amaradjohnson

[amaradjohnson]

Treble Clef

Music is a beautiful art, which is at the same time very complicated when not properly studied. One of the basic musical sign is the treble clef. The treble clef plays an important role in the composition of music. from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2019/04/treble-clef.html

[amaradjohnson]

Hi all, I hope you guys can check out my site. I wrote different instrument review and other musical information like understanding musical notes. Here is a sample of what I wrote, this is about the piano keyboard layout.Either way, thanks so much for your hard work!Cheers,Stephanie from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2019/04/hi-all-i-hope-you-guys-can-check-out-my.html

[amaradjohnson]

I hope you can also check this out

I was wondering… would you consider adding my link to your page as well? I wrote different instrument review and other musical information like understanding musical notes. 

Here is a sample of what I wrote, this is about the piano keyboard layout.Either way, thanks so much for your hard work!Cheers,Stephanie

from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2019/04/i-hope-you-can-also-check-this-out.html

[amaradjohnson]

I think I need to start

Music has a different use for all of us. I use music as a therapy. This is a good blog Andrew. I am not good with organs, ummhh I think I need to also write something about it. And I hope you can also check out mine. This article is about the piano layout to help those who wants to learn and understand the piano. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think.Regards,Stephanie from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2019/04/i-think-i-need-to-start.html

[amaradjohnson]

What to Know About the Piano Keyboard Layout

If you’re new to the piano, chances are you have a lot of questions. And, at the start, most of these questions are going to revolve around navigating the piano keyboard.

It might seem overwhelming when you’re faced with all those piano keys. And with no idea of what sound they make, or even why they’re laid out as they are, the keyboard can look very confusing for a beginner.

But, with the help of this guide, you’ll soon know everything about the piano keyboard layout.  You also need to learn the piano chord progression.

How Many Keys on a Piano?

Almost every modern piano keyboard includes 52 white keys and 36 black keys, making a total of 88 keys.

Some keyboards have fewer keys, which can be helpful for beginners to learn the basics before they move onto a full-size piano. For example, some piano keyboards have only 32 keys, comprised of 19 white keys and 13 black keys.

And, there are some professional-level pianos with as many as 108 keys. But, no matter how many keys a piano has, the black and white keys are always laid out in a specific way.

The Pattern of Piano Keys

Don’t let the number of keys on your piano intimidate you, understanding the layout of a piano keyboard is a lot easier than it looks.

It helps if you have a keyboard in front of you to see for yourself. But, if not, a diagram works too. Let your eyes follow the keys from left to right. Can you see how the black and white keys follow a pattern [1]?

The patterns of black keys tend to stand out more for most people. You should able to see that there is block of two black keys, a gap, and then a block of three black keys. Another gap follows, then another block of two black keys, and so on.

These black keys are called accidentals, and they’re useful for finding the notes represented by the white keys. Because, without the pattern of black keys, it would be almost impossible to tell the white keys apart.

Keyboard Notes

Of course, the real beauty of a piano keyboard is the infinite number of sounds and melodies you can create when pressing down on the keyboard keys.

But first, you need to learn which notes the keys represent.

The Musical Alphabet

Since the musical alphabet only seven letters, from A to G, you might consider it easier to learn than the regular alphabet.

But with an average of 88 keys on a keyboard, how does that work? Well, this musical alphabet is repeated over and over again on the white keys of the keyboard. So, after the white key which indicates the G note, the following white key will be an A, then B, and so on. The black keys represent notes too, but there isn’t one of these for each letter.

Because of this repeated pattern, even if you only know which note one white key represents, this can help you work out the rest.

Finding Middle C

Unfortunately for beginners, piano keyboards don’t have letters printed on them. So, how can you know which key represents which note?

The first step for navigating a piano keyboard is to find the middle C. As the name suggests, the middle C key is in the center of the keyboard.

To tell the C note from the other notes, you need to locate the white key to the left of two black keys. Once you locate middle C, you can find the other C notes. Every C is the white key that comes before two black notes, the pattern is just repeated over and over.

