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How to Play Piano Using a Few Chords
How many chords do you need to create a piece of music? Would you believe that it doesn't really matter and that whole pieces of music have been created using just one chord? For example, if you play a D minor 7 chord, you could use the bass note D to create a drone effect and anchor the whole improvisation. It could last for a few seconds or many minutes. The important thing is were you in the moment when you created it? If you were, then it will be a good piece of music. If you weren't it will be notes in the air without communication. What communicates is your feeling. It's your feeling that gets across through the notes. The notes themselves are meaningless if you are not present behind them. I usually do not use more chords than 4 or 5 when creating. I use the chords of a certain Key, for example A major and stay within that key until the piece is done. I may change to a different key, but I will always begin with the intention of staying within one, always keeping the possibility open for change. Remember the power of limits, especially in music. When you have too many choices it can be overwhelming and will stop you from being able to go forward. That's why learning to play in 4 and 8-bar phrases is important. It gives you the limit of chord changes. New age music is mostly a static music meaning that the chords do not change too much. In fact, you can have the same chord going on for 8, 16 and even 24 bars or more. The amount of change is dictated by personal taste and that you will acquire after you freely experiment with the music. Remember that attitude is the number one thing. You must allow the music to tell you where it wants to go or you will most likely freeze up and stop the forward momentum. That's why I always tell students the principles for creativity must come first. Without that you are really starting on shaky ground. So, don't worry about how many chords to insert in your music. For a good example of chord changes, look at my book "New Age Piano Made Easy." It's filled with 84 exercises completely comprised of different chord changes in all 12 keys. Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic .com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!
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The Piano Parent Trap! "My 6 year old daughter really loves the piano and wants to learn to play, but when I try to help her she gets very upset with me. What should I do?" Hip Hop History Rap music originated as a cross-cultural product. Most of its important early practitioners-including Kool Herc, D.J. Hollywood, and Afrika Bambaataa-were either first- or second-generation Americans of Caribbean ancestry. Herc and Hollywood are both credited with introducing the Jamaican style of cutting and mixing into the musical culture of the South Bronx. By most accounts Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (rhythmic instrumental segment) in the middle. By mixing back and forth between the two copies he was able to double, triple, or indefinitely extend the break. In so doing, Herc effectively deconstructed and reconstructed so-called found sound, using the turntable as a musical instrument. Chords or Melody First... Which is Best? There are basically two ways you can compose a piece of music. The first and most traditional way is to write out the melody and then harmonize it. Some call this working from the top (as opposed to the chords on the bottom.) The second approach is where you create some kind of rhythmic harmonic pattern and improvise (or compose) the melody on top. Now, which one is best for New Age music? The Death-Defying Warehouse Party Life: An Interview by William of Orange About an entire local music industry that's rarely heard from, briefly navigated by a remote being that coalesces, rarely, around music scenes and their absurd atrocities; published by "The Stranger" weekly newspaper of Seattle, WA. Is Your Child Struggling in School? Get Him (Or Her) Music Lessons This is counterintuitive, I know. Our natural response to seeing our child struggle is to find a way to help, not to add to the burden. If a child is struggling, why should we risk setting them up for failure in music lessons? Soul Band for a Party Was the request six months ago, a sixtieth birthday party, the client said. It got me thinking. There is a whole untapped market out there for people who lived as teenagers and twenty somethings through the sixties and seventies. They are all coming up to this big sixtieth birthday date and they all love the kind of music I love to play and earn my living out of! More than that, their kids are off their hands, their mortgage is paid up and they can afford to splash out on a big celebration. The Time Machine Exist! We call it music, ever noticed how vividly music triggers memory? Piano Teachers - Whats Wrong with Them? Most of us like to use what we learn right away. So why is it that most piano teachers tell you you can't really play music until you learn 2 years of theory or more? What hogwash! Getting Rhythm - Three Tips for Guitar Beginners If you are just starting out learning guitar one of the hardest things can be getting a good rhythm and keeping that rhythm going while you change chords with your left hand. How to Make State-of-the-Art Video Singles Cheaply When it comes to promoting their new music releases, I have found that most musicians only consider radio as the vehicle for exposing their music to the public. Choosing a Jazz Band for Your Party In many years of arranging jazz bands for all sorts of events I am struck by the similarity of how the request is made by most of our clients. Acoustic Or Electronic Drums - What Is Your Choice? A debate rages on in the drumming world! You might think that the debate centers on brands of drums, or different styles of drums. However, you would be wrong. This debate centers on the use of electronic drums in the music industry. Piano Playing Your Way: How To Have More Fun Playing The Piano Than You Ever Have Before Piano playing doesn't have to be boring. There's no law that says you have to play a song the same way everyone else plays it. By learning some basic music theory and chord formations, you can have the time of your life playing music like you've always wanted to. Beginning Clarinet: The Very Start Like starting with any instrument, beginning clarinet is a process of learning that involves both great achievement and the occasional setback. However, if the beginning clarinetist follows a few tips relating to clarinet care and clarinet playing, the success is sure to outweigh the setbacks. Ouch, It Hurts When I Sing! When I first set out to write this article about voice problems in singers, I was looking for two experts from contrasting fields of medicine ? "medical" and "holistic". What I found, instead, in the first practitioner that I interviewed, was a delightful mixture of the two. Music to Echo Your Mood In what way do the kinds of music (rock, rap, classical, instrumental, etc.) change or alter our mood and in what way do our moods effect what music we listen to? Musical Improvisation Basics - 8 Vital Things To Remember This article discusses 8 vital things to remember as improvisers - whether advanced or just getting started: Repetition is the Key to Learning Something Deeply Repetition is the key to learning something deeply. It works most effectively when you are isolating a small amount of material, because the object of your focus will be more specific. Jazz Yatra Jazz is arguably the most argumentative form of music (even has diminished and argumented chords). So at the outset let me present my side of the argument. Jazz is musical improvisation, right? Indian classical music is improvisation, still right? Granted Indian music does not have the harmonies of the west. But the keyword here is improvisation and not harmony, absolutely right? Indian classical music has been around for more than two thousand years. The Americans discovered Jazz less than a hundred years ago. Right then, now that we have established India as the birth place of Jazz lets head for the Indian Jazz Yatra. An Interview with Jon Bon Jovi ? 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Cant Be Wrong The idea originated with singer Jon Bon Jovi. Jon kept upping the ante with his label and ultimately they consented to a four-CD set of essentially new material. Here, he talks about this 20th anniversery project (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong) and the things that make Bon Jovi unique.
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