Piano Pilot

Did you know that the piano keyboard is not used to its fullest potential? And that thousands of beginning piano students start out by playing a three-note triad that is as outdated as the dinosaur?

It’s true. The piano keyboard is huge! Over 80 keys big. Why not come up with a chord structure that uses more keys? Why not indeed!

There is a chord structure called the Open Position chord that uses more than 2 octaves of the keyboard. Both hands are called into play here to create a modern sounding seventh chord that is used frequently in pop, jazz, and new age music.

It’s not an easy chord structure to learn right away, BUT once learned, it allows you to sound

like a professional pianist right away! Why? Because of the way the chord is structured. It’s easy to sound modern when the sound coming from the chord is. It’s really a no-brainer and it’s a shame that most piano teachers either never use it or have never heard of it.

I first came across it in a book titled “The Four-Way Keyboard System” by Alan Swain, a noted jazz pianist. As soon as I played this chord, I knew I had found something special. With it, I could create modern sounds immediately. And I could use it to improvise my own music - something I’ve always wanted to do.

Once I learned how to play this special chord structure, I learned how

to move it up and down the piano keyboard thus learning how to use all 88 keys. It was thrilling to be able to do this. Why not use the piano keyboard to its fullest potential. Learn how to play the Open Position piano chord!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!