Practice with the Circle of Fifths

I was pleased to receive this very informative article on the Circle of Fifths from Willie Myette. I feel it's a very important resource for all musicians to use. In fact,
I call it "the musician's bible" and incorporate it in my piano student's lessons. I have posted the entire article here:


The Circle of Fifths (part 1)

by Willie on September 17, 2009

"The circle of fifths is a fantastic practice tool. It can help you practice scales more effectively, learn key signatures and even learn basic and advanced harmonization techniques.

In this article, I am going to show you some circle of fifths “tricks” that will help you maximize your practice.

What is the Circle of Fifths?
The circle of fifths is all 12 keys of music written on a wheel or “circle”. The keys are divided into intervals of a fifth. Looking at the circle of fifths below, you’ll notice that at the top is ‘C’ and moving clockwise, we move through all twelve keys by intervals of a fifth. So we start with C, then go to G, D, E, A, B, F# (or Gb…same note), Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F and end back at C.

If you go counter-clockwise (to the left) we move through all twelve keys by fourths. Starting with C, we move a fourth to F, Bb, Eb and so on.

How to incorporate the Circle of Fifths into your practice routine

Perhaps the easiest way to use the circle of fifths is to use it as a scale practice tool. Let me explain…

When practicing scales (Major, minor, etc…) I often see students get very good at playing their scales in easy keys like the key of C, F or G. However, when it comes to more challenging keys like Gb, Ab, etc., students become a bit “shy”. This is usually because they have practiced a lot in the easy keys but not as much in the difficult keys.

Many times, this imbalance of scale practice is because students sit down, practice three or four scales then move on to something else. The next day, they sit down, start with the same scales and never end up practicing those more difficult keys.

You can break this pattern by using the circle of fifths. Download and print the circle, then while practicing, mark which of the keys you practiced. For example, circle the keys you practice on day 1, put a triangle around those you practice on day 2, a box around the scales practiced on day 3 and so on.

Using this method, you can be sure that you get through all keys both easy and difficult."

http://www.jazzpianolessons.com/2009/09/17/the-circle-of-fifths

Check out Circle of Fifths for more information:

http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2009/08/learn-circle-of-fifths-patterns.html

All the best,
~ LadyD

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Keiko Matsui - Forever Forever

Keiko Matsui via last.fm

Keiko Matsui - Forever Forever



Probably her most well-known song.

This is a great performance by Keiko Matsui. She plays with feeling and shares much emotion in her music. You feel the sad, melancholy in her music. But there is also a feeling of great hope there, too.

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Smooth Jazz Music

Image via Wikipedia

I love the sounds of smooth jazz... always have. I hope you'll visit:

http://www.jazeboo.com

"Piano jazz music is the same as jazz piano music or music jazz piano, but these are only words. Wonderful instrumental jazz music is not easy to describe, there are many kind of instrumental music, but all of the jazz musicians or jazz music artists who really love and live jazz music knowing " there is nothing like beautiful piano music".It is deeply connected with emotions. You can catch the feeling and the magic of amazing, awesome and even soothing sound."

These 2 videos will take about 10 mins. total viewing time... enjoy!
Smooth jazz music ( instrumental music, piano music, nu jazz, lounge music, chillout music )



Also, you can find jazeboo on myspace"

http://www.myspace.com/jazeboo

You might enjoy FantasticPlanetTV - Jasper Alabama

http://www.silent-evollution.com/flashsite



Do you have any smooth jazz favorite artists?

I hope you have a peaceful, relaxing weekend... listening to some smooth jazz.

Take care,
~ LadyD

http://ladydpiano.com

http://www.LadyDpiano.com