Piano Guidance
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What does C+ mean in piano?

The C+ chord is made up of three notes – C, E, and G#. If you're new to chords, the '+' means 'augmented' and the chord is also referred to as the 'Caug chord', 'Caug triad', 'C augmented chord', or 'C augmented triad'.

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The C+ chord is made up of three notes – C, E, and G#. If you’re new to chords, the ‘+’ means ‘augmented’ and the chord is also referred to as the ‘Caug chord’, ‘Caug triad’, ‘C augmented chord’, or ‘C augmented triad’. And you may notice that it’s the same as the C Chord, but with a G# instead of G.

You can actually play a C+ chord on piano in three ways:

Root Position – This is where the C note is the lowest note of the chord note is the lowest note of the chord First Inversion – This is where the E note is the lowest note of the chord note is the lowest note of the chord Second Inversion – This is where the G# note is the lowest note of the chord I’ll quickly explain this in some more detail, with images and audio clips below.

C+ Chord Piano – Root Position

Whenever you play a C+ chord on piano, and C is the lowest note, that’s known as root position. It looks like this:

C+ Chord Piano – Root Position

There are seven places on a standard piano where you can play a C+ chord in root position. If you have a piano close by, try playing each one. Below you’ll see what all seven look like on sheet music. Click the play button if you’d like to hear what they sound like too.

C+ Chord Piano – First Inversion

Whenever you play a C+ chord on piano, and E is the lowest note, that’s known as the first inversion. It looks like this:

C+ Chord Piano – First Inversion

And here it is played in all places on a standard piano. You’ll notice that there are seven of these too.

C+ Chord Piano – Second Inversion

Whenever you play a C+ chord on piano, and G# is the lowest note, that’s known as the second inversion. It looks like this:

C+ Chord Piano – Second Inversion

And here is the second inversion played in all places on a standard piano. There are six of these. And that’s about all for this post. I hope you enjoyed learning about the C+ chord. If you did, you may enjoy learning more about the theory behind augmented chords.

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How do I know what key my piano is in?

Count the number of sharps or flats to determine the major key. Key signatures have either all sharps or all flats. You can use the number of sharps or flats in the key signature to determine the major key represented by that key signature. Find the major key by identifying the last sharp or second-to-last flat.

This article was co-authored by Amy Chapman, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Amy Chapman MA, CCC-SLP is a vocal therapist and singing voice specialist. Amy is a licensed and board certified speech & language pathologist who has dedicated her career to helping professionals improve and optimize their voice. Amy has lectured on voice optimization, speech, vocal health, and voice rehabilitation at universities across California, including UCLA, USC, Chapman University, Cal Poly Pomona, CSUF, CSULA. Amy is trained in Lee Silverman Voice Therapy, Estill, LMRVT, and is a part of the American Speech and Hearing Association. This article has been viewed 695,388 times.

Article Summary

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To determine what key a song is in when you have the sheet music, look at the key signature, which is the set of markings between the clef and the time signature. If there are flats, the key is the name of the second-to-last flat when read from left to right. For key signatures using sharps, the key is the note that’s ½ step up from the last sharp marking. Alternatively, if you’re using a chord chart to play the guitar, the key is most likely the same as the starting and ending chords. For example, if a piece of music ends with a D chord, the song is probably in the key of D. For tips on how to figure out the key of a song by ear, keep reading!

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