Distinguishing Between The C-Notes and F-Notes

Now you have a good idea of which white keys represent the C notes, you can work backwards to find A and B, and then continue along to the right to find D, E, F and G.

But, at a quick glance, it can be easy to confuse the C keys and F keys because F also comes before a group of black keys. Which is why it pays to remember that:

C comes before TWO black keys

F comes before THREE black keys

The easiest way to learn this is to remind yourself that C comes before F in the alphabet, just as two comes before three. Or, the simple rhyme, ‘The C isn’t before three’ might make help you more [2].

However you choose to remind yourself, once you have the C and F keys figured out, it’s much easier to use these as a reference point to remember what notes the other white keys represent.

Sharps and Flats

Although you shouldn’t worry too much about what the terms ‘sharp’ and ‘flat’ mean, becoming more familiar with which notes the black keys represent will help you find your way around the keyboard.

Now you know where the middle C is, step your finger up to the black key just to the right. This is C sharp. But, this black key also represents D flat. Step down to the white key to the right and you’ll find D.

So, although it’s a little confusing to get your head round at first, this one sound has two names, depending on if you step your finger up or down. The same goes for the other black keys. For example, the black key between G and A is both a G sharp and an A flat.

You’ll also notice that, with no black key between the B and the C, or the E and the F, there are no such notes as B sharp, C flat, E sharp or F flat.

Understanding the Piano Keyboard Layout

Thanks to this handy guide, you should now recognize the repeated pattern of black and white keys on every piano keyboard layout.

And, by understanding the notes that these keys represent, you’re one step closer to being able to play the piano!

How easy has it been for you to find your way around a piano’s keys? Let us know by commenting below!

 You may also want to check out the piano keys chart.

The post What to Know About the Piano Keyboard Layout appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/piano-keyboard-layout/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-to-know-about-piano-keyboard-layout.html

[amaradjohnson]

Your Guide to Piano Scales

Piano scales are the basis of any good piano practice regime.

They allow your fingers to develop the muscle memory needed to be able to play up and down through the notes without having to think about it. And scales, or portions of them, appear in a huge number of classical piano pieces.

Read on as we take a look at different kinds of scales and how to play them on the piano.

What Are Scales?

Playing piano scales involves playing up or down through the notes of a specific key.

For example, to play the C major ascending scale you would play up through each note of the key of C major. Playing down through the same notes would be the C major descending scale. You can do this with either your right hand or your left hand. As you become more proficient, the challenge is to play with both hands at the same time, an octave apart.

The notes of each scale depend on whether the scale is major or minor. There are also three different versions of each minor scale, as we shall see later on.

How to Play Major Piano Scales

To play any major scale, you need to know the notes that are part of the specific key.

You can work these notes out yourself, as the gaps between the notes are the same for every major scale. The pattern is as follows: whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. Since each adjacent key on the piano is one-half note higher than the last, you can use this pattern to work out the notes of each major scale.

For C major, using this pattern gives the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. To play the descending C major scale, you would play the notes in reverse order: C, B, A, G, F, E, D, C.

Fingering

Many of the major scales use the same fingering pattern, but because of the way that the sharps and flats are positioned, some scales are easier play with a different fingering.

The most common fingering for your right hand is 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 for ascending scales, and 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1 for descending scales. Each number represents a finger, with 1 being your thumb and 5 your pinkie. To make the transition from your third finger to your thumb for the fourth note of the scale, you pass your thumb underneath your middle finger. Playing with the left hand the fingering is reversed: 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1 ascending and 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 descending.

Keys that include lots of flats or sharps usually require different fingering, however. For F major, you still start with your thumb but use 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. The left-hand fingering remains the same. For B flat major you would start with your fourth finger and follow the pattern 4-1-2-3-1-2-3-4. The left-hand pattern is 3-2-1-4-3-2-1-3.

