Playing from a chord chart or lead sheet for the first time as a classical pianist can be a very daunting task. When you are used to only reading written notes, it can be difficult to know what to play. If you are a classical pianist, in this article, I want to show you a framework that will help you get started in playing chord charts for the first time whether you are playing for a soloist, a group, or church. These may seem simple at first, but this is a good starting point that you can begin to build off of later as playing from charts gets easier and faster.

Reading, Building, & Understanding Chords

If you have never played from chords before and need a primer, I would suggest first reading What Is the Nashville Number System, which explains how to build chords and what various chord symbols mean. I will be using a little bit of the number system below to make things simpler and faster and this article will give you the basic knowledge you need for that. Also, if your church or group plays using the Nashville Number System rather than chord names, this article will be especially helpful.

What to Do with the Right Hand

Once you are familiar with playing the chords, there are some very simple right-hand patterns you can do to get started. Here are some things you can experiment with using in very many songs. The nice thing about chord charts and lead sheets are that you don't have to do everything the same every time. This frees you up to improvise as you play and not have to feel the pressure of making sure every single note is played a specific way. You can mix some of these ideas together and create your own. As you practice some of the right-hand patterns mentioned below, it may be easier to simply play a bass note on the first beat of every measure.

1. Play a three-note chord (triad) on every beat of the measure. If you can, it is best to avoid a root position chord if you use this method. This will give a more modern sound that is especially good for modern hymns or contemporary Christian music songs. If you have a band you play with that includes bass, guitar, and drums, this may be a better option so that things don't begin to sound messy. Often, less is more when it comes to playing with a band!
2. Play a triad on every first and third beats of the measure. Similar to the first suggestion. Depending on the tempo of your song, it may be best to skip playing on the 2nd and 4th beats. If you are playing in 3/4 instead of 4/4, you would play on the second and third beats instead.
3. Play three- or four-note arpeggios on the last two beats of a measure. This might need slightly modified depending on the time signature of the song, but this generally works quite well for a song in 3/4 or 4/4. An arpeggio is simply playing each individual note in a chord. For example, an arpeggiated C chord would be played: C, E, G, C, etc. For this method, you can begin by playing each note as an eighth note starting on the second to last beat of the measure. By the end of the measure, you will have played four notes. Once you get used to it, you can begin to change when you play the notes and which notes you play.
4. Play a triad on the second and fourth beats of the measure. This is best used for upbeat songs and is used in combination with a left-hand pattern of a 1 on the first beat and 5 on the third beat. This method is affectionately known by many as "boom chuck" since this is the type of sound the finished product has. Your left-hand notes can be held as half notes and your right-hand triads will be staccato. If you are playing in 3/4, you will have to modify this to play the left-hand notes on the first beats and the right-hand triads on the second and third beats.
5. Add an occasional longer arpeggios or scales. If you want to do something a little more advanced, try adding a longer arpeggio or scale to your playing. For example, a longer arpeggio would be to take a basic arpeggio (C, E, G, C,) and play it smoothly starting from middle C and going to the top of the keyboard. Each time you play the octave arpeggio, you will move to the next octave up (or down if you are going down the keyboard). You don't want to do this too often as it could make your accompaniment sound too busy, but every now and then, adding an arpeggio or scale in an empty spot (where your congregation has paused or is not singing) can really add a nice touch! You will have to momentarily stop any triad/rhythm pattern you may have been using, but you can go right back to it when the embelishment is finished. These can make a huge difference and make the accompaniment sound more full. You can do this with any other embelishments you might like to use as well.
6. Play the melody! This might seem simple and straightforward, but you can always play the melody in your right hand while using a pattern in your left hand, especially if you are the only instrument. This method would be very similar to the method of playing from the hymnal that I described in How to Play Piano Accompaniment from the Hymnal. A few different ways you could play the melody would be to play a single note melody line, the melody with two or three other notes from the chord added, or an octave melody line.

What to Do with the Left Hand

When practicing the left-hand patterns found below, you may want to simplify the right hand to just a triad on the first beat of the measure to make things easier to get used to. The left hand is often used mostly to carry the bass, but it can also be used for some rhythm, especially if you already have a bass player.

1. Play a bass note on the first beat of each measure, or the 1 (root) of the chord on the first beat and the 5 of the chord on the third beat. This is one of the simplest left-hand patterns you can use and is great for while you're practicing right-hand patterns. This would work when using method one or method four in the right hand.
2. Use method one, but play octaves instead of single notes in the left hand. This will give a full sound that is great is you are playing a more upbeat song or a song that requires a more powerful sound.
3. Play an arpeggio during the first beat. To do this, you can use either a 1, 5, 8 pattern or a 1, 5, 10 pattern for the arpeggio. This gives a little bit more complicated sound while still being simple. You can see an example of this written out on the staff in How to Play Piano Accompaniment from the Hymnal.
4. Play an arpeggio during the first and second beats. This is an expanded version of method 2. Instead of playing only three notes in the left hand, you can play five (for 4/4) or six (for 3/4), which will sound fuller and more complicated while still being fairly simple. For this, you could play a 1, 5, 8, 9, 10 pattern or 1, 5, 10, 12, 10, 5 pattern. Feel free to experiment with different patterns for this one! This could work well with method three in the right hand.

Conclusion

I hope that you have found this article to be helpful and straightforward! All of these suggestions may need modified depending on how many chord changes are in a measure or what time signature, tempo, or style you are using, but hopefully this will give you a good framework to begin building on and start forming your own style. You can also take these basic building blocks and expand on them, adding more rhythm to the basic patterns or mixing all of these ideas together throughout a song. Feel free to experiment and think outside the box!

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