Three Keyboard Chords That Play Hundreds of Songs
With C, F and G major you can accompany countless songs. Learn each shape, then use an easy trick to move between them without jumping around.
A chord is three or more notes played together. The three most useful chords for a beginner are C, F and G major. Together they fit an amazing number of nursery rhymes, folk songs, pop songs and film songs.
Building a chord
A major chord uses three notes: the root, then skip a white key, play the next, skip another, play the next. So C major is C – E – G.
Play it with your right hand using fingers 1, 3 and 5. All three notes should sound at exactly the same time.
F and G major
Use the same "play one, skip one" pattern starting on F and on G.
The smooth-change trick
Jumping your whole hand from C to F to G is tricky at first. Instead, keep your hand in one place and rearrange the notes. This is called an inversion:
- C major: C – E – G (fingers 1, 3, 5)
- F major: C – F – A (fingers 1, 4, 5): keep C, move the other two up
- G major: B – D – G (fingers 1, 2, 5): move your thumb down to B
Now try the pattern C → F → C → G → C, playing each chord four times. Your hand barely moves!
Play with a beat
Chords sound most musical with a steady rhythm. Set a slow metronome and play one chord per bar, four beats each.
Free toolOnline MetronomeA precise, free metronome with click, tick-tock or voice counting, tap tempo, time signatures and subdivisions. Free toolChord FinderLook up any chord and see guitar chord diagrams and piano keys side by side, then hear how it sounds.Last updated 9 October 2026
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