Showing posts with label Chord. Show all posts

You Can Accompany Yourself

C minor chord (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Big Wilson wrote an article about how to accompany yourself. I wanted to share it with you in its entirety. I thought it was pretty upfront and straight forward about knowing chords and then putting them together in chord progressions. That way, you can find your way around songs. So, who is Big Wilson? Watch the video and he plays a quick lick at the very end .

You Can Accompany Yourself

"If you are a singer, either professional or amateur, I assume that you know the major scale... Do Re Mi Fa Sol, One Two Three Four Five, or No Nee Nay Nee Nah. I assume that you can find middle C on the piano. Given these two assumptions, you can accompany yourself while you sing.

My daddy used to play piano for silent movies. He started at the Binghamton Opera House. He taught me a few chords, and called them "changes." The first chord he taught me was B Flat Major. The first "change" was an E Flat Major, and the second change was an F Seventh. Using these three chords, he ripped into a ragtime version of "Nearer My God To Thee." It was great, and I was hooked.

I spent lots of time at the piano learning and finding new changes, until I could play well enough to put myself through college. I then went into radio and television, often calling on the piano for background to commercials. In those days record artists would visit DJs, and I would get them to sing live. I've had the pleasure of accompanying Steve Lawrence, and Edyie Gorme, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Ella Fitzgerald and others on my radio and TV shows. It was a thrill for me.

Many singers have said to me, "I wish I could play like that, and accompany myself." Therefore, I have devised the most simplistic method of learning to read guitar chord symbols, found on most sheet music. So, if you have the sheet music to the songs you want to sing, you can quickly learn to accompany yourself on the keyboard. You will not be a great piano player. but you will be a fine accompanist.

Let's start with a look at chords. All chords are based on triads. They are either Major, Minor, Diminished or Augmented.

All major triads contain the one, three and five.
All minor triads contain the one, flat three and five.
All diminished triads contain the one, flat three and flat five.
All augmented triads contain the one, three and sharp five.
Unless otherwise indicated, all chords are built on the major triad.
The symbol for a minor chord is a small m. Example: Cm.
The symbol for a diminished chord is a small circle. Example: Co. (Yes, it's a very teeny circle)
The symbol for an augmented chord is a +. Example: C+.

C = 1 3 5

Cm = 1 b3 5

C dim = 1 b3 b5

C+ = 1 3 #5

If you can read simple treble-clef melody notes,
you can play your favorite popular songs using
"Play Piano With Fake Book" system.

Master the following:
*Can't Help Falling In Love
*Smoke Gets In Your Eye
*Never on Sunday
*Edelweiss
*Chariots of Fire and more
Using "Play Piano With Fake Book"

Also, you may be interested in:

Mastering Piano Accompaniment
Step-By-Step Guidance How To Accompany Somebody On The Piano
30 Days Money Back Guarantee
www.HowToAccompany.com

All the best,

"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Slow, Soulful Blues Piano - Gospel Blues Piano

I love the sound of slow, soulful blues. Listen to Willie's amazing piano playing... love the style.

Slow, Soulful Blues Piano - Gospel Blues Piano

My friend dazza from the zone community at hear and play sure can play the

blues! You will learn so much from dazza's

piano tutorial on playing slow blues. I have posted a chord chart for his

chord progressions. Those quick grace notes add such a cool sound!

Learn this at:

http://www.learnasongseries.com, plus loads of free videos on how to play piano

* Chord Chart

Pick Up - (r.h. notes) Bb, B, D, E

G D/B G

B B/A B D G

C C/Bb, (Eb), E G, (Bb, B, D, E) (C9)

D D/F# C D (D7)

/ D Bb, C A

G D/(Bb) B G

E E/Gb D G (E7 add9)

A A/G C# (A7)

D D/F# C (D7)

All the best,

-- LadyD I Write for Fortitude. Fortitude is for people who write with passion. http://fo.rtitu.de/1014

Gospel Keyboard Chords

I love this blues tutorial! You'll learn the C Blues Scale with correct fingering. Also he'll show you some chords and blues runs that sound very cool in your left hand. And a great way to end a song with a tremelo, you know, shaking those notes back and forth for a snappy, showoff ending!

