The word “key” in music is kind of like the words “to”, “two”, and “too” in that they sometimes lead to confusing as to when to use which. A key signature tells the musician what sharps or flats are in a given song, and therefore it defines the key of the song. To be in a key means the piece of music is based on the scale of that key.

For example, a key signature with 4 flats — B, E, A, and D — indicates that the song is either in the key of Ab or it’s relative minor key, F minor. A key signature of 2 sharps — F and C — indicate that the piece is in the key of D or its relative minor key, B minor, and therefore uses the notes of the D scale in its formation.

So each key signature announced to the performer the scale of the key in which the song is written.

Key signatures are a type of musical notation that indicate which key the song is to be played in. But key signatures, despite the name, are not the same thing as key. Key signatures are simply notational devices; just as a note is the notational name for a pitch, key signatures are the notational names for keys. It is what it says it is: a signature, a simple piece of information that tips you off to the physical form (the key) to be played.

Key signatures appear right after the clef (before the time signature) and show a sharp or flat on the line or space corresponding to the note to be altered. Key signatures placed at the beginning of songs will carry through the entire song, unless other key signatures are noted after a double bar, canceling out the first. For instance, it’s entirely possible to start a song in the key of F but end it in the key of E flat; it all depends on the key signatures and where they’re placed throughout the song (a key signature can change at any point). Accidentals can also show up throughout a song and only once or twice flatten or sharpen a note that was not previously indicated; this cancels out the key signatures, as well, but only temporarily, for as long as the accidental lasts.

Beginners just learning to read music often have a hard time with key signatures because the key itself is not expressly written, and it’s sometimes difficult to remember what goes where. Key signatures with five flats or sharps have been known to terrorize new musicians — how in the world, they think, are we supposed to remember all these note changes while we’re playing the song? It’s obviously possible, though, and there are some rules that can help beginners identify and remember the key as it relates to the key signatures, rules that go beyond rote memorization. If there is more than one flat, the key is the note on the second to last flat. If there are any sharps at all, the key is a half step up from the last one noted. F major, a key frequently found in beginning sheet music, only has one flat (B), and C major has no sharps or flats at all. Key signatures, when viewed in light of these rules, are much easier for beginners to digest, ensuring that a proper knowledge of key signatures is on its way through the door.

Piano keys, on the other hand, are the physical keys - the 7 “white notes” and the 5 “black notes” - on a keyboard. Which piano keys are played in any given song depend on the key signature of the song, and therefore what key the song is in.

No wonder beginners sometimes scratch their heads!

Piano programs for beginners are at Piano Courses For Beginners & Near Beginners

Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the student does from the teacher. Hopefully, not too often, but today I would like to share with you some great practicing ideas that have come from my piano students over the years. Here are Five Great Practice Ideas I Learned From My Piano Students!

1. A Colonel in Virginia that I taught for several years got up at 4AM every weekday morning and practiced on an electronic keyboard with headphones so he wouldn’t disturb anyone at that time of the morning. “I love the early morning”, he said, “because it’s so quiet and peaceful and I’m fresh and raring to go. No phones are ringing, no people walking into the room, no disturbances at all. I practice for a half-hour, have breakfast, and then hit it for another half-hour — all before I have to show up for work. When I get home in the evening, if I’m too tired to practice, I don’t feel guilty because I’ve already got my licks in for the day. And if I’m up to practicing some more — well, it’s a bonus!”

2. An elementary school teacher in Indiana told me she took each piece I assigned her and transposed it into all 12 keys — not written out, but at the piano — in her head. She said “It doesn’t always sound so hot, but I find that if I keep at it day after day, I can at least get by in the most difficult keys, and it makes the easier keys seem real simple. And it gives me a perspective that I just wouldn’t get it I just played it in one key — the key it is written in. I’ve learned that each key has it’s own “feel”, and some keys are bright (like “D”) and some keys are mellow (like “Db”).

3. Another piano student with a similar idea, who was the Minister of Music in a Catholic church, said he took one whole month of the year and devoted it to mastering just one key. Since there are 12 months in the year and 12 Major keys, that works out perfectly. So in January he played everything he could find in the key of C, and transposed anything that wasn’t in C into C. In February he went up 1/2 step to the key of C# (also known as Db enharmonically) and played everything in Db and searched for pieces written in the key of Db, and so on. By the time the year was up, he had a pretty fair grasp on the 12 Major keys. I suggested that he devote the next year to the 12 minor keys, and the next year to the modes, and the next year to polytonality, etc., etc. — but as I recall he decided to just recycle through the 12 major keys, since he used them so much more than the ones I suggested.

