A Very User-Friendly Piano Introduction
This piano introduction can serve you well in a variety of interesting ways. It can work very nicely whenever you want to create an impromptu introduction for a ballad that starts on the I chord.
Naturally, the chord that has the strongest tendency to resolve to the I chord is the V chord. We can see this by taking a look at the diatonic circle of fifths in the key of C Major:
The G7 itself can work. However, it can be made to sound a whole lot more intriguing by turning it into a suspended chord with some additional color.
A simple way to arrive at such a chord is to play the root note G in the bass area of the piano keyboard with your left hand as you right hand plays a four-note structure that is consistent with a Major 7 chord whose root is one whole step lower than that G, which happens to be F.
[It seems appropriate to mention that, although we are thinking “Major 7 chord whose root is one whole step lower than the root of the V chord,” this is for visual purposes only. The chord structure is certainly not functioning as a Major 7 chord due to the root G being played in the bass area.]
The result is a chord sound that is full of color. The chord itself can be referred to as a Gsus13 chord. Of course, the “suspense” is created by the suspended 4th, which is also the 11 of the chord.
“Put The Pedal To The Metal”
When played in conjunction with the sustain pedal being depressed, this chord voicing offers us so much flexibility. The chord can be arpeggiated in an manner that is suitable to your personal taste… ascending, descending… you can mix up the order of chord tones played… it’s all good… and it’s a marvelous way to approach that I chord.
Let’s take a look at an example from this “TV” Tips video tutorial:
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Hey, There’s More
For further enhancement, this suspended chord voicing can be used in conjunction the scale itself. Playing up and down the entire major scale of song key can greatly enhance your introduction. In this case, that would be the
C Major scale.
Consider this: the chord voicing above contains these notes:
G F A C E
There are only two notes of the C Major scale not being played here – the B and the D – which are the 3 and 5 of the chord, respectively. So, all the notes work with this suspended chord. You can freely play the scale ascending or descending… you can play patterns within the scale… the possibilities are virtually endless.
Have fun experimenting as you realize your personal creative musical potential on those keys!