Knowing musical form can give a huge boost to learning songs, playing an instrument, and just understanding music. Form is the skeleton of music on which the flesh and the nerves and ligaments hang. Watch this short video on how knowing musical form can speed up learning a song such as “Rudy The Red-Nose”:

Click here: What You Need To Know About Musical Form

Playing “Away In a Manger” On The Piano is easy, since it only uses three chords — the primary chords of I, IV and V. By using just two techniques - an Alberti bass and an ostinato — we can make a simple yet pleasant arrangement of it on the piano. Watch this short video:

How To Play Beautiful Christmas Carols On The Piano

In this piano video I demonstrate a couple fairly unusual chord progressions for the old Christmas Carol “Jingle Bells”. The chord progression makes use of both a different rhythm and a different chord sequence. Watch:

Then click here: Christmas Carols Galore!

“What Child Is This?” is a very popular Christmas song written about 150 years ago to the tune of “Greensleeves”. It uses a chord progression similar to chord sequnces I used to play as a small child - maybe you did too. Watch this short piano video:

Click here for “Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols!”

Here’s a fun way to play “Joy To The World” by Handel. He wrote it using only the 8 notes of the diatonic scale - nothing higher, nothing lower. It was written in the key of D, but let’s play it in the key of C just to keep it simple for newer piano players. Watch this short video:

Click here for a full course in playing Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols!

I still remember the feeling I got when I was a little boy listening to my folks sing Silent Night in the church choir at Pioneer Methodist Church in Auburn California. There was something mystical about it — like a dream. I can’t describe the feeling, but perhaps you have experienced something similar — the feeling that this is other-worldly and hugely important, but at the same time peaceful and serene.

That’s the feeling I was aiming for in this arrangement — very thoughtful and devotional and peaceful.

Watch this short video on arranging ideas for Silent Night and perhaps it will give you some ideas you can use too:

And if you haven’t already taken the course on arranging Christmas Carols, click here for info:

“The Secret of Arranging
Spectacularly Beautiful
Christmas Carols!”

PS Have you heard about The Case of the Hypocritical Reindeer?

Sometimes if you voice chords in 4ths instead of 3rds you create a more contemporary sound. But it’s not real easy — you have to make sure to get the critical notes of a triad included, and that is often a two-part proceedure.

Watch this short video on some ideas for “O Christmas Tree”:

Then please go to Spectacularly Beautiful Christmas Carols for a series of full DVD courses on arranging Christmas Carols on the piano.

Once every 200 years or so someone with the talent of a Mozart or a Beethoven comes along. Looks like this 12-year old who studies composition at Juliard might be one of them:

If you’re not a musical genius (I’m sure not!), then you might want to learn as much about music theory as you possible can to help your piano playing. Click Here: Music Theory

Remember Mr. Rogers? He used to open each show with the warm invitation “Won’t you be my friend?”

Well, I’m not Mr.Rogers, but I sitll would like for you to become my friend on Facebook so you can see all the tons of free piano videos, piano lesson podcasts and articles about piano playing and music.

Please watch this 3-minute video:

Just come on over to Facebook.com/PianoChords and click “like” at the top of the page, and you will see all kinds of exciting stuff about music and piano playing!

How to find piano playing lessons
(guest post - not by Duane)

If you are one of the many people who love music, then you most likely have thought about learning how to play an instrument. Though might sound simple, it takes years of practice to be able to play an instrument well. Some people are lucky enough to have been born with some natural talent, but in order to fully become amazing at a certain instrument, it takes a lot of hard work and patience. One of the simplest yet still challenging instruments to learn is the piano and i’m sure you have tried to play a few times in the past. If you are serious about learning to play the instrument, piano playing lessons are available at almost every city and you just have to take a somewhat strategic approach towards finding the perfect one for you.

Piano Playing Lessons And The Teacher

In order to make the experience worth while, you must realize that the teacher must be very patient and knowledgeable about piano playing. You simply do not want to work with a person who does not have the passion to teach. This is very hard to decipher beforehand but the best way to figuring out about a teacher is through the internet. You will be able to find several reviews on the teacher and if you are not able to find any, it is best to skip them because you want to have the utmost confidence that this teacher will be able to teach you well. Learn how to choose the teacher correctly and you will be one step closer to playing the piano.

