Piano Lessons - Learn To Play Keyboard

How can you create and keep your motivation to play the piano? In other words, how can you increase and keep the joy of playing the piano? The cause that made you start playing in the first place!

How To Play Piano Despite Years Of Lesson

2007-09-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Why is it that after years of studying something as a child, we forget later in life what we learned? Such is the common question of how to play piano despite years of lesson. Here i get you back to playing music even if you think you've lost it, and have begun to give up on how to play piano despite years of lesson.

Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

2007-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Can you talk to people without first memorizing what to say? Probably you can. Can you create melodies and nice licks to chords on the spot. Many pianists find this harder. Let's try out a few ways to improve your improvisations!

Piano Lesson: Compose And Become A Better Pianist

2007-09-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

Everyone can compose sheet music! You have to start where you are and anyone can do that. You can create your own compositions for piano! Let's see why you should!

Piano lesson - Learn To Play Piano Music In Time

2007-09-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

It is a good thing to be on the right place at the right time, is it not? Sometimes we call this ability timing. When you learn to play piano this is a very important skill. The result will be music!

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Play Chord Piano Fast With This Easy To Use Technique!

2007-09-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

Techniques. Some of them are more useful than others. Especially when it comes to piano playing. What you're about to learn is a special way of forming chords at the keyboard that will have you playing chord piano in no time.

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Piano lesson - How To Achieve Hand Independence on the Piano

2007-09-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

"I'm losing the left-hand," cried one piano student. "Every time I try to add in my right hand, the left stops" exclaims another.
These are common complaints for students who wish to learn hand independence. And for most, this is a big problem. They want to play the piano with both hands playing different parts. But the main reason most piano students have problems with this is because they try to play too fast!
Hand independence is one area that takes some time (not too much time) but some time to achieve. And this too depends on how complicated the hands tasks are.

12 Ways Pianists Can Get Better Results with Less Effort

2007-09-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

By Ed Mascari

Steve, a high school student, runs track, plays the sax in the band, takes 3 honors classes, works 10 hours a week and still continues to improve his piano playing. How does he do it?

He uses the 80/20 principle.

Nancy is married, works full time, goes to the gym 5 days a week and maintains a busy social life.

Yet she keeps expanding her repertoire as her piano technique develops. What’s her secret?

She uses the 80/20 principle.

Isn’t it time you followed the example of these successful piano students?

In his best selling book, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less, Richard Koch shows that there is a faster and easier way to get great results in all areas of life.

Koch is one of many authors who use the theory called the Pareto Principle (discovered by Italian economist Vifredo Pareto in 1897) to demonstrate how 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort.

Here are 12 ways you can use the 80/20 principle to achieve better results with less effort.

1. Practice 10 – 15 minutes every day instead of 2 hours once a week.

2. Learn 4 measures of a piece very well rather than playing the entire song poorly.

3. Plan the music for each of your practice sessions in advance.

4. Practice one scale per day using correct technique, fingering and timing instead of racing through all 12 scales daily.

5. Learn how to form one chord of each type (major 7th, 6th, diminished, etc.) as an alternative to memorizing a catalog of chords.

6. Put all of your repertoire pieces into a loose-leaf notebook rather than relying on place marks in your piano books. For help with this see my article:How to Increase Your Return on Investment By Organizing Your Music

7. Listen to recordings of your special selection rather than expecting all of your inspiration to come from your own playing.

8. Pick one accompaniment pattern for the verses of a song and one for the bridge as opposed to creating specific left hand parts for each measure.

9. Memorize five songs which you can play anywhere at any time instead of using music to play 25 songs. For help with this see my article:How to Memorize a Song the Easy Way

10. Create a repeating motive (short melodic figure) and use this to improvise on a 12 bar blues as an alternative to randomly playing the blues scale.

11. Arrange a song in advance by setting up patterns of ii-V-I progressions as opposed to simply following the chords as printed in a Fake Book. For help with this see my free lesson:How to Arrange a Song in 12 Easy Steps

12. Set up low pressure performance opportunities (play for friends, family, fellow students, etc.) at regular intervals so that you have time-specific goals for bringing your pieces up to performance level.

Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, pick one or two of the 12 ways listed above that fits with your personality, style and level. Start using these in your practicing right away.

Second, begin every practice session with your most important piece.

Exception: if this selection requires that you warm up with scales or exercises, do these first.

Third, monitor your progress by recording yourself today and then a month from now.

Once you hear the difference in your piano playing, you’ll see clearly that your results have come from focusing on the most important areas of your practicing.

Start using the 80/20 principle today and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll get better results from your piano practicing with less effort!

Ed Mascari has been teaching piano privately to children and adults for nearly three decades. He is a seasoned performer (pianist/ jazz organist) of show tunes, jazz and popular music as well as a published classical composer and church musician. Ed combines his extensive experience to guide students in a variety of styles as he helps them achieve their unique potential. Ed teaches group classes for piano students in the tele-class format. All of the programs at http://www.mykeyboardsuccess.com/ focus on specific topics that are designed to give participants the tools and techniques that will help them to play piano better and better. To receive special subscriber bonuses: free sheet music and audio files for Six Simple Songs to Make You Smile, the helpful article The Key Is to Get to the Keys: How to Set Up and Maintain a Successful Practice Routine, a free lesson How to Arrange a Song in 12 Easy Steps and a subscription to our ezine Conversations at the Piano, sign up today at http://www.edmascaripianostudio.com/

Piano Playing Tips for The Creatively Impaired

2007-09-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

By Edward Weiss

Lets face it… you're not one to just sit down at the piano and have beautiful music come up. No. You're more like someone who struggles just to get one original note out. It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, playing piano can be a joy. Here are three piano playing tips to help you loosen up and get into a creative space.

Piano Playing Tip #1: You Know Enough to Begin Now

Don't wait until you think you're ready. Begin now and enjoy the feeling of creating your own music. You know enough to begin. Don't think so? What do you really need to know? A few chords and how to play them - THAT’S' IT! You don't need to spend months or years in school learning theory. Theory is good to know and can come later. For example, I know how to construct a D minor 9 chord easily but I wish I knew what to do with it long before I learned how to make it.

The way to begin is to begin easy. Start by learning a few chords - then use them by improvising.. The way to make music as you go is to stay in the present. If you even think of anything but the music making you won't be able to get as much enjoyment out of your playing. The way to stay in the present is to play. Play like children play - with an open mind and open heart. Not expecting anything but glad for what happens - spontaneously. Do you think child questions whether she knows enough to begin painting? Of course not. Yet it is we as adults who place all kinds of limits on ourselves.

