Even many musicians haven’t heard of figured bass. Also called basso continuo, a simple explanation of the term is a short way to note chords on a musical score. If you have never heard of it, it’s most likely because the method isn’t used today. However, it could be considered akin to, or a precursor of, a modern chord chart. Figured bass originated in the Baroque era of the17th and 18th century. Music has evolved over the centuries and still does today. The development of figured bass came in response to one of these early musical style evolutions. The Baroque music period came on the heels of the Renaissance period. Music from the Renaissance was generally characterized by its reliance upon intervals of thirds. Of course, musical trends evolve over a period of time. For this reason, it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact year when this trend shifted. Usually a new musical era is well under way before anyone realizes there has been a change. Modal characteristics of Renaissance music eventually gave way to more tonal music. The defining characteristic of tonal music is its use of fifths. This is in contrast to the previous intervals of thirds. This led the way for Baroque style music. Composers and musicians in this period began using more elaborate instrumentation during the Baroque period. New musical instruments were being developed that contributed to the trend. Many of them had wider range capabilities, allowing for more variety in musical scores. New playing techniques were also developed, lending a distinction to music of this period such as had not previously been heard. The more complex nature of Baroque music made a new form of musical notation a necessity. This is how figured bass was born. Playing music by reading figured bass required more than rudimentary musical skills. With this method, the melody line and the bass line are noted on a traditional musical scale (bass clef and treble clef). The instrumentalist(s) would fill in the harmony lines based on the bass note. The harmony part, or the part that was implied but not written in the score, was known as the continuo. To play figured bass, it is necessary to have a working understanding of chords. An instrumentalist reading a score with figured bass would see the melody notes and the bass notes. The instrumentalist would assume that the continuo notes that would accompany would be a standard fifth interval unless otherwise noted. If another variation was desired, numbers would appear on the score underneath the bass note indicating the appropriate interval. Like many trends, the use of the figured bass method became obsolete. Today, chords are often indicated by abbreviating their names (i.e.,”C7″ for a C major/minor seventh chord). Similar to figured bass, instrumentalists have some leeway for improvisation with this type of musical annotation. This is in contrast to music that has every note for each part annotated on a musical staff. Like shorthand once was to writing, so was figured bass to music. And like shorthand, changes in technology and trends have greatly diminished the use of figured bass.

Learning music as an absolute beginner can be frustrating if you do not know where to start. There is no right or wrong way for a beginner to learn, but there are simple steps that can help anyone make learning music fun. First of all, you’ll need an instrument of course. If you have access to a piano, you have got a head start. The piano is the easiest instrument to begin learning, yet is also the most versatile. Its notes are set neatly in a row with nothing hidden. Because of this simple layout, the piano can be used to learn the basic principles of music which will then carry over into other instruments. The piano has two sets of keys: the white keys and the black keys. Each key plays a different note. Starting on the note C and playing the next six white keys to the right will form the C major scale. Of course, finding the note for a beginner is half the challenge. To find a C, look at the black keys. There are two groupings of black keys: two keys and three keys. Look for a group of two black keys. The white key just to the left of this group is C. Now that you’ve found C, you will be able to play the C major scale. Just start at any C and move to the right, playing each white key in sequence until you have reached the next C on the keyboard. You have now played the C major scale, one of the building blocks of learning music. The notes are as follows: C D E F G A B. Many popular songs can be played with this scale. You can play the melody of Old MacDonald using these keys. You can also play Let It Be by the Beatles, using only the C major scale. Both the melody and chords of the song can be played using the white keys. Of course, no one wants to stop learning there. Learning some basic chords will be the next step. A basic C chord is played by placing the thumb on a C, the middle finger on an E, and the pinky on the G. Play these keys at the same time and you have played the C chord. There are many more scales and chords to learn, but any beginner can start with C and create some nice results. Learning music needs to be fun, as theory and technical exercises can make it seem more like work. The great thing about learning how to play chords and melodies in C is that pretty much any white key melody will work over any white key chord progression. For someone learning to play the piano, this is encouraging. Learning music can be easy and enjoyable when a beginner starts off on the right key. By following the easy steps outlined here, anyone can make beautiful music from day one. The greatest musical minds in the world all started off at the beginning and so can you.

When it comes to reading piano sheet music, the first place to start is with the individual elements of the composition itself. Before you can tackle an entire piece, you must be familiar with that particular composition’s language. The following are steps to consider in reading piano sheet music. These will help you grasp the intent and nuances of the piece quickly. * Look over the entire composition to get a feel for its length and structure. This first run through is just to have a quick overview of the composer’s work. * Go through the piece a second time. This second run through is more deliberate. You want to locate any unfamiliar things: notes, chords, articulations and tempo indications. Highlight any of these that you know will require research. Use a music dictionary or other resource to understand these elements. * Next, consider the time signature of the piece. Are you familiar with it? If not, read up on the specific time signature, as it is a primary characteristic of the song. * Consider the key signature of the composition. Are you familiar with this key or is it new? If it’s new to you, learn the key’s scale with its attendant sharps or flats to better understand the piece. * Look for key changes within the song. Does the song remain in the same key throughout? If not, how many times does the key change and what are those new keys? Knowing the changes ahead of time makes playing the piece easier. * Look for tempo changes in the song and highlight them. Again, familiarizing yourself with tempo changes ahead of time allows you to glide from one section to the next easier. * Look for common passages. Does a phrase or motif repeat itself further along in the piece? Is there a variation of a basic motif somewhere else in the composition? When you familiarize yourself with the basic one, the variations will be that much easier to understand. * Next, break the composition up into sections. Highlight difficult passages that will require more practice time. * Write your own notes at specific places on the sheet music. Write these notes using your own unique markings. The only rule to abide by is – “whatever makes the piece easier for you to read.” * Play through the piece once, as best you can, without stopping. Even if you have trouble at a certain point, finish the piece. This once over will give you a visual and aural snapshot of the composition. * Play through the piece again. Stop as needed to make any additional markings in difficult areas. * Concentrate on just the difficult passages. Look them over again a few times so their structure remains in your mind. Do this before playing them again. This sets the structure in your mind so you can concentrate on the eye-hand coordination. With your eyes familiar with the section, you can now work on your hand movements. Playing a complete composition with piano sheet music need not be an arduous task. When you tackle its component parts one at a time, the process is much easier. When you learn the individual components and then put them all together, the result is a satisfying musical experience.

