When Isaac Watts wrote “Joy To The World” based on a score by George Frederick Handel’s “The Messiah” he was writing about the 2nd coming of Christ — not the first advent as we almost all assume. Notice the words – particularly of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th verses:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Here are a few random ideas on how you might create a fresh new sound for an old Christmas Carol:

For ideas galore on arranging Christmas Carols go to “The Secret of Arranging Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols”

You can make an old Christmas Carol (or any song, for that matter) really come to life through the use of chord substitutions. Watch this free short video as I demonstrate how you can create an entirely new “feel” to an old carol such as “Silent Night”:

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If you enjoy this process, come on over to “The Secret of Arranging Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols!”

There are many songs which can be played with just a few different notes, and Jingle Bells is one of them.  A piano beginner can play it easily just with the 5 fingers of their right hand — 5 notes, 5 fingers. And since there are only 4 different chords in the song, it’s easy to put hands together for a two-handed arrangement.

Pianists who are more advanced can, of course, use many more chords and many more notes, plus many other styles and arrangments. Watch the 2-minute video for a couple simple ideas:

For more advanced concepts and ideas on arranging beautiful Christmas Carols, please go to

“How To Play Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols On The Piano — This Christmas!”

A single note played is termed a unison. Two notes played together (or close together) is termed an interval. Three or more notes in combination is called a chord. Chords can have any number of notes in them, but the most basic type of chord is termed a triad.

There are four types of triads commonly used:

Major triad — made up of the root, 3rd and 5th of the major scale for that key.

Minor triads — made by lowering the 3rd 1/2 step.

Diminished triads — made by lowering both the 3rd and 5th 1/2 step.

Augmented triads — made by raising the 5th 1/2 step.

Watch the short video:

By learning the 4 basic triads in all 12 keys, you automatically know and can play 48 chords! Not bad for only learning 4 variations of a triad chord.

Will learning to play the piano make you more intelligent?  Could the brain grow larger than normal by learning to play a musical instrument such as a keyboard or piano?  Questions such as these have been arising everywhere over the past few years and not only in science journals either.  The interest of the general public in these studies involving music and the development of the brain has led to the publishing of many articles, to the delight of music-lovers everywhere.  But all the information gathered, the reliable and the questionable, has left many still confused about how much importance should be put on use of musical training for brain development.

If your feeling confused about what you have learned, certain valid points considered may help clear your thinking.  It seems that the most benefit is derived from early musical training when it comes to strengthening the connectors in the brain and creating new pathways. Research demonstrates the definite influence that music training has on the long-term development of specific parts of the brain.  The research findings of Gottfried Schlaug, Herman Steinmetz and their associates were published in Discover magazine in 1994. They did a comparison of 27 classically trained right handed musicians with 27 right handed non-musicians using a technique called MRI, abbreviated for magnetic resonance images.
 
Their findings revealed that the planum temporale (the brain’s auditory processor) was larger in the left hemisphere and smaller in the right in comparison with the group of non-musicians. Musicians who started training before the age of seven had even more outstanding differences.  The differences were especially notable among musicians who started early training, specifically before the age of seven.  Shlaug claims that the study of music also promotes enlargement of the corpus callosum, a bridge of sorts between the brain’s two hemispheres. He discovered that among musicians who began their musical education before seven years of age, their corpus callosum was thicker by 10-15% compared to non-musicians.  It was suspected that a larger corpus callosum improves motor control by making a faster connection between the hemispheres of the brain.

Later research published in a 2002 issue of Science magazine showed the results of a study conducted by Dartmouth music psychologist Peter Janata which confirmed that music is one of the best stimulants for improved connectivity between the right and left hemispheres of the brain and between areas responsible for emotion and memory.  A team of scientists led by Janata reports that with musicians, they have found certain areas of the brain to be 5% larger, and specifically the auditory cortex in expert musicians, up to 15% larger than people with little or no musical background. In addition, those who started studying music early in childhood have increased development of up to 15% in the brain area called the corpus callosum, which is a four-inch bundle of nerve fibers connecting the left and right side of the brain.
 