Piano Playing Tip #2: You Can Learn to Improvise and Create Your Own Music

Do you think you need to be in school for years to acquire improvisational skills? If you do, you're not alone. Most people share this belief. Practice is what will give you the skill to create spontaneously. More specifically, practice without judgement will really get you there fast. You grow in proportion to the amount of time you spend playing the piano. You learn then come upon times when growth slows down. This does not mean that growth has stopped. It only means you are changing internally - readying yourself for the next new spurt.

Piano Playing Tip #3: No One Knows Everything

I wish I really believed this one before I got started playing piano. I really believed that you had to learn a lot to make music. The truth of the matter is even when I knew "sophisticated" chords and chord voicing, I still was blocked! When I started playing simply, using just a few chords, I could easily improvise and forget myself at the piano. What a difference in approach! I self-judged myself right into not being able to play. I say "play" because this is what improvisation is. I believed that it was more important that I sound good to others than feel good about what I was doing at the piano. A crucial error on my part and one that's taken a long time to rectify.

Gaining others approval can kill the spirit and destroy the ability to create because you will never be good enough! You must please yourself first - then share the music with others. To know everything is to know nothing. There are no good musicians or bad musicians. There is only you and the music. Is it good or bad? Who cares! What's important is your feeling and not the product that comes out.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html now and get a FREE piano lesson!

Learning To Play Piano

2007-09-08T02:24:00.001-07:00

Here are some hints and tips about learning to play piano from Wikihow:

Try not to "learn" your mistakes. Playing the piano is an automatic process like walking (you don't think about each step you take, you just walk). Because of this, past mistakes have a tendency to come back when you play the piece later on. To avoid this, do the following: When you are learning a new piece, break it down into simple parts that you can practice without making a lot of mistakes. And play slowly. For example, practice each hand separately. After you have determined the fingering you are going to follow, play both hands together in short sections. Eventually put the sections together. Do not try to play at normal speed until you are secure in your fingering and notes. Then increase the speed gradually. Play the piece over and over until you memorize it and you can play fluidly.

Piano Lessons Are Piano Lessons, Right?

2007-09-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

The phrase "piano lesson" can mean a lot of things. David Seagal will give you some insights here about piano lessons:

I know that's the feeling so many people have from their individual experiences probably from their youthful days of weekly lessons and ever so often, forced lessons. But in all seriousness, it occurred to me that there are really three broad categories of piano lessons: Classical piano lessons, chord or improv piano lessons, and lastly, play-by-ear piano lessons. While some people including many parents may feel that "piano lessons are piano lessons", the reality is that's hardly the case and within those three broad categories I mentioned, there can be a wide variety of difference in both content and quality.

Practice Smarter On Your Piano

2007-09-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

What can you do to learn your piano homework as fast as possible? Here are some tips:

1. Comfortable feelings. Try to practice in an atmosphere of peace and joy. How? By not procrastinating working on you piano lesson homework and by having a positive attitude.

2. Relax. A piano session with practicing and memorizing piano pieces can also be an occasion when you practice relaxation. As you play, try to pay attention to your hands, fingers and the rest of your body using as little force in your playing as possible. This will benefit both your mental and physical health!

3. Make no mistake. At least, not too many. If you practice new piano pieces slowly, with concentration and with correct posture you will be rewarded with learning your homework faster and also feel much better.

Free piano sheet music downloads

Free piano sheet music - Live Life

2007-09-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

I would like to present a melody I wrote for piano solo. It's a bit complicated but quite fun to play. Download free piano sheet music

Free piano sheet music: El Condor Pasa

2007-09-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here you have a popular melody as an easy piano solo. Download the piano sheet music here. Download free piano sheet music

Free piano sheet music downloads

Free piano sheet music: Fur Elise

2007-09-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the popular piano solo Fur Elise in a simplified piano version. You can download it here for free!

Fur Elise is the popular name of the "Bagatelle in A minor", WoO 59, a famous piece of music for solo piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, written in about 1810. Simplified version. Arr. Peter Edvinsson. Melody and bass voice. Printable music score. A-minor. Download free piano sheet music

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

2007-09-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

By Peter Edvinsson

Can you talk to people without first memorizing what to say? Probably you can. Can you create melodies and nice licks to chords on the spot? Many pianists find this harder. Let's try out a few ways to improve your improvisations.

Put something in to get something out

Piano improvisation is a form of composing. In other words you are creating music.

In order to improvise in an intelligent manner and not only play random notes you have to listen to improvised music and practise on your piano in a manner that will help you create music when you improvise.

There are many ways to practise improvisation but let's start with playing a few licks over the II-V-I progression in the key of C.

In this exercise you will improvise melodic patterns with your right hand and play chords with you left.

The note C4 is the middle C on the piano and D4 is the D to the right of this C. B3 is the B note to the left of C4.

We will start with the Dm chord in the left hand. Dm is the II chord in C. We will play it in its basic form:

Dm: D3 F3 A3

With the right hand it's time to play patterns that fit this chord. For example:

F4 A4 C5 E5 D5 C5 A4 F4

We will now play the V chord which will come next in the II-V-I progression. In C-major this will be G. It can be played as follows:

G: B2 D3 G3

An continuation of the melodic flow in Dm could be:

E4 F4 A4 C5

We will now end on the I chord which will be C in the key of C-major. In it's basic form it looks like this:

C: C3 E3 G3

We will end the melody by playing the note B4. This makes the whole ending to a Cmaj7 chords. Sounds nice, doesn't it!

We will continue this piano improvisation lesson by trying out a few more possibilities with the same piano chord progression for your right hand improvisations:

Piano progression 1

Dm: E5 C5 A4 F4

G: D#5 B4 G#4 F4

C: D5

Piano progression 2

Dm: F4 A4 C5 E5

G: F4 G#4 B4 E5

C: D5

Piano progression unlimited

Of course there are unlimited possibilities so now it is time to jump into the unknown by experimenting and inventing melodies with your right hand as you play the progressions in the left hand.

What do you learn by practicing piano progressions?

You learn patterns that you can use in different contexts as you improvise. You learn different chords that can be implemented in your piano playing.

Most importantly, you learn to improvise. Improvisation is a bit of memorized fragments and a lot of just jumping into the unknown and do something about it.

The end result is hopefully a bit of music to the benefit of the people in the world.

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Lesson: Do You Really Want To Learn These Things?

2007-09-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

by Peter Edvinsson

Practice is essential to become a good piano player. As you play the piano and try to progress to becoming a piano giant it is important to be aware of some traps that will prevent you from reaching your goal.

