Using Basic Piano Chords
to Play Simple Songs

Hi! Welcome to our lesson on how to use basic piano chords to play simple songs. There are several songs that can be accompanied by using basic chords. The phrase “basic chord” in this case is referring to major and minor chords.

It is very important that you know how to play all the major and minor triads on your piano before you attempt to play the songs provided. I emphasize this on several of my pages because it is very important. The issue of not being able to play a song in all the keys on the piano, is a big concern today.

The songs that are chosen for this lesson will be illustrated in different keys on the piano. Below is a chord chart with all the major and minor triads that will be used specifically for this tutorial. They are all in root positions.

Basic Piano Chords

If you want to learn how to construct major and minor chords, click the links below.

Major Chord Theory

Minor Chord Theory

One of the objectives of this lesson is to help you learn to play fluently in other keys apart from C major. Most of the demonstrations used to teach piano lessons on the internet are done in the key of C major and several students especially beginners tend to become reluctant in the key of C and find it hard to play in other keys in the future.

The songs used in our illustrations for this page are very simple, but they will do a great job helping you to move from one chord to another fluently.

The songs that will be used in this lesson are “Jesus Loves Me”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Happy Birthday to You”.

As you learn to play each song, it would be best if you start playing them as slowly as possible. When you are comfortable with playing the chord changes smoothly, you can play at a faster pace.

Leave the basic piano chords page and return to home page.

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