There is growing evidence that detailed and even skilled motor functions are enhanced, besides the growing evidence from research studies that some brain region connectivity, as well as some types of reasoning functionality is improved by music training. The corpus callosum in musicians is evidently essential to the performance of such tasks as the coordination of fingers. As any muscle must grow to accommodate the tasks at hand, this portion of the brain also grows to make one more proficient at these necessary musical skills.

In a study conducted by Dr. Timo Krings and reported on in Neuroscience Letters 2000, non-musicians and pianists of the same age and gender were asked to complete a series of intricate finger movements.  In this study, pianists and non-musicians of the same age and gender were asked to perform sequences of complex finger movements.  Correct movements were noted by both groups, but less activity was seen in the brains of the pianists. The conclusion drawn by the researchers was that the pianists’ brains make skilled moves with less effort.  There are a staggering number of ways that the human brain and its development are affected thanks to the study of music.  With all this research at your fingertips, how do you decide what type of musical studies will benefit yourself or your children?

An article by N.M. Weinberger published in Musica Research Notes in 2002 made an interesting point about how the Mozart Effect , although not living up to it’s musical hype, has raised the public eye to the research being conducted in the field of music. Listening to just a few minutes of Mozart invites a whole new world of musical possibilities to the listener. The academic evidence discovered for using music study as a tool to aid brain development is compelling, even with the hype regarding the Mozart Effect.  Dr. Frank Wilson from the University of California’s School of Medicine in San Francisco says his research reveals improvement in coordination, concentration, memory, eyesight and hearing when a person engages in practicing the art of music.

According to Frank Wilson’s research, learning to play an instrument brings about these benefits: better coordination, improved concentration, memory, eyesight and hearing. According to Wilson, all other activity pales in comparison to musical training which refines the entire neurological system by improving connections and motor skills in the brain. Dr. Wilson says that he believes musical instruction is vital for total brain development.

The conclusion we draw from what we’ve learned is that studying music can be an important tool to enhance various important functions of the brain. No guarantees, of course, but if you love music, why not do what you love?  Therefore, if you are a lover of music, dust off that old piano you have always wanted to play and get started today – you have much to gain in satisfaction and pleasure. And who knows? If it increases the capability of your brain, what a bonus!

When is a C not a C? It’s not a riddle or a trick question. It’s
a musical principle. The answer is: a C is not a C when you’re
playing a transposing musical instrument. And it’s not the
instrument that transposes, unfortunately — some arranger or
the player himself must do that.

To understand what this means, you first have to understand the
definition of concert pitch. Pitch, of course, refers to the
frequency of sound. Concert pitch is the universally agreed upon
definition of the pitch of middle C (and subsequently, every
other note in an octave). From the dawn of written music to the
present day, no matter where on earth you are, middle C always
sounds the same. In other words, every musician in the world
understands and interprets middle C in the same way. This is the
simple definition of concert pitch.

Many instruments, therefore, are manufactured to concert pitch.
This means that when multiple musicians read “C” (or any other
note on a scale) on a musical score, they produce identical
sounds. Instruments that are manufactured in concert pitch
include the piano, some brass instruments such as the trombone
and baritone, some woodwinds such as the flute, oboe, and
bassoon.

Many other instruments are not made to produce concert pitch
sounds. These are referred to as transposing instruments. Many
woodwind instruments and some brass fall into this category.
When a transposing instrument player reads and plays “C” in a
musical score, it sounds different from a “C” played by a
non-transposing instrument.

Therefore, music that is written for a band consisting of both
transposing and non-transposing instruments must be adapted for
individual types of instruments. A typical marching band, for
example, may have the same score of music transposed into two,
three or more different keys.

