Have you found your keys?
Dear budding piano players,
NOTE: This video lesson is viewable by both visitors and supporting members.
Here, you’ll get a basic overview of your piano keyboard, along with helpful hints for remembering the letter-names of the white keys. (The white keys are each named with a single-letter, taken from the seven-letter musical alphabet.)
Here’s a brand new sheet music offering from Kent. This one is another custom job for piano and keyboard players who read music “a little bit,” but who may have trouble remembering the details about key signatures, or may sometimes be unsure about which piano key belongs to which line or space on the staff.
Continue reading ““Claire De Lune” Sheet Music with Letter-Notes Added”
UPDATED: Feb. 9, 2019.
Good day! Good evening! Today I’m sharing my answer to the following student question:
My answer: Continue reading “Trouble Playing Certain Chords? Some Notes can be Omitted!”
Hey!
In response to student requests for sheet music, illustrating licks from my video course, A Study in Blues Piano: Focusing on 12 Licks, I have so far created notation for several of the licks.
Today, I have another sheet for you, which I hope will also be helpful.
Please recall, sheet music materials are completely OPTIONAL for this class. No worries at all, if you are a non-music reader.
VIDEO: This post includes an optional video (below). Continue reading “New! Supplemental Video and Sheet Music for “A Study in Blues Piano””
In the film Bohemian Rhapsody, there’s a scene where Queen’s guitarist Brian May is pitching his song We Will Rock You to the band (film clip is below).
He says, “…now, I want you to clap on the third beat.” Of course, this is a movie, and I have no idea if he really said it like that.
Regardless, I’m using this scene as a fun starting point to talk briefly about counting rhythm.
Fact is, when We Will Rock You is counted in the regular way, the beat looks like this:
Continue reading “Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Sparks “Third Beat” Questions”
By contrast, I am shameless enough – dare I say, proud enough – to put forth that I am a music theory GEEK. I like staying “all up in theory land,” and often.
Music theory teaches us WHAT works, and also what CAN WORK. And, if it AIN’T WORKING, it’s usually easier to know WHY, because you possess a systematic command of how rhythm, melody, and harmony work together.
Notice I put rhythm first. Too often neglected — but I put it first in my musical thinking. More on that in other posts.
Continue reading “Eastern Scales, Relative Minor, and The Educated Guess”
(a) Diminished Seventh.
(b) Minor Sixth.
(c) Augmented Fifth.
(d) Both A and C are correct, with name depending on the implied key center. They sound the same, by either name.
(e) Both B and C are correct, with name depending on the implied key center. They sound the same, by either name.
(f) The famous “Lost Interval of Egypt.”
I’m just churning out these little sheets…by request…
Continue reading “Sheet Music: Lick #10 from “A Study in Blues Piano””
Here’s a downloadable PDF file of sheet music for Blues Piano Lick #2, “Da boo da, Bo dee ooo,” for optional use with my course “A Study in Blues Piano” (on this site).
Continue reading “Sheet Music: Lick #2 from “A Study in Blues Piano””
How’s yo blues?
I’ve had requests for piano notation covering the blues licks in my course, A Study in Blues Piano.
That course is video-based, and teaches from a chord-based improvisation point of view.
I sometimes resist providing notation for improvisation-focused courses, because it can almost promote blind imitation, rather than creative playing.
That said, I’ve had a couple of convincing requests lately from students who wanted to have sheet music to supplement this class. As a result, I’ve decided to provided some helpful notation for each of the licks. Ain’t no thing man, I feel you. (Wah?)
After I finish the notation for all twelve licks, I plan to come back and add tutorial text to support the process of playing from each of these sheets.
