piano lessons

Piano Lesson: How to Use Tritones to Harmonise Melodies

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:09:00 +0000

It has been mentioned that one can use tritones as passing chords or as a substitute chords, but little has been mentioned about using tritones to harmonise melodies! Please note that you will not use this technique all the time or right in the beginning of a song. You may want the person whom you are accompanying to get used to the song first before you play this phat chord.

Here is a list of all 12 tritone chord in case you are not familiar with them:

TRITONE CHART

BASS	LH	RH
G	F + B	E+A+C#
Gb	E + Bb	D#+G#+C
F	Eb + A	D+G+B
E	D + G#	C#+F#+A#
Eb	Db + G	C+F+A
D	C + F#	B+E+G#
Db	B + F	A#+D#+G
C	Bb + E	A+D+F#
B	A + D#	G#+C#+F
Bb	Ab + D	G+C+E
A	G + C#	F#+B+D#
Ab	Gb + C	F+A#+D

TIP: let’s say one plays the chord: C + E + G. You see, your ear will be more inclined to ‘hear’ the G note compared to the other notes since the G on top (on the far right). Unless you have done ear training the ear tends to struggle figuring out the middle note, E.

Another point to note is that the ear struggles to make sense of dissonance and understands more non-dissonant tones.

The point is, when using these tritones or any other chords, try to put the dissonant tones in the middle (the ear struggles to hear these) or bottom and the non-dissonant tones on top (far right on your right hand chord). The ear is more likely to hear these pleasing notes.

This is the reason why musicians put the melody on top when playing or harmonising chords for solo performance if the there is no singer to sing the melody.

When playing these tritones we shall be using the same principle of putting the melody on top (far right in the right-hand chord).

What is a dissonant tone?

The scale of C is C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. Then when one plays the chord C + E +G# (this is a C augmented chord), this chord is dissonant due to the dissonant note G#. Note that G# is NOT part of the scale of C and hence creating dissonance in the chord.

Example

Let’s do an example in the key of D with the popular song: I Surrender All

I will only deal with the section that I have chosen to phaten, which is the chorus itself.

First let’s determine the melody for the chorus in this key:

D(I),Db(Sur),B(re),A(nder).

Now, these tritone chords normally move chromatically, so we are going to change the melody just a little to:

D(I),Db(Sur),C(re),B(nder).

This melody may look different now, but if you listen to the midi file you will hear that it makes sense and is recognisable. You can always play around with the melody if in the end it will still be within the context of the song. Use your ear for judgement!

Now, we want to keep the melody on top, all we have to do now is choose tritone chords from the tritone chart which put the melody on top (far right).

Our melody again: D,Db,C,B. Here then are the tritone chords below which have the melody on top:

Melody	LH	RH	Notes
I	D	Db+A+D	D Major 7
Sur	F+B	E+A+C#	tritone
Re	E+Bb	D#+G#+C	tritone
nder	D#+A	D+G+B	tritone

Experiment then with these chords on different melodies or on songs that you already play. One cannot play these chords all the time, just choose a portion of the song that you wish to spice up and then use these tritones, you can’t use them for the whole duration of a song.

Remember: If it sounds right, play it!Let your ear be the judge and then analyze with the theory later.

To listen to midi, please click here

If you would like to be able to download the midi file, please click here

Piano lesson: The Power of the Major Seventh

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:45:00 +0000

Jazz and gospel music use a lot of 2-5-1 progressions. In the key of C a 2-5-1 progression would be:Dmin-G7-CMajor7. This comes from the fact that C-D-E-F-G-A-B=1-2-3-4-5-6-7.

The major seventh is used to construct minor 11 chords. Minor 11 chords can be used in place of minor chords. Let’s say we are in the key of Eb, F will be a minor in this key. An advance way of playing this chord in this key would be:

LH	RH
F C F	Eb G Ab C (Ab major seventh)

But then, the more advanced way of playing the chord according to GOSPELKEYS EXTREME is this:

LH	RH
F C G	Ab Eb G Bb (Ab Major 9)

This is a minor 11 chord, a very versatile chord that you can also use as a passing chord. Please note that when playing this minor 11 chord, the thumb playing the G and the Ab should almost touch, they are a half a step apart!

How to construct the minor 11 chord

Scale of F=F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb=1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11

Or you can look at it like this: Fmajor scale=F(1)-G(2)-A(3)-Bb(4)-C(5)-D(6)-E(7)-F(8)-G(9)-A(10)-Bb(11)

Therefore the formula for minor 11 chord:

LH=1-5-9 and RH=b3-b7-9-11

Then, just replace the numbers with the corresponding notes from the scale of F.

