Today I’m happy to present the next lesson in my ongoing course, Chords 108.
Class Audience: Any musician who’s struggling to memorize the individual notes to all those dang chords on piano or keyboards, and looking for a solution.
Today: Learn how to immediately call up the notes to any of the twelve DOMINANT-7th chords on a keyboard — without having to rely on rote memory.
Coming next: Diminished chords.
*This SAMPLE LESSON is free, but it’ll soon be part of the premium ALL-ACCESS series called Chords 108. Our all-access members keep this site alive, and 100% ad-free.
Today I’m happy to present the next lesson in my ongoing course, Chords 108.
Class Audience: Any musician who’s struggling to memorize the individual notes to all those dang chords on piano or keyboards, and looking for a solution.
Today: Learn how to immediately call up the notes to any of the twelve minor chords on a keyboard — without having to rely on rote memory. This lesson applies to all twelve minor seventh chords as well.
Coming next: Dominant seventh chords.
*This series is currently FREE to the public, but will soon be a premium members-only course. Our members keep this site alive, and 100% ad-free. Thanks to all!
Today I'm happy to present the next lesson in my ongoing series, Piano Chords 108.
Class Audience: Any musician who's struggling to memorize the individual notes to all those dang chords on piano or keyboards, and looking for a solution.
Lesson Description: Learn how to immediately call up the notes to any of the twelve major chords -- without having to rely on rote memory. This lesson applies to all twelve major seventh chords as well.
Coming next: The minor and minor seventh chords.
Sorry!
The content you're trying to access below is for members only.
Today's video lesson was created especially for my current series, "Piano Chords 108." In this lecture, students will learn how to visualize and play half-steps, whole-steps, minor thirds, and major thirds on the piano.
What's in the video lesson below?
Intervals...
Half-steps and whole-steps are the two intervals that we use here to define minor and major thirds (which are also intervals). It's the all-important thirds that we are especially focused on here, and we will construct them easily today, using just half-steps and whole-steps.
...Leading to Chords
In our chord speed-learning class called Piano Chords 108, you will achieve impressive memorization skills for chords by using the music theory concept of "stacking thirds."
As prerequisite knowledge for that class, this lecture is basically the stuff you gotta know.
After this Lesson:
Before moving on from this lesson, please be sure you can play (or visualize) both a minor and a major third on piano, starting on any given note, without stopping to think. Even in the middle of a car chase, or a toddler's birthday party at that pizza-and-games place, this should be something you can do without thinking.
Assuming maybe you're not there yet, no worries! Today can be the day. It probably won't take more than one solid practice session after this video, for you to OWN what's covered in the lesson!
VIDEO LESSON BELOW:
Sorry!
The content you're trying to access below is for members only.
Piano Chords 108 (the series introduction is further below)
Here's the first few lessons I've posted for Piano Chords 108. As with all full courses on this site, most of this material is premium content (accessible only to supporting members).
Here’s a detailed tutorial on how to interpret slash chords on piano. This lesson includes insights into several ways that slash chords are used, such as indicating an inversion, implying a descending bass line, or a simply notating a fresh chordal sound.
Composers and songwriters can use the “slash chord idea” in their creative thinking. That is, the effect of playing any given chord over bass notes that are not the actual root of the chord opens up endless possibilities. Some of the thinking behind these possibilities is discussed in this lesson.
Rhythm is never to be neglected in the Blues, even in performances that are so slow and sultry that it feels like we're all just breathing, no real beat, just waves...oh sorry, I spaced! Ha. Thing is, even a very slow blues is going to rely heavily on rhythm to give us another undeniable take on real life. We all know how "slow" can sometimes be more alive than "fast" anyway. It all depends right?
I'm saying that about rhythm here because this is the third lesson in a row where we've been practicing two-handed coordination on the piano. And I think I'd better explain myself, before you get too bored or too frustrated or both.
First, the more fun work (fun work? yep) picks up again after this third lesson on coordination. I swear. Also, you will learn how to do a walking bass line in this one.
Finally, this maybe-less-than-fun stuff is truly important, this coordination work on piano, because if your hands aren't "of one mind" -- coordinated -- then the exalted Rhythm Itself will suffer. And we can't have that in the blues, not on my watch, dig? If you want to sound great, instead of just good or worse, then quite often it's just a matter of fixing up that rhythm. Something that can mystify us sometimes -- that frustrating sense of "it just doesn't sound right" -- can often be traced back to one thing: The Lack of a Solid Groove. Rhythm is King!
Sorry!
The content you're trying to access below is for members only.
“Rootless voicings” on piano (especially for left-hand support) are great for handling big jazz chords that normally can’t be covered by one hand alone. This video tutorial shows you how to play a rich sounding II-V-I in the left hand, while allowing the bass player (or you, on another beat) to cover the root.
This is Part Two of a pair of lessons, covering “Type B” voicings. The first lesson, covering “Type A” shows another way of executing the same idea, only with the notes in a different arrangement.
