How to play an A-flat major chord
Would you like to know how to play an A-flat (Ab) major chord on the piano? I’ll show you. Simply bring your right hand down onto the keys. Look at the group of three black keys and place your thumb on the middle one. Then put your middle finger on the white key just below the next group of two black keys, and your little finger on the upper black key of this group of two. This is the simplest form of an A-flat major chord.
This is called the root position. You can use this root position again and again all over the keyboard – it is exactly the same hand shape. You can also play it here; this is called playing it an octave higher, and it works in exactly the same way. Here we have an A-flat major chord, and here again A-flat major. The same works further down too – although down there it sounds very muffled. I’ll show you in a moment how else you can play it.
Variations
If I want to vary this A-flat major chord a little, I can, for example, take the lowest note and simply move it up an octave. Then I get the so-called first inversion of A-flat major. Then exactly the same principle again: I take the lowest note, move it up an octave and get the second inversion of A-flat major. If I apply the same principle once more – the lowest note up an octave – I am back at the root position. And now you notice that we have this A-flat major chord spread over the whole keyboard, and suddenly the keyboard is no longer such a big secret. You can continue the same way with the left hand – that works too.
These are all A-flat major chords spread over the whole keyboard. And now? If you know the notes of this A-flat major chord – here we have an Ab, then a C and then an Eb – and you also know where these notes are, you can arrange Ab, C and Eb completely freely all over the keyboard. For example, it can look like this, or like this, or like this.
You can also double the notes or play something like this. That sounds very good compared to what I showed you earlier further down – that is theoretically correct and still A-flat major, but it doesn’t sound good. Played like this, however, A-flat major sounds beautiful. It is super important that you also know the notes of the chords – purely with your mind. Then putting it into practice later becomes much easier: when you see an Ab, you immediately know where it is, and this information simply comes to you. At the same time it is also super important that you train your ear. You do hear what you play.
Can you process it correctly?
But the question is: can you process it correctly? When I play the chord like this, the first exercise I always do with my students is this: try to hear the top note. That is an Eb. If that goes well, the other two notes probably will too. Because when you hear what you play, you automatically have a much deeper connection to making music. If I look at this A-flat major chord in a wider context, it can appear in three different keys: for example, as the first degree in A-flat major.
At the same time, it can also be the fifth degree of D-flat major or the fourth degree of E-flat major. You can see which notes belong to A-flat major in the A-flat major scale.
Would you like to learn more about major chords and see more short piano tips like this? At Zapiano® you will regularly find short videos with tips and exercises for playing the piano. There is something for everyone – just as varied as our courses. And the best part: at Zapiano® you are never on your own. You can ask questions at any time and even upload a video of your playing once a month.