Let do an example for a C minor 11 chord

Scale of C major=C(1)-D(2)-E(3)-F(4)-G(5)-A(6)-B(7)-C(8)-D(9)-E(10)-F(11)

Using the above formula, we then get:

LH= C-G-D and RH=Eb-Bb-D-F

Now let’s play a 2-5-1 in the key of Eb.

What chord can we play on the 5^th scale degree(i.e. Bb)? Well, this will generally be a dominant chord. Have you ever heard of tritones? If you do a search here at Hearandplay.com, you should get an explanation of tritones.

But this is how I personally look at it, a tritone of a specific note is a flattened 5^th away of that note. Suppose we wanted to find the the tritone of C, the answer is Gb, since Gb is the flattened fifth in the key of C.

Now, the tritone of Bb is the note E(b5 of Bb). Now since these notes are tritone relatives, when you play the Bb on your LH you can play a Emajor or Eminor chord on your right hand.

Here is then the 2-5-1 in the key of Eb:

LH	RH
F C G	Ab Eb G Bb
Bb F Ab	B E Ab (Emajor)
Eb Bb F	G D G

Now let’s add those minor 11's as passing chordsbetween the II and the V.

LH	RH
F C G	Ab Eb G Bb
G D A	Bb F A C
A E B	C G B D
Bb F Ab	B E Ab (Emajor)
Eb Bb F	G D G

Enjoy the chords!

To listen to the chords, please click on this link: http://zone.hearandplay.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=8331

PIANO CHORDS BASICS

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:06:00 +0000

Wouldn’t you like to listen to songs on the radio and then be able to follow with your piano what you hear on the radio? The key to doing this is to learn to play the piano by chords - learning to play the piano using the chord method.

There are a lot of chords out there and a lot of variations thereof. But the basic chords that you will find in every type of music are the major and minor chords. These are also known as major and minor triads, due to the fact that they consist of three notes each.

The key to learning piano chords is to start with the fundamentals – from first principles, which is – learn first major and minor piano scales. You see once you know how to play major and minor scales it becomes easy to learn piano chords.

There are 12 major scales on the piano, but the principle to forming them is the same for each key and each key will consist of 7 unique notes. For example, in the key of Cmajor the scale will be: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C these major scales sound the same as when you are singing “do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do.

Now, for every chord that exists, there is a formula to it. For major chords the formula is: 1-3-5 and for a minor chord is: 1-b3-5(the “b3” just means that you flatten the third note. Let’s say we want to form a C major chord, what you do is take the major scale of C and the convert it to numbers, that is, C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C=1-2-3-4-5-6-7. Now C major chord=1-3-5=C-E-G. Congratulations you have just learned a C major chord. This C-E-G just means that these are the notes that you will press down with your hand on the piano to play the chord. Note also that there are various ways to play any chords. If a chord has 3 notes, it means that it can be played in 3 different ways and if it has four notes, then it can be played 4 different ways. The chord we have just formed has 3 notes; hence it can be played four different ways, i.e. C-E-G, E-C-G and C-G-E. The method of playing these chords like this is called chord inversions.

Basically to learn piano chords, you start learning piano scales then chords then progressions (songs). Once you begin to learn and practice, forming piano chords will be second nature to you, you will eventually play them without thinking. With you chords you can harmonise melodies to you favourite songs using chord inversions. When using chords to play songs will make your songs sound fuller.

SHEET MUSIC VS PLAYING BY EAR

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:18:00 +0000

This debate has gone on for far too long. The are advantages and disadvantages for both types of playing. Classical musician would prefer sheet music while gospel musician would prefer playing by ear. This is probably due to the fact that classical pianist perform with an orchestra, which is a very formalised art form and as a pianist or violinist you are not allowed to improvise and do your own variation of what the orchestra is playing, whereas a gospel musician for example plays more by inspiration and there is usually not sheet music before hence he will be more inclined to improvise as long as the improvisation is within the framework and parameter of what the band as a whole is playing.
Disadvantages of using sheet music
People who depend solely on sheet music to play tunes usually cannot improvise. Someone else has already improvised for them via the sheet music. Usually these types of musicians cannot accompany a vocalist and usually struggle to learn simple tunes like “happy birthday” on their own, they do not play by ear, and they play by what is written before them.
Advantages of using sheet music
People who use sheet music, usually have good technique. They don’t just bang their fingers on the piano, but they play with technique. On the music sheet itself, you have to play notes a certain way, either loud or soft, slow or fast. It is an awe to watch a classical pianist play, especially when they play scales.Classical musician who read sheet music tend to become great jazz musicians because of all the technical skills they learn while using sheet music.
Disadvantages of playing by ear
Many bands or groups usually use sheet music to play. Sometimes bands don’t practice and may depend on sheet music only during their live performances. If you cannot read in such a setup, you can’t play. People who play by ear can’t play with an orchestra because they can’t read sheet music.