Piano Playing Lessons And The Hidden Price Of Using The Wrong Teacher

The price of the lessons is also very important because you do not want to be spending a fortune on a few lessons. Though you might be very excited about the process now, you might not enjoy piano playing and you will just be wasting your money. Commonsense will also say that you should just go with the cheapest teacher and see how that goes. This is also a bad idea because you do not want to sacrifice quality just because you are trying to save a few dollars. You will then have to find a median where you are able to get great quality without having to pay a fortune. Sort through your options and you will definitely find a teacher that you can trust.

Piano playing lessons can be fun and sometimes they can be done with a group of people. This can actually be much cheaper and would be a good idea for those who want to simply just learn the basics. For those who have a true passion for the musical instrument and would like to enhance that talent that they already have, then a personal piano playing teacher would be the better option. No matter how great your teacher is, it will all depend on how hard you work and the time that you put into your practice. With just enough patience and hard work you will definitely be able to play the piano well one day.

Click here to find out if you are a naked piano player.

Piano lessons are one of the best ways to enjoy the beauty of this instrument. For some, they always seem to play but are never actually able to play it nicely. Which is why taking piano lessons are truly a great way to enjoy the sound of music. There are many benefits to getting professionally taught, and can be a great way for young kids to learn the value of discipline, art, and music. Understanding chords all on your own is quite a tough task, especially if you have no idea which sounds are what notes. That is why piano lessons are needed to ensure success at playing the piano.

•What are the benefits of piano lessons?

One of the main benefits is the more time you are able to spend on learning. Most of the time, all we ever do is simply play the piano and touch all the notes at different times. This is actually very normal when you are just starting out. However, when you actually take piano lessons, you won’t have to do anything just to play the piano nicely, as you would know exactly what to do whenever you play. Taking lessons can also help you from gaining any bad habits from playing on your own. For example, some people play the piano with very hard hands, so it could be hard to adjust once it develops. When you first take lessons, your coach could always remind you to relax and not be so stiff whenever you’re playing. So it’s pretty useful to get lessons, as you could become a much better pianist if you are just willing to accept other peoples advice. Playing the world’s hardest songs won’t be accomplished immediately, but with the right coach and the correct foundation, you can be on your way to playing the songs you’ve always wanted.

•How to find an instructor.

You can easily find a reputable coach by utilizing the Internet. Go to Google and type in your area, along with “piano lessons”. You should see several websites or music schools pop up showcasing their amazing piano lessons. Despite the many instructors to choose from, try going to a music school who specializes in teaching the piano. Music schools are great to visit, as the teachers are very well trained at these schools. Remember again the results aren’t exactly instant and will take some time, but your hard work will definitely show in the end when you’re playing your favorite songs on the piano.

Playing the piano can be a great asset whether you want to do it for fun or you need it for school. Whatever the reason may be, taking piano lessons can be the best way to see yourself play at your fullest potential. Learning this instrument is quite a tough process and requires lots of work. So don’t give up if you don’t master your favorite songs quickly. Finding a teacher may be hard at first, but can easily be done once you use the Internet.

(Note: This article is not by Duane, but is a guest article)

For a cornucopia of great piano courses click on PlayPianoCatalog

Music is something that we experience with our ears, right? Yes, but if you only listen to music, you’re missing out on another dimension of performance that makes the musical experience truly special and unique. It’s the reason that some people won’t listen to music unless it’s live and to find examples outside of music, it’s the reason that watching a sporting event live at the venue is so much more fun than watching at home on TV. The more of our senses that are involved, the more an experience moves us.

Music is meant to be seen as much as heard. Why would the biggest name composers of their day spend so much time producing operas that didn’t pay as well as other composing jobs? Because they knew that opera was music in its perfect form. It combined both visual and aural art that moved people in a way that symphony alone could not.

What Does that Mean for Me?

As a musician, regardless of how you’re performing, it’s not enough to play the notes. Your worth as a musician also includes your talent as a performer. How can you address the visual side of your performance as you practice?

Posture

Your teacher has probably told you far more than once about posture. Posture serves not only a functional purpose putting your body in the best position to work correctly but as we’ve all heard, your appearance says a lot about you as a person. People with a slouchy appearance aren’t regarded as confident and lack of confidence is seen as lack of skill or knowledge. In other words, bad posture puts you at an instant disadvantage.

