Does anyone know how to work the Yamaha YPG-635 with the one finger cords and styles? I can't find it in the user manual.

Well, I'm guessing you didn't spend much time with this. I read your post, Googled ypg-635 manual, clicked on the first hit - a pdf file, looked in the index and lo and behold, on page 32 of that manual there is an explanation of how to do exactly what you are looking for.

How much time did you spend on this?

In the long run you will be better served to actually play the cords chords with more than one finger. I personally find it criminal that manufacturers sell keyboards for folks who are too lazy to play a chord with the appropriate number of fingers, but that's just me.

Yup I agree with DaveH. I've only been playing close to 8 months and started using the 1 finger chord method on my Casio. Instant results! But I soon realised I would have to, and might just as well make that *little* bit of extra effort and learn the full chord. I've now moved on to learning how the chords are constructed (triads, major, minor), included inversions, also sevenths (but not yet really Sus, Dim, Aug and other weird stuff :-) ). It helps a lot with playing and understanding how a piece is composed/constructed.

Hi Lujan,
I had a 635 for awhile and I found that the one finger chords also didn't provide enough bass for me. Maybe it's because of the polyphony. I now have a px330 and the same is true of the 1 finger chords. However, the px330 has a full range chord feature that works perfectly and all of the bass notes do fit in rather well. I am pretty much self taught and use a lot of fake books and play by ear so I learned chords early and find it adds much more depth to your music.

"Criminal" is a little strong. But, yes, it's a shame that piano makers cater to this. Even a Schoenhut doesn't have the one-finger chord option!

If you really feel the need to play a chord with one finger, there already exists an ... instrument of sorts, the accordion.

Thank you to piRround who is the only one who provided a useful response without some bashing or criticisms. If you can't provide a response without bashing the poster, then I feel you shouldn't respond at all. Also spanishbuddha, I am going to spend some time learning the chords but I've always played with the full piano sheet music and never with chords so it's going to take some time. I'm sure it will be worth it because of the styles that can be played using chords on the left hand.

If you can't provide a response without bashing the poster, then I feel you shouldn't respond at all.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him open an owner's manual, look at the index, and make a few calculated guesses.

Did you try downloading the manual from the Yamaha site?

Hi Lujan, you don't say what sort of music you've been playing when you play with full piano sheet music, but I'm willing to bet that in fact you've been playing chords with the left hand as part of the harmony/bass, albeit perhaps as arpeggios or broken chords. So the learning curve might be quicker than you realize.

I actually did skim through the manual (several times now) and didn't see it mention the one-finger chord but I've got a chord book that I'm going to give a try.

I wonder if everyone from The Netherlands is as rude as Dave Horne?

I can't find it in the user manual.

How much time did you actually invest in that owner's manual? This is not a rhetorical question.

How is it I can download the same manual and in a matter of seconds look in the index and come up with an answer? Am I a genius ... or did I just spend more time that you? ... and I only spent a matter of seconds looking in the index.

Rude? I would have gladly provided information with a smile if you had actually made an effort. I have the feeling you just want a quick answer and are too lazy to take the time to look in the index yourself. We already know you want chords with the press of a button; it's not difficult to extrapolate and assume you also wish to exert no effort on searching for an answer to your question.

I've already stated how much time I spent on the manual and also looked at the index. Different people look at the index and look up different sections. I might have been looking under the wrong topic. Now don't respond to this post anymore if you have nothing useful to say. You are just cluttering this post.