The clarinet is an excellent example of this. It is a
transposing instrument, typically manufactured in B flat. If a B
flat clarinet and a piano played a “C” at the same time, the
sounds produced would not be the same. In order for a B flat
clarinet to play a note that matches a piano playing a “C,” it
would have to play one whole step higher. In other words, it
would have to play a “D.”

What if the two instruments had to play a song together? Music
for the piano would be written at concert pitch. The same music
would have to be transposed one key higher so that the clarinet
would produce the same sound. Though the two songs appear to be
in different keys, the sounds that each instrument would produce
will match in pitch.

Bb instruments include the Bb clarinet, the Bb bass clarinet,
the Bb tenor sax, the Bb trumpet. Music for these instruments
are written in a key which is a whole step higher than concert
pitch.

Eb instruments include the Eb clarinet, the Eb alto clarinet,
the Eb alto sax, the Eb baritone sax, and the Eb alto horn. Music
for this group of instruments needs to be written a minor 3rd
lower than concert pitch.

F instruments include the french horn and the English horn.
Music for these instruments must be written in a key that is a
perfect 4th lower than concert pitch.

It sounds complicated. You may even ask: why not just
manufacture the clarinet (or other transposing instruments) in
concert pitch? Though it seems this would solve some problems,
there are good reasons that certain instruments produce other
pitches. The B flat clarinet is preferred because it produces a
cleaner, more pleasant sound than a C soprano (concert pitch)
clarinet. In fact, the same is true of many transposing
instruments. So while using transposing instruments make more
work for the composer, in the end it’s all about the product.

Serious musicians are known for their keen sense of hearing.
Since only the best quality sound will do for them, composers
will keep writing scores with both types of instruments in mind.

All of the following are non chord notes that are effective additions to create a non-harmonic effect and increase the interest and depth of piece of musical composition.

Passing Tones

Used in a harmony line that plays under the melody, a passing tone usually varies from the melody by a whole tone or a third (half tones are sometimes used but not as often) and they are meant to fill in spaces in the melody by forming a connection between one note of the melody, and the next one.  Passing tones allow the music to flow more smoothly.  Although they are fairly simply to play, and even use when improvising, they add depth to the music.  Experiment with passing tones by adding them to chords when you practice. They also happen “under” the melody in harmony — they “pass through” the harmony and therefore create motion.

Appoggiaturas

From the Italian verb “appoggiare” mean to lean upon, appoggiaturas are notes which lengthen the principal note by half its intended length.  They are usually played on the strong beats in the bar, and are usually a whole note either higher or lower than the principal note to which they are grouped.  In modern music manuscripts these will look the same as the other notes on the line, but in early music periods they were printed smaller.  When played within a chord the appoggiatura can create a degree of dissonance, but this is resolved when the principal note is played

Anticipations

These occur when a note belonging to the next chord set is introduced into the current chord being played – creating an anticipation for the chord to come.   Unlike appoggiaturas, anticipations occur on the weak beat, and are usually most effective when used at the end of a musical phrase.

Neighboring Tones

A neighboring tone is a non chordal note that is played at either one tone above or below the chord that follows it.  As it isn’t part of the chord set that follows, it causes a slight dissonance that adds more interest to the music.   When the note is a tone higher, it’s known as either an upper neighboring tone or alternately an upper auxiliary note.  A neighboring tone that is a tone lower than the chord that follows it is known as a lower neighboring tone/lower auxiliary tone.

Suspensions

A suspension is created in three parts.  Firstly comes the preparation (initial play), and then the suspension (held whilst chord changes) and finally the resolution (moves into new chord).  It holds one note from the preceding chord and creates a tone connection between that chord and the next for one note before stepping down into the new chord. 

At first glance these may appear to have the same effect, but listen to chord dominated music while following the manuscript and you’ll learn how to identify anticipations from suspensions, and neighboring tones from appoggiaturas.  The best way to learn how to identify which non-chord tone is which however is to sit at the piano and try them out yourself.  As you play them, you will learn to hear the subtle tone emphasis and variations of each and so be able to identify them easier when listening to a piece of music.