Sheet music can be expensive to purchase on a regular basis. If you want to expand your piano music library without spending a lot of money, download free sheet music from the Internet. A simple Internet search for “free sheet music,” “free piano music” and “piano music online” opens up many avenues for you to explore. Consider even more variations and your website possibilities will overflow. Many sites offer total access to their piano music library. Others permit limited access to free sheet music. If you desire their full complement of music, you may have to sign up for a membership and pay a fee. However, even limited access to their free resources may give you the music you require. The best sheet music sites allow you to refine your search for piano tunes. Many have detailed search functions that let you search by artist, genre or period. You can specify Baroque or Impressionist classical music and find what you need quicker. You can perform a search that narrows things down even more, for example, indicating you want “Jazz Christmas Tunes.” You can be as specific as you need to be on a quality piano music website. When searching for free piano music, you will find music directories that list other sites that can offer piano music. These directories are a valuable resource. With these sites you obtain links to a host of other sites containing a wide variety of music. A good piano music site often has little extras. Some supply the sheet music in a PDF format for download. Many sites supply free piano music and have accompanying audio files that allow you to listen to songs as you print them. Some incorporate free music lessons and piano tutorials in a digital feed format. You can find lots of free piano music online by joining a music forum. Here you can chat with other musicians and share information about where to find the piano music you need. You will find that others often know about less popular websites that have great databases of free sheet music. You cannot efficiently search every website in cyberspace yourself; why not get help from those who already know where the good ones are? Another great source for free piano music is university or college online libraries. You can find specific music to download on many of these sites. Many of these also provide links to even more sites that have free sheet music downloads. A university site is a wonderful resource for older collections of piano music as well. One caveat is to be sure the sites are truly free sites. Don’t be lured into giving out your credit card number as a one-time administration fee or anything like that. While you may access a lot of music, you did pay. You may find you will pay even more if you do not read the fine print and have authorized monthly payments on your card for a membership to a site. A savvy searcher can find tons of free piano music online. Free piano music from reputable websites can provide you with an endless stream of music for your enjoyment.

I have some new short free piano videos posted on my site you might want to check out: Free Short Piano Videos

Does anyone still doubt that the Internet has deeply changed practically every aspect of modern life? Even people who usually resist technological change have to admit that this is true, even if grudgingly. I am one of those people who had been hearing the words “email” and “website” for years before I even had a real idea of what they meant. As a piano teacher who has, more recently, greatly benefited from these new technologies, I can now admit that I should have paid attention to these new technologies much earlier. Of course, I still have misgivings about certain aspects of the Web. Still, as far as music is concerned, we have no choice but to accept the changes. Anyone can see that the revolutions which have taken place in the music recording industry, thanks to mp3s, file sharing software, and social networking websites are huge, and that there is now no going back to the old ways. Thanks to PDFs and other Web-based publishing formats, the same is true of music instruction and notation. Like the recording industry, the world of music instruction is changing dramatically. It’s not my place to say whether these developments are good or bad. Whatever they are, they are here to stay, so it’s best for us recovering Luddites to accept these changes and move on. The PDF format has been around since the mid 1990s, but as a format for music notation and instruction, it has only recently arrived. Whether or not we are completely familiar with what a PDF is, thee format is the future of online music publication, and countless music instructors and students alike are even now using PDFs for a variety of musical purposes. In short, PDF stands for “portable document format.” It was created by the Adobe software company in 1993, and its purpose is to resemble, as closely as possible, real-life documents. Unlike programs such Microsoft Word, which is basically a word-processing program, Adobe’s software focuses on the two-dimensional presentation of words, pictures, symbols, and other graphics on a page. In this light, it’s easy to understand why PDFs are perfect for music notation. Obviously, it’s practically impossible to create music notation in a word processing document; PDFs provide a highly functional alternative. Piano PDFs are a story unto themselves. As one of the most popular instruments in the history of the world, piano is at the center of the current boom in music lessons for adults. Naturally, many busy adult pianists have turned to the Web to provide instructions and guidance through the difficult process of learning piano. In an overwhelmingly large number of cases, PDF is the preferred format for Web-based music instructors, as well as those individuals whose hard work is giving us rapidly growing databases of music that was previously only available in real-world books. Instead, now there are PDF’s that have video and audio embedded, so it is in essence just like a web page. So, when you are looking for an online piano instruction service to use, any instructor who uses PDFs is a good bet. This shows that he or she has kept up with emerging technologies and cares about providing a high-quality learning experience for students. At the same time, if you plan to continue your piano instruction to advanced levels, it becomes more and more important to familiarize yourself with the PDF format. After all, soon you will be proficient enough to seek out pieces to play that are not directly related toy our music instruction. When this time comes, you will want to use one of the many vast online databases of musical pieces, many of which use exclusively piano PDFs.