How to Play Natural Minor Piano Scales

Minor scales come in three different varieties; natural, melodic and harmonic. We will start with the natural minor scale.

Each major key has a corresponding minor key, called its relative minor. You can find the relative minor of any major scale by moving down by three half notes. So for C major, the relative minor would be A minor. For natural minor scales, the notes are the same as the C major scale but starting from A rather than C.

This gives the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A. The pattern for natural minor scales is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole.

Fingering

The most common fingering for natural minor scales is the same 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5 pattern.

Once again, the scales with more flats and sharps in often require a different pattern. F minor should be played 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. B flat minor is 2-1-2-3-1-2-3-4 and E flat minor is 3-1-2-3-4-1-2-3.

How to Play Harmonic Minor Piano Scales

Harmonic minor scales are almost the same as natural minor scales, but with one difference.

For a harmonic minor, the seventh note of the scale is raised by half a note. This makes the pattern whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole-and-a-half, half. This means the A minor scale is now A, B, C, D, E, F, G sharp, A.

The harmonic minor scale is so called because it uses the notes that are most commonly found in chord progressions of minor keys.

Fingering

Since the majority of the notes of the harmonic minor scale are the same as the natural minor, you should find that the fingerings remain the same.

Once again, keys with lots of flats or sharps require slightly different fingerings. B flat, E flat, and F harmonic minors are some of the most common scales that do not fit the usual pattern.

How to Play Melodic Minor Piano Scales

The final minor scale is called the melodic minor. It is so called because the pattern of notes is more likely to be found in musical melodies than the other two versions.

Where the harmonic minor raised the seventh note by one half, the melodic minor raises both the sixth and seventh notes. This makes the A melodic minor scale A-B-C-D-E-F sharp-G sharp-A. The pattern for melodic minors is whole-half-whole-whole-whole-whole-half.

It is sometimes the case when learning and practicing scales that students are taught to play the melodic minor when ascending and the natural minor when descending.

Fingering

Since there is only one note difference between the harmonic and melodic minor scales, the fingerings for each key are usually the same.

The common scales that require a different pattern of fingering include F melodic minor (1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4), B flat melodic minor (4-1-2-3-1-2-3-4) and E flat melodic minor (3-1-2-3-4-1-2-3).

What Are the Next Steps?

Once you’ve got to grip with piano scales, you’ll want to know what else you should learn.

We have a ton of great content on the site to help you develop your piano playing skills. From in-depth guides on specific chords and scales to information on how to read music, you’re sure to find something to help you improve your playing.

Whatever you decide to learn next, we wish you the best of luck with your piano playing journey.

The post Your Guide to Piano Scales appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/piano-scales-2/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/12/your-guide-to-piano-scales.html

[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to the Sharp Sign

Sharp attack!

The Jaws theme song is famous for using sharps to create a feeling of doom [1]. Listeners can hear the suspense and feel the tension build with each ascending note.

Sharp notes are a great tool to give your songs a variety of sounds. Read on to learn about all about how the sharp sign works for piano players.

What Are Accidentals?

Accidentals are notes you play on the piano that aren’t natural. The accidental will either be a sharp or a flat. Composers use them to help create a different feeling within the music.

Depending on how they’re used, they can create tension in a musical piece or provide release. Typically, sharps build tension, and flats or naturals release the tension.

Almost every instrument in the world is able to play accidentals. You already have seen the sharps on the piano just by looking at the keys. The black keys are all accidentals.

However, it’s important to remember that not all accidentals are black keys, meaning that some of the white keys can qualify as accidentals as well. The natural keys are the ones that don’t contain any sharps or flats.

All of the natural keys on the piano are:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

When you understand the music theory of accidentals, you can easily locate them. Next, we’ll explain how you create a sharp note from any natural note.

Semitone and Half Steps

Sharp comes from the word diese (French) or diesis (Greek), and it means higher pitch [2]. Specifically, a sharp is telling the musician to go higher in pitch by one half-step or semitone.