Back in the period between roughly 1150 AD and 1400 AD there developed scales called “modes”, or “modal scales” (actually deriving from the Greeks some thousand years before.) And since music was centered in the church during that period they came to be known as “church modes.”

These modes haven’t been used very much for about 500 years, but now many contemporary musicians are using them as a basis for their compositions and improvisations. Listen to any “fusion” musician and you’ll hear the distinctive sound created by these ancient scales.

While these modes can be played in any key, you can get a feel for them by just playing the white keys on your piano at first, noting the relationship of half-steps and whole-steps and listening to the distinctive sound of each mode.

Watch this short summary video of the modal scales:

Modal Scales on Piano: Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, etc.

I’m sure you’ve heard people say something like “She has a nice touch on the piano.” What does “nice touch” mean?

A piano is an instrument, a piece of equipment that makes sounds when you press the keys.  Anyone can take piano lessons, and with some practice and a patient piano tutor, can manage to make the piano play a tune.  But there’s more to playing a piano that being able to bang on the keys in the right sequence as dictated by the piece of music.

Music isn’t just about technical know-how as taught by a teacher, or even self-taught.  It’s about feeling, and that’s where this statement comes from.  Someone who has a nice touch on the piano is someone who really feels what they’re playing.  They know the music they’re playing, they understand what the composer intended, they’re sensitive to the emotion that is supposed to come from the piece of music and they convey this through the way they play and the atmosphere it creates.

Sometimes real piano playing genius doesn’t move between head and fingers, it also passes through the heart.  When you hear music that is played with that kind of emotion, whether it’s soft and tender, or it’s loud and filled with passion, the piano player conveys this raw emotion through the way they place their hands above the keys, the force with which they strike the keys, the way they move their body as they play and the way even the slightest of mood changes are reflected in both the player and the sound from the keyboard.

To have a nice touch on the piano doesn’t mean that you can read a piece of music and make it loud and soft in the right places, that again is technique that can be learned.  The emotion is something that comes in time to those who not only practice the actual playing of the music, but also have done some research and have an understanding of what the composer was thinking about when he created the piece.  If the pianist has the right emotion for each piece when they start to play they will be able to produce music that doesn’t just sound fast and loud, but rather urgent and afraid, or happy and free.  It won’t just sound slow and monotonous, but rather sad and lonely.  This isn’t anything to do with the notation on a piece of manuscript paper that sits on the music stand, but everything to do with the pianist’s empathy and understanding of what the composer intended entwined with the technical skills that come from hours of practice.

Anyone can learn the basics of piano playing, but if you want to be great, if you want to have a nice touch on the keyboard, then you need to not only think about the notes and chords you play, but develop a sensitive understanding of each piece of music’s history that you play, and deliver the emotion accordingly.  Listen to how various pianists play the same piece of music, you might be surprised how some of them touch you, and yet others playing the same music go right over your head.  The pianists with the nice touch, they’re the ones that play from their heart and their music touches yours.

It goes without saying, of course, than you have to master the basics of technique (getting your fingers in shape to play), fingering (using the right fingering so that your playing sounds smooth), pedal work so that there is a good balance between sustained notes and crisp notes, dynamics (the louds and the softs and everything in between) and all the other areas a pianist needs to know and do.

So play not just with your fingers, not just with your mind, not just using smooth phrasing and good pedal work, but play from your heart. If you learn to do that you may someday hear someone say about you – “She sure has a nice touch on the piano!”

Every major scale has a kissin’-cousin — a relative minor scale. It is related to the major scale of the key, but begins on the 6th note of the major scale. For example, if I were to play the C major scale but instead of playing it from C to C I played it from A to A, that would be the A minor natural scale. What makes it related? It uses the same notes — just starts and ends at a different point.