It is a joyful experience to grow as a pianist and musician if you practice in a sensible way using the experience from a teacher or other sources like books and piano instructional DVD's and more.

The feeling that you are approaching your goals gives satisfaction and a belief in yourself.

What traps am I talking about then?

Learning processes can take you towards your goals but as you practice you might unconsciously learn things that are limiting your progress.

I don't think that you want to learn things that will limit your progress and if you will be aware of these thing I know that you will avoid them. Here are some traps:

1. Uncomfortable feelings. There can be reasons for you not being at ease as you practice on your piano like stress or negative feelings regarding your ability to progress.

Maybe you are preparing for a performance, a piano lesson or something else and you feel less prepared than you want or other negative thoughts are disturbing you.

Having these feelings as you play on your piano is not so very good. Why?

These negative feelings tend to be evoked as you play the same piece of music at other occasions. I guess this is not what you want.

It can lead to an aversion towards a certain piece of music for the rest of your life or that you quit playing altogether because of uncomfortable feelings as you play.

2. Muscle tensions. Well, you might play in a very relaxed way but many pianists tend to tense too much as a result of maybe playing faster and on a level above their technical skills.

This is very common among young kids trying to play like their musical heroes while actually being on another level of proficiency.

The important aspect of this is that the actual tension level in your hands and in your body when you practice a specific piano piece tends to be at the same level when you play the same piece of music at a performance.

If you have practiced a piano piece with a high tension level you will most probably find it hard to perform the same composition in a relaxed manner.

3. Making mistakes. Can your practicing lead you away from learning a piece of music? You probably want to become a better piano player by practicing but if you play too fast when learning new passages it is likely that you will make a lot of mistakes.

When learning a passage of music these mistakes will be part of the learning process. The more mistakes you make the harder it will be to play the passage right.

To put it another way, all mistakes accumulate and becomes a disturbance when you try to play the passage right. Instead it will become easier and easier to play the music wrong.

But, don't let this information depress you. This information can be good news if you use it to your advantage!

Here are some tips:

1. Comfortable feelings. Try to practice in an atmosphere of peace and joy. How? By not procrastinating working on you piano lesson homework and by having a positive attitude.

2. Relax. A piano session with practicing and memorizing piano pieces can also be an occasion when you practice relaxation. As you play, try to pay attention to your hands, fingers and the rest of your body using as little force in your playing as possible. This will benefit both your mental and physical health!

3. Make no mistake. At least, not too many. If you practice new piano pieces slowly, with concentration and with correct posture you will be rewarded with learning your homework much faster and also feel much better.

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Lesson: The Genesis Of Improvisation

2007-09-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

by Peter Edvinsson

The ability to improvise is within the reach of everyone who wants to develop this skill. You can start to improvise in a way that will give you and others the benefits from this art. Let's see what good improvisational skills involve!

What is improvisation?

Many people have the notion that improvisation is the ability to create something out of nothing. Well, you can improvise in a kitchen too. Creating a fantastic dinner out of the things you can find around.

However, note that there has to be some sort of material to use, like a potato or a carrot hanging around. I haven't heard of a chief creating a dinner out of nothing yet.

Let's apply this principle in your piano playing! Here are the two ingredients that will create and make your improvisations into something worth listening too, in other words, music:

1. Your ability to find the notes you want to play on your piano.

2. Phrases, scales and fragments of melodies that you have memorized in your mind or in your fingers that can be reused and changed to create new music.

3. The ability to compose music out of the before mentioned assets.

I would like to start with the third asset. The ability to compose music out of the material you have at your disposal is the most important skill. You can actually use just a few notes in order to create something musically worthwhile.

Some pianists or other instrumentalists can have the ability to play a lot of patterns, scales and licks at a tremendous speed but this doesn't secure that they can create music from this material.

I think that it is a good thing to only use a sparse amount of notes in order to develop the skill to actually compose music as you improvise. Like some good blues guitarists do. Take B.B. King for example, messing around with just one note at times!

Here is a first example for you to use as a beginning of your improvisational endeavors.

You will play a C-major chord in your left hand. It can consist of three keys pressed down as you probably already know:

C-major: C3 E3 G3

The numbers indicate that you play the notes in the third octave, that is, the octave to the left of middle C. Now I will give you a sparse amount of notes to use to create a "dinner" worth eating, that is, worth listening to.

Notes to use: C4 D4 E4

Now it's time to improvise, or rather, compose!

Press down the C-major chord with your left hand and try to come up with nice melodies just using the three melody notes in your right hand. What can you do to create variation with just these three notes?

1. Vary the order of the notes.

2. Vary the length of the notes.

3. Vary how hard you press down the notes.

4. Use other means that you will find out as you play.

You can develop this exercise by moving the chord and melody notes up one step resulting in a new chord and new notes to improvise upon:

D-minor: D3 F3 G3 Notes to use: D4 E4 F4

I will give you one more position one step up:

E-minor: E3 G3 B3 Notes to use: E4 F4 G4

You can try playing these three chords improvising a while on each step with the following order of the chords:

C Dm Em Dm C

Yes, this is a kind of Genesis for your improvisational skills as this easy exercise will force you to actually compose music and not only rely on flashy complicated scales, patterns or licks that might hide the lack of music in the improvisational efforts.

I would suggest that you work both on learning scales, patterns and licks and on the even more important art of composing music out of very easy melody fragments so that you will develop into a better musician.

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Lesson: Six Tips On How To Create And Keep Your Motivation

2007-09-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

By Peter Edvinsson

How can you create and keep your motivation to play the piano? In other words, how can you increase and keep the joy of playing the piano? The cause that made you start playing in the first place!

1. Before setting goals

Sometimes the reason why we don't keep our piano playing goals is that we haven't been honest with ourselves when we set the goals. Before setting the your goals you have to decide why you want to play piano. Make an honest survey of your assets and wishes in the area of piano playing.

2. Setting goals

In order to set goals that you will actually work towards you have to be honest with yourself. Do I really want to accomplish these goals. Will I really feel good when I reach my goals?

3. Having a repertoire

One common reason for starting to play the piano is to be able to play the pieces of music you like. This means that as you learn to play piano, a goal might be to learn a number of piano pieces, let's say five melodies, by heart so you can play them in any setting.

These five pieces of piano music is to be learned so well that you don't have to worry if you are asked to play.

One reason for having a repertoire with piano pieces throughoutly rehearsed is that you can feel that you perform at the top of your ability.

