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FREE Interactive Piano Chord Catalog of 108+ Piano Chords

VISUAL PIANO CHORD BOOK from PIANO WITH KENT

UPDATE Nov. 17, 2020: You can now purchase a downloadable PDF version of this complete piano chord book HERE.

Here is an interactive  eBook that I put together as a reference for my Piano Chords 108 series.

IMPORTANT

This book can serve very well as a stand-alone reference for checking your piano chords.

HOWEVER

The primary purpose of my ‘Piano Chords 108‘ series is to teach piano students how to memorize all 108 of these chords, as they appear on the piano keyboard, without the use of any external reference.

In that context, then, this catalog can be used simply to check your understanding of the memorization system taught here.

 

THE INTERACTIVE CHORD BOOK IS AT BOTTOM!

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Learn all 12 Major & all 12 Maj7 Chords by Pattern (not by rote)

<- Back to the Chords 108 Main Course Page

Welcome back!

Today we’ll learn the unique 3-letter formula the applies to every standard Dominant Seventh Chord.

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:

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Here’s a little bit about “So What” chords

I have a micro-slideshow for you today, about “So What” chords.  This one will be followed soon by Part Two. Then, I’ll be adding to these posts, more detail that is, which I do a lot with already posted stuff.

After these quick slides, you might like these two video posts by me, on “Fourth Chords,” which are closely related to “So What” chords:

Fourth Chords on Piano

More on Fourth Chords

Here’s those slides…

SLIDE 1.

Continue reading “Here’s a little bit about “So What” chords”

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Blues Lick #6: “Locked up”

Welcome Back to a Study in Blues Piano!

Blues Study Lick #6, “Locked Up”

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.”

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Chord Symbols: add2 or add9? (includes my video on using added ninth to chords)

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:

VIEWER: Isn’t the D in Cadd9 supposed to be an octave higher? I guess I’m just confused as to why it isn’t Add2 instead.

Continue reading “Chord Symbols: add2 or add9? (includes my video on using added ninth to chords)”

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Chord Voicings for Jazz Piano (Rootless, Left-Hand, Type B)

“Type B” Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano

“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)”

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Blues Piano Crash Course #8: Blue Notes & Pitch-Bending

from The Blues Piano Crash Course

Lesson #8  (video)

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.

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How to improvise in modal jazz: “So What” by Miles Davis

Attention!

The following post is not just for jazz players!

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”

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Chord Voicings for Jazz Piano (rootless, left-hand, Type A)

“Type A” Rootless Chord Voicings for Piano

“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 A)”

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The 7#9 Chord: Possibly the Funkiest Chord Ever

To all you funked-up rocking hip-hopping bluesy jazzy people out there,

Today’s post features an outrageously funky, bluesy chord which is also used in rock, jazz, and many other places.

This blues-based powerhouse is often called the “Purple Haze” chord, made famous by a Jimi Hendrix song of the same name.  You may also hear it called, more generically, a “Hendrix chord.” (Hendrix did in fact use 7#9 chords in several of his major songs.)

First a SLIDE SHOW, then a VIDEO. Enjoy!

Continue reading “The 7#9 Chord: Possibly the Funkiest Chord Ever”