You will definitely want to have a paper and pencil and jot down these chords and piano runs and riffs. Amazing blues, gospel sounds! Enjoy this piano tutorial.

-- LadyD I Write For Fortitude! http://fo.rtitu.de/1014

The Essential Chords

Composer Charles Ives chose the chord above as...

Image via Wikipedia

The Essential Chords

Minor Chords

To make any minor chord just lower the middle note of the corresponding major chord one half-step. (This assumes that the major chord is constructed so that the root is the lowest note of the chord.)

* The Twelve Major Chords

C = CEG
Db = DbFAb
D = DF#A
Eb = EbGBb
E = EG#B
F = FAC
Gb = GbBbDb
G = GBD
Ab = Ab C Eb
A = AC#E
Bb = BbDF
B = BD#F#

* The Twelve Minor Chords

Cm = CEbG
Dbm = DbEAb
Dm = DFA
Ebm = EbGbBb
Em = EGB
Fm = FAbC
Gbm = GbADb
Gm = GBbD
Abm = AbBEb
Am = ACE
Bbm = BbDbF
Bm = BDF#

* Seventh Chords

To make any seventh chord take the corresponding major chord and add a fourth note to it. The note that you add is one whole-step (two half-steps) below the root. The seventh chord will sound better if you place this extra note at the top of the chord, leaving the root at the bottom.

This is a C seventh (C7) chord ... C E G Bb

* The Twelve Seventh Chords

C7 = CEGBb

Db7 = DbFAbB

D7 = DF#AC

Eb7 = EbGGBbDb

E7 = EG#BD

F7 = FACEb

Gb7 = GbBbDbE

G7 = GBDF

Ab7 = AbCEbGb

A7 = AC#EG

Bb7 = BbDFAb

B7 = B#D#F#A

Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you enjoy your stay at Piano Diana.

Blues Chord Progression

You may know how to build:

* minor thirds
* major thirds
* perfect fifths
* major chords
* minor thirds
* seventh chords

Do you know these chords?
C7, F7, G7?

Here's another way to figure out seventh chords:

1. Start from the root note of the chord you want to play. That is ( F ) or ( G )...
2. Add a major third ( 4 half steps )
3. Then add a minor third (which is the same as a perfect fifth from the root).
4. Then add another minor third.

Seventh chord = major third + minor third + minor third ... or

Major third (combined with perfect fifth + minor third

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

C7 = C + E + G + Bb

F7 = F + A + C + Eb

G7 = G = B + D + F

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Blues Chord Progression

A "chord progression" is a series of chords played one after the other.

A "blues chord progression" is usually 12 bars long.

In this progression, a bar equals 4 beats. Clapping your hands 4 times (in a rhythmical beat) equals 1 bar. thus, 12 bars equals 48 beats.

Each bar begins at 1 again. That is, "1-2-3-4" - - - "1-2-3-4" as opposed to "1-2-3-4 - - - 5-6-7-8"

How To Read The Blues Chart

1. The chord is listed first; the beat numbers are listed below the chord names.
2. Play the chord for the given amount of beats listed (the bar # is also listed).

For example,

C7
(1-2-3-4)
Bar 1

This means that you will play a C7 chord while counting to 4

--------------------------------
CHORD PROGRESSION
--------------------------------

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 1

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 2

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 3

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 4

F7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 5

F7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 6

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 7

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 8

G7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 9

F7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 10

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 11

C7
(1-2-3-4)
bar 12

Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you enjoy your stay at Piano Diana.

How To Add the Ninth Chord

Figure 2: the common chord positions and their...

Image via Wikipedia

Chords in my opinion have one purpose, to support the melody line. Like in a painting, you don't paint the colors first then draw the lines of the image. In music there are so many chords to choose from that it makes it fun when you find the combination of chords that really brings out the melody line in any song.