4. Still another piano student took an idea from me and twisted it a bit. I suggested that she play along with pieces she liked on tapes and CD’s, so she would get a feel for the motion of the song. (I used to do that by the hour when I was a teen-ager, and it paid off big time for me!). She took the idea and tried it and liked it so much that she started getting videos of people playing the piano. She arranged her TV and video player so that she could be at her piano while the video was playing, and she would play along with the pianist on the screen, following her/his hand motions and arm motions and finger position and thereby getting a feeling for the flow of the music. (Patterning). Her creativity is paying off for her — she is advancing rapidly. (And by the way, don’t think she is “copying” the person she is watching — not at all. It’s the same principle as watching Michael Jordan moving toward the basket, or watching Sammy Sosa swing a bat — it just gets you in the right groove before you apply your own style to it.)

5. A doctor I have taught for years makes a idea file of things he has learned about piano playing over the years. He notes where in a given book or tape or video I discuss such and such a topic, and files that alphabetically. Then later when he needs to refer to that idea, he simply looks up the idea in his file, locates the video or cassette or book, and presto — he can review that idea or concept almost instantly. It’s like a card catalog in the library — makes finding things so much faster than flipping through endless books trying to find that idea you saw long ago.

With the advent of the computer a person could store and categorize ideas such as this very quickly.

Hope this gives you some ideas of your own! You might also get some ideas at Play Piano Catalog.

It is easy for a musician such as myself to take for granted those truths about music that I have known since childhood, and forget that many people are just now entering the world of music, and are not familiar with many of the basic facts of life concerning music.

When I take my car to a mechanic I expect the mechanic to speak to my level of knowledge about cars – not his level of knowledge – and it’s annoying when they talk over my head about things they falsely assume I know.

Yet I am guilty of exactly the same “sin” when it comes to music – I often assume too much.

And so for those precious people who are not familiar with basic musical terms, I am going to write the next few articles about the basics of music, assuming nothing.

(Musicians will want to skip this article)

Notes are the musical notation representing a fixed pitch. While the word strictly refers to the physical notation of a pitch, it’s more commonly used to refer to both the pitch and the notation. When we’re trying to figure out a piece of music, we rarely ask which pitches are being played; we always ask which notes are being played. But if we try to describe a song as having the same note in several places, we’re technically wrong. Considering that each note is a separate notation, even if the pitch is the same, it’s impossible to have the same note in several places.

Notes are named after the first seven letters in the alphabet — A, B, C, D, E, F, and G — and keep the same letter value regardless of the octave. But since there are twelve notes in a diatonic scale (a “normal” scale we are all used to – there are other kinds, but they are way beyond the scope of this article), the seven notes can be altered. To get the extra five notes, we sharp (raise by a half-step) and flat (lower by a half-step); the sharp and flat notes are the black keys on a piano. (White keys can be raised and lowered also, but again, that is beyond the scope of this article.)

The types of notes and their values are based on the amount of time they take up in a song.

Whole notes (in the language of music theory they are known as “semi-breve” notes) are four beats, which is equal to one measure in 4/4 time. They are represented by a hollow, oval note with no stem.

Half notes (also known as “minim” notes) are half of a whole note, or two beats. They are written as a hollow note with a stem that points up when placed below the middle of the staff, up when placed above it.

Quarter notes (or “crochet” notes) represent a quarter of a whole note, or one beat in 4/4 time. They are the most recognizable note: a solid black note with a stem.

Eighth notes (or “quaver” notes) are one-eighth of a whole note and are written exactly like a quarter note, but with a flag attached to the stem. When more than one eighth note is placed side by side, a solid beam connects the adjacent notes.

Sixteenth notes (or “demi-quaver” notes) are one-sixteenth of a whole note and represented as an eighth note with two flags or two solid beams.

Thirty-second and sixty-fourth notes represent the section of a whole note indicated by their names; they are drawn as eighth or sixteenth notes with an additional flags.

A 32nd note is known as a demi-semi-quaver.

And believe it or not, a 64th note is known as a hemi-demi-semi-quaver.

It’s also important to mention that a note’s value can be changed by adding a dot. Dotted notes represent the value of the original note, plus one half. For instance, dotted half notes are held for three beats, dotted quarter notes for a beat and one half, and so on.

(For you musicians who shouldn’t be reading this anyway, yes – I am well aware that I made some generalities in this article, but it is for beginners.)

For more detail on types of notes, go to Wikipedia on Note Values.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to write a song especially for a special celebration, or to honor someone that you love? Some people seem to have a natural talent for writing songs. Perhaps you’ve always believed you aren’t one of those people. Think again. If you’ve ever had the inkling to write a song, you probably have what it takes. All you need are a few tools to help you get started.

Would it surprise you to know that many bestselling books, blockbuster movies, and even songs started out as nothing but a title? Believe it or not, starting with nothing but a title is your best bet. Forget lyrics for now. Don’t worry if you can’t read music and don’t play an instrument. Focus on a title. The title should be born from the heart of the song, your inspiration for writing a song. What is it that moved you to want to write a song in the first place? That’s what your title should be.

