If you’re a guitar player who desires to learn the piano, you’re already ahead of the game. You can transfer your knowledge of chords and chord patterns to the keyboard. This means you could be playing a tune at the piano in no time. That’s because chords are chords, no matter what instrument they are played on. The composition of chords is the same whether you apply them to a guitar or a piano. The only difference is where the application takes place. On a piano, you use black and white keys on the keyboard to form different chords. It’s akin to pressing strings to form chords on the fret board of a guitar. You press certain strings at certain fret positions to get a certain chord sound. Guitarists can learn the piano rapidly because they already understand chord patterns. Some guitarists know chord patterns as written musical notation; others know these patterns by sound. Some know both methods. A guitarist who can read chord patterns, written using proper music notation, will be able to read a chord pattern on sheet music whether its for guitar or piano. All the guitarist has to do is learn the keys of the piano and then play the written music at the keys. Someone who does not know how to read music must first learn the written form. Then he or she must learn the keyboard keys before putting the two together to play. A guitarist saves time by already knowing the written element. What about guitarists who cannot read music, but play by ear? It is still easier for them to learn the piano because they have an ear for chord sounds. Those new to music must tune their ear to the sound of chords. They cannot usually just sit at a piano and say, “I’m going to play a C Major Triad.” They must first understand what comprises this triad. When they play it, they must know whether the sound is right. Guitarists who understand chord construction and know a chord’s sound when they hear it are further ahead. When they locate the appropriate keys at the piano and play the chord, they know by the sound whether they’ve played it correctly. This is because they’ve heard the chord many times before on the guitar. The chord will sound the same only with the piano’s characteristic sound underpinning it. Guitarists will also learn to experiment and improvise on a piano faster than one who has never played another instrument before. Guitarists constantly manipulate chords, always trying new voicings and chord combinations. When they undertake piano study, they will do the same. Since they already know the theory and architecture of chords, and the scale notes they are born of, they can begin manipulating them at the keyboard immediately. There is no need to learn the reasons behind what they are doing. The guitar and the piano have much in common when it comes to playing chords. If you know guitar chords, you will not find the piano an intimidating instrument. You will find it’s another vehicle for your musical creativity: one you already know something about.

Bev & I were in Austria recently, and had the pleasure of attending a classical concert featuring music by the Strauss family. It was delightful, and not at all stuffy, as some classical concerts can be. Johann Strauss was the son of a famous composer. He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1825. Johann Straus Senior was often known as the father of the waltz, and Strauss Junior was later dubbed the king of the waltz. Raised in Austria, Strauss did much of his composition in the latter half of the 19th century. Strauss Junior was most famous for the dance and operetta music he created, and his work is generally considered to reflect the height of cultural achievement within the Hapsburg Empire. While his father wanted the younger Strauss to go into business, his mother nurtured Johann Strauss Junior’s interest and talent. He subsequently composed his first waltz at age six. After studying music in secrecy, at the age of 19 he organized his own orchestra, a small group that performed his compositions in the restaurants of Hietzing. Following his father’s death in 1849, Strauss had established himself in his own right He then joined his small group with his father’s orchestra. Throughout his life Strauss showed a strong affinity for the waltz. From 1863 to 1870, Strauss was appointed official conductor to the court in Vienna. His primary role was to serve as conductor for court balls. During his period with the royal court, Strauss composed some of the world’s most renowned and beloved waltzes. The waltzes composed in this time include “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” which is considered the most famous waltz ever, as well as “Wine, Women and Song,” “Artist’s Life” and “Tales from the Vienna Woods.” After a meeting with Jaques Offenbach, the popular composer of famous Parisian operettas, Strauss tried his hand at composing operettas. He subsequently resigned from the court. The finest of his operettas composed at this time was “Die Fledermaus,” written in 1874. To this day, the operetta is considered a masterpiece. Other famous operettas by Strauss include “A Night in Venice” and “The Gypsy Baron,” from which the “Lagoon Waltz” and the “Treasure Waltz” were derived respectively. Continuing to compose the dance music and waltzes for which he initially gained acclaim, Strauss combined his interest in operettas and waltzes to compose the pieces “Roses from the South” and “Voices of Spring.” The latter, which is usually presented as an instrumental piece, was initially written as a vocal waltz. It was the only such piece that Johann Strauss ever composed. Throughout his musical career, Strauss travelled and performed in Europe, England and the US, where he conducted massive concerts held in New York and Boston. The breadth of his music was wide, with popularity gained for his waltzes noted most highly. In total, Strauss composed over 150 waltzes. Strauss also composed 100 polkas, 70 quadrilles or square dances and also French gallops, Polish folk Mazurkas and numerous marches. Over a career that spanned many decades, this prolific composer was a master of melody and showed a commitment to composing with wonderful energy and extraordinary creativity. While we now envision the waltz as being music reflecting refinement, it was Strauss who turned a musical style that was no more than a beer hall tune into the waltz that graced the royal court and ballrooms, as well as concert halls around the world. Truly, Johann Strauss was the king of the waltz. In addition to the Strauss family, we also heard lots of Mozart, and even went to his apartment where he lived in Vienna for a couple years. Unfortunately, he wasn’t home….

Google just listed some of our piano courses in their data base to make finding them easy. It’s a pretty neet listing of about 129 of our courses. Go to: Google Base Listing Of Piano Courses

Gospel music is full of history and soul. It comes from a rich tradition of folk songs and church hymns. Gospel stays alive by remaining relevant, taking various aspects of the musical culture of the day and bringing those aspects into the spiritual fold. In modern gospel, jazz has been introduced into traditional songs. This has sparked the musical term “gospel chords.” Gospel chords are extended chords, such as the 9th, 11th and 13th. Maybe you’re not familiar with these chords. If you’re not sure how to form these chords, here’s a brief lesson. Start with a dominant seventh chord. This is a basic triad with a flatted seventh added. For example, in the key of C, the basic triad is C-E-G. This is a C major chord. In the C major scale, the seventh is a B, so the flatted seventh is a Bb. To get a dominant seventh, we’ll add the Bb to the basic triad. This chord can be played in many different ways. You can use the left hand for the root and leave the other three notes for the right hand. You can play all of the notes on one hand. You can switch them around to your heart’s content. When you switch the notes of a chord around like these, you are using inversions. To get the 9th, 11th, and 13th you’ll have to add more notes to the chord. Since the notes of the octave are number 1-7, you must continue past one octave with numbering. The 9th tone is an octave above the 2nd; the 11th is an octave above the 4th, and the 13th is an octave above the 6th. This is where using different hands for different chord tones really comes in handy. A well-played gospel chord shouldn’t sound cluttered. Now that you have studied all those extended gospel chords, when are you going to use them? Now that you have studied all those extended gospel chords, where are you going to use them? To start with, any gospel number can be spiced up with some jazz gospel chords. Try them out and see what works for you. Take a standard like The Old Rugged Cross. In the key of A, the progression is A, A7, D, B7, E, E7, A. To give it some flavor, substitute any of the dominant seventh chords with 9th, 11th or 13th chords. Experiment with them to see what suits your taste. Change the tonalities of the chords. Take the B7 and make it a Bm7. When they are worked into a simple progression, extended gospel chords make things a bit more musical. They give the song more depth and color, creating a rich sonic picture. Gospel music is always evolving, taking different aspects of modern styles and incorporating them into a whole. Practice bringing some extended chords into old arrangements and see what sounds good to you. With a little practice and experimentation, you’ll find yourself livening up any traditional praise song with a series of well-placed gospel chords.