Jeannie,
Glad to have you aboard. Those of us that have played arranger keyboards for years often take too much for granted. They can be intimidating at first.
The first thing you should do is set down at your keyboard with the owner's manual. Go through each step in the manual. If you don't have one, you can download one from the Yamaha web page at no cost.
You'll find that there are several modes in which the keyboard can be set, one of which, sure enough, lets you play either single-finger or multi-finger chords on the first 8 notes on the left. The point at which the melody notes start playing is called the Split Point, and it can be adjusted to suit your taste.
All this is explained in the manual, and I believe it is essential for you to read it before you can proceed much further.
Then we'll be happy to help you all we can.
Good luck and welcome to the world of arranger keyboards.
DonM
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DonM