4. Always perform

One great way to create motivation to practice on your piano is to always perform in front of other people in different ways. A way to creating momentum to practise your piano repertoire is to set up an informal concert with a couple of pieces in the setting of your own home.

Your family will be your public. There are many occasions for having someone performing music in the home and maybe you will stimulate others in your family or among your friends to play on their instruments in such a setting. Of course you have to plan ahead in order to suggest a performance and in order to prepare yourself.

5. But if you don't like to perform?

You can actually practice the art of performing on your piano without people present. One way is to use your imagination and pretend that you perform in front of others. If you want to help your imagination a bit you can put empty chairs in front of you representing the audience.

On such an occasion you have to exercise self discipline and play those pieces in your actual program from beginning to end. If you would make a mistake in front of a public, what would you do? Probably you would want to minimize the effect of this mistake and just play on. This is what you have to practice even in this setting.

This will create self confidence in your ability to handle mistakes and will also help you find weaknesses you can improve upon in your playing.

This is also an excellent time to record your performance for later evaluation. The act of recording is like having a critic in the public.

6. Listen to piano music

You have to look upwards in order to climb to a higher level in your piano playing and this will be accomplished by listening to piano players on an higher artistic level than yourself.

At last a piano playing quotation from an unknown author:

"One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault."

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Lesson: Learn Piano Improvisation Through Classical Piano Music

2007-09-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

Free piano sheet music downloads

By Peter Edvinsson

Piano improvisation in a classical music way is an interesting complement to ordinary piano improvisational practicing. Let me suggest a way to practice!

Piano sheet music is a means and not an end. It's a way to notate what to play on the piano.

You can find a lot of interesting passages in classical piano solos. These solos can help you collect improvisational material to work on to make your piano improvisations more interesting.

How to develop your classical piano improvisational skills?

May I suggest that you begin with an easy piano solo with just one voice in your left hand and your right hand.

Learn a phrase with a few bars by heart. Play the melody over and over again as you try to change the melody slightly without losing the classical touch.

One advantage of using classical piano music in piano improvisation exercises is that you will find many interesting and melodic basslines in counterpoint style that you can use to enchance your piano improvising.

The use of playing separate melodic lines together in this way to create music is called counterpoint. Counterpoint is a musical technique involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines.

Classical piano compositions are filled with wonderful licks that you can incorporate in your playing.

What can you do with a classical piano composition to improve your piano improvisational skills?

Here are some examples:

1. Study differents ways used to play left hand bass patterns. Play around with the patterns and try to transpose them into different keys.

2. Study interesting chords. Experiment with them, change keys and positions.

3. Find chord progressions to develop.

4. Find interesting passages with unusual musical material.

5. Many more things.

As I can see it there are two differents approaches to learn and work with the before mentioned material:

1. You can memorize the classical material and start a growing bank of chords, unusual melodic phrases, chords progressions and other classical piano oriented material you'll find in the piano compositions for further use in your piano improvisations.

This approach will of course develop your skills but it will also be very time consuming and maybe overwhelming if you can't devote all your time to piano playing. Who would that be?

Another drawback is that you might lose interest in this type of piano skill development because of the stress involved in learning so many different skills and maybe the joy of playing piano will diminish.

2. Another approach is to use the before mentioned methods in a more laid back way without learning everything by heart. Let me give you an example from my childhood:

When I was quite young I used to read a lot of books on popular science from the public library. I had a bunch of books laying beside me as I lay comfortably on my bed with pillows and just having a good time.

I never felt compelled to read a book from cover to cover or in some other way. The only thing I did was to read the things I was interested in, looking at pictures and enjoying what I did.

I know I learned a lot from these nice reading experiences. If I had a goal it was to feel good and I was reading because of curiosity.

I think you can do the same with the classical music you play. As you enjoy to discover the secrets in the piano sheet music the way I have mentioned you are sowing seeds that will sooner or later manifest themselves in your playing.

The classical music will creep out in your fingers and you will feel new ideas coming up in your piano improvisational endeavors!

Free piano sheet music - Feeling Happy

2007-09-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to present a composition I wrote for piano and that you can download for free. Yes, It's a bit tricky but sounds nice I think at least! I myself feel happy when I play it!

Free piano sheet music score. Melody by Peter Edvinsson. Advanced piano solo in pop and classical style. PDF music score. F-major. Download free piano sheet music

Piano Lesson - Voicing Your Chords

2007-08-31T02:06:00.000-07:00

It always amazes me when I hear different piano players and how they voice their chords. Voicing is one of those skills that is not talked about a lot but in my experience makes the biggest difference in a pianist’s overall sound.

What does voicing mean exactly? Simply put, voicing is the way chords are played which gives them their timbre or richness. In other words it’s how many notes are played, the distance between each of the notes and the quantity and quality of extensions.

There are literally thousands of ways to play a single chord. There are also millions of ways to play a chord progression if you consider that each chord can be played a thousand different ways. However, it’s likely a good idea to start off with a few solid possibilities instead of a thousand. Piano lesson

Free piano sheet music downloads

Piano Lesson - Improvisation Made Easy

2007-08-31T02:05:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest thrills a pianist can have is to be able to sit at the piano and just play; without music and without thought. Unfortunately many pianists never learn to do this. They are closely tied to their music because that’s not only what’s comfortable for them that’s the way they learned.

However, what if I were to tell you that in as little as ten piano lessons you could be playing your favorite melodies without music and also be able to improvise as well? Would that be something you’d be interested in? Take a moment and picture you sitting at the piano at a party and just playing. How does it feel? Great, that’s what you need to feel if you’re going to do what it takes to learn properly.

Let’s get started. In our first piano lesson, you must understand how music is structured in order to be able to improvise. Most western music is based on what we call tertian harmony, which simply means chord structures that are based on intervals of three. For example a C major chord is made up of the notes C E and G. Each of these notes is spaced a third away from the next. Piano lesson

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Piano lesson: Learning to Memorize Piano Music

2007-08-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

When you are sitting at the piano, your thoughts become reality. Your thoughts instantly take form as you are creating. Your barrier may be that you are focused on what once was, instead of focusing on the now! If all you do is focus on the fact that it was once easy for you to memorize, you are not focusing on the now. Present moment awareness is the key to learning to play the piano or any other instrument. It is also the key to learning anything in life that’s worthwhile learning.