First, you’ll want to refresh your memory as to what a half step is. A half step or semitone is the smallest possible interval in Western classical music. When you move your finger from one key to the next closest key, you moved a half step or semitone.

Next, practice moving up one-half step from C all the way up to B. Name the notes out loud as you play them. Starting from C, going to C#, moving to D, then D#, and all the way up to the next C.

# Sharp Sign

The sharp sign or sharp symbol looks a lot like a pound or hashtag sign. The only big difference between a sharp and pound sign is the direction of the lines. A pound sign has two horizontal lines going from left to right.

Since sheet music has horizontal lines, sharps are made more visible with slanted or diagonal lines.

When you see the symbol for a sharp note, it’s telling you to raise that note 1/2 pitch. There are two places you have to look for accidental symbols — key signatures and within measures before certain notes.

Key Signature Sharps

A key signature is a set of sharps and flats placed next to each other on the musical staff.

Key signatures are a tool to help guide how a pianist plays a piece. Instead of rotating every single accidental, the signature provides the rules.

Typically, you will see a key signature at the beginning of a line of musical notation. The key signature will appear right after the treble or bass clef.

In certain cases, key signatures will look different and be in different places. Yet, for building a foundation, you’ll most likely be working with traditional musical notations.

Look at a piece of music that uses C major. In the key signature, you’ll notice there aren’t any sharps or any flats. A musician can simply glance at the blank key signature and know it’s the key of C major.

Sharps in Measures of Music

Other than key signatures, sharps can occur randomly within a measure of music.

Unlike the key signature, a stand-alone sharp means you raise that one particular note. If the musical piece showed a # sign next to an F, you would raise the F one-half step.

You will obey the symbols request to raise the note, but only temporarily. A measure of music is defined as two vertical lines with musical notes in between them. Random or stand-alone sharps are accidentals that only apply within the measure they appear.

The timing of your music piece determines how many musical notes are within your measure. Certain songs will use a natural sign to remind you that the sharp doesn’t carry to the next measure.

For example, if measure one of your music has an # sign before the F, the next measure may have a natural sign before the F. The natural sign is just there to help the musician remember that the accidental no longer applies.

Practice with Sharps

There are a few ways you can practice identifying and playing sharp symbols.

First, we recommend you take a moment to train your ears. Listen to some songs that use a lot of sharps and try to identify when they’re played.

Here are a few songs that you can start with:

Joy To The World[3]

Brahms Lullaby [4]

Minuet in G Major Bach [5]

Close your eyes the first time you listen, and see if you can hear the sharps played. Next, look at the corresponding music while you’re listening. Notice how the sharp sounds and the variety it brings to the song.

Order of Sharps

When you become more familiar with key signatures, you’ll identify them with a glance. A musical concept that seems difficult now can become second nature with enough practice.

Every key signature has a unique number of sharps and or flats. The order of sharps in key signature notation is as follows:

F#

C#

G#

D#

A#

E#

B#

Use this phrase to remember the order of sharps:

Fun Children Get Dogs And Eat Birds

Try to create your own mnemonic device using the letters F, C, G, D, A, E, and B. Memorizing the order of sharps will go a long way when you’re learning different key signatures. For the double sharp guide, check it here.

Enjoy Your Musical Journey

Now you can start to play music that has a sharp sign! Music Advisor is excited to help you reach all of your musical goals.

Take a moment to review or blog as we have lots of helpful music-related articles. We also offer a buyer’s guide to help answer a variety of different questions.

Happy learning!

The post An Introduction to the Sharp Sign appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/sharp-sign/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/12/an-introduction-to-sharp-sign.html

[amaradjohnson]

Your Guide to the E Flat Major Chord

Traditionally, musical keys have had specific musical connotations. Over the years, many composers wrote music in E-flat major to convey feelings of love and devotion [1]. Other composers, such as Beethoven, wrote music in this key to lend a heroic and bold feeling to their music.

