Say it with me, people: “Chords are totally easy to play.” That’s right … chords are really simple. Like everything else in music, they’re made of the same, old notes and intervals we already know and love. So there isn’t much to them.

But let’s pause for a moment to think about one thing. And that is, what’s up with all those extra sharp and flat symbols? I mean, with all this talk about tonic notes, major thirds, minor thirds, sharp fifths, flat fifths, etc., it might start to look like those added accidental symbols are totally important.

But before we get all distracted and confused, remember that those extra symbols—which we call “accidentals”—are there for only one reason. And that is to satisfy all you mega music nerds out there. (You know who you are.) For some people, music notation simply wouldn’t be the same without any sharps or flats. But for others, life would be a whole lot better without them.

Whether you’re for accidentals or you’re against them (can’t we call be friends?!), the basic truth is that you can ignore them if you want. In other words, feel free to put on your “accidentals-be-gone” goggles and just keep playing. If that’s your style, then go ahead and “tune out” the sharps and flats—so you can focus on only the notes and the intervals between. It really doesn’t matter … and no one will shoot you. Because the colored shapes show us exactly which notes to play anyway.

(If you don’t believe me, then go back and play each major and minor chord again. But this time, pay no attention to the sharps and flats. Did anything change? Nope, we’re still in good shape—because the colored notes show us everything we need.)

In fact, that’s the beautiful thing about Color Music. It’s both elegant and simple. All those old-fashioned symbols of music notation are not needed at all. Sure, they might be interesting. But they also add visual noise that we can live without. As musicians, all we need are some eyes, ears, hands, and feet. Oh, yeah … and maybe a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll. So try to remember which notes are “sharp” or “flat” … or ignore the whole mess. It’s really up to you.