The Logic Of Piano Accompaniment

The Logic Of Piano Accompaniment gives you a simple, logical approach to piano accompaniment

Logic Of Piano Accompaniment

1. There are seven notes in the scale and you can
build a chord (triad) on each note.

Chord I II III IV V or V7 VI VII
Scale degree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. After you finger one chord, there are six
other chords that you can change to.

3. Here are the six things (seven things) that you can do to get
to those six chords.

3a. You can move 1, 2 or 3 fingers up.

3b. You can move 1, 2 or 3 fingers down.

3c. You can add a 4th finger.

4. Every chord is a 3rd, 5th or 7th away from
the chord that you are fingering.

4-1. You move 1 finger up (+1) to get to the chord
a 3rd down. I to VI E.g. C to Am.

4-2. You move 1 finger down (-1) to get to the chord
a 3rd up. I to III E.g. C to Em.

4-3. You move 2 finger up (+2) to get to the chord
a 5th down. I to IV E.g. C to F.

4-4. You move 2 finger down (-2) to get to the chord
a 5th up. I to V E.g. C to G.

4-5. You move 3 finger up (+3) to get to the chord
a 7th down. I to II E.g. C to Dm.

4-6. You move 3 finger down (-3) to get to the chord
a 7th up. I to VII E.g. C to Bdim.

The chords a 7th away are adjacent chords.

4-7. You can also add a 4th finger for the
numbered chords 6, 7, 9, 11, 13.

I to V7 E.g. C to G7.

5. Every chord will contain the 3rd or 4th scale step
except the V triad.

The V7 will contain the 4th scale step.

There will also be three adjacent notes that are contained in every chord.
You can use these notes as anchors.

See Anchor Method

This is Diatonic Harmony.

(1) The fingers always move in the same direction.
(2) You always move to the next scale tone.

Non-Diatonic Harmony

Non-Diatonic Harmony is a little more complex.

(1) The fingers don’t always move in the same direction.

I to III Major E.g. C major to E major.

(2) You move to non-diatonic tones (b5, #5, b9, #9, b7).

Please use the Roman Numerals for chord names. It makes transposing much simpler, and less things to remember.

Use the letter names for documentation and reference.

It Is Not Rocket Science

Piano accompaniment is all about what you can do with your fingers.

Associate the sound you hear with the finger movement, and you will be playing by ear.

Why Is Piano Accompaniment So Difficult?

Why is piano accompaniment so difficult ?
In theory it is quite a simple process.

There are seven notes in the scale.

You can form seven chords on those seven notes.

After you finger the first chord, (I)
there are six other chords that you can change to.

You can move 1, 2 or 3 fingers up. (VI IV II)

You can move 1, 2 or 3 fingers down. (III V VII)

And sometimes you can add a 4th finger. (6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th)

That looks quite simple. So why is it so difficult?

Of course you still need to train your fingers to make the moves.

And that comes with repetition (practice).

Stop playing the FOOL and go play the PIANO.

Piano Lesson 1

Category: Piano Lessons

Logic Of Piano Accompaniment by Rockmaster System

The Logic Of Piano Accompaniment