To perform music in this key, you need to start at the beginning. Learning the E-flat major scale and the chords built from it are the first steps!

Are you learning the E-flat major chord now? If so, could you use a little extra help?

No worries! We’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find the complete guide to the chords in E-flat major. Read on for more information!

Listening to Music in the Key of E-flat Major

As mentioned above, many Classical composers wrote music in E-flat major. Beethoven’s well-known Emperor Piano Concerto, as well as his Eroica Symphony, were both written in E-flat major [2].

In terms of contemporary music, songwriters still employ this key. The song Demons by Imagine Dragons as well as Adele’s Rolling in the Deep are both in E-flat major.

The more you listen to music in this key, the more you’ll get a feel for its sound. That aural ability will help you learn your scales, chords, and arpeggios faster!

Let’s get started, then, building E-flat chords together!

E-Flat Major Chords and the E-Flat Major Scale

The pitches used in the E-flat major chords come from the notes in the E-flat major scale. They are:

E-flat-F-G-A-flat-B-flat-C-D-E-flat

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-1

The numbers below the scale are called scale degrees. Each pitch in the scale has an assigned scale degree number. The first scale degree is E-flat, the second is F, and so on.

Notice also there are three flats in this scale: E-flat, A-flat, and B-flat. When playing music in the key of E-flat major, there will always be three flats in the key signature.

In addition, E-flat is the both the lowest and highest pitch in this scale. The interval, or space, between two pitches with the same name is called an octave.

For the purposes of this article, we’ll stick to one octave of the scale. Although, of course, you can play as many octaves as your keyboard allows.

Chords can be built on any scale degree. Each will have a different aural quality. Let’s go over how to build them in the next sections.

Chords in Root Position

The simplest kind of chord is called a triad. It has only three pitches. We can build triads on each scale degree of the E-flat major scale. Not only the bass notes but also the other pitches in these triads come from the notes of this scale:

E-flat major, E-flat, G, B-flat

F minor, F, A-flat, C

G minor, G-B-flat-D

A-flat major, A-flat, C-E-flat

B-flat major, B-flat, D, F

C minor, C, E-flat, G

D diminished, D-F-A-flat

E-flat major, E-flat, G, B-flat

The triads above are either major, minor, or diminished. In fact, the pattern of chords for any major scale is the same as E-flat’s: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished.

After a little practice, you’ll be able to hear the differences between these kinds of chords. You’ll also learn to recognize how they relate to the tonic chord, E-flat major.

Music usually begins and ends on the tonic. The other chords move away from or return to it. The chords that have the strongest pull back to the tonic are the ones built on the 5th and 7th scale degrees. They are called the dominant and the subtonic, respectively.

Chords With Four Notes

Composers and songwriters don’t limit themselves to triads. Far from it, most chords in music contain more than three notes. Here are the four-note chords in the key of E-flat major:

E-flat major seventh, E-flat-G-B-flat-D

F minor seventh, F-A-flat-D-E-flat

G minor seventh, G-B-flat-D-F

A-flat major seventh, A-flat-C-E-flat-G

B-flat dominant seventh, B-flat-D-F-A-flat

C minor seventh, C-E-flat-G-B-flat

D minor seventh flat five, D-F-A-flat-C

E-flat major seventh, E-flat-G-B-flat-D

Again, a chord built on E-flat is the tonic chord. Notice the chord above built on the 5th scale degree, B-flat, is referred to as a dominant seventh. Any chord, including triads and seventh chords, with B-flat as its base, is called the dominant of the key.

Remember, the dominant has a very strong pull towards the tonic and is often used right before that chord in harmonic progressions. The more you practice your chords in E-flat major, the more you’ll hear this movement.

The chords above may look overwhelming. Remember, though, all their pitches come right from the E-flat major scale. Once you have that scale mastered, the chords will be easy to learn too!

In the next section, we’ll go over how to invert these chords. Let’s go!

