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How to Find the Root of the Chord on the Piano

Piano music relies heavily on chords--groups of notes played simultaneously, most often thirds. If you know the root of a chord, you can play different versions of that chord without creating a dissonant sound. You have to recognize the position of the chord--chords in root position start with their root note and ascend.

Things You'll Need

  • Piano
  • Piano sheet music
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Instructions

  1. Finding Roots

    • 1

      Play the chord as given in the sheet music. According to Piano World, all major and minor chords have major and minor third intervals between their root and third tones. A major third is four half-steps; a minor third is three half-steps.

    • 2

      Find the number of half-steps that exist between notes by counting the number of white and black keys it takes to reach the note.

    • 3

      Look for the three notes that have two third intervals separating them. There should be seven half-steps to move from the root note to the fifth.

    • 4

      Look for two notes separated by five half-steps--also known as a perfect fifth--for another method of finding the root of a major or minor chord. Major and minor chords include the root, third and fifth by default, but sometimes include the octave. The octave of the root is a fifth above the fifth of the chord.

Music Basics

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