Advantages of playing by ear
People who play by ear can hear a song on the radio and immediately follow it on their instrument. In a live situation they can accompany a vocalist easily, even if they hadn’t rehearsed a particular song before. They are able to improvise on the spot using their creativity and ability to hear.

HOW TO PLAY CHORD INVERSIONS ON PIANO

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:14:00 +0000

MAJOR & MINOR CHORD INVERSIONS

Note that if a chord has 3 notes, it means it can be played 3 different ways. This means that a C major chord(C-E-G) can be played in 3 different ways.

That is, you can play this chord in the following ways:

1. C-E-G (Called a root inversion, the C note is on the left)

2. G-C-E (Called a 2^nd inversion, the C note is in the middle)

3. E-G-C (Called a 1^st inversion, the C note is on top)

For a C minor chord:

1. C-Eb-G (Called a root inversion, the C note is on the left)

2. G-C-Eb (Called a 2^nd inversion, the C note is in the middle)

3. Eb-G-C (Called a 1^st inversion, the C note is on top)

What do I do now?

Well begin to practice your inversions for all the major and minor chords in all 12 keys until you are comfortable in playing them.

Here is a list of all the major and minor chord inversions, master these and you will be well set to be on your way to playing songs.(M=major; m=minor). Practice these on the piano each day.

HOW TO PLAY A MINOR SCALE ON PIANO

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Well, that’s a peace of cake!

Let’s use the major key of C as an example:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7

C... D...E.....F....G... A....B

On your piano, go to the sixth degree, there you will find the A.

The Aminor scale is the C major scale but starting on the 6^th, it uses the same notes, therefore the Am scale= A B C D E F G A (C major scale rearranged).

Now you may ask, where am going with this?

Well let’s do 2 examples

Let’s say someone asked you to give them a Bb minor scale, what would you do?

Remember our table of scales, yes, there is nothing new! Just find in which key is Bb a 6^th scale degree on the table. Bb falls on the 6^th scale degree in the key of Bb, therefore you would use the notes of the Db major scale to find the Bb minor scale which is:

Now, the Bb minor scale would use these notes but starting on the sixth, i.e.:

Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab.

Congratulations for reaching this point!

I have spent a lot of time explaining SCALES. Once you master this concept of scales, learning to play piano becomes easy, the only ingredient needed to succeed, would be your time, passion and patience.

Make sure you don’t do to the next section without understanding scales and knowing your scale degrees. It wouldn’t hurt to go through this section once again for the whole concept of scales to sink in.

Note: you don’t have to play your scales like a Mozart before you move to the next section; the most important thing is that you understand this concept of scales. You will master playing scales as you practice.

SUMMARY:

1. There are 12 major and minor scales

2. There are 8 notes in each scale

3. RULE for forming major scales is this: when moving from the 3^rd degree going the 4^th and when moving from the 7^th going to the 8^th, you only move 1 half step, for the rest of the notes in that scale; you only move 2 half steps/whole steps between them.

4. Learn/practice scales using the order of the circle of fourths.

HOW TO PLAY PIANO CHORDS

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:44:00 +0000

You now understand your major scales; this means that you have done the hardest work in your process to learning to play the piano.

Major and minor piano chords are very predominant in all music, so we shall start with these.

Major chords

How do I form, for instance, a C major chord? Well, remember this:

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7

C... D...E.....F....G... A....B

Now, the formula for a major chord is:

1 – 3 – 5 , translating that into notes we get,

C – E – G

That’s it! It does not get any easier than this my friend.

This chord above is a C major chord.

Here is another example, this time we will construct say, an F major chord.

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7

F...G....A....Bb..C.....D....E

Formula,

1 – 3 – 5, write this in terms of notes we get:

F – A – C

Minor chords

The formula for a minor chord is: 1 – b3 – 5

So a C major chord will be: C – Eb – G

And an F major chord will be: F – Ab – C

CHORD FINGERING (How do I lay my hands down on the piano to play these chords?)

