The key signature at the start of a line of printed music announces both what sharps or flats are being used in the song, as well as what key the song is in. If there is just one flat in the key signature, the flat is always Bb. Two flats in the key signature are always Bb and Eb. 3 flats in the key signature would be Bb, Eb, and Ab. 4 flats would be Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db. Then comes Gb, Cb, and Fb. You can easily remember the order of the flats by spelling the word “BEAD” and then recall the phrase “Go Catch Fish.”
The sharps in a key signature are just reverse from the flats; instead of BEADGCF, the order of the sharps is FCGDAEB. So one sharp in the key signature is F#, 2 sharps in the key signature would be F# and C#, and so on.
Flats and sharps in a key signature
March 16th, 2010What is the Circle of 5ths?
March 12th, 2010The circle of 5th (or circle of keys) shows the relationship between the various keys one can play in, and each subsequent key is a 5th away from the previous key (or a 4th away — depends on which way you move in the circle). For example, the key of C has no sharps or flats. To the right of the key of C on the circle is the key of F with one flat, while to the left of the key of C on the circle is the key of G. Each subsequent key has one more flat in the key signature (as you move to the right) or one more sharp (as you move to the left.) Watch the short video:
< For more information on the circle, please go to http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/20-circle-of-keys.htm
Complex 2-hand voicing for piano
March 11th, 2010Complex 2-hand voicing for piano is done in various ways, but this video shows one way to do it using a simple chord progression. Watch the voicing develop as we move from simple triads to 7ths to octave-5ths in the right hand to 13ths and 9ths along with the 7th in the left hand, while the damper pedal sustains a low root on the first chord of the progression:
Relative minor scales & relative minor keys
March 10th, 2010Every major scale has a “kissing cousin” which is related to it known as a “relative minor scale”. It is related because it uses the same notes as the relative major scale in its natural form.
There are three types of minor scales: natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. Watch this 8-minute video:
The Key of Bb major
March 9th, 2010The key of Bb major has two flats in the key signature — Bb and Eb. The primary chords are Bb, Eb, and F, and the main secondary chords are Cm, Dm and Gm. Watch this short video:
What are inversions?
March 6th, 2010An inversion in music is a chord or interval which is “upside down.” For example, if you invert an interval of a 3rd, you get an interval of a 6th. If you invert a C chord in root position, for example, you turn it on it’s head so that C is no longer on the bottom, but now is either the middle or the top note of the chord. For more information on inversions, please go to http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/5-inversions.htm
How to improve your musical ear through ear-training
March 3rd, 2010All musicians of any kind can benefit from developing his or her ear. Some people are born with a better ear than others, of course, but those of us who don’t have a great natural ear can still improve a lot through the use of ear-training drills.
One drill that is useful is to have a friend or relative play various intervals on the keyboard — start with 2nds, then 3rds, then 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, etc. — and see if you can identify them. By doing this just a few minutes a day most people can improve their musical ear signaficantly.
Another drill is to have someone play chords of various sorts on the keyboard, and see if you can identify them . Start with the easy ones like major and minor, and gradually work up to augmented and diminished chords, then 6ths and minor 6th chords, and so on. If you don’t have a teacher or someone to help you, you can take online courses in ear-training such as the ones at http://www.playpianocatalog.com/eartrco.html
How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next In a Song
February 27th, 2010How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could predict which chord would probably come next in a song?
I’ve got some good news for you.
It is possible. Not 100%, but somewhere on the order of 75% to 85% accurate.
That’s because music has FORM — like the skeleton that holds your flesh, muscles, and skin up. If you had no bones — no skeleton — your flesh and all the other parts of you would fall in a heap on the floor. Not a pretty picture. But because you DO have a skeleton, you are able to walk around and pretty accurately predict which way your next step will take you.
It’s the same in music. Music has FORM — a skeleton to hold it up, hold it together. And that skeleton is made out of chords — harmony — the tonal center of the song or piece.
You Can Predict Which Chord Comes Next
In any given key you can play in, there are PRIMARY CHORDS — chords that occur way more than other chords. They are like family members of that particular key.
At your house, let’s say you have 3 people in your family — your spouse, your child, and you. On the same block, but down the street a few houses, lives your cousin and her family.
At any given moment, who are the most likely people to be in your house?
Al Gore? George Bush? Mark McGwire?
I don’t think so.
It’s possible, of course, but not too likely. If I had to guess, I would say it would be either you, your spouse, or your child. It might be your cousin down the street — there’s a much better chance of that than, say, Mark McGwire — but my best odds would be to guess that the family members would be there.