Some rules of thumb for titling your song: keep it fairly simple. Three to five words are usually best. Sometimes one or two words can capture the emotion as well as 3 or 4. More than five is typically too many, unless it’s a comedy song. The title will often appear as a line somewhere in the lyrics of the song. But this isn’t necessarily the case. The title may simply reflect the subject of the song, or even who the song is for/about (for example: “Nadia’s Theme”).

Once you have a title, you have a starting point, a place from which your thoughts can flow. Now you need to think structure. Most every song ever written follows a similar structure: a verse, chorus, another verse, chorus, bridge, and chorus. A good pop song usually has no more than 2 to 3 verses at most. Don’t stress out too much over stanza numbers. You’ll probably want more than one, but if you can’t come up with more than two your song will be just fine. Similarly, don’t go overboard. Most listeners will fall asleep long before the ninth stanza.

When it comes to the chorus, four to six lines are probably adequate. You may even have as many as eight, but more than that and your song may become drudgery. An experienced songwriter may pull off a ten-line chorus, but for your first try you should keep it simple.

The bridge of the song is something like a short interlude. It too should be fairly simple, no more than four to six lines in length. The bridge is the part of the song that ties all of your thoughts together. It might be the solution to the problem you are singing about. It might be an epiphany that has resulted from all of the other thoughts in the song. It should not present a new thought, however; otherwise it’s not really a bridge, and it’s just another verse. It should be a natural segue from the ideas presented in the verses to the chorus.

Once your words are complete, you can focus on the melody. If you read music and play an instrument, this part is probably easy for you. If you aren’t a skilled transcriptionist and you want to have the music scored out, you may need to enlist someone to transcribe for you. This is probably not a necessity, though, unless you plan to have it played by a band or you want to market it.

Chances are, for your first attempt, just you and a piano or guitar will suffice. If you don’t read music, you can find a musical friend to help, or even hire a professional. This is an especially good idea if you plan to present the song publicly.

Your first song doesn’t have to be a billboard hit. Music is meant to touch the soul. If that’s what your song has done, even for just a few people, then you’ve accomplished what you set out to do. Writing songs just for your own personal benefit can be a good thing, even if no one else hears them. It can be very therapeutic, and it’s an excellent way to express your inner emotions. Once you start, you might find you have a knack for song writing after all.

(Guest article)

For the musical tools to create any kind of music see the Play Piano Catalog.

If asked to name a piano piece that is near-perfect, one noted example comes to mind for many people. That piece is Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. Clair de Lune, the third and most famous movement of Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque, has entranced listening ears for over century. It has been the inspiration for many dramatic film sequences, as well as the song “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Disney’s Pinocchio.

The son of a china shop owner and a seamstress, Claude Debussy began to reveal his brilliance at the age of seven when he started learning the intricacies of the piano. He soon attracted the attention of Mme. de Fleurville, whose son-in-law, French poet Paul Verlaine, would help inspire the piece with one of his poems. Verlaine was also acquainted with Frederique Chopin, as he was one of Chopin’s pupils.

Debussy began his proper musical studies at the illustrious Paris Conservatory at the age of eleven. He spent twelve years studying under the giants of the age, stealing their secrets and arguing against the rigidity of the musical theory of the day. Debussy favored dissonance, which was a thorn in the side of his more strictly harmonious teachers. His love of experimentation, however, proved to be his greatest musical asset.

Early works by Debussy were heavily influenced by both his love of Richard Wagner’s operas and his general distaste for the operas of Italian luminaries such as Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, who was one of the reigning kings of the style. Though Wagner had been dead for several years before Debussy discovered his works, a cult had grown up around his music.

Wagner’s influence was not to last, though, as Debussy’s pieces tended to be more introverted than the extravagant Wagnerian sounds. He wrote his Suite Bergamasque, containing Clair de Lune, in his late 20s. As a sublime example of Debussy’s sensual, quiet style, Clair de Lune may be perhaps his most lasting gift to the music world.

This lustrous piece was inspired, as were his earlier pieces, by one of his friend Verlaine’s poems. Verlaine’s poem “Clair de Lune” contains a reference to a bergamask, a clumsy dance performed by the natives of Bergamo. The French spelling of bergamask gives the entire suite its memorable name. The name “Clair de Lune,” literally translated as “moonlight,” is a perfect name, since the piece gives distinct images of moonlight with its rolling notes and glorious harmonies.

Played properly, Clair de Lune requires a technical mastery of sweeping left hand movements and modulations in intensity to reach its timeless quality of melodic and counter-melodic beauty. While the piece is played mostly pianissimo, its brief journeys into louder dynamic ranges present a need for a highly-developed knowledge of the keyboard. This, combined with the ability to re-interpret the feel of the music according to one’s own personality, makes Clair de Lune music that has stood the test of time. It is a piece that is constantly evolving, living and breathing in the fingers of pianists the world over.

Clair de Lune is not for beginners. If you are a beginner or near-beginner, go to Piano For Beginners.

(This is a guest article.)