The next time you practice just sit at the piano and meditate on what you are feeling. Don’t play, just feel. Does it feel stressful, joyful or painful? Are you anticipating stress or anticipating pain? Are you looking forward to playing or are you hearing little scripts in your head saying “you used to be great, now your not, you are not this, that, etc?” What are you feeling? Piano lesson

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Piano lesson: How to Find 11th Chords from Minor7th Chords

2007-08-31T01:57:00.000-07:00

When starting to learn chords, most people will start with the basic major and minor chords, then on to 7th and minor 7th chords. You might be surprised to learn that when you have mastered all twelve minor 7th chords you have also potentially learned twenty-four 11th chords.

I love the sound of 11th chords; they somehow manage to give a big sound and are great for key changes. If you want to listen to good examples of 11th chords then listen to some early Barry Manilow music such as “Even Now”, “Mandy” and “Cant smile without you”. Listen in particular to the key changes and there you have a good big sounding example of 11th chords in action. Piano lesson

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Piano lesson: Successful Black Key Improvisation

2007-08-31T01:54:00.000-07:00

What a great instrument the piano is - white keys, black keys, and 88 tones make it incredibly versatile!

Most students take it upon themselves to try and master this instrument. They begin to learn note reading and go through a series of books before they are ready to play the music of the masters.

If only they realized that a world of free improvisation was waiting for them on the black keys, they too could experience the joy of improvisation right away. They might even forget about note-reading for a while and actually enjoy themselves as actual music was being made.

For example, take the lesson "Oriental Sunrise." This is a black key improvisation based on the E flat minor pentatonic scale. Now, when most people hear the term "black key improvisation" they think of children banging on the piano creating some kind of noise. And while this has its place, the adult can create quite a beautiful sound by using only the black keys. Piano lesson

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Learning the Piano and Playing the Piano

2007-08-31T01:11:00.000-07:00

Many piano students spend much time learning how to play the piano. Years upon years of study time devoted to perfecting technique, tone, dynamics, etc. All the while, many of these same students have never really played the piano. That is, they have spent their time practicing in preparation for the moment when they can "perform" for others.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if instead of learning how to play other peoples music, we could feel confident enough to create our own? Why is it so daunting a task for most of us? I think it's because we've been taught that only a very few gifted individuals are capable of producing music from scratch - whatever the genre. Rock, jazz, classical etc. Unfortunately, this belief is enough to stop most dead in their tracks and for those, whose spark of interest was lit in childhood, it soon turns cold and lifeless. Piano lesson

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Piano Lesson - Learn To Play Amazing Grace

2007-08-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Amazing Grace for piano is a popular song on the internet. In this piano lesson we will learn to play this song with melody and chords without the use of sheet music. We will start by finding the note C.

The note C on your piano is found on many places on the piano keyboard. C is always to the left of two black keys on the keyboard. Let's find the middle C on the piano.

The middle C is often called C4 as it is in the fourth octave of an ordinary upright piano or grand piano. It is sometimes called the keyhole C as it is at the same horizontal position as the keyhole on some pianos. Piano lesson

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Why Should You Learn To Play The Piano? Let's Count The Ways!

2007-08-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Why should you learn to play the piano? You may wonder that, especially if you are an adult with a busy lifestyle.

Is it worth the time and effort? Yes, of course, and there are many reasons.

1. Playing the piano fulfills a childhood dream.
Many adults didn't have the opportunity to take piano lessons as a child, but the dream is still there.

It's never too late to learn. That tired old saying about teaching an old dog new tricks--just forget that!

Other adults took lessons as a child, but didn't appreciate them or didn't put forth any effort to really learn. If you fall into this category, stop beating yourself up. You are wiser than you were as a child and you can still play the piano now.

Informal surveys of private piano teachers reveal that in some studios, half of the students are adults. Piano lesson

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Learn To Play Piano - Let The Train Station Teach You About Piano Playing

2007-08-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Learn to play piano on a train station? Let me show you what you can learn about piano playing as you wait for your train!

Well, all people seem to go by car these days but we might have had the privilege to go by train and this experience can teach us a lot about piano playing:

1. You want to go somewhere by train. In piano playing this is the wish you have to learn something on the piano.

2. You go to the train station trying to find a suitable train. Before you can know if you are taking the right train you have to decide where you want to go. When learning to play the piano this is the goal you want to reach. Piano lesson

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Piano Lesson: Why Do You Want To Grow As A Pianist?

2007-08-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Beginners Piano Lessons Should be Exciting

2007-08-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

What is it that a beginner at the piano wants to do? They want to make music! It might be classical, jazz, or something else, but one thing's for sure; they don't want to spend months studying boring theory.

What if instead of studying note reading, beginners piano lessons were focused on the student actually learning how to create music? Just imagine the excitement when the notes and chords played are all original and express what is actually being felt. Piano lesson

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Piano Lesson: Learn To Play Jingle Bells Without Piano Sheet Music

2007-08-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

In this piano lesson we will learn to play piano Christmas music. We will use piano tab notation so you don't need to read piano sheet music.

Jingle Bells is one of the most popular secular Christmas songs in the world. The most played part of the song is the refrain which we will concentrate on in this piano lesson.

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh

In this piano lesson you will learn to play Jingle Bells without the use of piano sheet music. After this learn to play piano tutorial you will be able to play the melody with both hands!

Instead of piano sheet music we will use piano tab notation which will tell you where to place your fingers as you play the melody. Piano lesson

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Piano lesson: How Will You Learn to Play the Piano?

2007-08-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

Is your passion listening to piano music? Would you like to be able to play just like your idols? Are you thinking of taking lessons but you are not sure where to start? It could even be that you have had some lessons but you have given up as it has taken longer than you thought to learn. Lots of other people may well be in your shoes at this moment and only need a push in the right direction. Piano lesson

Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

2007-08-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

Learn to play piano lessons, piano lesson resources for classical piano, rock piano, jazz piano and improvisation. Learn how to use piano scales, chords and piano licks in your improvisations. Piano tutorials and free piano sheet music downloads.

By Peter Edvinsson

Can you talk to people without first memorizing what to say? Probably you can. Can you create melodies and nice licks to chords on the spot. Many pianists find this harder. Let's try out a few ways to improve your improvisations!

Put something in to get something out

Piano improvisation is a form of composing. In other words you are creating music.

In order to improvise in an intelligent manner and not only play random notes you have to listen to improvised music and practise on your piano in a manner that will help you create music when you improvise.

There are many ways to practise improvisation but let's start with playing a few licks over the II-V-I progression in the key of C.

In this exercise you will improvise melodic patterns with your right hand and play chords with you left.

The note C4 is the middle C on the piano and D4 is the D to the right of this C. B3 is the B note to the left of C4.

