The Casual Piano Player’s Guide to Scales & Chords
I played piano a bit when I was young and was always fond of synthesizers. I basically forgot everything I knew outside of basic scales, and with getting into music making a little bit during COVID, it rekindled a lot of things for me. This is a basic guide (with the help of AI) that I used to get me back into it, maybe it'll be useful to you!
1. The Only Scale You Really Need First: C Major
Play all the white keys from C to C.
C D E F G A B C
No sharps. No flats.
Why it matters:
Almost every other scale is just this same pattern starting somewhere else.
Step pattern:
Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole – Whole – Half
- Whole step = skip one key
- Half step = next key
You don’t need to memorise this deeply — just know it exists.
2. Chords Are Just Every Second Note of a Scale
Take the scale:
C D E F G A B
Build chords by skipping a note each time.
| Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| C major | C E G | stable / happy |
| D minor | D F A | sad |
| E minor | E G B | sad |
| F major | F A C | bright |
| G major | G B D | strong |
| A minor | A C E | sad |
| B diminished | B D F | tense |
The pattern of chord types in every major scale is:
Major
Minor
Minor
Major
Major
Minor
Diminished
This works in every key.
3. The 4 Chords Used in Half of All Music
One progression appears everywhere:
1 – 5 – 6 – 4
In C major that becomes:
C G Am F
Thousands of pop songs use this progression.
4. The Minor Scale (The Sad One)
Start the same white notes from A:
A B C D E F G A
That’s A minor.
Notice something:
It uses exactly the same notes as C major.
This is called a relative minor.
Rule:
Minor key = 6th note of the major scale
Examples:
| Major | Relative Minor |
|---|---|
| C | Am |
| G | Em |
| F | Dm |
5. The Easiest Way to Remember Chords
Instead of memorising notes, remember shapes.
Major chord shape:
Root → skip → skip
Example:
C E G
Minor chord:
Lower the middle note by one key.
C Eb G
That’s the only difference between major and minor.
6. The Cheat Code for Learning Songs Fast
Most songs are just combinations of:
1 4 5
or
1 5 6 4
Example in C:
C F G
or
C G Am F
Learn these and you can fake your way through a huge amount of music.
7. The Only Scales Most Casual Players Ever Use
You can play a lot of music with just these:
C major
G major
D major
A minor
E minor
They appear constantly in songs.
8. How to Find Chords in Any Key
Step 1: Find the scale
Step 2: Number the notes
Step 3: Apply the chord pattern
Example: G major
Scale:
G A B C D E F#
Chords:
G
Am
Bm
C
D
Em
F#dim
Same pattern every time.
9. If You Forget Everything
Music basically runs on:
Tension → Release
Usually:
G → C
or
5 → 1
Your ear expects it.
10. The Most Useful Habit When Learning Songs
When learning a song:
- Find the key
- Identify the 4–5 chords
- Ignore everything else
That’s the structure of most popular music.