How to play piano with both hands (chords only): part I

Summary

Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson about playing piano with both hands. You can find more activities about this topic here.

🎲 What’s included in the activities:

• Choosing and analyzing the song
• Playing the G chord
• Playing the G chord in a song
• Playing the Em chord
• Playing the G & Em chords in a song
• Playing the C chord
• Playing the G, Em & C chords one after the other slowly
• Playing the G, Em & C chords in a popular song

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io web app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to Wi-Fi
• Pianos or Keyboards for students

Inspiration

🕐  Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Choose and analyze the song

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Select the song 'Just The Way You Are' by Bruno Mars from the Song library. Click on 'Piano' under 'Tools' - 'Visuals' so that the keyboard is visible.
• Tell students a bit about the song. You can mention some facts from the song description!
• Listen to Verse 2 and Chorus 1 of the song.
• Discuss with your students:

What do you think the lyrics of the song are about?

Do you know Bruno Mars? Can you name any other songs by him?

What is the genre of this song? (Pop)

The first chord

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to and play the G chord on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Click on 'G' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io keyboard showing the G chord is visible.
• Tell your students to play the G chord (keys: G-B-D). You can also ask them to look at the Solfeg.io keyboard on the screen to see the chord.
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!
  

First chord - in the song!

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to and play the G chord in a song on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Play the intro of the song and listen to it with your students.
• Tell the students that they will now have to play the G chord in this song.
• As soon as the G chord passes the red line - play it! Other chords should be omitted now.
• Press play and let them practice the chord and get familiar with it! You can also press the loop button in the controls so that the intro section would repeat multiple times.
  

The Second Chord

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn and play the Em chord on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Explain to your students that they will have to play another very similar chord.
• Click on 'Em' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io keyboard showing the Em chord is visible.
• Get your students acquainted with the Em chord - explain that they have to press a white key (Em) with their 1st finger, a white key (G) with their 3rd finger, and a white key (B) with their 5th finger. Tell them that this chord has 2 of the same keys that the G chord had (G & B)!
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!

Combine in the song

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to and play the G & Em chords in a song on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Tell students that they will have to play the G and Em chords in this song.
• Look at the song and play G and Em chords when they pass the red line!
• Play the intro section of the song and let them practice the chord and get familiar with it! You can also press the loop button in the controls so that the intro section would repeat multiple times.
  

It's the last chord, woohoo!

🕐 Time: 3 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn and play the C chord on the piano

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Click on 'C' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io keyboard showing the C chord is visible.
• Show students the C chord - it consists of C-Em-G keys and you have to press them with your 1st, 3rd and 5th fingers. This chord also has 2 of the same keys that the previous chord had (E & G)!
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!

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Stick Together

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to play the G, Em & C chords one after the other on the piano with the right hand

🎶 Recommended Songs:

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🎲 Activity:

• Show this chord combo to your students - G-Em-C-G. Repeat it multiple times.
• Let the students practice this combo by themselves. Encourage them to slowly build up the tempo if they feel comfortable enough.‍

Slow It Down

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Play G, Em & C chords along a popular song on the piano slowly with the right hand

🎶 Recommended Songs:

🎲 Activity:

• In the Bruno Mars song, each chord actually has to be played twice! (G-G-Em-Em-C-C-G-G). The chord sequence stays the same the whole song.
• Tell the students that they'll be practicing playing the Intro part slowly.
• Press the minus button on Solfeg.io - it will slow down the audio.
• Press play and show your students how to play the intro. To lower the hassle, you can press the loop button so that this section would repeat multiple times.
• Then, tell your students to try playing the intro themselves along with the song a couple of times.

Tip: if you see some students struggling to change the chords, tell them to skip the repetition part of each chord. This way, the sequence becomes: G-pause-Em-pause -C-pause-G-pause, and the students have more time to switch between chords and find them.

Just The Way You Are

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Play G, Em & C chords along a popular song on the piano with the right hand

🎶 Recommended Songs:

🎲 Activity:

• Press the plus button on Solfeg.io - it will get your audio back to the original tempo.
• Again, press play and show your students how to play the intro in the original tempo. You can press the loop button if you want.
• Tell your students to try playing the intro themselves along with the song a couple of times!
• When the students feel comfortable, offer them to play both the Intro and Verse 1 of the song! The chords will stay the same.
• Play Intro + Verse 1 2-3 times together with your students.

Reflection

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Reflect on the learning process

🎲 Activity:

• Ask these questions to the class and have a short discussion

How did you like the song?

Were the chord changes easy or challenging?

Do you think you would be able to play G, Em and C chords by heart now?

Homework assignment

🕐 Time: 3 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice the right-hand part of popular songs and combine it with the left-hand part

🎲 Activity:

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by…

• Students can learn the basics of piano playing by completing Solfeg.io 10-day program on the mobile app - it contains both left and right hand parts for very easy songs, including Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars.

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