We will start with the Dm chord in the left hand. Dm is the II chord in C. We will play it in its basic form:

Dm: D3 F3 A3

With the right hand it's time to play patterns that fit this chord. For example:

F4 A4 C5 E5 D5 C5 A4 F4

We will now play the V chord which will come next in the II-V-I progression. In C-major this will be G. It can be played as follows:

G: B2 D3 G3

An continuation of the melodic flow in Dm could be:

E4 F4 A4 C5

We will now end on the I chord which will be C in the key of C-major. In it's basic form it looks like this:

C: C3 E3 G3

We will end the melody by playing the note B4. This makes the whole ending to a Cmaj7 chords. Sounds nice, doesn't it!

We will continue this piano improvisation lesson by trying out a few more possibilities with the same piano chord progression for your right hand improvisations:

Piano progression 1

Dm: E5 C5 A4 F4

G: D#5 B4 G#4 F4

C: D5

Piano progression 2

Dm: F4 A4 C5 E5

G: F4 G#4 B4 E5

C: D5

Piano progression unlimited

Of course there are unlimited possibilities so now it is time to jump into the unknown by experimenting and inventing melodies with your right hand as you play the progressions in the left hand.

What do you learn by practicing piano progressions?

You learn patterns that you can use in different contexts as you improvise. You learn different chords that can be implemented in your piano playing.

Most importantly, you learn to improvise. Improvisation is a bit of memorized fragments and a lot of just jumping into the unknown and do something about it.

The end result is hopefully a bit of music to the benefit of the people in the world.

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Piano Lesson-II-V-I Progressions In C Major

2007-08-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

Learn to play piano lessons, piano lesson resources for classical piano, rock piano, jazz piano and improvisation. Learn how to use piano scales, chords and piano licks in your improvisations. Piano tutorials and free piano sheet music downloads.

By Peter Edvinsson

Let me give you some easy progressions that will help you in your improvisational piano playing!

What is a progression?

A progression is a set of chords played consecutively. Generally, successive chords in a chord progression share some notes, which provides harmonic and linear continuity to a passage.

What is a II-V-I progression?

Is is a chord progression with three chords built on the roots of the second, fifth and first note of a key.

The three roman numerals correspond to the digits 2, 5 and 1. In it's most basic form the numbers indicate the root of a triad. For example, the roman number I in C-major means a triad built from the note C. This triad consists of the notes C, E and G.

The Roman numeral II in the key of C-major tells you to play a triad built from the notes in the C-major scale beginning with the second note. The notes will be D, F and A.

The Roman numeral V indicates a triad built from the fifth step on the C-scale. The fifth note in the C-scale is G so the triad will include the notes G, B and D.

Piano tab notation

In order to demonstrate the chords I will use a notation suitable for articles sites. First we will look at the middle C. The note C on the middle of the piano keyboard, sometimes near the key hole of some pianos is called C4.

The number 4 indicates that it is the C on the fourth octave of the piano. Of course, there are piano keyboards with less keys and less octaves. In this case you have to think of C4 as middle C and nothing else.

Our first piano chord progression

We will start out by playing a progression with the triad chords built on the second, fifth and the first note of the C scale.

LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)

LH: G3 RH: G4 B4 D5 (G major)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

As you might guess LH means left hand and in the Dm chord D3 indicates that you play the note D3 on your piano or keyboard with your left hand at the same time as you play the right hand notes.

This II-V-I progression in C major is a little bit clumsy. You have to move your fingers a little to much in order to play the chords. We will adjust the G major chord a bit and play the progression in the following manner:

LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)

LH: G3 RH: B3 D4 G4 (G major)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

To make smooth transitions between the piano chords in the II-V-I progression you can change the chords even more. Let's change the Dm chord to Dm11 and G major to G7.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

We might as well change the C major chord to Cmaj7 in order to make the changes smoother.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)

LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)

Finally we will introduce a substitute chord for G. Actually a so called tritone substitution.

This means that instead of a G chord we will use a chord with the root a tritone interval from G, that is three whole steps. Instead of G we will play Db+11.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: Db3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (Db+11)

LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)

This will make the chord changes even smoother, especially the bass notes, and maybe more interesting. You can use this formula, which in the key of C means to play Dm, G7 and C, to find many interesting variations on this theme.

It will be a great help for you in piano improvisation to have a working knowledge of the II-V-I progression with variations in different keys because this progression is used in a wide variety of music genres.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com

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Piano Lesson - Do You Really Want To Learn These Things?

2007-08-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Learn to play piano lessons, piano lesson resources for classical piano, rock piano, jazz piano and improvisation. Learn how to use piano scales, chords and piano licks in your improvisations. Piano tutorials and free piano sheet music downloads.

Today we will take a look at what you learn when you practice on you piano or keyboard. Piano lessons can help you forward but if you practice the wrong way you will not improve your piano playing skills.

Peter Edvinsson

Piano lesson - Do You Really Want To Learn These Things?

Practice is essential to become a good piano player. As you play the piano and try to progress towards becoming a piano giant it is important to be aware of some traps that will prevent you from reaching your goal.

It is a joyful experience to grow as a pianist and musician if you practice in a sensible way using the experience from a teacher or other sources like books and piano instructional DVD's and more.

The feeling that you are approaching your goals gives satisfaction and a belief in yourself.

What traps am I talking about then?

Learning processes can take you towards your goals but as you practice you might unconciously learn things that are limiting your progress.

I don't think that you want to learn things that will limit your progress and if you will be aware of these thing I know that you will avoid them. Here are some traps:

1. Uncomfortable feelings. There can be reasons for you not being at ease as you practice on your piano like stress or negative feelings regarding your ability to progress.

Maybe you are preparing for a performance, a piano lesson or something else and you feel less prepared than you want or other negative thoughts are disturbing you.

Having these feelings as you play on your piano is not so very good. Why?

These negative feelings tend to be evoked as you play the same piece of music at other occasions. I guess this is not what you want.

It can lead to an aversion towards a certain piece of music for the rest of your life or that you quit playing altogether because of uncomfortable feelings as you play.

2. Muscle tensions. Well, you might play in a very relaxed way but many pianists tend to tense too much as a result of maybe playing faster and on a level above their technical skills.

This is very common among young kids trying to play like their musical heroes while actually being on another level of proficiency.

The important aspect of this is that the actual tension level in your hands and in your body when you practice a specific piano piece tends to be at the same level when you play the same piece of music at a performance.

If you have practiced a piano piece with a high tension level you will most probably find it hard to perform the same composition in a relaxed manner.

3. Making mistakes. Can your practicing lead you away from learning a piece of music? You probably want to become a better piano player by practicing but if you play too fast when learning new passages it is likely that you will make a lot of mistakes.