It’s the same way with chords. In any given key, there are 3 “family members” that are residents of that key — the I chord, the IV chord, and the V chord. They are far and away the most likely chords to occur in any given key.
For example, if I am playing in the Key of C, and the first chord is the C chord and I have to guess what the next chord is, I would guess that it would be either the F chord or the G chord. Why? Because those are the other “family members”. So we have narrowed the odds a great deal just by knowing who the members of the family are.
What chord comes next?
So how could I tell whether it should be F or G?
If the melody is a “B”, then the chord is probably a G chord. Why? Because “B” is in the G chord, but is not in the F chord.
If the melody is a “A”, than I would guess that the chord is F. Why? Because “A” is in the F chord, but is not in the G chord.
Does that mean that there are always just 3 chords in a song? No, but there are literally hundreds of songs that are made of just 3 chords.
What if there are more than 3 chords in a song? What then?
That’s what we’ll take up next issue of this blog.
See you then.
(If you would like to SEE how this all works on video, we have a great video course titled “How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next”.
The 4-Note Straddle
February 19th, 2010A straddle in piano playing is where you play a chord, but leave one note out of the chord — you “straddle” the note you leave out with other chord notes. Watch this 5-minute video and you’ll understand:
Walking Around The Circle of Keys
February 17th, 2010There are 12 major keys one can play in (more if you count enharmonic keys, but we won’t here). To learn those 12 keys, it is useful to learn the “Circle of Keys”. It is often called the “Circle of 5th” or the “Circle of 4ths”. It is all the same thing — just depends which way you move on the circle. Watch this 5-minute video on the circle:
Chord Progressions #1
February 12th, 2010One of the most familiar of all chord progressions is the I, vi, ii, V progression. I played it when I was a kid, and you probably did too. It is used in literally hundreds of different songs in a variety of ways. Watch this short video about it:
Locked Hands Style Of Piano Playing
February 8th, 2010There is a style of piano playing used by several artists, mostly jazz artists, called the “locked-hand” style. It is created by playing the melody of a tune with both hands, but making the left hand stand out over the right hand. Under the right hand melody are the chords of that particular point in a song. Hard to explain in words, so watch this short video using “Silent Night” as a simple example:
What are the “primary chords”?
January 31st, 2010Primary chords are the most-used chords in any key, and they are all major chords. The I chord is the most-used, followed by the IV and the V chord. In this video we explore the primary chords in all 12 keys:
Getting to know the key of G major
January 29th, 2010The key of G major has one sharp in the key signature - F# - and the primary chords are G, C, and D. A very easy key to learn.
Getting to know the key of F major
January 22nd, 2010The key of F major is based on the major scale of F and has only one flat in the key signature — Bb. The primary chords are F, Bb, and C (or C7).
Getting to know the key of Eb
January 14th, 2010The key of Eb has 3 flats — Eb, Ab, and Bb. The primary chords are also Eb, Ab, and Bb, making it easy to remember. The secondary chords are Fm, Gm, and Cm, with a distant D dim. Watch this short video on the key of Eb:
Arpeggios: Broken chords of all types
January 12th, 2010An arpeggio is simply a chord broken up into it’s individual notes. Simple arpeggios are root, 3rd, 5th, but there are many other types as well…Alberti bass, open-voiced arps, hand-over arps, 2-1 breakups, 3-1 breakups, straddles, rapid-fire runs, etc. Watch this short video to see several varieties:
Intervals: Major, Minor, Perfect, Augmented, Diminished
January 8th, 2010In addition to naming intervals by their distance apart, such as a 3rd, 6th, etc, intervals can be major, minor, perfect, augmented and diminished. Watch this short video:
Consonant & Dissonant Intervals
January 7th, 2010An interval is the distance between any two notes, such as the distance between B and C. Intervals are named simply by the distance between the two notes, so B and C above it is called a 2nd. B and the D above it would be a 3rd, B and the E above it would be a 4th, and so on.
3rds and 6ths are called “consonant intervals”, while 2nds and 7ths are “dissonant intervals.” If you play them, you will understand why. Intervals of 4ths and 5ths are usually considered harmonic intervals too — technically they are called “perfect intervals” because each note of the interval is in each other’s scale. For example, the distance between F and C above it is a perfect 5th — notice that F is in the scale of C, and C is in the scale of F. Perfect 5ths inverted become perfect 4ths, and perfect 4ths inverted become perfect 5ths.
An interval of a 3rd inverted becomes a 6th, while a 6th inverted becomes a 3rd. Try playing these intervals on your piano, and it will become clear to you.
More about major, minor, and perfect intervals in the next post.
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