Let

· t=thumb

· i=index finger

· m=middle finger

· r=ring finger

· p=pinky

ROOT INVERSION
chord	C	E	G
finger to use	t	m	p

This means that when you play a C major chord with your right hand, you are going to use your thumb to play C, middle finger to play E and your pinky to play the G note.

Another way to play the root of C major is this:

ROOT INVERSION
chord	C	E	G
finger to use	t	i	r

Other fingerings:

FIRST INVERSION
chord	E	G	C
finger to use	t	i	p

SECOND INVERSION
chord	G	C	E
finger to use	t	i	r

Later we’ll do 4-fingered chords; this is how you will finger them:

Cmajor 7 chord,

ROOT INVERSION
chord	C	E	G	B
finger to use	t	i	m	p

SECOND INVERSION
chord	G	B	C	E
finger to use	t	i	m	p

C add9 chord,

ROOT INVERSION
chord	C	D	E	G
finger to use	t	r	m	p

Don’t worry concerning these chords; I will be explaining them as time goes on.

Note that you may come up with fingerings that are more convenient for you than the ones I’ve provided. If that’s the case, go ahead and use your own fingerings!

Playing piano chords: harmonically or melodically.

You can play piano chords either harmonically or melodically. Normally we play chords harmonically for fast songs and melodically for ballads, but this is not necessarily a rule because even for ballads pianists do play their chords harmonically a lot.

Let’s say we have C major chord: CEG

If I wanted to play the chord harmonically, I will play all of the notes of CM together, at the same time.

If I wanted to play the chord melodically, I will play the notes individually: C, E and then play G or I can go down with it, like this: play G, E and then C. If you want to you can even start on E, go to C and then play G, the choices are yours. Just experiment with different combinations and come up with your own style!

You can also mix the combination by playing the chord, first harmonically then melodically.

Try this for the CM chord(C-E-G)!

C-G → C-E → C-E-G

Try some of your own combinations and see what you can come with. To play piano, experimentation is what is going to take you to the next level and makes learning interesting and fun!

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:12:00 +0000

Circle of Fourths diagram:

When you practice your scales, chords, etc on the piano, use the order of the above diagram, you go around it either clockwise or anti-clockwise. I prefer the anti-clockwise route, it is the most common in music..

Let us look at the key of C and F, don’t their scales look similar? The ONLY difference is that the key of F has got Bb instead of B.

The key of Bb is similar to the key of F, the only difference is that Bb has got and Eb instead of E. Hence, if you practice in this order C, F, Bb, Eb….etc. it would be much easier than playing in the order of C, Db, D. If you look at the table, the key of C has got no flats or sharps, but Db has 5 flats! So, very different from C making it ‘harder’ to practice in this order, that is, from C to D.

Memorize this circle, it is used commonly in many song progressions.

Jazz artist practice in the order of the circle of fifths.

Try and figure out these scales on your own, then come back to the table above to test yourself.

It is very important to learn and practice these scales until they are second nature to you.

Also, it is very important to know on which scale degree a particular note falls, for example, in the key of D, the G note falls on the 4^th scale degree.

Maybe you didn’t hear, let me say it louder this time, and I quote myself: “It is very important to learn and practice these scales until they are second nature to you.

Also, it is very important to know on which scale degree a particular note falls, for example, in the key of D, the G note falls on the 4^th scale degree.”

Knowing this information will help you play a song in different keys. More about this later.

click here for lesson 5

PLAYING MAJOR SCALES

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:52:00 +0000

How to practice the 12 scales on the piano.

Well in order to play them fairly fast, you have to learn the standard fingering, and they are as follows:

Let

· 1=thumb

· 2=index finger

· 3=middle finger

· 4=ring finger

· 5=pinky

· 6=sorry, I’m just pulling your leg!

FOR THE RIGHT HAND;

SCALE OF :	PLAY USING THIS FINGERING
C,D,E,G,A,B	1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5
F	1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4
Bb	2-1-2-3-1-2-3-4
Eb	2-1-2-3-4-1-2-3
Ab	2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3
Db	2-3-1-2-3-4-1-2
B	2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2

AND FOR THE DARING, TRY THE LEFT HAND ALSO:

SCALE OF :	PLAY USING THIS FINGERING
C,D,E,G,A	5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1
Bb,Eb,Ab,Db	3-2-1-4-3-2-1-3
Gb	4-3-2-1-3-2-1-2
B	4-3-2-1-4-3-2-1

When practicing your scales on the piano, practice with a metronome or a drum beat. Many keyboards have built-in drum kits. Start with a slow tempo that you are comfortable with. In my case, I play, for example, the scales with a tempo of 80 beats per minute today (BPM), the following day I would play the scale with a tempo of 81 and so forth. Make sure that you are accurate and even in your playing.