In popular music, blues keyboard riffs are universal. From Billy Preston jamming with the Rolling Stones to Ray Charles kicking into “What I’d Say,” blues progressions and scales serve as the basis for legendary songs and amazing keyboard solos. One of the greatest aspects of blues keyboard riffs is the musical theory behind them, which is simple enough for beginners, yet still challenges virtuosos. An important musical tool to understand when playing blues keyboard riffs is the pentatonic scale. The minor pentatonic scale is the basis for most blues solos. Its cousin, the blues scale, adds a flatted fifth in between the fourth and fifth of the minor pentatonic. The major pentatonic is also used in blues keyboard riffs. If you’re not familiar with these scales, here are some examples. We’ll use the key of E. The minor pentatonic consists of the tones 1, b3, 4, 5 and 7. So in the key of E we would have E, G, A, B and D. To change this to the blues scale, add the flatted fifth, which is bB. This gives you the notes E, G, A, Bb, B and D. The major pentatonic consists of the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. In the key of E, this gives us E, F#, G#, B and C#. By learning these scales up and down the keyboard, you will have a base on which to build some awesome blues keyboard riffs. So how do you make these scales mourn and wail like only the blues can? By knowing them inside and out, you can make musical theory sing. Running up and down scales will just make your blues keyboard riffs sound like finger exercises, but knowing how to blend major and minor pentatonic together will leave your listeners astounded. The key is to understand how blues keyboard riffs incorporate each scale over different chords. For a basic twelve-bar blues progression, the choice of scale is open, with a few basic rules thrown in for good measure. One of the basic rules to keep in mind is that there are two easy scales to use over any one chord. If you’re playing over an E or E7 chord, you can choose to use the E minor pentatonic or the E major pentatonic. By alternating between the notes of these two scales, you’ll find a variety of notes from which to choose when playing blues keyboard riffs. You can change any of the minor pentatonic to the blues scale for some added flavor. To do this in the major pentatonic, it may be easier to visualize the scale differently. Take the root of the chord and drop it a minor third. For example, if A is the root, then you would go down to F#. Now play a minor pentatonic in this key. You’re using the same notes as the A major pentatonic, just starting on a different root. Change it to a blues scale and you’ll have the notes F#, A, B, C, C# and E. Now you’ve got another blues scale to play over an A chord! It’s that simple, and it works for any key. By mastering the use of these scales, you can play any blues keyboard riffs that come your way. The trick is to practice them until you no longer have to think about the notes; you just feel them under your fingertips. Then you’ll wail and mourn like only the greatest blues players can.

In case you don’t know about my other blog, it is at http://freepianolessons.blogspot.com/ There are several new videos there that you might want to watch.

EVERYBODY Ought to Learn to Play At Least a Little Chord Piano! There are roughly umpteen zillion reasons why you should learn enough chords to be able to “chord a song” at the piano. By “chord a song”, I mean the ability to play 3 or 4 chords on the piano in some sort of rhythm while you or someone else sings the tune. To do this, you don’t need to be a Van Cliburn; all you need to do is learn a few basic chords and be able to more back and forth between them in some organized rhythmic pattern. For example, did you realize that all of these songs (and hundreds more) can be sung or played with just 3 chords? Auld Lang Syne Amazing Grace Kum Ba Ya Silent Night Joy To The World Jingle Bells Happy Birthday Down In The Valley On Top Of Old Smoky… and hundreds or maybe thousands more! Add just one more chord to the basic 3, and you can play another thousand songs or so. So why not learn a few chords and start your chording career? Here are my top 10 reasons for learning “chord piano”: 1) It’s easy. Learn 3 chords and start in — it’s not rocket science! 2) Even though it’s easy to get started, you don’t have to stop there. You can learn more and more chords and more rhythm patterns and get really good if you choose to. 3) You’ll be able to play “Happy Birthday” while the gang sings it, since it only has 3 simple chords. 4) You’ll be able to play half-a-dozen Christmas carols like “Joy To The World”, “Silent Night” because they too have just 3 simple chords. In case you haven’t noticed, Christmas comes every year, so every year you’ll get better as you participate in family gatherings. 5) You can help your kids learn to play the piano, guitar, or most any other instrument by learning chords. Most teachers don’t teach chords, so you’ll be giving your kids an advantage by learning chords. 6) People will admire you. It’s true. Musicians are popular. Anyone who can play anything is in demand at parties and social gatherings. And if you can “chord” while others sing, you’re bound to be popular. 7) Piano playing using chords is good for your brain. Studies have shown that people who actively participate in music do their brain lots of good. And since chords require 3 or 4 notes at a time instead of one, you are giving your brain a good workout. Piano playing, particularly using chords, is good exercise for your wrists and fingers. (Take the time to learn about correct hand position, though!) 9) Piano playing is excellent therapy for the stress of life. Many professional people come home from a hard days work and relax by expressing their emotions on the keyboard. Play a few dark and angry chords, and you’ll be surprised how much better you feel! 10) Piano playing is a blast. It’s just plain old fun. So learn 3 or 4 chords and get going. Maybe you’ll stop there and enjoy it the rest of your life. But just maybe you’ll love it so much that you keep going and turn yourself into an excellent piano player who can read music as well as play chords! To get started, go to http://www.chordpiano.com

