Learn the theory

Piano guide

From the notes on the keyboard to jazz substitutions. Every page runs on the interactive keyboard, so you can hear everything you read.

  1. The notes on the keyboardThe keyboard looks big, but it only has twelve distinct notes. That pattern of twelve repeats from one end to the other: recognise it once and you recognise it everywhere.
  2. Building chords by stepsA chord is not memorized, it is built. Once you know the distance in semitones between its notes, you can form any chord from any root without depending on a table.
  3. Chord progressionsOnce you know the chords, the next step is combining them. A progression is a sequence of chords that holds together because they all belong to the same key.
  4. Fingering and movementChoosing the right fingers is not a matter of purism. A chord on its own can be played several ways; what decides the correct fingering is the chord that comes *next*.
  5. Broken chordsA broken chord is a chord played note by note instead of all at once. It is the most common way to accompany: instead of a block, a line that moves.
  6. Chord voicingsThe same chord can be spread across the keyboard in many ways. That distribution — which note sits at the bottom, which ones cluster on top, which are left out — is the chord’s *voicing*, and it changes its character completely without changing its name.
  7. Two-hand chordsPlaying a chord with both hands answers two different needs: necessity, when it has more notes than you have fingers; or sound, when you want a fuller result than one hand can give.
  8. Chord substitutionsSubstituting means replacing a chord with another that serves the same function but sounds richer. It is the device that separates a correct accompaniment from an interesting one.
  9. Chord exercisesKnowing how a chord is built and being able to play it in time are two different things. These exercises are about the second: short routines, ordered by difficulty, to get the theory into your hands.
  10. About PianoIPUVA resource for learning piano chords: see them on the keyboard, hear them, and understand how they are built. No sign-up, no cost.