Your first chord progression on the piano

A chord is a few notes played together. The four chords of this guide are triads: three notes, each one skipping a white key from the one below. Put your right thumb on the lowest note, your middle finger on the next and your little finger on the top one. Fingers 1, 3 and 5 are a common suggestion for this shape, not a rule.

The lowest note is the root: it gives the chord its name. C, G and F are major chords; Am, “A minor”, is a minor chord, and many listeners hear it a little darker. All four use only white keys. Listen to each one struck, then note by note, then struck again.

A progression is a series of chords played in order. Here is a very common one: C, G, Am, F, four beats each, then back to C. Count “1, 2, 3, 4” out loud while the loop plays: the chord changes on every “1”.

The hard part is not the chords but the moment between them. Use the slowest tempo that lets you change without stopping the count, and look at the next chord while you hold the current one. Speed comes later, once the changes are calm. The second version adds the left hand: one note, the root, held under each chord.

The chords stay the same; only the moments you strike them change. Holding each chord for a whole bar sounds calm. Striking it twice per bar, on 1 and 3, gives a steadier pulse. Four times per bar, once per beat, is a good exercise for keeping time.

The last rhythm is a simple pop pattern: strike on 1, just after 2 (on the “and”), then on 4. Count “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and” slowly before playing it. In every version the left hand holds its root for the whole bar, so you can learn the right hand first, then add the left.

Once the loop flows, try the same four chords in another order. Starting on C, the loop sounds settled from the first bar. Starting on Am, the same chords take on a different colour, because the loop now seems to set off from Am. With G at the end, many listeners hear a stronger pull back to the start of the loop.

Every order here is common, and none is the right one: it depends on the song. If a change feels awkward, there are ways to move less between chords; the guide on changing chords smoothly shows them.

Next step: give the left hand more to do, with the guide on what to play with the left hand.