Watch Others

This is why listening to recordings of famous performers isn’t enough. Go to Youtube or even better, go to a live concert of professional musicians in your area and truly watch their performance. The conductor will give you insight in to how to feel the music and even watching how the performers walk on and off stage will be a lesson on how they set first and last impressions in the minds of their audience.
Marching bands and other performing groups spend large amounts of time choreographing movement not just in the form of moving around the field. Modern marching bands learn the basic of ballet, Yoga, and other movement art forms in order to better convey the music visually.

Know Your Piece

Your music teacher knows how much you practiced without asking. All they have to do is look at you while you play. Those with ridged posture are the ones who aren’t confident with what’s coming next. Panic mode over the next line of music is clearly evident just be looking at the performer. The audience knows it too. If your piece isn’t memorized, you probably don’t know it well enough. If playing it isn’t as automatic as walking or talking, you don’t know it well enough. It is only with this knowledge that true performance takes place.

Let Yourself Go

What does the music mean to you? What do you think about when you play it? What would be happening on stage if your piece was used in an opera or musical? If you were watching somebody perform this piece, what you expect to see from the performer?

Most important, do what feels natural to you. Almost everybody shows emotion with his or her body and that is no different when playing music. Don’t forget about the visual aspect of music. Both are important and one will have a positive impact on the other.

The very best thing you can do for yourself in music and piano playing is to take a comprehensive course that covers music theory as well as reading music and improvising using chords. Click here to read about our “Crash Course”

If you wanted to play “O Little Town Of Bethlehem” without depending on the sheet music, what would you do? Here are a few ideas:

Click here: O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Two Musical Questions You’ve Never Asked But Always Wondered About…

You know what we’re talking about. In all areas of our lives there are those little mysteries that don’t seem important to ask about but still, it would be nice to know. It’s not like the answer is going to change our lives in any meaningful way but it would close the book on one of life’s little mystery so we can move on to another.

Music has those little mysteries as well and although there are enough for dozens of articles, we thought we would pick two today.

Note Stems

You know what we mean when we say, note stems, right? It’s the stick that the flag sits on. The note head is the circle that tells you what the note actually is and the stem is the stick coming up from the circle. Sometimes the note stems face up while other times they face down and although the reason for that is very simple, it’s hard to find a clear explanation for that.

In actuality, most of the rules for writing music are functional instead of musical or artsy. Although it would be nice to tell a grand story of Beethoven sitting in a cabin on some European mountain coming up with stem direction rules, that’s not what happened.

It’s purely functional. As you know music is printed just like words. We read it left to right and when we get to the end of a line, we go down to the next. Because every piece of paper costs the publisher money, they want the staves as close together as they can be without sacrificing readability.
The magic line on the treble clef is the third line or “B” line. On the bass clef, it’s the third line “D”. When a note is at the third line or below, the stem is written up. When the line is at the third line or above, the stem is written down. If a note is on the third line, the composer can write it how they would like.

By following these rules, the music stays better contained in the staff which allows the publisher to include more lines of music on the page. It’s also a little easier to read.

What’s With the Funny Words?

Why are all of these different languages used in music? Why say ritard when you could say, slow down? Why say cantabile when you could say, singingly? You could but that’s not what the composer wrote and he or she is free to write whatever they would like. If you play music long enough, you’ll find some pretty “interesting” notes to the performer.

Composers, especially those of earlier periods tended to be very nationalistic because communication was such that the world wasn’t globalized the way it is now. They knew the word they wanted and they wrote it in their native tongue. The bulk of the traditional musical marking are Italian because of tradition. Some speculate that it’s origins come from the widely accepted father of modern music notation, Guido d’Arezzo, an Italian monk who created the solfege system.

All classically trained musicians learn the same terminology and like any tradition, it has been passed down over centuries.

Modern composers are increasingly using words that have more meaning. With the English language being taught in schools all over the world, many composers are now using English since more people have a fundamental knowledge of the language than they do Italian.

Remember…

Much of music has traditional roots and much of its rules are grounded in tradition. Often, that tradition has attached to it some very interesting stories.

Do you know about Duane’s Crash Course in Exciting Piano Playing?

What can you do with chords once you know them?

