on the dominant beats makes your sound fit perfectly with the other instruments in the mix. You know that your part is adding something of value. Plus, opening a song with diamonds leaves room for busier playing during the bigger parts of the song. Perhaps even coming back to diamonds in the quieter moments. Using well-placed diamonds is a professional skill that may not appear obvious to everyone. Now you know!

Summary & Action Steps

Playing less or performing at the right times instead of all the time is the key to playing as a professional. What do you think? Have you played tons of diamonds in your playing life? We would love to hear in the comments below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them as well. We are a community of players who are sharpening each other’s skills. Play your diamonds!

What is a 3 and how do you use it best?

Knowing when to use and when to avoid adding the 3 note of a chord is a professional’s little secret. In this article, you’ll learn just how to use it most effectively. You’ll have a technique you can use for the rest of your playing life.

The 3 is a color note.

The 3 note colors a chord. What that means is that it defines whether a chord is major or minor. It’s the middle note of the 1+3+5 block chord (still true regardless of where it lands as an inversion-see inversions topic). Play a block 1+3+5 and then play the chord again without the 3. You’ll notice how much heavier the chord sounds with the 3 added in. As we’ll see, there are times for this heaviness, but not as often as some players use them.

The 1+5 without 3 is solid.

The 1 and 5 notes of a chord are each dominant notes. This is especially true of the 1 as it is the root note of the chord. When 1+5 (called a fifth) are played together they form the foundation and skeleton for the chord. The 3 is not necessary to make the chord sound right. Think of the 1+5 like the tree trunk and the 3 branches with beautiful leaves.

Know when to use a 3. Be intentional!

So, when should you add in the 3? Easy! When you want to color the chord. Or if you are the only player on stage and you need to cover more musical ground. Anytime you add the 3 note of a chord you are adding weight to the sound of what you are playing. I recommend adding the 3 anytime you play a 2m or 6m (see topic about numbers). Those chords require the 3 to make them minor. Whenever you play a 1, 4, or 5 chord, hold off from using the 3. Find out if only using them for the minor chords helps make the song sound lightweight until you need the thicker sound of the minor chords.

Consider include the 3 when you play 5 chords. 5’s are typically richer in nature and the 3 being used in that chord will help make the anticipation of hitting the 1 chord have more of a payoff. So if the 5 chord includes a 3 and is full and rich when you move to the 1 there will be some sonic relief as the 1 played 1+5 will land defined and secure. Kind of like landing a plane safely. Try it!

Practice makes perfect. Questions and comments?

As with other techniques, practice makes perfect. The best way to be effective with 3’s is to know when they make the chord sound heavy and when they are appropriate. Trial and error are key. What comments or questions do you have? How are you playing 3’s to make your chording awesome? Comment or question below. Let the community support one another!

You may be moving chords when you don’t need to. A Bm7 is just a D with the bass note B.

While this may be a matter of knowing inversions well, we don’t have to go that deep to become better players. Knowing that a Bm7 is a D with a B as your bass note is enough to take the efficiency and the sound of your playing to the next level.

Why shouldn’t you move the entire chord each time?

The answer to why you shouldn’t move the entire chord each time: efficiency. It is extremely inefficient to move chords from one root position to another. Transitioning a D chord as 1+3+5 (D+F#+A) to a Bm 1+3+5 (B+D+F#) means that your fingers must travel the distance of 3 or 4 inches on the keyboard. Whereas, moving your pinky up to the 6, now the D looks like 1+3+6 (D+F#+B) and the left-hand moves from the D to a B note you’ve transitioned to a Bm with no travel necessary in the right hand. Efficiency just went through the roof!

And here’s the professional secret: it sounds better! The reason is simple and makes sense. Because you didn’t travel the keyboard to reach the next chord, the two sound better connected. They share several notes. There was no shift to a higher or lower set of pitches. Instead, every note was in the same vicinity. The chords sound better together!

How do you think like this rather than trying to memorize the notes or fingerings?

The best way to know how to think in terms of simpler chord versions is to recognize patterns and use the root chord of the key as your starting point. The root chord includes the 1+3+5 notes of the key. The 1 and 5 are used in several of the important chords in the key. Begin with the 1 and 5 in the right hand and move the bass note around. You can make a m7 chord by keeping the right hand on a 1+5 and moving the bass note in the left hand down two notes. Move the bass note down one more to create a sus chord. Move down one more, to the 4, and you have a 42 chord.

One way to keep your hands from moving across the keyboard is to put up bumpers on the keys and not cross them. Let’s use the key of D as our example. Take two pencils. Put one on a C and then another on a B that’s seven notes from the C. In the right hand you will keep all of your note choices using any and only the D, E, F#, G, A, and B notes. Don’t allow yourself to use any others. As often as you can, choose the D and A notes and move the left-hand bass note. You may need to add the C# note from time to time.

Examples of chords

The following are some of the most common chords that have simple alternatives you should try. Anytime you see a chord then a slash (/) and then what appears to be another chord name it’s a chord with the other capital letter being the shifted bass note. So a D/B means a D chord with a shifted B note as its bass note known as a Bm7 chord. Here are some you should know:

m7 Chords

Bm7 = D/B

Am7 = C/A

Em7 = G/E

Dm7 = F/D

F#m7 = A/F#

2 Chords

G2 = D5/G

A2 = E5/A

C2 = G5/C

D2 = A5/D

E2 = B5/E

Maj7 Chords

GMaj7 = D/G

AMaj7 = E/A

CMaj7 = G/C

DMaj7 = A/D

FMaj7 = C/F

sus Chords

Asus = D2/A

Bsus = E2/B

Csus = F2/C

Dsus = G2/D

Esus = A2/E

Summary & Action Steps

All in all, you should be able to play some typical chords but with a new mindset. The hope is to think more of playing the most relevant notes in the key rather than thinking in terms of the chords themselves. What do you think? Which other chords could you share that would help a player wanting to tie chords together and make them flow better? Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

How professionals use inversions as well as root position chords

There are three different ways to play every major and minor chord. Many pianists only learn the first way called root position. This is missing the mark. Learn how to use all three versions of each chord. Plus, how to keep the melody of your song on the top of the chord. And use a practice technique that will solidify each chord in your muscle memory in under two weeks. Let’s go!

