Programming basic keyboard parts
> Step by step 2. How to program basic keys with Zebra CM
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An in-depth lesson in chords and harmony is beyond the scope of this tutorial. However, if you’ve never played chords before we can give you some pointers. To get started you need a basic keyboard sound so you can clearly hear the notes played together. We’ve loaded up Zebra CM with preset Piano Keys. 2
If we stick to the white keys on the keyboard we can keep things simple and play in the key of C major or A minor, so let’s go for the former. On your keyboard, find a group of two black keys roughly in the middle and play the white note to the left of them. This is C. 3
C is the root note of C major and if we play this note plus the white keys two up (E) and four up from here (G), you have a C major chord or triad. Do the same starting three keys up from C (F) and four keys up from C (G) and you have played your first chord sequence. 4
You can do the same thing starting from any of the white keys and you’ll be playing a combination of major and minor chords. There is, however, one exception and that is the chord that starts on the note one down from C (B). This chord is a diminished chord (B dim) and should be avoided for now. 5
In most music, chords play in repeated patterns and these patterns are often surprisingly simple. To get started try programming just two chords over a two bar section. Here we’ve taken the root chord and the chord played by counting one up — C major and D minor — and then played one bar of each. 6
The decision to start on the root chord is intentional and you’ll find music tends to move from and back to the root in some way. By adding two more chords starting on F and G we’ve created a move that wants to move back to the root.
The chords are C major, D minor, F major and G major. 7
Although our chords work, the spread of the notes makes it sound a little weird. We can improve the sound simply by changing which note in each chord is lowest and these are called inversions. Here we’ve moved the highest note in chords one and two down by an octave. These are called second inversions. 8
So far we’ve pretty much ignored the rhythmic aspect of the chords, but this plays an important role, much as it does with bass. If we rejig the bars a bit so that each chord plays a more rhythmic pattern, the part begins to take a bit more shape. 9
Finally, chords are not limited to three note triads, and we can either increase the musical complexity of a chord by adding further different notes, or play with how the chord sounds by spreading the notes out slightly differently. Here we’ve revoiced the chords with some additional repeated notes.