How to Form Minor Scales on piano

Well, that’s a peace of cake!

Let’s use the major key of C as an example:

Go to the sixth degree, there you will find the A.

The Aminor scale is the C major scale but starting on the 6^th, it uses the same notes, therefore the Am scale= A B C D E F G A (C major scale rearranged).

Now you may ask, where am going with this?

Well let’s do 2 examples,

Let’s say someone asked you to give them a Bb minor scale, what would you do?

Now, the Bb minor scale would use these notes but starting on the sixth, i.e.:

Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab.

Congratulations for reaching this point!

I have spent a lot of time explaining piano SCALES. Once you master this concept of scales, learning to play the piano becomes easy, the only ingredient needed to succeed, would be your time, passion and patience.

SUMMARY:

1. There are 12 major and minor scales

2. There are 8 notes in each scale

4. Learn/practice scales using the order of the circle of fourths.

click here for fourth lesson

HOW TO FORM MAJOR SCALES ON PIANO

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:20:00 +0000

For simplicity, we will learn this concept in the key of C because the key of C does not have sharps or flats, i.e. does not have the black notes that you see in the picture.

Remember at school when you were still young and you sung: do re mi fa so la ti do, this is a major scale. The major scale of C is

C D E F G A B C – do re mi fa so la ti do. This is a major scale.

As I said before, I am going to give minimum theory and more application. I will present this principle in the simplest way I know how.

Let us analyze this scale of C, what is the formula to forming it?

Whole and Half-steps

First you should notice that the notes on the piano are separated in terms of steps: half steps and whole steps, for example:

When you go from C to C# you take half a step

When you go from C# to D you take half a step

But, when you go from C to D, you take a whole step

Note that between C# and D there is no note and also between C and C# there is no note but between C and D there is a note, which is C#.

That is: ½step + ½ step = whole step

This is the most difficult part for most of my students, but it actually isn’t if you look and think about more than once!

I am going to spend a lot more time on this concept because it is so important!

MAJOR SCALE EXAMPLES

Let us do a few examples, we will use the scale of C which has the following scale,

C–D– E – F–G–A - B

1 - 2 - 3 – 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

PIANO MAJOR SCALE FORMATION RULE

C and D are whole steps apart (which is 2 half-steps)

D and E are whole steps apart (which is 2 half-steps)

E and F are half-step apart (3 and 4)

F and G are whole steps apart (which is 2 half-steps)

G and A are whole steps apart (which is 2 half-steps)

B and C are half-step apart (7 and 8 or 1)

You can see from the above that when you go from E to F and from B to C you don’t jump any notes, you go STRAIGHT to the next note.

But, between C and D, D and E, G and A, A and B you will jump a note, for example: there is a note that you have to jump when you go from C to D, BUT you don’t skip any note between E and F!

Knowing this rule is key to knowing the rest of the scales on the piano. So, how do we form a major scale, say, in the key of Eb?

First we put down the numbers, also known as SCALE DEGREES:

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Next we find the notes for this key:

Since we want the scale of Eb, Eb will therefore will be our ‘1’.

Our rule says 1 and 2(1 being Eb and 2 being F) are a whole step apart, therefore we will skip the E and go to F.

I can’t go to the E because our rule says that they have to be a whole step apart, so I have to skip the note E and go straight to F.

Now I am on F which is the second scale degree. What is the next scale degree?

Well, I have to jump the F# and go straight to G according to our rule.

Now I am on the 3^rd scale degree, I see red because I will not jump any note, which means I just move on straight to Ab, that’s according to our rule. See red each time you are on the 3^rd or 7^th scale degree because when you are on these notes, when moving to the next note, you don’t jump you just move on.

You should be getting the drift by now! Finish the rest of the scale using the rule above.

Here are all the 12 major scales:

click here for third lesson

LEARN PIANO MAJOR SCALES

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Learn to play piano notes

........C#/Db.. D#/Eb.........F#/Gb...G#/Ab..A#/Bb

Naming the notes on the piano:

How do you name the notes?

