Here’s a little tip for creating a ‘country’ piano sound using what I like to call a ‘crushed 2nd’.
If you are playing a chord of G major (G B D) then you’d use the 2nd degree of the scale (A) to crush into the 3rd (B) as per this youtube clip I’ve uploaded.
You can use this technique to create more movement with your chords and also when combined with other chords in a sequence it creates a very simple, yet effective riff.
In the video example above I used the chorus from “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby – G F C