Play Melody and Chords in One Hand: The Piano Trick That Sounds Impossible

To play melody and chords in one right hand, keep the melody note on top with your pinky or ring finger, choose a chord (I, IV or V) that contains that note, play it in the inversion that puts the melody highest, and arpeggiate the lower notes underneath.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 29 min

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What this lesson teaches

In this lesson Jason Zac shows how your right hand can carry the melody, the harmony and the rhythm all at once. This frees your left hand for bass lines and groove instead of muddy block chords. It suits pianists who already know basic triads and want a fuller, more professional sound. Jason keeps the right-hand chords around middle C, so they are not too high or shrill and do not clash with a singer.

Step 1: Learn the I, IV and V chords in G major

The lesson uses the G major scale: G A B C D E F# G. Only the three major chords are used:

• I chord, G major: G B D, with inversions B D G and D G B
• IV chord, C major: C E G, with inversions E G C and G C E
• V chord, D major: D F# A, with inversions F# A D and A D F#

The top note of each shape stands out to the ear, so each inversion brings out a different melody note. It helps to write each chord in a circle so you can read off all three close positions. Try singing the top note of each shape too.

Step 2: Harmonise the scale with triads

Play each scale note with your pinky or ring finger and choose a chord that contains it, inverted so the melody note is on top:

1. G: B D G (G major)
2. A: D F# A (D major)
3. B: D G B (G major)
4. C: E G C (C major)
5. D: G B D (G major; D major would also work)
6. E: G C E (C major)
7. F#: A D F# (D major)
8. G: B D G (G major)

Then come back down the scale the same way. As you play, put the root of each chord (G, C or D) in the left hand so you always know which chord you are on.

Step 3: Add the HLML arpeggio

Next, break each chord into a high, low, middle, low pattern. On B D G, that is G, B, D, B. To make the melody sing, do not bang it louder. Instead, hold the high note with your top finger while the other fingers keep the arpeggio moving. Climb and descend the scale this way. As a rough fingering guide, use your ring finger on black-key melody notes and your pinky on white keys, but explore what works for you.

Step 4: Apply it to Twinkle Twinkle

In G major, the tune runs G G D D E E D, C C B B A A G (scale degrees 1 5 5 6 6 5, 4 4 3 3 2 2 1). The melody now jumps, for example from G up to D on the second twinkle, while you stay on the G major chord. On held notes such as star, keep the melody note held and keep arpeggiating the chord underneath, so the gaps in the tune stay alive.

Four-note voicings

You can add a fourth finger by doubling one chord tone, often by repeating the melody note lower down. It is still a triad, but it gives you more non-melody notes to arpeggiate. If four notes feel awkward, start with three.

Step 5: Change the rhythm feel

The melody mostly sits on quarter notes, while the arpeggio fills in between. Try these feels:

• Eighth notes (one and two and)
• Eighth-note triplets, dividing each beat by three
• Sixteenth-note triplets for a busier sound
• A gallop: a sixteenth-note feel with the e left out (one, and, a)

How to practise

First play the scale up and down with block triads. Then add HLML while holding the top note. Then move on to the tune, and finally try the different rhythms. Give the left hand something simple, such as roots or root and fifth. Aim to make the right hand automatic so your attention can later go to the left hand's bass and groove.

Questions about this lesson

How do I choose which chord goes under a melody note?

Pick a chord from I, IV or V that contains the melody note, then play it in the inversion that puts that note highest. In G major, an A in the melody gets D major played as D F# A, for example.

What is the HLML arpeggio pattern?

It is high, low, middle, low through the notes of the chord. On B D G, that is G, B, D, B, with the top note held to keep the melody clear.

Should I play the melody note louder than the chord?

The lesson suggests holding the melody note down with your top finger rather than hitting it harder. The other fingers keep the arpeggio moving underneath.

What should my left hand do while I learn this?

At first, simply play the root of each chord, or the root and fifth, in the bass. Once the right hand becomes second nature, the left hand is free for bass lines and groove.

Practise it

• Pop LessonsPractice companions for Jason Zac’s pop piano lessons: octave fillers, chord changes and inversions in every key.
• Voicing RoomA hands-on lesson room for piano chord voicings.
• Piano classes at Nathaniel School of MusicLive online or in Bangalore, with a teacher.
• All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.

Related lessons

• How to Write a Melody on Piano Using ArpeggiosTo write a melody with piano arpeggios, choose chord inversions so the top note carries the tune, then break each chord into a pattern like high-middle-low-middle, adding accents, diatonic wandering notes and passing tones to make it memorable.
• The Easiest Way to Expand Your Piano Arpeggios: Octave Displaced ArpeggiosAn octave displaced arpeggio takes a simple low-middle-high-middle triad pattern and, every alternate time, plays the bottom note an octave higher (or the top note an octave lower), giving a four-note, guitar-like pattern from only three chord tones.
• 5 Useful Exercises to Practise a Chord With an Extra Note on PianoAdding a copy of one triad note, usually the octave of the lowest note, turns a three-note chord into a four-note shape that you can use for 6/8 arpeggios, salsa montunos, one-hand melody-and-chord playing, a left-hand banjo roll and blues grooves.
• 10 Rhythm Patterns That Make Chord Inversions EasyTo make chord inversions musical, play the root position, first inversion and second inversion of a triad such as Bb major or C major through real rhythm patterns like block chords, oom-pah, waltz, broken chords, arpeggios, the tresillo, the Charleston, dual-speed arpeggios and floating inversions.