Well, just memorize what you see; remembering as well that everything just repeats itself throughout the keyboard, so you only need to memorize only 12 notes (more about this later).

In learning the notes, you really need to locate a C and F note on the piano, and then next time you look for any other note, make your reference starting from C or F.

So how do you recall where these two notes are on the keyboard? Well, it all lies in the black notes. Let us look how these black notes are grouped together. If you notice carefully, these black notes go in 2’s and 3’s. The first set is the C#/Db and D#/Eb. Now take the set of any 2 black notes, then again take the note on the left-hand side(which is C#/Db,note that you can either call this note C# or Db, it does not matter, don’t fret because I will be explaining this just now).

Now since you’ve found your left-hand note of the 2 black notes, just go to note just to the bottom-left of it, what is the note, it’s the note C of course. Now anywhere on the keyboard, as long as you can locate any 2 set of black notes and point to the one on the left(C#), and go to the bottom-left of this note(C#), there you shall find a C note.

Do the same for locating an F note. Now take the set of any 3 black notes, then again take the note on the left-hand side(which is F#/Gb,note that you can either call this note F# or Gb, it does not matter.

Now since you’ve found your left-hand note from the 3 black notes, which are F#, just go to the note just to the bottom-left of it, what is the note; it’s the note F of course. Now anywhere on the keyboard, as long as you can locate any group of 3 black notes and point to the one on the left(F#), and go to the bottom-left of this note, you shall find an F note.

White notes…

The order of the notes is this:

C D E F G A B C,

NOTE: Since we want to go back to C, we use the basic A, B after the G. Make sure you memorize these knows. Know them by heart so that you can speak the language of the piano.

Learning The Piano Black notes (Flats and sharps)

What do these terms: ‘# and b’? Well,

# = sharp (a note just to right of any note)

b = flat (a note to the left of any note)

Examples:

1. the note just(half a step) to left of D is called a Db and the note just to right of D is D#

2. the note just(half a step) to left of C is called a Cb and the note just to right of C is C#

From these two examples and referring to the piano diagram, it can be seen that Db is the same as C#; D# is the same as Eb and Cb is the same as B.

On the piano there are 12 unique notes/keys, that is, every note between C and C will repeat itself every 12 notes. If you count every note starting from any C up to the next B, you realize that there are 12 notes in between and from then on the whole arrangement starts over again, repeating itself. 7 of them are white and 5 of them are black.

C -Db–D–Eb–E-F–Gb–G–Ab–A– Bb- B

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

(when you play every note going up the keyboard without skipping any note, it is called a chromatic scale)

…and the whole pattern will start over on the next C, repeating itself. So, there are only 12 unique notes/keys on the piano.

How does this background information help us? Well, it helps us reach the following conclusions about the piano:

Ø There are 12 major/minor chords

Ø There are 12 major scales & minor scales

Ø A song can be played in 12 major keys

What is a key? The best way to understand this is by knowing what a major scale is.

click here for lesson 2

LEARN PIANO

noreply@blogger.com (magasto) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:39:00 +0000

Learning major and minor piano chords is the foundation in all types of music. Probably, the song that you heard on the radio today was using these types of chords. Here is a simple breakdown of how everything fits together:

Scales (melody) →chords (harmony) →chord progressions→SONG

Believe it or not, it’s as simple as that!

I want to give you the easiest and shortest route possible to learning to play the piano without you having to worry about all that extra piano theory. I spent years trying to learn to play the piano and I know what it takes. What took me years to understand will take you no more a few days to understand! You will be kicking yourself once you discover how easy it is to play the keyboard.

The Plan:

PHASE 1: Just focus only on learning how to form the different scales. In any language, if you want to communicate you first have to learn the vowels, alphabets, pronunciations and meaning. Also, if you want to play piano, you have to learn the language, and once you know the language, everything else becomes easy.

PHASE 2: Just focus on learning how to form you major chords on piano. You see, once you know how to form your major scales on the piano, everything else just so easily falls into place.

Your major scales are the building blocks in forming your chords on piano.

PHASE 3: This is the most interesting part, this is where all you hard work pays dividence. You start here in learning patterns/progressions. The songs you hear on your CD always use progressions. I will show you the secrets to learning these songs and you will realize that it’s not rocket science, at all!

I guarantee you; if you follow these steps, you will be able to understand the basics of learning to play piano in just few weeks, if not days. All of the best my friend!

click here your for lesson 1