The ability to play blues piano is usually not expected of beginning pianists. There are reasons why most beginning pianists start out playing old songs written by classical composers from centuries past. Many songs written for the piano by such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky were originally intended as pieces to be used for lessons. Plus, the conventions of classical music lead to chord structures, harmonies, and melodies that were comparatively straight-forward, perfect for students who were not musical experts. Attempting to play blues piano presents new challenges for pianists. Many non-musicians don’t realize the technical difficulty of blues and jazz music, but in fact, to be an accomplished musician in one of these genres requires years and years of intense training and practice. Some would even say that these musical genres are actually more complicated than pre-20th century musical forms, which would mean that blues and jazz musicians are, in general, the most accomplished and versatile musicians out there. So, as you can guess, the decision to take the plunge into playing blues piano should not be made lightly. In order to have a true understanding of blues, its scales, harmonies, and rhythms, one needs to have at least a basic understanding of more traditional musical forms. Blues isn’t a parallel form of music to Classical and other traditional genres; no, it’s an augmentation of traditional music. Just like jazz, blues actually complicates traditional music. Thus, unless you have a natural feel for the blues, your study of blues piano requires at least a solid bedrock of musical knowledge. I presume that you already know, at the very least, about the traditional major scale. For example, in order to understand and play the C blues scale, you must know the C Major scale. If you have that knowledge, then it’s pretty simple. The blues scale simply takes the major scale and adds three extra notes. That’s it. The three extra notes are a flatted third, a flatted fifth, and a flatted seventh. Thus, the C blues scale has all of the same notes as the C Major scale — that is, C D E F G A B — with the three additional notes being E flat (or D sharp), G flat (or F sharp) and B flat (or A sharp). That’s right, if you look closely at the blues scale, you’ll find that there are only two notes that are not included. In the C blues scale, only C sharp and G sharp are not played. If you want to play blues piano, learning the blues scale is your first step. Even doing nothing more than playing the scale, you’ll hear a “bluesy-ness” to the scale, and if you are a fan of blues, it will sound great to your ears. Once you can do this, you are ready to play blues piano. The next step is to try improvising. Come up with a chord progression. C F G C is a standard blues chord progression, except — and here is another important point — it is fairly standard in blues music to turn nearly every chord into a seventh chord. So, this progression, in blues form, would be C7 F7 G7 C7. Of course, with the new notes added in, you must remember that, in most cases, these should be played as minor 7th chords. Thus, both the C7 and F7 chords use notes that are not in the traditional C Major scale. Once you have your chord progression down, improvising is easy. Come up with a simple, bluesy melody, and go from there. Just remember that in order for the music to have that special blues quality, you need to utilize those extra three notes that are not in the traditional scale. Those are the notes that give blues its edge.

The Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel is a composition well known throughout the world. It’s a piece of music that is played in commercials, feature films, and shopping mall music systems. Its melody and harmony are such that, when heard, spur an “I know this song” reaction in listeners. Pachelbel wrote this music around 1680. Its exact name is ‘Canon and Gigue in D Major for three Violins and Basso Continuo’. It’s now called, in regular parlance, the Canon in D (or D Major). This canon was the only one that Pachelbel wrote. He wrote it as a piece of chamber music. Chamber music is a form of classical music originally intended for performance in a palace chamber. This type of music is for a small group of instrumentalists. One performer plays each separate part of the music. Written for the bass and the violin and for small rooms, this song is not limited to that today. A wide variety of instruments in small and large musician groups perform this famous piece each year. The term ‘canon’ in the title of the song refers to the type of music. A canon is music of staggered singing or playing. In a canon, different instruments or singers start playing music. However, they do not start at the exact same time. They enter into the song one after another. The key to the canon is that they play the exact same sequence of notes. This results in intriguing variety and song complexity. The note sequence in Canon in D Major is what catches one’s ear. It is now a famous chord progression, which we recognize whenever and wherever we are. The song has a bass line-harmonic pattern, two bars long. This sequence repeats throughout the piece. The staggered singing or playing (the canon) plays over this repeating sequence of notes. Johann Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1653. He lived and worked during the Baroque period of classical music. He was an organist, composer, and teacher in his life, who wrote much keyboard music for the organ. He wrote church music and secular music, holding jobs as a church organist throughout his career. In fact, he established himself as a musician of stature in Erfurt, Germany. Here he was church organist at the Protestant Predigerkirchie (Lutheran Preacher’s Church) starting in the year 1678. Erfurt was the Bach family’s land of ancestral roots. Pachelbel actually taught Johann Christoph Bach, who was Johann Sebastian Bach’s older brother. Pachelbel also worked as an organist in the Court at Stuggart and the Court at Gotha in Germany. In 1695, he became organist at the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg. He replaced his former teacher, the German organist and composer, Georg Caspar Wecker here upon the latter’s death. Pachelbel wrote chorale variations for the keyboard. Written in his day for organ and harpsichord they receive treatment on modern pianos of today as well. In this type of music, the chorale melody is the theme, and then the performer plays variations of this theme. Although famous for his Canon in D today, Pachelbel also wrote toccatas, fantasies, and fugues. One important and impressive work is the Hexachordum Apollinis, which is a set of six keyboard arias and their variations. The Canon in D Major continues to inspire listeners, piano players, and musicians of all sorts today. It’s a ‘musical’ canon of great power that has endured through the centuries.