Three versions of every chord

A typical chord is made of three notes. The root note, the third, and the fifth notes of the scale. Most of us learn the root position each time we learn a new chord. For instance, the C chord is made of C+E+G. We also call this a block chord. It’s the most fundamental way to play the chord.

However, the notes do not always need to land 1+3+5 (or C+E+G in the case of the C chord). There are two other ways to achieve the same chord by rearranging the notes. It’s called playing inversions. The better you are at playing inversions the higher quality your sound will be.

First inversion takes the tonic, root note (1), and moves it from the bottom of the chord to the top. The right hand now plays 3+5+1.

Second inversion moves the third note (3) to the top. It reads 5+1+3. This inversion is especially rich-sounding because the third note of the scale is important. It defines whether a chord is major or minor. You’ll hear the distinction when you play.

You may notice that playing inversions mean you’ll be missing the root note at the bottom of the chord stabilizing the sound. Add that note in using the left hand. In fact, playing the root note as octaves spreading your left pinky and thumb finger out to play the same low and high note solidifies the chord. It also frees up the ability to play whatever you’d like in the right hand without losing the stability of the fundamental note.

Keep the melody on top as much as possible

Now that you know some inversions, when should you play them? The answer is simple. As often as possible.

The key concept is to keep your right hand within the same set of five or six notes. Also, keep the melody note on top of the chord whenever possible. This means if your melody is a C note and you’re using the C chord, the first inversion places a C at the top of the chord. When moving to the next chord keep the melody on top or only allow yourself a five or six-note box to fit in. If moving to G, for instance, then you could use the second inversion of G. This keeps the most notes close to the original starting point of your C chord in the first inversion. The F chord in second inversion would work well next. Try several chord versions to see how little piano real estate you need to travel. The less travel the better.

Practice develops muscle memory

Make a plan to practice for five minutes every day. Muscle memory will develop over the next fifteen to twenty-one days. You’ve got to be consistent. Five minutes each day is far more effective than ten minutes every other day. Our brains retain information better this way. In fact, while you sleep your brain will catalog what you’ve practiced and it will be more readily available to you tomorrow. Practice every day. Set a timer. Stop after five minutes if you’d like but prioritize practice. This is true even if feel like you’ve been playing forever. I’m more than twenty years into my playing journey and I still practice intentionally for at least five minutes each day. These minutes keep me sharp and help me to be more creative.

Summary & Action Steps

Get started! Practice at least five minutes each day. If you’d like a book to help you, Piano Chords One lays out each chord beautifully. Use code: Inversions for 25% off a signed copy sent to you. Have a comment that can help others be successful? We’d love to hear! Comment below and be a part of the discussion.

Dive into how playing less will make you more of a professional musician.

One of the quickest ways to play as a professional is knowing when and when not to play. The following ideas are designed to pinpoint how to do this well. The best part is that playing in the right spots in a song is fun!

The 100% Rule in a nutshell.

While this could be a post of its own, every musician should know about the 100% Rule. Also, it’s known as the whole pie rule. Think of a song and all of its components as 100% of the slices of a really good pie. Each of the pieces is the sonic space that individual instruments should take up in the overall mix. The best musicians know how much and when to play to add their portion to the greater whole without overdoing it.

Typically, vocals take up about 40% of the mix with the lead vocal being most out front. Drums and bass take up another 25-30%. This leaves about 30% for keys, guitars, loops, and effects.

A song will ebb and flow. So the keyboard player may play more during quieter sections to fill the mix and less during bigger choruses. This would be the exact opposite for a bass player.

The best band members know their role and know what their percentage of the 100% Rule should be. Playing too much will overload a mix and is unnecessary.

It’s fun to add your part, building it in and out of a song.

Here’s the best thing about using the 100% Rule: it’s fun! Adding in your part to the song or mix at just the right time is a bit like launching the football as a quarterback for the winning touchdown. Okay, well, it’s not like that, but I hope you can see where I am headed.

Maybe you are the main keyboard player and have that particular low note that defines the chorus. Or you have that amazing lead line before the bridge that is signature to the song. These are what laying out or playing sparse until those perfect moments afford. If you were to play loud and strong the entire time leading up to your special moment then there would be no punch; no unique surprise. However, if you spend thirty seconds waiting to enter the song and then add your part it’s satisfying. Satisfying to you as a player, but also to the audience.

Professionals play just the right amount. Amateurs play the entire song without thought of what else is going on.

Take time today to listen to some of your favorite songs to analyze when instruments come and go. I bet you’d find that they come in and out quite often. This works for both recorded music and when live on-stage. Professionals know this and so do you! Amateurs play every note and chord that is written on the page. Professionals play just the right amount holding restraint and enjoying the process. Plus, find joy in listening to the other musicians around you.

Summary & Action Steps

The 100% Rule is one of the main factors in becoming a professional musician. When you listened to your favorite songs, what did you hear? When did the instruments enter and exit? What stood out the most? We’d love to hear how you approach music and playing at just the right time. Please comment below and join in the discussion.