Most of the Chords You Will Need for Keyboard Playing

Root Notes Chord Types Major Minor 7th Minor 7th Augmented Diminished Diminished 7th Major 7th 7th sus 4 Minor 7th (-5)

F#
F#,A#,C# F#,A,C# F#,A#,C#,E F#,A,C#,E F#,A#,D F#,A C F#,A,C,Eb F#,A#,C#,F F#,B,C#,E F#,A,C,E

B
F#,B,D# F#,B,D F#,A,B,D# F#,A,B,D G,B,D# B,D,F Ab,B,D,F F#,A#,B,D# F#,A,B,E F,A,B,D

E
G#,B,E G,B,E G#,B,D,E G,B,D,E E,G#,C E,G, Bb G,Bb,C#,E G#,D#,E A,B,D,E G,Bb,D,E

A
A,C#,E A,C,E G,A,C#,E G,A,C,E A,C#,F A,C, Eb F#,A,C,Eb G#,A,C#,E G,A,D,E G,A,C,Eb

D
F#,A,D A,D,F F#,A,C,D A,C,D,F D,F#,A# D,F,Ab Ab,B,D,F F#,C#,D G,A,C,D Ab,C,D,F

G
G,B,D G,Bb,D G,B,D,F G,Bb,D,F G,B,D# G,Bb,C# G,Bb,C#,E G,B,D,F# G,C,D,F G,Bb,Db,F

C
G,C,E G,C,Eb G,Bb,C,E G,Bb,C,Eb C,E,G# C,Eb,Gb F#,A,C,Eb G,B,C,E G,Bb,C,F Gb,Bb,C,Eb

F
A,C,F Ab,C,F A,C,Eb,F Ab,C,Eb,F F,A,C# F, Ab, B Ab,B,D,F A,E,F Bb,C,Eb,F Ab,B,Eb,F

Bb
Bb,D,F Bb,Db,F Ab,Bb,D,F Ab,Bb,Db,F Bb,D,F# Bb, Db, E G,Bb,C#,E A,Bb,D,F Ab,Bb,Eb,F Ab,Bb,Db,E

Eb
G,Bb,Eb Gb,Bb,Eb G,Bb,Db,Eb Gb,Bb,Db,Eb Eb,G,B Eb, Gb, A F#,A,C,Eb G,Bb,D,Eb Ab,Bb,Db,Eb Gb,A,Db,Eb

Ab
Ab,C,Eb Ab,B,Eb Gb,Ab,C,Eb Gb,Ab,B,Eb Ab,C,E Ab, B, D Ab,B,D,F G,Ab,C,Eb Gb,Ab,Db,Eb Gb,Ab,B,D

Db
Ab,Db,F Ab,Db,E Ab,B,Db,F Ab,B,Db,E Db,F,A Db, E, G G,Bb,Db,E Ab,C,Db,F Ab,B,Db,Gb G,B,Db,E

Common ways of writing and printing the different chord types.

Major 7th Augmented Major 7th Minor 7th (-5) Letter name only Letter name plus 7 Letter name plus aug or + Letter name plus M7 or maj7 Letter name plus m7(-5) or m7 (b5) Minor Minor 7th Diminished Dim 7th 7th sus 4 Letter name plus m Letter name plus m7 Letter name plus dim or o Letter name plus dim7 or o Letter name plus 7sus, or Letter name plus 7sus 4

Learning Order
1st Group = 2nd Group = 3rd Group = 4th Group = 5th Group =

Notes:

1)

2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

Some of the chords shown above may not work on all keyboards, especially Technics and Yamaha. When this happens, you need to play the notes shown, but in a different order, or inversion . For example, the Em7 shown as G,B,D,E will have to be played as E,G,B,D. Similarly, the Em7(-5) will have to be played as E,G,Bb,D. Some of the 7th sus 4 chords will not work on all keyboards. Unfortunately, there is no solution to this. These are not all the chords you will come across, as many of the more unusual chords, such as 9th, 11th and 13th, will not work on most keyboards Most, but not all chords shown in keyboard music as 'dim' or ' o', are intended to be diminished 7th chords On most keyboards, you will have to play diminished and augmented chords as shown - in root position - to get the right bass notes. Some keyboards will let you play inversions of diminished chords. You will see that there you only need to learn three Diminished 7th chord shapes. In most playing, using inversions doesn't make much difference to the bass notes As F is the top note of the Accompaniment section on most Casio keyboards, users of these instruments will have to play Gmaj7 as F#,G,B,D 7th chords should always be played with four notes whenever possible. However, for comfort, some, like D7, E7, F7 and G7, are often played with just three notes. The required notes are shown in red type. Remember than you will sometimes want to play chords in different inversions. To do this, simply take the bottom note of the chord and move it to the top. Do this as many times as you need until you get to the inversion you want, remembering that you have to stay within the Accompaniment section, of course!