Now where you place the 7th or 9th chord in relationship to the melody depends upon the song structure.

Let's say you are playing "Blessed Assurance" in C. The traditional chord structure would be:

blessed a - (E,D,C)
ssurance - (CEG)
Je-sus is - (ACF, BDG, CFA)
mine (G DE G)

Now if you add an inversion of a ninth chord you get:

blessed a - (E,D,C)
ssurance - (D E G)
Jesus is - (ACF, BbDbG, BDA)
mine (G DE G)

Just by changing the relationship of a couple of notes, the whole flavor of the melody changes. Try this out using a C and G bass. You should hear when the chord changes which bass note compliments the chord change.

Warmest Regards,
~ D.

Slash Chord

Image by gl0ri via Flickr

A slash chord is nothing more than a chord with an alternate bass note.
They're also called compound chords.

When you see a chord like A/E, the first character is the chord and the second character after the slash is the bass note, so A/E would be an A chord with an E bass note instead of an A bass note. Sometimes I find it easy to play slash chords on a piece of music instead of every note written down. That way you're voice can be the lead while you accompany yourself with chords.

Some of the most common types of slash chords are inversion based, meaning that one of the notes already in the chord triad are used for the bass note.
G/B, D/F#, A/C#, A/E...all are inversions of the chord but using either the 3rd note of the 5th note as the bass note instead of the root note.

Some slash chords are non-inversion based, like B/E. The B triad is B, D#, F#...there's no E there BUT if you add extensions to the triad to make, say, a BMaj9/E, then you've got B, D# and F# as well as C# and E so BMaj9/E becomes inversion based. For more information, visit:

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/iindex.php/topic,51740.0.html

Many folks think that the writing of slash chords is complicated : why is it written "Left Hand / Right Hand" instead of the real chord, as on a sheet of music?

It's a bit difficult or confusing for some. On the sheets of music, the bass note is AFTER the slash...
(example : A7/G (=G,A,C#,E) : the G is made by the left hand.)

For more information on slash chords visit this related topic:

http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2009/04/slash-chords.html

http://www.LadyDpiano.com

Half Off Sale - The Secrets to Playing Piano by Ear Course Book

Over at Hearandplay.com, Jermaine Griggs is having a 50% off sale on one of his courses, learning to play the piano by ear. No, it's not a Dvd to watch but rather a music theory book loaded with tones of information for all you musicians.

300pg.Course-50%off Sale

The 300 page course book takes an easy approach to concepts that otherwise seem unreachable for those of us that use the self teaching approach. Although many of the concepts I've read before in other methods, I find amazing that Jermaine seems to expose every idea with the simplicity that makes it so easy to understand. I find myself referring to this popular book often.

For more information visit:

http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2008/10/play-piano-by-ear-course.html

The first 5 chapters of the book were a basic review of music theory and sight reading that anyone that's had some music lessons would know. The rest of the book is absolutely amazing. Jermaine Griggs shows how you can build on one another, like how to take triads like a Cmaj chord and build on it to a 7th chord, then a 9th, then a 13th. This book is full of "meat" of music theory and tips. EVERY MUSICIAN, WHETHER BEGINNING OR ADVANCED NEEDS TO GET THIS BOOK!

The 300 page course book is worth the money. It's good to learn music theory and how to apply it. The 300 page course is a theory book with bonus CD (sound library- audio examples). Jermaine's course covers beginning techniques, music theory, chords, progressions, improvisation, and more! You will want to order the 300 page course book, The Secrets To Playing Piano By Ear today. The half price sale is great!

300pg.Course-50%off Sale

Happy 4th of July!
~ LadyD

http://www.LadyDpiano.com

Learn the Organ with Kevin Nickelson

Image by Kevin Yezbick via Flickr

Awhile back I purchased The Gospel Organ Series, Gospel Keys 350 for Praise and Devotional Songs, then Gospel Keys 450 for Advanced Chords & Voicings. For those interested in learning everything you need to successfully play the organ for a church service, click here:

Gospel Keys Organ Series is the Key to taking your organ playing to the next level!

