What is the Circle of Keys? Some people call it the “Circle of 5ths”, while others call it the “Circle of 4ths”. In reality, it is the same thing — it just depends on whether you move to the right or the left on the circle.

The Circle of Keys describes key relationships — which keys are most closely related, and which keys have very little relationship to one another. For example, the Key of C and the Key of G are very closely related, because they only have one difference — the F# which is in the Key of G. Otherwise, they use the same notes of the scale (but start on different points, of course).

But the Key of C and the Key of Gb have very little in common, since they have 6 differences — the six flats in the Key of Gb. (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb).

Listen to this 10-minute podcast and you will understand:

For more information on the Circle of Keys click on The Circle of Keys

There are many, many forms of the blues, from rhythm-and-blues to all kinds of jazz tunes to hundreds, if not thousands of popular songs, and even some kinds of gospel music. In this podcast I discuss the basis of the scale that makes up the tones used in the blues:

For a course in jazz and blues runs based on the blues scale, please click on “Jazz & Blues Runs”

This podcast is part one of a two-part series on the blues scale — what it is, how it is used, and how it is formed. Listen how to include a minor 3rd, diminished 5th, and minor 7th to add all kinds of color to a plain major scale:

For more complete information on playing the blues, click on “Blues, Boogie, & Rhythm & Blues”

Listen to this short podcast on syncopation:

A suspension in music is when the previous chord has a “hangover” into the new chord. The symbol for a suspension is “sus”, so C7sus, F7sus, etc. It is a note “left over” from the chord before it. Listen to this podcast on music theory and you will understand:

Creating a piano run in your right hand usually consists of either playing a scale of some sort or a chord broken up. Listen to this short podcast by clicking on the player below as I describe how to create a rapid piano run using your right hand.

For a complete course on creating piano runs and fills, please go to “Runs And Fills Galore!”

Polytonality involves playing two chords at the same time, usually in opposite hands. But you can also play in two keys at the same time. There is a world of discovery waiting for the pianist who experiments in this area. Listen to this podast and you’ll understand. Double-click on the player below - it will take a few seconds to start playing.

As you know, there are many ways to make your piano playing fuller, including fillers, chord subs, runs, all kinds of chordal techniques, and so forth. And one of the best ways is to use passing tones. Passing tones are non-chordal tones that “pass through” from one chord note to another. Listen to this 10 minutes podcast and I think you’ll get the idea.

This podcast is about parallel stacked 3rd chords and how to use them. It the audio I reference a printed sheet which I have lost track of (used with my private students back when I taught privately), but you can easily visualize what I’m talking about withour the sheet.

Double-click the audio player below to listen:

Parallel octaves and contrary octaves. An octave, of course, is the same note separated by 8 keys. This podcast is about how to use octaves both in parallel and in contrary motion. Click (or double-click — sometimes it takes a couple clicks to get it started) on the player below:

Piano players can get a different kind of sound in their chords by using a stack of 4ths — open voicing in 4ths. It seems counter-intuitive at first, but once you get the idea and like the sound it creates, it is a type of voicing that you can use in many situations. Listen to this short podcast (click on the player below) and you’ll understand.

Do you know how to modulate from one key to another key? Do you get modulation confused with transposition? When you transpose a piece of music, you play it in a key which is different from the original key. Let’s say you are playing for a singer, and the song is too high for them. You can transpose (change keys) the song to a lower key. (For a complete course on modulation and transposition, click here.)

Modulation is different: It is the process of getting from one key to another. Listen to this podcast and you’ll catch on quickly:

Minor chord substitutions are some of the most interesting and pleasant-sounding things you can do to make your songs stand out from the crowd. Listen to this short minor-chords podcast and learn how to do it yourself. (For complete instructions on chord substitutions, please go to Chord Subs.)

Major chords are formed from major scales by taking the root, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale. But to know which notes are the root, 3rd, and 5th, you need to know how a major scale is formed out of whole steps and half steps.

Here is the formula:

Start on any note, then go up a whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step until you get to the note an octave above where you started.
It’s easy to see in the Key of C, since all the piano keys are white keys. But in any other major key, there will be one or more black keys in the scale.

Listen to the following podcast by clicking on the player below:

It’s always good now and then to go back to fundamentals, and today I want to think through the key of C with you and see what we can learn as we start with the C scale, or at least review. Click on the player below to hear this short podcast:

You can easily create a sound on your piano that simulates the reverberations of chimes by simply playing high on your keyboard with both hands, playing the melody in both hands with an interval of a 4th under the right hand and an interval of a 6th under the left hand. Start by just playing the C scale descending, and you’ll quickly get a feel for it. Listen to this short podcast and you’ll catch on:

You can make any simple chord sound more complex simply by using inversions, using different voicings, and adding color tones. You can also add arpeggios, grace notes, turns, and lots of ornaments to “dress up your playing”.

Click the audio player below to hear this short but interesting podcast.

When you are playing a piano solo it is often effective to create an intro to the song to kind of “set the stage” for the song — establish the mood, the tempo, etc. And when you are accompanying someone (a singer or an instumentalist) it is imperative to play and introduction so that the soloist can get oriented to the key, the starting note, the tempo, the feel, etc.

In the following podcast you will learn how to create an intro to most any song using just two chords. It’s as easy as pie, so listen up:

For a full course of instructions on creating intros and endings to a song, please go to http://www.playpianocatalog.com/creating-intros-amp-endings-on-songs.html

Sometimes in piano playing it’s nice to play a little trick on the listener by moving to a chord they don’t exepect. In this piano podcast I demonstrate several ways to surpise your listeners though the use of false endings, known in music theory as “deceptive cadences”.

I’m sure you know all about major scales and probably relative minor scales. Today I would like to take a look at chromatic scales, whole tone scales, and pentatonic scales. Click on the play button and listen to this short podcast on these musical scales.