The family: The I, IV, and V chords.

The cousins: The II, III, VI and VII chords.

The neighbors: Any chord that is 1/2 step above or below a Family member or a Cousin chord.

We have also become familiar with the "Circle of 4ths" and how chords want to move around that circle.

If you are shaky on any of these concepts, please go back and review previous issues. All back issues can be accessed at www.keyboardchords.com.

We also learned that as we move from chord to chord, we can take shortcuts by using the neighbor's yard -- we can cut across the neighbor's yard as we move from family member to family member, or cousin to cousin, or family member to cousin, or vice-versa.

For example, let's say that you are moving from the C chord to the A7chord. Instead of just playing those two chords, play the Bb7 chord on the way to A7. That way you are "sliding in" to A7 from above. Or you can play Ab7 right before A7 -- that way you are sliding in from below. Of course, you have to keep within the time parameters of the song -- you can't add a beat or two (unless you are playing "rubato" -- free time). So if the sheet music indicates that you should hold the C chord for 4 counts before playing the A7 chord, you might use the 4th beat of that 1st measure to "slide in" to A7 via the Bb7 chord.

The way you might voice the chord would depend upon what the melody note is at that point. Let's say the melody is "G". In that case, you might voice the Bb chord like this:

Left hand: Bb F (from bottom up in the 2nd octave below middle C)

Right hand: Ab, C, D, G (from bottom up overlaping middle C)

(Soon we will have printed examples on our web site so you can SEE what this looks like on printed music. Later we will have VIDEO on the web site so you can SEE and HEAR both the keyboard and the printed music! But one step at a time.)

A general rule for voicing half-step slides is to "parallel the target chord" as much as possible -- in other words, form the chord exactly 1/2 step above the target chord note for note, and then simply slide down to the target chord.