Lesson 38

Amazing Piano!
The Complete Piano Learning System
For Teenagers & Adults

Lesson 38
Broken Chord Exercise

As I mentioned in Lesson 37, the 1-5-1 broken chord and all it's variations will be that one technique in your music arsenal that will add ear-dazzling flare to your piano playing.

L.H. Broken Chord

Practice each broken chord separately if necessary.

Click the play button for the video directly below to see and hear the left hand broken chords for G, D and C major.

R.H. Melody

Click the play button for the video directly below to see and hear the right hand melody in the key of G major.

Major and Minor

The three 1-5-1 broken chords that you just learned in Video 38.1 can be used for major and minor chords.

The illustration below shows a G major and a G minor chord side by side.

The G major chord is built from the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the G major scale.
The G minor chord is built from the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the G minor scale.

The only difference between these two chords is the 3rd, which is the middle note of each chord. The 3rd is what gives each chord its quality; major or minor.

If you take away the 3rd from each chord; the B and Bb, all that is left is the G and D, or the 1st and 5th, which are the two notes used to build the 1-5-1 broken chord.

12 Major and 12 Minor

Just as the G major 1-5-1 broken chord is the same as the G minor 1-5-1 broken chord, and can be used for either chord, the same is true for the remaining 11 major and 11 minor chords.

G Major or G Minor

Video 38.4 is more of a listening exercise. Click the play button for the video directly below to see and hear the same 1-5-1 broken chord being used for both major and minor chord melodies.

Both Hands

Click the play button for the video directly below to see and hear both hands together for the broken chord exercise in G major.

I personally use a handful of left hand playing techniques on my own piano arrangements, but the 1-5-1 broken chord is my absolute favorite.

I have a bunch of different variations of the 1-5-1, like the 1-5-1-3 and the 1-5-1-2-3 to name a few. I will show you these and many more throughout this course. Enjoy!

- Guy