How to play broken chords in the left hand on the piano

After this lesson you can play broken chords in your left hand and the whole of Aura Lee with both hands.

In the last lessons you pressed all three notes of a chord at once. That is a blocked chord. You can also play the same three notes one after another, letting them ripple. This is a broken chord, and it is one of the most common left-hand patterns in piano music. It gives an accompaniment movement and flow without adding any new notes. This lesson also adds two high notes to the treble staff, so your right hand can reach further up.

What a broken chord is

A broken chord uses exactly the same notes as the blocked chord, just spread out in time. The C chord, C E G, broken upwards is C, then E, then G. Your hand stays in the same shape as for the blocked chord; each finger simply plays at a different moment.

Use the same fingers as before: 5, 3 and 1 in the left hand, bottom to top. Because the hand shape doesn't change, broken chords are a natural next step from blocked ones.

A common pattern is bottom, middle, top, middle, which fills a bar of 4/4 with four quarter notes: C E G E. Try it with the C, F and G chords in turn:

Broken C, F and G chords in the left hand: bottom, middle, top, middle, with fingers 5, 3, 1, 3

Watch how each bar keeps one chord shape. Only between bars does the hand move: down to the F chord, up a little to the G chord, and back up to C. The fingers, 5 3 1 3, never change.

Broken chords in three

In 3/4 time, a broken chord fits a bar perfectly with no repeated middle note: bottom, middle, top. Count "1 2 3" with one note on each beat.

Broken chords in 3/4: C, F and G broken upwards, then a blocked C chord held for three beats

This is the left-hand pattern of Broken-Chord Waltz, the first piece in this lesson. The low note on beat 1 gives the strong first beat that a waltz needs, and the two higher notes answer it lightly.

Two new high notes: E and F

The waltz's right hand climbs higher than you have read so far, so you need two new notes at the top of the treble staff.

E above C5 sits in the top space of the treble staff.
F above it sits on the top line.

You already know the C in the third space and the D on the fourth line from G position. E and F simply carry on stepping up: C space, D line, E space, F line.

Stepping up to the top of the treble staff: C in the third space, D on the fourth line, E in the top space, F on the top line

To play them, put your right thumb on the C above middle C (C5). Fingers 2, 3 and 4 then reach D, E and F.

Right thumb on the C above middle C; fingers 2, 3 and 4 play D, E and F

Broken-Chord Waltz

In the waltz, the right hand starts with the C chord broken upwards (E, G, C), then reaches up to the high E and high F with half notes, before stepping back down. The left hand plays broken chords throughout and ends with a blocked chord. Count "1 2 3" steadily and let the left hand's first beat lead each bar.

Aura Lee, both hands

The unit ends with the whole of Aura Lee: the melody in the right hand, with C, F and G chords held in the left hand. Now that you know broken chords, you might like to try the left-hand part broken as well, once the written version is secure: C E G E in bars that hold a C chord, and so on. Let the melody sing above the chords, a little louder than the left hand.

How to practise

Play each chord blocked, then broken: C chord blocked, then C E G E. Do the same for F and G.
Play the four-bar broken-chord exercise slowly with a steady count.
Play the 3/4 version, leaning slightly on each beat 1.
Learn the high notes: thumb on C5, play C D E F and back, reading from the staff.
Play Broken-Chord Waltz, hands separately first, then together.
Play Aura Lee all the way through, then record it and listen back.

Common mistakes

An uneven ripple. The little finger's note is often louder and the thumb's quieter. Aim for even notes, with just a slight lean on beat 1.
Holding notes too long. Unless the music says otherwise, let each broken-chord note last only its own beat, so the chord stays clear.
Losing the high notes. If E and F are unclear, step up from the D on the fourth line.
Left hand too loud. The accompaniment supports; the melody leads.

Try it in Pianuvo

Broken chords close Unit 4: Intervals, first chords, legato and staccato. You watch and play the broken C, F and G chords, reach up to the new high notes, learn Broken-Chord Waltz and finish with Aura Lee, which you can record for yourself. Each exercise scores your playing as you go, with the on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano and microphone.