To complicate the picture, there are 3 varieties of each minor scale: the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale. Please refer to this page on the web for audio samples of each type of minor scale: 3 kinds of minor scales
Then watch this short video on minor scales:

Aside from the academic study of music theory, which explores the theories surrounding music issues, such as whether or not a piece of music fits into one category or another, music theory is really the nuts and bolts of music. It’s the way that music is composed, and performed. Whether you are thinking about musical harmony, the way a concerto is orchestrated, and even the simple basics of how to read music, then you’re thinking about aspects of musical theory.

The first question that many people just starting out on their music journey often ask is “Do I really need to know this stuff?” The answer depends on what you want to do with your music. There are many successful recording artists who can’t read music never mind distinguish a symphony from a sonata. This implies that you don’t need to have any knowledge of music theory in order to be a successful musician. However musicians who can do this to a great level are few and far between. Even if you are pitch perfect and can compose and play a piece of music entirely from memory, you can’t easily share this music with others unless they have similar skills.

Music theory allows musicians from all backgrounds to come together on a level playing field. Each of them understand the piece of music in front them. They know what key it is to be played in – vital if they want to create harmonies. They know what time it’s in so that they can get the beat right. The composer will have noted on the music manuscript how the piece is to be played – terminology that means slowly, softly, “with gusto” and so on. Those who compose understand the common music forms and by understanding the range of each instrument are able to combine different combinations of instruments playing harmoniously together. They know the instruments to work with for the kind of music they are composing, and can compose both melody and base lines that sound right whether played independently or together.

If you have a good ear for music and know the fundamentals of how your musical instrument works, then you may have no use for music theory. On the other hand, if you want to compose music that you’d like to share with other musicians, if you want to play with other musicians in an orchestra or band, or if you want to be able to play a piece of music that someone else has composed and you haven’t heard played, then some basic understanding of music theory is required.

Imagine that you can look at any music score and instantly be able to sight-read it, which means you could sit down with your instrument and by reading and understanding the notations made by the composer you are able to play that piece of music in the way that the composer intended. With little more than a basic knowledge of music theory, such as being able to read music and understand some simple, common musical terms, you could do that. Even if that’s not a skill you would use often, as a musician, isn’t it a skill you’d like to have?

For a complete course in music theory, please click here: Music Theory Course

Before starting to explain what musical syncopation is, it is necessary to cover a couple of other basic music terms so that the description of syncopation makes more sense.
1. Beat of the rhythm – think about a song on the radio, and the way the drummer accents the music. He’s picking up on the beat of the piece. This is usually where the emphasis is placed in the music. If you watch a conductor in an orchestra, he will ensure that the musicians keep on the same beat by marking the down beat – the emphasis – with his baton. As you listen to music and clap along in time, you will probably be picking up on the beat.

2. Measure – depending on the time signature of the piece of music it will be broken up into groups of 2, 3 or 4 crochet notes or the equivalent value (as dictated by the time signature) made up of other notes – such as 4 groups of 2 semi-quavers.
When you see a piece of music you can immediately identify the time signature that it’s in, and see where the emphasis should be placed when playing the music. If the piece is in 4/4 time for example you would expect the beat, or emphasis, to be on the 1st and 3rd notes in the measure, or in 3/4 time on the 1st note in each measure. That is unless the piece of music has been composed using syncopation!
Syncopation is where the emphasis is on a note other than the one expected. It could be that there is an irregular pattern in the group perhaps as the result of a brief quaver length pause that should be where the emphasis falls. It could be that the music has been composed in a way that has dotted crotchets paired with quavers. There are many different reasons for creating the imbalance on the beat but usually it is done purposefully and to create a certain effect.
There are 4 usual types of syncopation that composers commonly use:
• Suspension
• Missed Beat
• Even Note
• Off Beat
With suspension the note where the beat should go is usually being held from the previous note.
In missed beat syncopation there is a rest where the emphasized beat ought to go.
Even note syncopation is where the composer has the emphasis on the 2nd and 4th beats rather than the 1st and 3rd.
Off beat occurs where the musical notation has split notes up, for example starting a measure with a quaver and ending it with a quaver, or even the use of dotted notes that extend their length.
A 5th type of syncopation is known as anticipated bass and this is usually found in Cuban style music.