Inverting E-flat Major Chords

Triads and four-note chords aren’t always used in root position. Triads are found in three different positions:

Root Position

First Inversion

Second Inversion

To see how this works, let’s invert the tonic chord, E-flat major.

Triad Inversions

Inversions of triads are easy to learn once you understand their pattern. You’re just flipping the notes of the chord around so that each inversion has a new bass note.

Root Position

In root position, E-flat major looks like this:

E-flat-G-B-flat

First inversion:

1. G-B-flat-E-flat

Second inversion:

2. B-flat-E-flat-G

If we flip the pitches around again, we end up back in root position:

E-flat-G-B-flat

Four-Note Chord Inversions

Because they contain more pitches, four-note chords can be inverted three times. As an example, let’s use the dominant seventh chord, with the root note of B-flat.

Root position looks like this:

B-flat-D-F-A-flat

First inversion:

1. D-F-A-flat-B-flat

Second inversion:

2. F-A-flat-B-flat-D

Third inversion:

3. A-flat-B-flat-D-F

Once more, if we flip the third inversion around again, we end up back in root position:

B-flat-D-F-A-flat

Once more, all the pitches in chords and their inversions come from the E-flat major scale. That fact should make learning the inversions less intimidating!

Fingerings for the E-flat Major Chords

Now, let’s go over some fingerings for these chords. Sometimes, the fingerings are variable depending on the context in which the chords occur.

In general, though, there are standard fingerings for root position chords. As an example, let’s take the tonic triad in E-flat major. In the right hand, use your thumb for E-flat, your middle finger for G, and your pinky for B-flat.

Fingerings in the left hand are the opposite: play E-flat with your pinky, G with your middle finger, and B-flat with your thumb.

That’s 1-3-5 in the right hand, and 5-3-1 in the left hand.

For inversions, you just have to shift your hand a bit. For example, the same chord in first inversion could be played as follows:

In the right hand, play G with your thumb, B-flat with your second finger, and E-flat with your pinky. Again, the left hand is just the opposite: use your pinky for G, your fourth finger for B-flat, and your thumb for E-flat.

For second inversion, just shift your hand again. Practice playing inversions both as chords and arpeggios, and it won’t be long before you’ve mastered them all.

Wrapping Up the E-flat Major Chord

After working on the E-flat major chord, you’ll be ready to take on Rollin’ in the Deep!

If you need more tips and help, though, don’t worry! Check out our blog for more keyboard guides on both performance and theory. We can also help you find the right keyboard for you!

The post Your Guide to the E Flat Major Chord appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/e-flat-major-chord/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/12/your-guide-to-e-flat-major-chord.html

[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to Treble Clef

As you know, one notates music by using a staff. Back in the late 9th century, the notation for the Gregorian Chant musical scribes first recorded clefs with “neumes,” or basic dashes or dots above lyrics.

They indicated a relative change in pitch. During the 10th century, scribes added a horizontal line to show a base pitch.

The line’s pitch was indicated by a letter, usually, an F or C. Higher range songs were indicated by the letter G. This is the origins of the musical staff [1].

Our focus here is on the G clef or the treble clef. But first, let’s take a refresher on the role clefs play with regards to the music staff.

The Purpose of the Staff

Today’s music staff is made up of five horizontal lines and spaces, on which of course musical notes lie. Higher notes or pitches place higher on the staff. And, lower notes or pitches place lower on the staff.

Though, with only a blank staff, we don’t know what notes to play. Clefs tell us which notes correspond to which spaces or lines on the staff. One of the two most common clefs is the treble clef.

The treble clef is also called the G Clef. The other is the bass clef, which is also called the F Clef. Without a clef, you simply don’t know what notes to play. Now, let’s focus on the treble clef and the music notes that make it up.

What Is a Treble Clef?

The treble clef is the symbol at the beginning of a staff that indicates the pitches of the notes on the staff.

The treble clef is called the “G clef” because the symbol at the beginning of the staff is a stylized letter “G” spiraling around the second line from the bottom. It encircles the second line of the staff, making that line G4, or a G above middle C.

