There are 12 major keys one can play in (more if you count enharmonic keys, but we won’t here). To learn those 12 keys, it is useful to learn the “Circle of Keys”. It is often called the “Circle of 5th” or the “Circle of 4ths”. It is all the same thing — just depends which way you move on the circle. Watch this 5-minute video on the circle:

Primary chords are the most-used chords in any key, and they are all major chords. The I chord is the most-used, followed by the IV and the V chord. In this video we explore the primary chords in all 12 keys:

The key of G major has one sharp in the key signature - F# - and the primary chords are G, C, and D. A very easy key to learn.

Each key you play in has a “feel” and a sound of it’s own. Beginners usually play in the keys of C, G, and F. But as you advance in your piano playing, you should get to know some keys that aren’t as familiar. Watch this short video about the key of Db:

Non-harmonic tones are simply melody notes that are not part of the chord in force at the moment. For example, if the chord is C7, the chord notes are C, E, G, and Bb. Any other note in the melody which is not one of those 4 notes is said to be non-harmonic — in other words, not a member of the C7 chord.

Sometimes non-harmonic tones can be quite dissonant; such as an F# in the melody while a C chord is in force. Usually the non-harmonic tone resolves to a chordal tone, hence resolving the dissonance into consonance. A good example of this is the 2nd note of the melody of “Maria” in West Side Story. There is a flat 5th juxtaposed against the tonic chord, but then resolved up 1/2 step to the 5th, creating a beautiful resolution.

One of the wonderful benefits of knowing music theory well (including chords) is the choice you have in key selection. You’re not limited to playing a song in just one key — you can use several if you wish. Take a look at the video below on Adeste Fidelis:

The text to the Carol O Come All Ye Faithful was originally written in Latin (Adeste Fideles) and was intended to be a hymn, which it is, but has also come to be one of our beloved Christmas Carols about our Lord.

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

The Story of “Silent Night”

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” Luke 2:8

In 1818, a group of actors were performing in many little towns throughout the Austrian Alps. On December 23 they came to the tiny village of Oberndorf, where they planned to perform the story of Christ’s birth.
Sadly, the church’s organ wasn’t working and could not be repaired in time for the show. The actors ended up presenting their show in a private home. Their presentation touched the church’s assistant pastor, Josef Mohr. So, that night, instead of going straight home, Mohr instead went up to a hill overlooking the village.
At the peak of the hill, he gazed down on beautiful snowy village below. His thoughts kept drifting back to the Christmas play he had just encountered. He remembered a poem he had written years earlier, it was a reflection back on the night when Christ was born.
Mohr thought the lyrics could make a nice carol for his church to sing the following at the Christmas eve service, but he didn’t have a tune to sing it to. So, Mohr went to see the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber. Using his guitar he composed a melody to attach the poem to.
On Christmas Eve, Gruber and Mohr sang the song to their small congregation.
Weeks later, a well-known organ builder Karl Mauracher came to repair the church’s organ. When he completed the task, Gruber tested the instrument by playing the song he had written for Mohr’s poem. Mauracher was very impressed and took “Silent Night” back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of singers, the Rainers and the Strassers, heard the song. Enthralled by it, both groups added “Silent Night” to their Christmas season repertoire.

The Strasser sisters exposed Northern Europe to the carol. In 1834, after their performance of “Silent Night” for King Frederick William IV of Prussia, he commanded his choir to sing it every Christmas eve.
The Rainers brought the song to the United States in 1839 where they sang it (in German) at the Alexander Hamilton Monument located outside New York City’s Trinity Church.
In 1863, almost fifty years after being writing in German, “Silent Night” was translated into English. Then in 1871 the English version was published in an American hymnal: Charles Hutchins’ Sunday School Hymnal.

Silent night! holy night!
All is calm, all is bright,
‘Round yon virgin mother and Child!
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia
Christ the savior is born
Christ the savior is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord, at thy birth
Jesus Lord, at thy birth

For a complete course on arranging beautiful Chrismas carols, please go to Christmas Carols On The Piano

Lots of students have asked me some variety of that question: “What’s the difference between arranging and improvising?”

Remembering that language is fluid and not everyone means the same thing with the same term, still there are some basic understandings about the difference between the two. Basically improvising indicates the creation of a melody which is significantly different than the written tune, while arranging keeps the same melody, but uses different stylistic devices to create a new sound or a new feel to the song.

Watch this short video and I think you’ll understand quickly.

For a course on arranging, look into How To Dress Up Naked Music. For a course on improvising, look into the Seven Month Course In Piano Improvising.

Diminished 7th chords are formed by adding a double-flatted 7th to a diminished triad. There are only 3 “different” dim7th chords, because all the others are simply inversions or enharmonic inversions of 3 of them.
For more information, check out playpiano.com/101-tips/15-diminished-7th-chords.htm

A seventh chord with a flat 5th is simply what it says — a dominant 7th chord with the 5th scale note lowered 1/2 step. The symbol for a C7 with a flat 5th would be C7-5. The symbol for an F7 chord with a flat 5th would be F7-5.

Augmented 7th chords are formed by combining an augmented triad with a lowered 7th of the major scale of that particular key.

Half-diminished 7th chords are formed by combining a diminished triad with a lowered 7th of the major scale.

For more information, please go to Half-diminished 7th chords.

Minor chords with a major 7th added are not used a great deal, but musicians really need to know all possible chords and combinations. These are created using a minor triad with the 7th degree of the major scale added.

Minor 7th chords are composed of a minor triad combined with the lowered 7th of the major scale of that particular key.

For more complete information about minor 7th chords, please go to minor 7th chords.

Major 7th chords are formed by adding the 7th note of the major scale to a major triad. Watch the video, then go to maj7 chords for more information.

7th chords are 4 note chords composed of a major triad and a lowered 7th degree of the scale. They are often refered to as “dominant 7th chords”. Watch the short video below:

For more complete information, please go to: http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/10-7th-chords.htm

MInor 6th chords are formed from a major triad by lowering the 3rd and adding the 6th note of the major scale. For more complete information please go to: http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/9-minor-6-chords.htm

6th chords are 4-note chords consisting of the root, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of a major scale. So just by adding the 6th degree of the scale to any major chord results in a major 6th chord. Watch this short video:

For more information, please go to http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/8-major-6-chords.htm

A diminished triad is formed by lowering both the 3rd and the 5th of a major triad. For more complete information, please go to:

http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/6-diminished.htm after you watch this short video.

Augmented triads (3 note chords) are formed by raising the 5th of a major chord 1/2 step. For more complete information, please go to:
http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/7-augmented.htm