When learning a passage of music these mistakes will be part of the learning process. The more mistakes you make the harder it will be to play the passage right.

To put it another way, all mistakes accumulate and becomes a disturbance when you try to play the passage right. Instead it will become easier and easier to play the music wrong.

But, don't let this information depress you. This information can be good news if you use it to your advantage!

Here are some tips:

1. Comfortable feelings. Try to practice in an atmosphere of peace and joy. How? By not procrastinating working on you piano lesson homework and by having a positive attitude.

2. Relax. A piano session with practicing and memorizing piano pieces can also be an occasion when you practice relaxation. As you play, try to pay attention to your hands, fingers and the rest of your body using as little force in your playing as possible. This will benefit both your mental and physical health!

3. Make no mistake. At least, not too many. If you practice new piano pieces slowly, with concentration and with correct posture you will be rewarded with learning your homework faster and also feel much better.

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How Will You Learn to Play the Piano?

2007-08-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

By Kevin Sinclair

Is your passion listening to piano music? Would you like to be able to play just like your idols? Are you thinking of taking lessons but you are not sure where to start? It could even be that you have had some lessons but you have given up as it has taken longer than you thought to learn. Lots of other people may well be in your shoes at this moment and only need a push in the right direction.

The Various Ways to Learn the Piano

Before you do anything else, it is essential to know that there are two ways of playing a piano. These are:

1. Chords

2. Note reading

It is a good idea to know what you want to do when playing the piano. If you are happy enough playing music other people have written, all you have to do is learn how to read the notes. However, on the other hand, if you are more creative and you would like to write your own inspiring music, an understanding of chords is a must.

If you want to learn to play the piano fairly fast, it may be a wise choice to take a chord based approach. If you learn the chords on the piano, you can learn the sounds they make and, therefore, make your own music. You can always learn note reading afterwards if you choose.

The Pros and Cons of Learning from a Teacher

Finding a qualified and reliable instructor is the key to having successful lessons while learning to play the piano. You could learn at home or at the instructor’s studio. There are advantages to both, so it all depends on where you would feel most comfortable. A lot of people try to find an instructor that is local to where they live.

When you are looking for an instructor, you will need to have a goal in mind. It could be that you want to play for fun and want to learn how to play from music sheets. However, if you want to be more creative, it may be a good idea to look for instructors that will give you chord based lessons.

If you hire a piano instructor expecting to make your own music and they teach you nothing but reading notes, you will obviously not be able to reach your goal. Make sure that you know exactly what you will be achieving. Otherwise, you could be wasting a lot of money on something that you, basically, do not want. Also, it can be a huge waste of money to learn something that you could learn online for a cheaper price, and it is just as effective.

Learning online

As mentioned earlier, learning online is a lot cheaper than piano lessons and it is just as good. It can be a great benefit to learn online as you can do it in your own time and at your own pace without someone breathing down your neck. It can also help to save time, too, so the benefits are quite good when learning online.

The only real disadvantage with learning online is that a person may not have enough motivation to learn properly. Also, with an instructor, if there is something that doesn’t make sense, they can get help. When you are learning online, it may not make much sense and there is no instructor there to ask for help.

You can also learn how to play the piano with piano learning DVDs and computer software designed to help.

General Guidelines to Learning the Piano

Overall playing the piano should be something that is fun and it should certainly not reduce you to tears all of the time. If you take your time learning and have regular practice you will eventually achieve what you want. You should not give up if it is something that you have wanted to do for a long time. There may be times that you get frustrated, but just keep going and you will be able to play the piano just as good as anyone else can, and even write your own music in time.

Kevin is the publisher and editor of musicianhome.com.

My piano blog

2007-08-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

On this blog you will find learn to play piano lessons by myself and other piano players and piano teachers. I will also notify you when my site Capotasto Music with free piano sheet music downloads and piano lessons is updated with new sheets.

Peter Edvinsson

How To Learn To Play The Piano? Choose From These 5 Methods

2007-08-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

By Kathy Ferneau

How to learn to play the piano. Choose a method that's right for you from the many options available.

Private lessons.

This is the traditional route. It works for children, but not always so well for busy adults. The advantages are that the lessons are tailored just for you and you develop a close relationship with your teacher.

How to choose a teacher? Get recommendations from friends or someone who knows about music--the music teacher at your children's school, the choir director at church, or from a local music store.

Ask if the teacher will teach an introductory lesson so you can get to know each other. If you don't get a good vibe from the teacher, there is no awkwardness in stopping the lessons.

Group classes.

This is a new concept that is becoming more popular. This can also be a lot of fun as classes incorporate games, improvising, composing, and learning musical theory along with piano technique. Many classes are offered later in the evening to accommodate working adults. If you're looking for a fun environment, this is for you.

Where to find group piano classes? Look in the yellow pages, look on-line, ask the knowledgeable music professionals listed above.

Learn by yourself with a book.

This is the least expensive method of how to learn to play the piano, but probably the hardest. Without the structure of weekly lessons or classes, it's easy to get sidetracked when tired or busy, or even give up entirely.

What method book to buy? Ask at your local music store. The staff is familiar with piano lesson books and can recommend one that will work for you.

Watch a video or DVD.

The method for the new millennium. Take a lesson at your convenience and only pay for it once! You can watch the video or DVD over and over, when your schedule permits. Downside? You can't ask a DVD a question and get an answer.

How to find one? At your music store, but your best bet is searching on line.

Purchase an on-line course.

Perhaps the best combination of all the options for adults. You get work at your own pace, on your own schedule, and play the videos as much as you want. A teacher is often available via e-mail for questions.

Again, search on line for a course. The best ones usually have a free preview or a free e-mail piano lesson course.

How to learn to play the piano is fun and creative, especially when the method is just right for you!

Get your free 6-part piano lesson course... http://www.cyberflute.com/learn-to-play-piano.html

Piano Lessons For Adults: More Fun, Easier, & Faster Than Piano Lessons For Kids

2007-08-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Find free piano sheet music for easy piano, classical piano and learn to play piano lessons at Capotasto Music. Free piano sheet music

Piano lessons for adults is generally LOTS more fun than it is for kids, primarily because the only adults that play piano are people who really want to, which is certainly not true of most kids that take piano lessons because their parents want them to.

But that’s not the only reason by a long shot.

Adults in record numbers are signing up for piano lessons all around the world, for a variety of reasons, including:

* Because of the internet, adults have become aware that piano lessons don’t have to happen in a music studio or store, so they are not locked into a schedule of showing up for a lesson every Tuesday at 4. Now they can choose their own time and schedule and learn at their own pace via lessons available on the internet.