For anyone studying popular classical music, it can be a daunting task to know where to begin. There are so many great pieces that a beginner can get overwhelmed. Here are 10 of the most popular classical pieces with a brief background of each. There are many others, of course, but these 10 are certainly among the most popular classical pieces of all time. Clair de Lune is a piece by Claude Debussy, a French composer. It is the third and most popular movement of the larger Suite bergamasque. It is played pianissimo and is largely in D-flat major, with a shift to E major toward the end. Clair de Lune has been taught to students of popular classical piano for years and is prominently featured in movies and television shows. Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14, popularly called the Moonlight Sonata, was completed in 1801. Beethoven had begun to suffer from hearing loss prior to this and used a special rod attached to the piano’s soundboard in order to feel the vibrations and enhance his sense of the music. It was given the name Moonlight Sonata by a music critic who compared it to the moonlight shining on a lake. Canon in D is the most well known piece by Johann Pachelbel. Originally written for three violins and basso continuo, it has since been given many different arrangements. Basso continuo refers to a group of instruments, one of which must be able to play chords. Other instruments must be able to play in the bass register, such as a cello. Canon in D is often played at weddings. The Hallelujah Chorus is part of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The text is from a libretto by Charles Jennens, who adapted parts of the Old and New Testaments for his composition. The Hallelujah Chorus is taken from the book of Revelation, and it is customary for audiences to stand during this movement of the Messiah. George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is a piece that combines the elements of popular classical music with the popular jazz music of the era. It was commissioned as a classical element in an all-jazz concert to be presented by band leader Paul Whiteman. Known as Al Capone’s favorite song, Rhapsody in Blue has been featured in numerous films and advertisements. The Piano Sonata in B minor is one of Franz Listz’s most popular classical solo piano works. It is a piece in the Romantic style and consists of small movements woven into a larger whole. Thematic elements are presented in each movement, although the different setting of the movements make the elements sound differently each time. In one section the melody may seem violent, yet later in the piece it becomes something beautiful in a different context. Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler contains many of the common elements of Mahler’s work, such as the funeral march. Commentators have noted that when hearing Mahler’s Fifth “you forget that time has passed.” Scored for a large orchestra, the Fifth is considered to be Mahler’s most conventional symphony up to that point in his career. He was regarded as a highly unconventional composer until the Fifth was published. Johann Sebastian Bach composed The Well-Tempered Clavier to instruct students in solo piano playing. He collected 24 pieces and published them in 1722 as The Well-Tempered Clavier. In 1744 he published a similar collection with the title Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues. Combined, these two books comprise The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi consists of four violin concertos. A Baroque piece from 1723, The Four Seasons is also considered a series of tone poems, as Vivaldi provided instructions with each movement. Phrases such as “the drunkards have fallen asleep” and “the barking dog” give conductors instructions about the feel of each concerto in this popular classical piece. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 is one of his greatest pieces. Scored for orchestra with tympani, it contains three movements, which is common in the concertos of Mozart. Its brooding sound, enhanced by the tympani, has made it one of the most popular classical pieces of all time. These 10 popular classical pieces are just the tip of the iceberg. Popular classical music contains thousands of compositions from composers all over the globe. Any student of popular classical music is venturing into a world full of surprises, with pieces that fit any season or mood.

When learning how to play piano, free opportunities present themselves all over the Internet. Most notably, many websites offer quick step-by-step lessons, as well as free online sheet music, which beginning pianists can use to learn how to play piano at no cost. Obviously, like any free service, these should be approached with caution, and many should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, they are free for a reason. In spite of everything the Internet has to offer, most of the best ways to learn piano still involve paying money to a highly qualified professional instructor of some kind. Whether you are learning how to play piano using free lessons, or you are using a pay service, any high-quality learning process begins with the fundamentals. It is one thing to show a few diagrams and to instruct the beginning pianist where to put her fingers; it is quite another thing to instill in the pianist’s mind a real understanding of the structures, systems, and theories that every great piano player must have internalized. Thus, when learning how to play piano, free or through a pay service, make sure that the instructions use real musical terms, rather than downgraded proxy terms. That is, for example, an instruction shouldn’t refer to notes on the piano as numbers or as fingers; instead, the instruction should use the actual names of the notes — C, D, B flat, G sharp, and so on. In other words, a beginning pianist wants to internalize the fundamentals of music as early as possible. If you feel like your ability to play music is proceeding faster than your actual knowledge of piano and music, then there is something wrong with your instruction. Both the skills and the knowledge should go hand in hand. When starting out, the budding pianist can expect to be assigned a lot of repetitive tasks. She will have to play a lot of scales, arpeggios, and simple songs that are designed to help piano students master the complex methods of keyboard fingering. This is normal, and in fact, it is necessary. Any piano lesson program that doesn’t involve a lot of repetitive tasks is probably not the best way to learn how to play piano. Free lesson plans are often guilty of this. This repetition is what leads a lot of beginning pianists to give up very early, but for the more persistent, things do get better. After a while, when you have internalized the fingering techniques that every pianist must master, songs will grow more complex, and then the repetition becomes a joy. For pianists who are a little further along in the learning process, there is nothing more pleasurable than opening a book to a seemingly incomprehensible notation and working at it until it becomes a beautiful piece of music. For now, though, most of the songs played by beginners are relatively simple and straightforward, not involving a lot of sharps or flats, and not requiring the pianist to move her hands around a lot. In fact, most songs will be in the easiest key — C major — and won’t deviate from standard hand positions. Of course, this will all change when you begin to learn about more complex chords, more difficult keys, and more convoluted melodic structures. Once the basics are learned, it won’t take long before these fun elements come into play. In short, what I have been driving at is that starting to learn the piano rarely offers instant gratification. When learning how to play the piano, free services tend to offer unrealistic, quick goals. In reality, learning piano is a gradual process that involves lots of practice, lots of repetition, and a strong commitment on the part of the pianist.