One of the most common music forms of syncopation is in ragtime music where the melody is often syncopated and the bass line isn’t. Think of the music of Scot Joplin, and the memorable strains of “The Entertainer” and you’ve got a great example of syncopated music. The Big Band sound, created by such musicians as Glen Miller, is another great example of syncopation in music. However, syncopation isn’t a 20th century creation, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart were among the earlier composers who used this kind of musical “edge” in their work.

Beginning Piano: How To Get Started

Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn to play the piano but never had the opportunity. Perhaps you’re a parent with a child who has expressed interest in the piano. The question is: where do you begin? How to start depends on your age and your goals.

First, you need to find a program of study that is age appropriate. For children, formal lessons are usually recommended. It’s important for kids to take at least three or four years worth of formal lessons. It usually takes that long to get a good grasp on the basics of technique, sight reading, and chord theory. After that, children will have a good foundation in music. They may choose to continue on, branching out in piano studies and honing those basics.  Or, they can use that foundation and apply it to learning another instrument.

Formal study with a piano teacher is usually recommended for children older than six. A wide variety of methods is directed at children.  Some have different emphases. Therefore, it’s important to research various methods to decide what type will be best for your child.

Younger children (ages three to six) usually do not fare well with formal lessons. If you want to start your children off early in piano, enroll them in a program developed specifically for preschool children. These types of piano programs take into account the physical and mental development of young children. They are less overwhelming and more engaging for the younger learner. Often they are group-style sessions rather than one-on-one.

Sometimes parent participation is encouraged or required. This helps to ensure that parents are able to reinforce the concepts that their children are taught. It also fosters the parent-child bond, strengthening it with a mutual appreciation for music.

For adults who are beginning piano there are a few options. Adults may choose to take formal lessons one-on-one with an instructor. Be sure to find a teacher who specializes in teaching adults or has at least worked with adults before.

Another option for adult beginners is group lessons. Music stores, community groups, educational institutions and even some private instructors may offer group lessons for adults. Students learn in a classroom-style setting with several other adults. Each person typically has his or her own keyboard on which to learn during class. Concepts are taught from the front by the instructor.

Another option for adult learners is to take a correspondence course or self-paced study. These types of programs are available for a fee in music stores, from a college or music school and on the Internet. In fact, many of these programs have DVD or software components to help visually reinforce the concepts taught in the manuals. In some ways it’s like having your own private piano teacher. Some curriculums even have live-study components via the Web in real time with an instructor.

If you are an adult beginner, set your goals. If you hope to pursue a higher level of study or want employment in the music business, then formal lessons are best. If you simply want to enrich your own personal life, correspondence studies or group lessons may be adequate. An added bonus with correspondence courses or self-directed study is that you are able to work at home at your own pace. This can be especially advantageous for the busy adult who can’t commit to regular, ongoing lessons.

So if you are a parent seeking a piano teacher for your child, make sure that he or she teaches music theory and chords along with sight reading, technique, and all the other basics. For adults with limited time for in-person lessons, look for a good course you can take at your own speed such as the Crash Course In Exciting Piano Playing for adults only.

Our population is aging. People are living longer lives, and they are constantly looking for brain food to keep their mental prowess in peak condition. One of the best ways to keep those hamsters running might be sitting in the corner of your living room gathering dust. That old piano of grandma’s has more than its share of brain teasers.

If you’re looking for a perfect way to keep your mind sharp, piano playing is the solution. It exercises several different parts of the mind and body, while providing you with years of musical enjoyment. Whether you play piano currently or are thinking about starting, playing piano is great brain food.