*Adults have become aware that traditional methods of learning by reading music and practicing scales is not the only way to learn to play the piano. They have become aware that learning chords and chording techniques is a viable option. Read more...

Piano Playing Your Way: How To Have More Fun Playing The Piano Than You Ever Have Before

2007-08-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

Find free piano sheet music for easy piano, classical piano and new compositions at Capotasto Music. Free piano sheet music

Piano playing doesn’t have to be boring. There’s no law that says you have to play a song the same way everyone else plays it. By learning some basic music theory and chord formations, you can have the time of your life playing music like you’ve always wanted to.

Every musician has a different method of arranging. Some start with the bass, some start with the melody, some just arrange everything all at once. You'll eventually discover the process that works best for you, but here's a basic guideline list to get you started.

- Play the song as written. Pay careful attention to the melody and harmonies so you understand how the song is supposed to sound before altering it. Make sure you can play the song very well before moving on to an arrangement.

- Analyze the song's chord structure and form. Know all the chord changes and any key changes. Separate the piece into parts using the letter system discussed in this course; often, you'll be able to add some spice to an arrangement by simply knowing where a verse switches into a chorus. Read more...

Playing The Piano Using Chord Symbols Instead of Being Tied To The Written Sheet Music

2007-08-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Piano improvising and arranging is an art but definitely not a science. It is all based on chords and chord progressions. There aren't any steadfast rules for creating an arrangement, nothing to dictate the limitless potential of your imagination. Musicians learn to arrange by simply arranging – and improvise by improvising -- over and over again. It's a big game of trial and error. But it’s also a scientific method: you keep the experiments that work, and abandon those that don’t work.

That being said, there are a few things that can help you in the knowledge of piano improvization. Don't think of these as rules, but rather points on a roadmap guiding you through the vast world of arrangement and improvisation possibilities.

- The first step, of course, is to learn as much as you can about chords and how they work. Once you get a handle on piano chords and the chord symbols that represent them such as Fm7, G9, D, C7, etc., you can then learn how to break those chords up in various patterns.

- Learn several different chording patterns, such as open voicing, arpeggios, upward inversions, western bass, Alberti bass, swing bass or boogie bass. This course guides you through these techniques, in addition to others, and teaches you to understand when they're the most appropriate. Read more...

Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord Progressions

2007-08-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Piano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song's structure. And while it's a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement. It all boils down to one thing: chord recognition. And anyone who plays a little piano can learn piano chords to add excitement to their piano playing.

Most people learn to play the piano by playing just the written music. Playing by written music is exactly what the phrase says it is -- playing the exact notation on a piece of sheet music. But playing by chord symbol is a little different. Instead of following the harmony note by note, you follow the chord symbols (i.e. C7 or F) written above the harmonies, filling in the gaps with...well, whatever you want as long as it sticks to those chords. Of course, you'll still read the melody (it is, after all, often what makes the song recognizable) but even that is completely open to interpretation. Playing by chord symbol allows you a freedom that playing by written music simply doesn't. The freedom to create. The freedom to invent. The freedom to arrange chord patterns in the way you want.

Does that mean playing by written music is less important than playing by chord symbol? Absolutely not! The ability to play by written music is an extremely valuable skill, one that even some of the most famous musicians don't possess. And while you don't necessarily need to know the skill backwards and forwards to create great arrangements, it's a tremendous help. Read more...

Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form

2007-08-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. Like a house has rooms, so a song has rooms or sections.

Chord progressions come in sections, like one room in a house. You can put several different rooms together to make a big house, or you can live in a one room house. Just like people. In most 3rd world countries people live in one room houses -- which means, of course, that much of the world lives in one-room houses.

Those of us who live in the West generally live in multi-room houses.

But there are also musical houses -- we call them songs -- that are built out of several different rooms -- several different chord progressions. Some of them, like mansions and castles, go on and on and get quite involved.

But most songs are like many modest houses -- they have 2 or 3 rooms, sometimes 4 -- built using 2 or 3 or 4 different chord progressions.

Each "room" in a musical house is called a theme, or a "motif". The first theme is always called "A". The next theme is called "B", the next theme is called "C", and so on. Most songs only have 2 or 3 themes, but these themes often repeat. Read more...

Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!

2007-08-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

I wish you could have seen me play the piano when I was just learning. I was the nearest thing to “hopeless” that you could imagine. I was into baseball, not music – and my heroes were Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. (And by the way, I still have a picture of those 3 guys on my wall.) My dream was to hit baseballs like them, not to play the piano.

But an opportunity to play with a combo presented itself to me when I was a freshman in high school. Seems the piano player of the group had graduated the previous year, and nobody else played piano well enough to play in the school jazz combo. I didn’t know zilch about playing in a group, and I didn’t know chords. But I was excited to have the opportunity to play with older guys, and so I took the job.

The lead sax player told me I really should know chords in order to play in the group, so I searched through a music magazine until I found an ad for a chord chart. It cost two bucks, as I recall, so I sent off for it. When I received it in the mail I slipped it behind the keys on my parents old upright piano, and promptly learned to play my first chord – Dm7. I LOVED the sound of it, and was hooked for life on chords. The 2nd chord I learned was Cmaj7, then Em7, then Ebm7 – and before that first night was over I had learned to play “Frankie & Johnnie” – the tune in my right hand, and those fabulous 7th chords in my left hand!

I loved it – LOVED IT – LOVED IT! And it even sounded good enough to impress some of my friends the next day. I suppose that simple chord chart that cost me two bucks has been worth several million over the course of my lifetime. And much more than that, has been worth quadrillions in pleasure and satisfaction and relaxation and…… Read more...

Tips on Performing Your Music for Others

2007-08-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dreamed of performing a piece you created for others. Imagining that they are captivated and held spellbound by the music? If you have, you know that it can be a long road from actually coming up with something, practicing it, and then giving it to an audience. In my own case, I had a good opportunity to perform. It was in a coffeehouse that already had a decent piano.

The problem was that I was playing for people who had come to listen mostly to guitarists on open mike night. Young guitarists that sang and played mostly Rock music or a derivative of it. I didn't care so much about that because I had the chance to go in front of people and share the gift of music.

In public speaking it's said that the fear of standing in front of a group of people and talking is caused by the anticipation of losing face - of looking or appearing like a fool. Now, some may be able to get up in front of a group and actually feel better than they felt before getting in front of people, but the reality is that 99% of us are going to feel some kind of anxiety. Read more...