The piano is the most perfectly designed instrument for playing chords. It’s visually straightforward, easy-to-understand layout makes it simple for the beginning piano student to learn how to play chords. Unlike other instruments, such as the guitar, the player doesn’t need to learn how to contort her fingers in strange, unnatural ways just to play the most simple combinations of notes. In contrast, the basic chords on the piano seem almost magically designed to be played by the human hand. When learning how to play the piano, the beginning pianist only needs to learn the structures of these basic chords, and a world of harmony opens itself up. To start, although they are not technically chords, combinations of two notes — usually referred to as “intervals” or “dyads” — are often seen in piano music. Even if they aren’t technically chords, combinations of two notes are essentially the foundation of all music harmony. Thus, when learning how to play chords, it’s also a good idea for students to first learn intervals. The smallest interval on the Western music scale is the minor second, which is made up of two notes that are only a half-step apart — for instance, E and the next F, or B and the next C. Although there are various ways of referring to the intervals, they are most often named as follows, in order of increasing size: 1. Minor second 2. Major second 3. Minor third 4. Major third 5. Perfect fourth 6. Augmented fourth (or diminished fifth) 7. Perfect fifth 8. Minor sixth (or augmented fifth) 9. Major sixth 10. Minor seventh 11. Major seventh 12. Perfect octave You don’t have to learn all of them at once, but most piano players must learn them eventually. Plus, there are similar names for intervals larger than an octave, but they don’t come up quite as often. When learning how to play chords, many students start out with triads, which are the most basic form of three-note chords. Basically, while intervals are the foundation of all musical harmony, triads are the starting point to more complex harmonies. Also, they are refreshingly simple and easy to play. For example, if you set the fingers of your right hand on the first five notes of the C major scale — C, D, E, F, and G — then your thumb, middle finger, and pinky are already in position to play the C major triad. Your knowledge of intervals comes in handy when learning triads, of which there are four main types: 1. Major triad: A major third plus a minor third (e.g., C E G). 2. Minor triad: A minor third plus a major third (e.g., A C E). 3. Diminished triad: A minor third plus a minor third (e.g., B D F). 4. Augmented triad: A major third plus a major third (e.g., C E G). Diminished and augmented triads occur far less frequently than major and minor triads, especially in the types of music usually played by beginning pianists. This will make more sense when you practice playing triads; major and minor triads will sound familiar and comfortable to the ear, while diminished and augmented triads will sound stranger and more dissonant. Meanwhile, it’s important to understand the naming of triads. In short, all triads are named after their root note — the note which begins the scale the chord is based on. For example, the minor triad of A C E is referred to as “A minor,” because it is based on the A minor scale; the major triad of F A C is referred to as “F major,” because it is based on the F major scale: the diminished triad of Bb D F is referred to as “Bb major,” and so on. Beyond intervals and triads, the range and terminology of piano chords only becomes more layered and complex. The number of things you will have to learn may seem daunting at first, but it’s always important to remember that learning how to play chords is a series of baby steps. For example, soon after learning about triads, you might want to learn about chord inversion, or how to turn triads into seventh chords. Both of these techniques, though becoming more advanced, are relatively simple on their own. So, when learning, stick with one thing at a time, and soon you will not be so confused by all of those bizarre chord notations you see everywhere.

Even non-musicians around the world are undoubtedly familiar with one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s more famous compositions, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. Usually, this song is played in a slow, almost reverent style during weddings or in religious and liturgical services. However, many music lovers aren’t aware that this recognizable tune was actually intended to be played in a much more upbeat manner. The song was originally composed for accompaniment of voices, as well as traditional orchestral instruments, particularly woodwinds, strings, and brass. Today though, it is more often performed on piano and organ. It’s difficult to say whether or not Bach might be rolling over in his grave every time the slower version of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring graces someone’s nuptial ceremony. Nevertheless this piece has won the affections of both aficionados and non-musicians alike. In fact, of all of Bach’s compositions, this one is his most recognized. The German-born composer originally wrote his composition in the early 1700’s. It was performed publically for the first time on July2, 1723 as part of Bach’s cantata: “Herz und Mund Tat und Leben” (”Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”). What is perhaps less known about this fondly-loved composition is that the underlying choral melody was actually composed by violinist Johan Schop. Schop was something of a pioneer in the music world during the early 1700’s. Considered to be a virtuoso, his technical ability was largely unsurpassed by his contemporaries, and certainly unequalled by his predecessors. Despite his immense talent, Schop has since faded into the background. Today, Bach himself is attributed most of the credit for Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. The piano arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring that is most familiar to listeners in the 21st century was actually transcribed by British pianist Myra Hess, well over 100 years after its composition. It is this adaptation that has stood the test of time as far as popular recognition goes, and is how the song is most often publicly performed today. When it does happen to be accompanied by English-speaking voices, it is sung to the words that were translated from the original German to English by the prominent 18th century English poet Robert Bridges. The English version, though, diverts somewhat from the original German. Bridges obviously did what poets do best, creating a poem that still echoes the sentiments of the original work, but contains flowing rhyme which is easy to sing in its translated English. Since its first public performance nearly three centuries ago, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring has been adapted and performed by hundreds of other musicians and artists. Even modern artists, such as Josh Groban, continue to make this song one of classical music’s most renowned and adored tunes. Even though Bach did not consider this piece his favorite or best work, it is probably the most widely recognized of all of his compositions. Because of its mainstream popularity, this song will undoubtedly continue to surface at weddings and other public performances for hundreds more years.