Learning the organ requires the ability to master the "third element." If you can seamlessly add this third element and shift your thinking slightly, then you can become a powerhouse on the organ in no time.

Learning the organ is not as simple as transferring the same chords and concepts that you know on the piano. While the concepts of chords and progressions remain the same, how to play and connect between chords and progressions is totally different on the organ.

From the Gospel Keys 500 you will learn:

How to play uptempo praise songs using my award-winning 5-step process and tons of bass lines, right-hand chordal movements, "runs," "licks," and more!

Discover the secrets to playing hundreds of "call-and-response" hand-clapping praise songs in all 12 keys just by knowing a few well-known organ patterns!

Learn how to play common progressions and turnarounds like the "1-4," "7-3-6," "6-2-5-1," and how to apply them to your favorite congregational songs like "Bless that Wonderful Name of Jesus," "God is a Good God," and more!

An "over-the-shoulder" and "behind-the-foot" look at how to combine the power of the foot pedal, left hand, and right hand and what it takes to play all three of these components in sync.

Over 40 bass runs, chords, progressions, and fill-ins to apply to your organ playing right away! After learning these things in all 12 keys, you'll instantly have over 480 chords to add to your gospel playing toolbox.

The use of tritones and how they are the heart & soul of organ praise song mastery! I've never met a professional organist who could play a full song without utilizing tritones --- they're that important and you'll get several examples of how to use them.

How to include 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and several altered chords to spice up the sound of your praise songs!

* From Gospel Keys 450 you will learn:

How to play monster chords and how to voice and invert them in non-conventional ways!

Explore major, minor, dominant, diminished, sevenths, ninths, elevenths, thirteenths, and altered voicings from every scale degree, even tones that are not a part of the scale (transitional chords).

How to pick the best inversion of a chord based on your melody and how to use your left hand and bass pedal to support what your right hand is playing.

The power of polychords: How two separate smaller chords can creatively come together to form larger "fancy" chords.

Tons of "opening" and "closing" chords to pull out of your treasure chest at the right time! With your increased chordal vocabulary, you'll never begin and end a song on the organ the same way twice because you'll have dozens of options to choose from.

How to provide instant "phatness" to common chords by using basic triads on the right hand. What most musicians don't understand is that "triads" (3-fingered chords) aren't basic unless you use them by themselves! But if you know the secrets to embellishing your chords, you'll never sound dull again!

Learn to use quartal chords in key areas to enhance the sound of your voicings!

The key to building up your left hand independence! Hint: One major hindrance to getting to the next level is the underdevelopment of the left hand! Once you can successfully mimic exactly what your right hand is doing (...but all on your left hand), you've arrived!

How to mix "churchy" dominant chords into your worship chord progressions to instantly change up the mood!

How to apply my famous "couples" principle to the organ, using dozens of chords from all seven unique tones of the major scale.

Enjoy studying over 50 worship chords (which translates into hundreds of voicings and inversions) , and how to apply them in real-life situations!

Put it all together by spicing up old favorites like "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "Jesus Loves Me," "As the Deer," and more!

An up-close look at how to approach chord progressions differently and how to think creatively when it comes to combining different chords from various scale tones. Songs are built on recurring patterns within the scale tones --- so if you can master this concept, you can learn any worship song out there!

Learn how to apply my "3-4" principle to the organ and how to predict what chords will come next by using my simple mathematical model to count up and down the scale.

I do have these two music resources in my music library and view them often to apply music principles. I highly recommend these music resources. Kevin Nickelson is an organist-extraordinaire on the west coast. He has been a Minister of Music for over 25 years and has played for the "Who's Who" in gospel music. From Kurt Carr, Judith McAllister, and Beverly Crawford to Douglas Miller, Juanita Bynum, and others, he's had the privilege to travel around the world accompanying various gospel artists and groups.

