Every key, every chord, every scale.

Twelve keys, one chapter each

Every key gets the same chapter in the same order, so once you know your way around C you know your way around all twelve. Before the keys, the circle of fifths; after them, an index of every chord, scale and mode by its symbol. The contents page links to every chapter.

1. 1
   The scale

   The major scale with its fingering, on the staff and on the keys, and the recipe of whole and half steps behind it.
2. 2
   Diatonic chords

   One triad on each note of the scale: the seven chords that belong to the key, with their Roman numerals.
3. 3
   Every chord on the root

   Every chord quality in the library on that root, each with every inversion, spelled the way a chord encyclopedia prints them.
4. 4
   Every scale on the root

   The three minors with their fingerings, the two pentatonics and the blues scale.
5. 5
   The modes

   Seven scales hiding inside one key: the same notes with seven different home bases.
6. 6
   Progressions

   From the four chords behind hundreds of hits to the jazz cadence and the Andalusian cadence, voiced so the hand hardly moves.
7. 7
   The blues

   The twelve-bar blues: the basic chart, then the same twelve bars the way a jazz band plays them, with the turnaround written out.
8. 8
   Cheat sheet

   Made to print and keep at the piano: the scale, the triads, the seventh chords and the three minor scales on one page.

The interactive version

Every page plays.

Open the same pages inside the Better Piano Studio and the book comes alive. Click any key on a keyboard diagram, or any note on the staff, and you'll hear it. Every chord progression plays through, and every blues page has a backing track to play along with: the full band, or just bass and drums so you can be the piano. It's free with your Key Companion: the email with your PDF has a link that shows you how.

Try the A♭ blues

Every key has a page like this.

Send me the Key Companion

A look inside