Here are a couple articles I have written recently that do NOT appear in my blog, so you may have missed them. If any of them interest you, take a look: Play music! The absolute joy of playing music! Middle C — The Piano Key That Lauched a Million Careers! Play notes on the piano keyboard using all 88 piano keys. Read music! Secrets of music reading and speed sight reading. Chromatic and whole tone scales

Great spiritual songs that inspire are a part of America’s folklore. Long a part of our nation’s canon of song, we hardly give thought to how they came into existence. Each one does have a story though, which sheds light on the place and time they were born. The following songs are a few examples of great spirituals and their origins. These songs are great for singing around the piano and are a fine addition to any piano repertoire. Amazing Grace Written originally as a poem by John Newton in 1772, Amazing Grace is one of the most popular spiritual songs in America. The music that accompanies the version we know today is a variation of the tune “New Britain.” This music first appeared in 1829 in a hymnal titled Columbian Harmony. The composer is unknown. Amazing Grace is John Newton’s personal thoughts on divine grace and his conversion to Christianity. When the Saints Go Marching In This song is familiar as a spiritual tune often played in New Orleans to accompany a funeral procession to and from a burial. Louis Armstrong propelled the song to great popularity in the 1930s with his rousing jazz rendition. However, researchers point to the Bahamas as the birthplace of the song. A song titled “When the Saints are Marching In” resembles the song we know today. Published in 1896, its lyricist and composer were Katherine E. Purvis and James M. Black. Various titles of the piece appeared over the years. The title we are familiar with received publication in a hymnal in 1927 titled “Spirituals Triumphant-Old and New.” Vocal and instrumental versions of the song play across the land year after year. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Wallis Willis wrote this song around 1862. The Red River reminded him of the Jordan River, and the references in the song are to the Prophet Elijah going to heaven on a chariot. This song was a favorite of plantation workers in the 1800s. It enjoyed new popularity in the 1960s as part of the music of the Civil Rights movement. Willis was once a slave of the Choctaw Indians. Michael Row the Boat Ashore First published in “Slave Songs of the United States” in 1867, this song began in the oral tradition. The abolitionist Charles Ware wrote the music for the words that freed slaves sung on St. Helena Island in the 1860s. This song speaks of crossing the Jordan River, and the river is a metaphor for crossing over from life to death. The Michael of the song is Michael the Archangel. Go Tell It on the Mountain This song is a popular Christmas tune. It’s a traditional African-American spiritual written by John Wesley Work, Jr. in 1907. The song received publication that year in Nashville, Tenn., in his book, “Folk Songs of the American Negro.” Work devoted his time to preserving African-American folk music. Go Tell It on the Mountain has a rich performance history, with Peter, Paul, and Mary; Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby; and Bob Marley among its performers. The great spiritual songs continue to speak their words to new generations of listeners. They offer hope to those who seek inspirational messages in musical form to help them in their trials. For this reason, they will uplift those who play and sing them for generations to come.

Even non-musicians are familiar with keyboard instruments. Few people reach adulthood without having had at least one opportunity to bang on a keyboard of some type. However, many people (including musicians) aren’t aware of the history behind keyboard instruments. Their evolution is both fascinating and surprising. Many people mistakenly believe that the harpsichord was the earliest keyboard instrument. Harpsichords were undoubtedly a precursor to the piano. However, the pipe organ actually predates the harpsichord by some 1100 years. In fact, the pipe organ was the only keyboard instrument until the invention of the clavichord and the harpsichord. The earliest pipe organs were massive structures. Upon their emergence, few companies actually made pipe organs. Even fewer people were trained to install and repair them. Their size and complexity made them difficult to work with, although the sound they produced was magnificent. Pipe organs often contained multiple keyboards to operate the many pipes and produce the rich sounds that the instrument is associated with. Naturally, this was not the type of instrument that the average person played at home. Most pipe organs were located in churches and concert halls. Eventually, more compact versions were invented. Pipe organs evolved into regular organs, which most people of today are familiar with. They were more easily afforded by smaller parishes and even private owners. They were also much more compact and easier to repair. The clavichord entered the scene in the early 15th century. It first emerged as a “practice instrument.” Since not all musicians could afford or had easy access to an organ, the clavichord became a convenient alternative. It provided organists a means for practicing at home without having to go to a church or other location to find an organ. Clavichords were smaller than today’s piano and may be compared to today’s smaller keyboard synthesizers, minus the need for electricity. It was likely very shortly after that the harpsichord was invented. The harpsichord more closely resembled today’s piano. This may be part of the reason that people believe the harpsichord was the first keyboard instrument. Modern pianos are based on a very similar design to its predecessors. Harpsichords, however, were much smaller (though larger than the clavichord). The harpsichord had many variations that operated on the same basic musical principles. Some of these include the virginal, the spinet and the clavicytherium. Like music trends always do, the harpsichord fell out of fashion upon the advent of the piano. The piano, though usually a bit larger, produced a cleaner sound. Harpsichords became all but obsolete within just a few decades. Ironically, harpsichords have come back into fashion in recent years because of their unique and distinctive sound. They are often heard as part of the backup for many contemporary songs, though relatively few people actually own a genuine harpsichord. The piano is by far the most common keyboard instrument today. They are found in nearly every school and church in North America, as well as in millions of private homes. Most every music student has at least some piano training. They are one of the easiest instruments to learn to play and provide a good musical basis for learning other instruments. Of course, with an electronics-loving society came the natural evolution of the piano to a plug-in version. These are commonly referred to as synthesizers. Aside from the obvious difference from the piano in the requirement of electricity, synthesizers are capable of mimicking many different instruments. Even the most rudimentary of synthesizers usually have several different instrument modes. The more complex the machine, the more sounds it is able to reproduce. More expensive models are extremely complex and technical. Their technology is of such quality that it can be difficult to distinguish their sound from the actual instrument they are mimicking. New advances in technology, especially in computers, are being made every year. How this will affect the further evolution of keyboard instruments remains to be seen. It appears, though, that the good old fashioned piano is here to stay for awhile.