Gospel Keys Organ Series is the Key to taking your organ playing to the next level!

http://www.LadyDpiano.com

Mighty To Save by Ben Fielding and Rueben Morgan

Image by Stitch via Flickr

Mighty To Save (Hillsongs Cover)

Whether you play the song with block or broken chords, it is very moving to play on the piano and worship. Here is the song played on the keyboard:

http://www.youtube.ccom/watch?v=KJOgbNSHHA

Here is Chris' tutorial and I like that he gives the chord break down with inversions:

INTRO: D A F#m E

VERSE 1:
D A
Everyone needs compassion
F#M
Love that's never failing
E
Let mercy fall on me
D A
Everyone needs forgiveness
F#m
The kindness of a Saviour
E D E D E
The hope of nations

CHORUS:
A
Saviour
E
He can move the mountains
D A
My God is mighty to save
F#m E
He is mighty to save
A
Forever
E
Author of Salvation
D A
He rose and conquered the grave
F#m E
Jesus Conquered the grave

VERSE 2:
So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

INSTRUMENTAL:

D A E F#m
D A E F#m

BRIDGE:
D A
Shine your light and
E
Let the whole world see
F#m D
We're singing for the glory
A E
Of the risen King
F#m D A
Jesus Shine your light and
E
Let the whole world see
F#m D A
We're singing for the glory
E
Of the risen King

CHORUS

http://psalm150project.com/2008/03/08/mighty-to-save-chords/#comments

Here's a live performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue31IpVQjCY

Cool song to play over and over! Try these inversions:
D/ A D F#

E/ E G# B

F#/ A C# F#

E/ B E G#

http://www.LadyDpiano.com

Chord Over Chord Technnique

Image via Wikipedia

Many of my music note reading students have gone on to playing chord charts. They are
gaining more understanding of slash chords. When playing the piano by ear, the exciting part is that you can play a song different each time through. This way you're
breaking up the monotony, which makes the music more appealing to the listening ear.

One way to do this is using the chord over chord/octave technique. This technique is done by playing a certain chord , like G Major, with the right hand and a different chord, E minor (Em) on the left hand. another way is to play the root octave with the left hand and not the chord. So, you could play either E octave or Em chord at the same time you play the G chord with your right hand.

The chord change would be written like this: G/Em if the chords were used on each hand or G/E if the right hand is playing a chord (G) and the left hand is playing an octave E. Since the right hand is usually playing a higher tone, it's chord is listed first to indicate it is over the left hand. Here I'm talking about the pitch. This chord change G/E is called G over E.

Now you have created a fuller sound. Normally, the change would be Em in the song, but using the previously mentioned technique, one has achieved a much more fuller sound. If you play Em, that's o.k. but playing G/E the next time you come to the same chord change creates a fuller and different sound.

The chord change G/E and G/Em is actually a split of the chord Em7

* David Crowder Band/No One Like You

Verse 1:
G Em D C
You are more beautiful than anyone, ever
G Em D
Everyday you're the same
C
You never change, no never
G Em D
And How Could I Ever Deny
C G Em
The love of my Savior you are to me
D C
Everything All I need forever
D
How could you be so good?

Chorus:
G D Em C
There is no one like you
G D Em C
There has never ever been anyone like you

Verse 2:
G Em D
Everywhere you are there
C
Earth or air surrounding
G Em D
I'm not alone the heavens sing along
C
My God you're so astounding
G Em D
How could you be so good to me?
C
Eternally I believe it

Chorus 2:
G D Em C
You, You, You, You, You, You (2x)

Bridge:
D C D C
How could you be so good to me?
D C D C
How could you be so good to me?
D C
We're not alone so sing along
D C
We're not alone so sing along
C C
sing along sing along

Other:
G D
There is no one like you
Em C
There has never been anyone like you
G D
There is no one like you
Em C
There has never been anyone like you
C G/B Am C G/B Am C G/B Am G
There is no one like our God, yeah

http://www.tabwiki.com/index.php/David_Crowder_Band/No_One_Like_You

http://www.LadyDpiano.com