In order to play piano, your hands must develop independent coordination. This is one of the basic ways to keep your mind sharp. Each hand must often perform entirely different movements, and the brain must tell each hand what to do. By learning separate hand coordination, you stimulate several different areas of the brain. Practice each hand separately, and then combine the movements of each hand.

Not everyone is born with perfect pitch, but many people can develop it. When you play piano, you train your ear to hear pitches and tones in relation to one another. This makes perfect pitch possible. Intervals stimulate your mind in slightly different ways. A perfect fifth will cause one reaction in your brain, while a seventh will cause an entirely separate reaction. This trains the mind to recognize pitches and intervals.

Sight reading offers the brain another workout, as the eyes must follow the music while the hands play it. The ability to sight read is similar to knowing a foreign language, yet also requires extreme hand-eye coordination. The eye muscles are also strengthened as they move up and down the staff across the page.

Analyze musical passages and learning the theory involved is another mental exercise when you play piano. It’s brain food at its finest. Chords, melodies, and changes are all rooted in complex musical theory. It pays dividends to learn and understand how music is put together.

When you play piano in the presence of others, you are participating in a valuable social exercise. History is filled with participants and spectators in the world of music. You have the ability to make others’ time more enjoyable. You also meet other musicians who can share knowledge with you, expanding your understanding of the piano.

Proper piano playing, whether done for leisure or profession, keeps the fingers nimble. It strengthens all the muscles of the hands, which helps in other lines of work. A maintenance man with strong hands is more valuable than one with weak digits.

Besides all this, piano playing is great fun. It lets you create your own tune for the day. The piano has provided society with over a hundred years of enjoyment and will do so for hundreds more. It’s not only an instrument; it’s a social communication tool and a brain exercise, as well. Play piano for your brain. It’s lot more fun than Sudoku, and it’s great at parties.

Learning to play the piano is about more than learning the names of notes. Students and parents have a variety of different piano methods to choose from. All teach the basics of playing piano. The differences lie in their respective emphases and their suitability for particular age groups and learning styles. While there are many methods, here are a few of the most common.

* The Suzuki method: This method of teaching piano originated in Japan in the mid 1900s. Shin’ichi Suzuki realized that children have the innate ability to learn whatever language is their “mother tongue.” This includes languages that are considered very difficult to learn when taken on in adulthood. Suzuki reasoned that children can learn to play an instrument in the same way. Like being immersed in a language from the moment of birth, immersion in music could also be instilled this way. Suzuki developed his piano curriculum in a manner that addressed the whole child. He desired to develop children who were not only skilled musicians, but noble citizens as well. In addition to formal lessons, the Suzuki method focuses on immersing the child in a musical culture. This includes listening to quality music at home, attending professional concerts, and meeting with other musicians. Of children who grow up learning the Suzuki method, a large percentage enters into careers in the music industry.

* Music for Young Children: This method is unique in that it incorporates parental involvement. Rather than merely dropping off a child at a lesson, parents actively participate in the child’s lesson. MYC builds upon the natural curiosity of a child by exposing children as young as three to different musical styles. Children are guided in exploring differences between types of music. Children are also encouraged to create their own compositions. Listening skills are stressed in MYC. It uses a multi-sensory approach to reinforce the concepts taught in class.

* The Bastien method: This method contains curriculum for both the child and the adult beginner. This is advantageous for those who never had the opportunity to take lessons in childhood. This method is not generally recommended for children younger than seven. It emphasizes good technique from the very first lesson. However, some professionals have criticized this method because of its over-emphasis on the five-finger method of playing. Students who study Bastien exclusively tend to learn to read notes more slowly than with other methods. The Bastien curriculum does incorporate graphics and colors that appeal to children.  Students who are exposed to this method should also be taught other methods as well.