There are upteen zillion things you can do with chords, and the more you learn about all aspects of music theory and form and compostion and improvisation and chord progressions, the more you will be able to use chords in a creative way.

But today let’s just consider the simplest few things we can do with chords. Watch this short video:

For a complete course in 101 things to do with chords, click on this link: 101 Ways To Make Your Piano Playing Much Fuller & Exciting!

Buckle your seatbelts and don’t try this at home on your own, kids. Duane tells the truth: children should not use his program solo, but under a parent’s (or other responsibile adult’s) tutelage. So because I want my children to learn the piano, that means that I need to learn the material first.

Doesn’t always happen that way. Either that, or we have to check into the “responsible” part.

Sometimes, the kids watch the DVD before I do. Which leads me to now realize: they are tone deaf, music-deaf, and possibly deaf-deaf, if their ability to listen to me is any indication. The wonderfully-simple, familiar music which the piano crash course uses does not ring a bell with my teens and tween who hail from a foreign land.

So I sing it for them, either the tune alone, or words and all (which could be a life-scarring experience in itself, but they’ll survive, hearty souls that they are). Then they try to follow the music and duplicate the sound, at least with the melody.

Doesn’t compute. They rush it in spits and spurts, mashing the keys like pureed potatoes. Connecting the dots and stringing the notes together is proving to be more difficult than I imagined.

So I go into my very detailed, musical note-reading explanation.

“If the note goes UP on the staff, then the sound of the music goes HIGHER,” I make my voice high and squeaky. “If the note goes DOWN on the staff, the sound of the piece goes LOWER,” I employ my best double-bass rendition.

There is a flicker of recognition. Houston, we’re making contact. I let them listen to Duane’s marvelous playing on the DVD, where it’s so clear and so carefully measured, no long pauses between notes, no playing the right hand melody at another time than the corresponding left-hand chord….

Slowly, they get it. We tap out the beat, also slowly. They think it’s hysterical to hear me singing in slow-mo. I’m glad that they’re being entertained so inexpensively.

Step by step, we’re getting there. I find myself playing simple songs from CDs, and the radio. My hand directs as a choir director would, not in time to the music, but moving up and down, demonstrating for them the notes moving upward or downward. Their musical attempts on the piano start to take shape, and sound like something recognizable.

The slow mastery leads to self-confidence and the desire to do more. We schedule small, every-couple-of-weeks recitals in the family room and can tell that they’re making a greater effort when others are going to hear them play a piece or two.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing that we open to anyone outside of our immediate, nuclear family. That might result in some Three Mile Island kind of meltdowns. Instead, we use the force of positive sibling peer pressure to spur them forward and let them know that others are making music, too.

Finally, we’re hearing a few songs that need no gift of interpretation to decipher. It’s music to my ears.

—————- Copyright 2011 – Alexandra Bartologimignano

(Alexandra jets here and there with her two boys, two girls, one husband, and two dogs, while chronicling their larger-than-life adventures at http://www.destinationsdreamsanddogs.com—————-

Do you love the sound of those big, fat chords that you hear some pianists play? What you are hearing is often extended chords - chords that have been extended beyond the octave range, such as 9th chords. But how do you play them? My hands are small, and I can’t reach a 9th. And even if I could, I don’t have enough fingers to play an 11th or a 13th.

The solution is to divide the chord into two parts — either using both hands or…..watch this short video and you’ll understand:

For a wonderful course on what to do with chords, please click on Piano Playing.

The basic chords of music are TRIADS - 3-note chords composed of various intervals of the scale based on the root, 3rd, and 5th and their alterations. To form a 4-note chord you simply add a note of the scale such as the 6th, 7th, or major 7th to the basic triad. This short video demonstrates how this works:

For a COMPLETE course in chords click on “All The Chords In The Whole Wide World!”

Any chord can be turned upside down simply by taking the bottom note of the chord and putting it on top - an octave higher. There are 3 positions of any 3-note chord (triad): root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion. Watch this short video and you’ll grasp it quickly:

For more information on inversions click on Chords UpSide Down

Diminished triads are formed by lowering the 3rd and the 5th of a major triad. (A triad is a 3-note chord). Remember that a major triad is formed from the root, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale. Watch this short video:

For more information on diminished triads click on Diminished Chords