Moving Between Chords

By this point, we’ve learnt a great deal, well done. In this lesson, we are going to bring together everything we’ve learnt. Let’s turn our chords into something longer and more musical by looking at how we can link them together.

You may be able to play the Heavy Sa’idi on D minor, and on B♭, and on C. But moving between the three of them, without stopping, is a different skill. To move from one chord to the next, you have to have mastered both — otherwise, the moment you arrive on the new chord, you’ll hesitate while your hands work out where to go, and the rhythm will fall apart.

Basic and ornamented rhythms #

It’s essential to understand the difference between basic and ornamented rhythms, and to understand when to play each. Let’s look at a few basic ideas.

Firstly, there are times when you should play basic rhythms and times when you should ornament. For example:

• If someone is singing with you, or another instrument is playing a melody, you should generally play something basic, without too much ornamentation, to leave room for them. A basic Heavy Sa’idi on each chord would be great.
• When you’re playing on your own, or the music is building to its loudest, fullest moment, that’s the time for your ornamented rhythm.

The examples above illustrate just a couple of situations, and there is no right or wrong answer for either. Choosing when to ornament will come with time and experience, and it is very situational. However, the key thing to understand is that you have to adapt your playing to your circumstances, and you will have to switch between basic and ornamented rhythms regularly — often in the middle of a chord progression.

Your anchor: the Tek #

Here’s something that makes moving between chords much easier than it first looks. In the ornamented rhythm, the Teka at the end of every bar is played in exactly the same place — the light Tek and the Ka on the shoulder around the ding — no matter which chord you’re on and which chord you’re going to.

Use it. While your hands play the Teka, your eyes should already be on the root of the next chord. By the time the Teka is finished, you should know exactly where your first stroke of the new chord is going to land. The Teka is your moment to look ahead.

Use of a metronome #

A metronome is one of our greatest allies when training ourselves to move between chords. As a beginner, when you move to a new chord, it will probably make you pause, slow down or speed up, or a combination of all three. You must get used to moving between chords seamlessly, and this is where a metronome helps. Its steady beat tells you what speed to arrive on the new chord at, and it keeps you honest. Using a metronome is highly recommended for every drill below — just tick the box under each tab.

Chord changing drills #

Here are some drills you can practise to help you move between chords.

Basic to ornamented switches #

In the first instance, just get used to switching between the basic and ornamented versions of the same chord. Practise this at 70 BPM. The tabs are below:

Once these feel easy, make up the same drill for every other chord from Lesson 10.

D minor, B♭, C and back #

In this exercise, we’re going to play one bar of each chord, in the basic form: D minor, then B♭ major, then C major, then back home to D minor. This is one of the most common chord progressions in all of handpan music, and all of it is right there on your D Kurd. Practise at 70 BPM, then go up to 80 BPM when you are confident.

Four chords, with an ornamented fourth bar #

In this exercise, we’re going to play three bars of basic rhythm, on D minor, B♭ major and F major, and then play an ornamented bar of C major for the fourth bar. The Teka at the end of the C major bar leads you back to the start. D minor, B♭, F and C is the whole structure of an enormous number of songs. Practise at 70 BPM, then go to 80 BPM when you are confident.

The full progression, ornamented #

This is a really tough one and will test your skills a lot. Play D minor, B♭ major, C major and back to D minor, ornamented on every bar, and build up as fast as you can. Start on 70 BPM and keep increasing by 10 BPM when you feel confident at the previous speed. If you can reach 110 BPM, with every chord clean and every Ka quiet, hats off to you! That’s a huge accomplishment. If you can’t, don’t worry, because it’s pretty damn hard!