How to change chords smoothly on the piano

Take a short progression: C, F, G, then back to C. The first time, most people play every chord the way they learned it, in root position: the root at the bottom, then the third, then the fifth. It works, but the whole hand has to jump from one chord to the next.

Now listen to the second version. The chords are the same, with the same names and the same notes, only arranged in another order. Your hand barely moves, and the change sounds smoother because each voice takes a small step instead of a leap.

Count the distance travelled. In root position, the three fingers add up to 42 semitones over the whole progression. In close positions, 12. That is the whole idea of this guide: keep the notes two chords share, and move the others to the nearest key.

A semitone is the smallest step on the keyboard, from one key to the very next one, black or white. A tone is two semitones. With these two measures, each change in the close version can be described in one sentence.

Pick a change below. The key that stays lit is a common note: you keep holding it. The grey name shows the note you leave, and the darker key shows where that finger goes.

These close positions are inversions: C F A is F with its fifth, C, at the bottom (second inversion); B D G is G with its third, B, at the bottom (first inversion). You don’t have to name them while you play. Think of it the other way round: start from where your fingers are, and look for the nearest keys that spell the next chord.

Three questions are enough, whatever the chords:

1. Which notes do the two chords have in common? Keep those keys down.
2. Which notes are missing from the new chord? Find each one as close as possible to a finger that is free.
3. Do the notes you end up with spell the new chord, with nothing left over? Then play it.

When two chords share nothing, like F and G, move every finger by the smallest step you can, all in the same direction if possible. Sometimes two positions are equally close: from C F A, you could also go up a tone on every note, to D G B. Choose the one that leads more easily to the chord after it.

Here is the idea in a progression you can loop: C, Am, F, G. The left hand plays the root of each chord in grey, so the name of the chord stays clear to the ear, even when the right hand plays an inversion. The right hand stays in one place, around middle C.

Follow the right hand: from C to Am only one note moves, from Am to F one again, then the hand slides down for G and comes back for C. Start slowly, with the loop on, and speed up only when the changes feel easy.