Though many associate the birth of jazz music with the city of New Orleans, its origin may be a bit more ambiguous. Like many other musical forms, jazz evolved over a period of years. Many believe its evolution took place over decades. It’s widely agreed, however, that jazz music as we know it today was born in the southern United States. It is also accepted that it developed from a variety of different influences, culminating in a style that became its own genre. Jazz’s major influence probably came from African slaves brought to the United States in the 1800s. In fact, African music influenced many styles of music, including rock and roll. The form that evolved into jazz consisted specifically of call-and- response singing, syncopation and improvisation. Ragtime, which may be considered a precursor to modern jazz, drew upon many of these elements. Ragtime music originated after the emancipation of African slaves. The newfound freedom of slaves was bittersweet. Though freedom was deserved and appreciated, there were few job opportunities for freed slaves. Many had no means of self- support, and some simply stayed on with their former owners. Others supported themselves through musical performance. Often, this meant performing in dubious locations, like brothels and minstrel shows. It was these types of venues that gave rise to ragtime, which enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century. Talented ragtime musicians like Scott Joplin were generally recognized much later for their contributions to modern jazz. Though ragtime only graced the music scene for a few years, it influenced what would become referred to in 1915 as jazz music. While the actual origin of the term is uncertain, the name stuck. Cities like New Orleans have since become synonymous with jazz. This is not necessarily because it originated there, but because its musicians have added a distinct flavor to jazz music. Dixieland jazz bands still largely dominate the musical culture of New Orleans. Thanks to modern artists like Louis Armstrong, Winton Marsalis and Miles Davis, Dixieland-style jazz continues to enjoy mainstream popularity. Once jazz music became labeled as such, more variations developed. Swing was one of those, which saw its height in the 1930s. Swing greats like Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller are still covered by today’s musicians. Although swing isn’t the genre it once was, it still has a big following today. Because of its early association with brothels and speakeasies, jazz music had a stigma to overcome in its early years of development. Eventually, jazz became an accepted art form. Today jazz is embraced and taught as its own branch of music. Jazz music is most distinguished from other musical forms for its reliance upon improvisation. The best jazz musicians have gained notoriety for their ability to play without the aid of written music. They are able to make up music on the spot and off-the-cuff. It’s entirely possible for a song to be different every time it’s performed. This may be one reason that jazz fans believe that the most talented of the world’s musicians are not classical musicians, but purveyors of jazz.

If music in general and piano in particular interests you, then now is the time to begin. When it comes to learning the piano, age is no barrier. If you truly desire to learn the instrument, you will apply yourself accordingly no matter what your age. While we do absorb information like sponges in our formative years, we do not necessarily have the deep interest and sense of commitment that we do as we mature. That’s why adulthood is a great time to learn a new activity, such as the piano. Think of it, you are making a conscious, independent decision to develop a new skill. No one is telling you, or making you, take lessons. You are studying the piano because you want to study the piano. We tend to throw ourselves with verve into activities that interest us. That’s why, if you have the interest, you can learn the piano from scratch in adulthood. Music is a great avenue for creative expression. In our fast-paced lives, learning to create music may be exactly what you need as a break from your daily routine. The approach you take to learning the piano is important when you’re an adult. In our jobs, we tend to work at a harried pace and often expect immediate results. This attitude can spill over into our music study. If you desire to learn the piano, you have to take a systematic approach and set reasonable goals. Decide whether you want to take private lessons or self-teach. You might want to take a few lessons to get the basics down and then continue study on your own. You may choose to do web-based studies. Whatever learning method you choose will only take you as far as your attitude does. To succeed at learning the piano from scratch, as an adult, consider these suggestions: * Have fun. You didn’t decide to take piano to add extra stress to your life. If you miss a day of practice, big deal; it means you missed a day of practice. Besides, you don’t want to practice seven days a week. Piano is an interest, not your career. * Take the first step; don’t try to take five steps at once. Learn a concept or element, practice it, and then move to the next step. Trying to leapfrog steps because you’re in a hurry to get to Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven will only get you frustrated. Frustration leads to giving up your dream. * Set reasonable goals. Remember, you’re new to this and you may feel overwhelmed with all that piano playing entails. Set a daily goal and focus on that alone. Do the same the next day. * Get tips and ideas from other adults who successfully undertook piano studies. Ask them what worked best for them and what pitfalls to avoid. You will gain valuable insight into proper study methods. You will have someone you can bounce ideas off who can relate to what you’re doing. * As you progress beyond the basics, make sure you gravitate to music you enjoy, not just music the lessons tell you to play. You will continue with a lifelong study of the piano if you learn to play your favorite music. Learning to play the piano is not just for children and teens. It is a creative pursuit for all ages. Decide today to begin your study of the piano – it will be music to your ears for tomorrow and beyond.