JAM ON KEYBOARDS TODAY!

®
more at www.littlekidsrock.org

v 4.0
 Root Key on C C Major Chord

USING JAM CARDS

1. JAM the card behind the keys of your piano / keyboard.

2. Line up the
a ROOT
key key
ROOT with
with
anyany
note
note
forfor
thethe
desired
desired
chord
chord
or or
scale.
scale.

3. The blue stripes

keys willwill
showshow
youyou
what
what
other
other
keys
notes
to play.
to play.

©2013 Little Kids Rock

For corresponding keyboard curriculum please visit: http://www.littlekidsrock.org/thehang/keyboard-index/
 #1a
CHORDS: Major
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
® To play a major chord shape, put the colored stripes behind any three notes of the
1
piano. When the ROOT
ROOT is on "C", you are playing "C major".
ROOT

THUMB
FINGER FINGER FINGER

11 3 5

©2013 Little Kids Rock

 #1b
CHORDS: Minor
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
®
This minor chord shape is the same as the major chord shape except for the 1
middle note. The ROOT
ROOT gives the chord its name.
ROOT
ROOT

ROOT
NOTE

©2013 Little Kids Rock

THUMB FINGER FINGER

1
FINGER
3 5

©2013 Little Kids Rock

 #2a
CHORDS:
JAM CARD™

Major in 3 Ways 23 4
5
® All major chords have three shapes and each major chord can be played three
1
ways. Knowing the three shapes makes changing chords easier. The ROOT
ROOT still
gives the chord its name, no matter where it appears in the shape.
THUMB FINGER FINGER FINGER
ROOT

1 3 SHAPE 3 5
FINGER FINGER
THUMB

1 2 SHAPE 2 5

ROOT
THUMB FINGER FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1 SHAPE 1 3 5
 #2b
CHORDS:
JAM CARD™

Minor in 3 Ways 23 4
5
® All minor chords have three shapes and each minor chord can be played three
1
ways. Knowing the three shapes makes changing chords easier. The ROOT
ROOT still
gives the chord its name, no matter where it appears in the shape.
THUMB FINGER FINGER
ROOT

1 SHAPE 3 3 5
FINGER FINGER
THUMB

1 2 SHAPE 2 5
THUMB FINGER FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1 3 SHAPE 1 5 ROOT
 #3a
CHANGING CHORDS
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
® Changing chords is easier when you know and use the three different chord shapes from Jam
1
Card™ #2. If you put the first ROOT stripe (the one on the left) on "C" and you move
between the bottom shape and the top shape, you will be playing "C" major to "F” major.
THUMB

1
FINGER FINGER

ROOT 3 5
NOTE
ROOT

FINGER FINGER

1 3 5

©2013 Little Kids Rock

ROOT
 #3b
CHANGING CHORDS
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
® Play the top chord shape first, then the bottom one. Notice how your finger stays
1
on the color stripe with the picture of an anchor for both chords. This makes
changing chords easier. The ROOT
ROOT gives each chord its name.

THUMB FINGER FINGER

THUMB FINGER

1 3 5
ROOT

THUMB FINGER

1 2 5

©2013 Little Kids Rock

ROOT
NOTE
ROOT
 #4a
SCALES:
JAM CARD™

Major Pentatonic 23 4
5
® Scales are played one color stripe at a time.You can use scales to make up 1
little patterns or melodies. Musicians call this “soloing” or “improvising”. The
root gives the scale its name.
ROOT
ROOT

ROOT
FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1
 #4b
SCALES:
JAM CARD™

Minor Pentatonic 23 4
5
® Scales are played one color stripe at a time.You can use scales to make up 1
little patterns or melodies. Musicians call this “soloing” or “improvising”. The
root gives the scale its name.
ROOT
ROOT

ROOT
FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1
 #5a
SCALES: Major
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
® Scales are played one color stripe at a time. Most of the songs we sing use the notes of
1
this scale. It is like the Major Pentatonic scale on Jam Card #3 but it has two more
color stripes or notes. The Root
ROOT gives the scale its name.
ROOT

ROOT
FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1
 #5b
SCALES: Blues
JAM CARD™

23 4
5
®
Scales are played one color stripe at a time. This scale is like the Minor 1
Pentatonic scale on Jam Card #3 but it has one extra stripe called the
blue note. The root
ROOT give the scale its name.
ROOT

ROOT
BLUE
NOTE
FINGER

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1
 THE SCALE CHORDS JAM CARD™
#6a
6mi ROOT

5
®
®

ROOT

4 ROOT
3mi ROOT
23 4
5
2mi ROOT
1 1

©2013 Little Kids Rock

ROOT
 #6b
SIX CHORDS THAT ROCK
JAM CARD™

Root Key on C C Major Chord

USING
The otherJAM
side of CARDS
this Jam Card™ has 6 chords that sound great to-
gether in any order. Here are pictures of what those 6 chords look like
1. JAMifthe
you
card put
behind the first
the keys ROOT
of your stripe (the one on the far left) on C.
piano / keyboard.
ROOT
2. Line up a ROOT key with any note for the desired chord or scale.
C D
miother keys to play.mi
3. The blue keys will show you what E F G Ami
C D E F G A

©2013 Little Kids Rock

For corresponding keyboard curriculum please visit: http://www.littlekidsrock.org/thehang/keyboard-index/
 JAM CARD™
#7a
PROGRESSION: 1, 4, 5 23 4
5
®
These three chords are all major and have been the three 1
most often used chords in Pop Music for decades.

THUMB

1 3 5 THE 5 CHORD

ROOT
1 3 5 THE 4 CHORD
ROOT

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1 3 5 THE 1 CHORD
ROOT
 JAM CARD™
#7b
SHORTCUT: 1, 4, 5 23 4
5
® These are three chords using shortcuts to make changing chords easier. The anchor shows which
1
note stays the same when changing between chords. When switching from 1 to 4 the note on the left
is the anchor, but when switching from 1 to 5 the note on the right is the anchor.

THUMB

1 3 5 THE 4 CHORD

ROOT
1 3 5 THE 1 CHORD
ROOT

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1 2 5 THE 5 CHORD

ROOT
 Laminate this card so that you can write on it with a dry erase marker! JAM CARD™
#8a
23 4
5
®

THUMB

©2013 Little Kids Rock

 JAM CARD™
#8b

®
SHORTCUT: 1, 4, 5, 6 23 4
5
Here is a shortcut for playing four chords that are used in 1000s of popular songs in all genres of music! The most 1

popular order is "1, 5, 6, 4" but try out all combinations! The "6" chord is minor, and the others are major.

THUMB

1 2 5 THE 6 CHORD

ROOT
1 2 5 THE 5 CHORD

ROOT
1 3 5 THE 4 CHORD

ROOT

©2013 Little Kids Rock

1 3 5 THE 1 CHORD
ROOT