* The Alfred method: Similar to the Bastien method, there is curriculum for both the adult and child beginner. The method has been around since the early 1900s.  Alfred has kept up with the times by expanding its curriculum to include software and CDs. Like Bastien, this method isn’t suitable for very young children. The method emphasizes intervals and chord progressions. Like Bastien, the tendency for students is to lag at learning to read notes. This curriculum may be best combined with other methods for a more rounded piano study.

* The Schaum method. This method has been around since the early 20th century.  John W. Schaum began teaching piano during the depression era. Eventually he founded his own music school. His teaching method focuses on sight reading, theory and proper technique. It also encourages music appreciation and introduces classical music beginning at the very earliest levels. The Schaum method is more suitable for older children.

All of these methods are available to most all piano teachers, so when you choose a piano teacher for your child, be sure to ask him or her which method they prefer, and why. Knowing where the teacher is coming from and the logic used to select a method will give you a strong hint about the compentency of the piano teacher.

Major scales are ladders of notes that lead from the root note up to the octave note. There are 8 notes in a major scale (7 different note names) and they are always arranged in this pattern:
Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.  Watch this 2-minute video and you’ll see how simple it is to understand:

Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don’t show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.

The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.

Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.

The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a third chord), such as an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.

The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the “notes” section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. Sus – short for “suspension”, would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.

Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.

The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best – the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both.

 Chord symbols & reading the melody in sheet music

I am often guilty of assuming too much. Since I’ve been around music and the piano since I was old enough to walk, I tend to assume that everyone else knows the basics of piano notes and the piano keyboard. But it’s not necessarily so.

Some time ago I was talking about the piano, and a friend said to me “I don’t know Middle C from Tweedle Dee.” It slowly dawned on me that there are thousands of people who didn’t grow up with a piano in their homes, so how in the world could they know where various piano notes are located?

So here is Piano Notes 101: The piano keyboard is divided into white keys and black keys. The white keys start at the far left of the keyboard with a note called “A.” That is followed by B, C, D, E, F, and G, and then repeats over and over nearly 7 times until you reach the very top key on the keyboard which is a “C.”

The black keys are sharps and flats. Each black key has two names depending upon how it is used. If you move down from a white key, the black key next to it is called a flat. If you move up from a white key, the black key next to it is a sharp. (For you who know the piano, you will see that I am oversimplyfiing here so beginners won’t become confused.) There are 7 different white keys and 5 different black keys, making a total of 12 different keys which are then repeated in each octave up the keyboard until you reach the top “C.” There are 88 total keys on a standard piano keyboard. (Some electronic keyboards have fewer keys.)

Please watch this short 2-minute video IF you, like my friend, don’t know Middle C from Tweedle Dee.

Piano note names on the piano keyboard from chordman on Vimeo.

Pseudo-modulation is a little known technique that any pianist can use to brighten up a song. The idea is to apparently modulate to a new key, but really end up in the same key. Most non-musicians will never notice it consciously, but they will “feel” the lift it gives to the song. And musicians will likely say “How did you do that?”

Watch this minute-and-a-half video and you’ll get the picture:

Pseudo-Modulation — False Modulation from chordman on Vimeo.

When I was about 14 years old I bought my first fake book. They were illegal back then, but most professional musicians had them. I paid $50. for mine — under the counter from a music store owner. $50. then was something like $500. now, so for a teenager, it was a huge purchase. The one I purchased had 300 songs in it in lead sheet format. Now fake books often have 1000 or more songs in them.

But it paid for itself many times over as I used it for years learning song after song, and allowed me to play in a little combo that played for dances and parties and such. I would usually earn $15. or $20. per gig, so I got my $50. back quickly.

Later I bought many, many fake books — some for jazz tunes, others for standards, still others for Latin, others for gospel, and so on.

The songs in a fake book are in lead sheet format — meaning just the melody with the chord symbols written above the melody. Watch this short video on fake books, lead sheets, and chord symbols.

You can buy a fake book at most any music store and most large bookstores. For a course on playing more notes without reading more notes using a fake book, click here.