Not every note in a chord does the same job.

Two of them say what the chord is. One only adds body. Once you know which is which, you know what you can leave out, what you can't, and why a bigger chord isn't always a better one.

Last time the right hand played fewer notes on the light beats (it's on the blog if you missed it).

This time: which notes to keep.

Same four chords, right hand around the middle of the keyboard:

C (c, e, g)
G (g, b, d)
Am (a, c, e)
F (f, a, c)

(in any inversion)

Left hand: the root of each chord, one or two octaves below your right hand. Hold each one for its bar, and let it ring under steps 1 to 4.

1. The full chord

Left hand the root, right hand all three notes (you pick the inversions), one chord per bar, slow, the four chords through a few times. That's the basic version, and there's nothing wrong with it. On plain chords most of us play it like this most of the time. Keep the sound in your ear; everything that follows is measured against it.

2. Try it without doubling the root

Your left hand already plays the root, so you don't have to play it again in the right hand. On C, that leaves e and g in the right hand over the c in the bass. On G: b and d over the g. On Am: c and e over the a. On F: a and c over the f. Same chord, a little more open, because nothing is doubled.

Not an order, an option: for the moments when you want a plainer, more open sound. Again, invert as you like.

3. Drop the fifth

Now take the fifth out of the right hand too. What's left is one note in each hand: e over the c. b over the g. c over the a. a over the f. Still the chord. Bare, but still the chord.

Here's why. The root says which chord it is. The third says major or minor. Those two are the vital notes; the fifth only adds body. Take the fifth away and it's still the same chord, just with less body and more transparency. Take the third away and you can't hear major or minor anymore. Take the root away and you can't hear which chord it is.

4. Put it back

Now go the other way on each chord: the third alone (e over the c), then the third and the fifth (e and g), then all three (c, e, g). Listen to what the fifth adds: body. Then listen to what the doubled root adds: more of the same.

Which version you want depends on the moment. More notes, more body; fewer notes, more openness.

5. Low on the keyboard, the third moves up

Let go of the bass note for this one. Play c, e and g together in your left hand, about two octaves below middle c. Hear the mud? Below about the f under middle c, notes close together blur, and a full chord down there blurs most.

Now take the e out of the left hand and keep the c and the g, the widest gap of the three (dropping the top note works too, but the middle one leaves the most room). Play the e with your right hand instead, up near middle c, where it's clear. Do the same on G (g and d low, b up top), Am (a and e low, c up top) and F (f and c low, a up top). The chord lost nothing: its vital notes are all there. The third just moved up, where there's room for it.

One more thing, for when your chords grow.

As soon as you add a note to a chord, that note joins the vital list. A seventh, for instance: on C that's a b-flat. C7 played as c in the left hand, e and b-flat in the right, no g at all, is still C7. Leave the b-flat out and it's plain C again. The root, the third and whatever you added: that's the short list. Everything else is optional, and leaving things out is more common once a chord carries extensions than on a plain triad.

A chord is correct when the vital notes are in there. The rest is creativity.