Any scale, such as
Major or Minor, is defined by its own unique series of half-steps and whole steps. These intervals, half-step vs. whole step, are both measured in terms of a chosen pair of notes, and the musical parts they play in defining the overall sound of any particular scale.
Continue reading How to quickly learn all Major Scales — and their relative Minor Scales too!
Updated Feb. 4 2021.
This is a really exciting technique for what I like to call the “Big Blues” sound. By “Big Blues,” I mean dramatic, exciting, full, like you might hear from a jazz big band. This kind of lick also works great for building to a climax in your “blues story” (a good solo usually tells a story).
The name of this lick, “Locked Up,” ain’t necessarily because what you’re saying with your fingers might be a story about going to jail. In this video, “Locked up” actually refers to the core idea of the lesson, something called “locked rhythm.”
Continue reading FREE Interactive Piano Chord Catalog of 108+ Piano Chords
Updated: Dec. 31, 2020
Here’s a straightforward way to play impressive sounding arpeggios on your keyboard!
This sounds especially nice on piano when using the sustain pedal!
VIDEO LESSON
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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!
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.
Video Lesson:
Hi Everyone!
I recently received a question today (on my YouTube channel), an excellent one, the topic of which is subject to debate. The question is in response to one of my videos about using add9 chords on piano. (A link to the video is included below.)
I thought I would share the thread here:
“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. Continue reading Chord Voicings for Jazz Piano (Rootless, Left-Hand, Type B)
In this lesson, we master a couple of specific blues piano tricks of the trade. I’m using the word specific here, because we’re going to use these devices with a goal in mind, a musical effect that is pretty specific.
The “tricks” in this video are focused on emulating those sounds of blues singers and other instruments who can bend their notes (slide or play between pitches). You’ll learn about “blue notes,” and also pick up a blues-boogie playing technique called the slide-off.
Continue reading Blues Piano Crash Course #8: Blue Notes & Pitch-Bending
It seems to me that contemporary modal improv, which had its jazz birth in the late 1950’s, was a huge influence on the increasingly improvisational rock of the 1960’s, (even when players might not have consciously realized it!), and has never stopped being at the heart of so many great pop/rock/jazz solos until this very day.
This is a brief introduction to the idea of “modal jazz.” We’re going to look at probably the most famous example of modal jazz, a tune called “So What,” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
We’re looking at this piece because (1) it was part of a ground-breaking approach to jazz improvisation and composition when it came out, and it’s still definitive of the modal jazz genre (maybe the definitive recording?) (2) because “So What” is the best-known track on one of top-selling jazz albums of all time, “Kind of Blue.”
Continue reading How to improvise in modal jazz: “So What” by Miles Davis
Continue reading Chord Voicings for Jazz Piano (Rootless, Left-Hand, Type A)
Moonlight Sonata Mvt 1- Sheet Music & FREE Follow-Along Video | Piano Sheet Music PDF with Letter Note-Names Added
Moonlight Sonata COMPLETE | Sheet Music with Lettered Notes & FREE Follow-Along Video | COMPLETE Sonata No. 14
SECOND MOVEMENT | Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata | Sheet Music With Letters
THIRD MOVEMENT of "Moonlight" Sonata with Letters - Professional Standard Piano Sheet Music with Letter-Labels Added
Gymnopédie with Letter-Names Added | Complete Gymnopédie #1 by Erik Satie | Piano Sheet Music with Letter Note-Names
Continue reading Chord Symbols: add2 or add9? (includes my video on using added ninth to chords)