Thus, the treble clef forms an integral part of the treble staff. These early letters evolved over time. They became the stylized representations that we know as clefs today.

Our modern version of the treble clef comes from the 17th-century notational technique that used multiple symbols to indicate pitch and vocal sound together.

“G, Sol” was a common combination. It was shortened to G.S. and then shorten again, or “corrupted by careless transcription,” to the treble clef that we know today [2].

Finding Treble Clef Notes

Once you find this G note, you can easily find other notes. All you have to do is move forward or backward along the musical alphabet, A-B-C-D-E-F-G.

Lines on the treble clef or G clef are E-G-B-D-F. You can remember this using the old mnemonic device, “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” “Every Green Bus Drives Fast,” or “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.”

Count the lines from the bottom of the staff to the top. The bottom line is the 1st line. The top line is the 5th.

The music notes for the spaces on the G clef are F-A-C-E. Since that spells the word “face,” you can remember that acronym easily. Count the four spaces from the bottom to the top of the staff.

The Ledger Line

When you need more lines, you add something called a ledger line. Ledger lines extend the range of the staff. The first ledger line in the treble staff, which is below the staff’s first line, is middle C on the piano.

The Bass Clef

While our focus here is on the treble clef, we need to mention the other clef, which is the bass clef, or F clef. The bass clef’s lines and spaces correspond to a different set of notes.

Bass clef notes in the lines are G-B-D-F-A. The notes in the spaces are A-C-E-G.

How to Draw a Treble Clef

When it comes to writing music, the first thing you should draw on your page is the clef, in this case, the treble clef. Here are the basics.

Step 1. Draw Your Vertical Line First

Draw a vertical line on the left side of the staff. Be sure to draw the line through the music staff so that it is hanging on both ends.

Step 2. Draw the Curve

Draw a curve from the top of your line down to the fourth line of the music staff. This creates a semicircle at the top.

Step 3. Draw Your Bottom Semicircle

Draw one more curve to the bottom line of your staff. This creates another, larger semicircle that you will extend in Step 4 next.

Step 4. Draw Your G Line

Draw a curve to meet the third, also called the G line. Then, curve around.

What you are doing is drawing the letter G starting from the second line. Set boundaries for the belly. Keep it within the third line and bottom line.

Continue the curve until you reach the end of the letter in the fifth line. Basically, you are creating a spiral.

Try not to make the belly too wide. It takes practice, but soon you will make graceful treble clefts. Take time to observe where the clef lines cross the staff’s lines.

Start from the bottom and work your way up by following the loops. Try not to make your clef too thin or too “loopy.” If you are using a pencil, you don’t need to draw thick lines as you see them in printed music.

Step 5. Draw the Tail

Add a curved tail to the bottom of your vertical line. There you have your treble clef.

Continue Your Music Education

With this guide to explaining what you need to know about the treble clef, you have the tools to start reading and, even better, start writing your own music.

Hopefully, you now have a sound understanding of what the treble clef is and how to read the music notes. A sample of this is the eighth note.

The post An Introduction to Treble Clef appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/treble-clef/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/12/an-introduction-to-treble-clef.html

[amaradjohnson]

Your Guide to the D Flat Major Chord

D flat Major chords have been around since Van Gogh gifted a woman with his chopped off ear. Back then, the Romantic period had nothing to do with star-crossed were-vamp lovers.

That won’t stop us though.

D flat major chords, we’re Never Gonna Give You Up [1].

Keep reading to find out how these chords have sweet-talked us through history.

Notes in the D Flat Major Scale

While we’re on the subject of romance, let me seduce you with some basics.

First, we’re going to call it Db or Dbmaj. That’s its shorthand and how you’ll see it notated most places.

Next, Db has a hot twin called C#. They are the same scale because they occur at the same time. This is called enharmonic.

The Db major scale has 7 notes organized in a series of whole steps and half steps. Also called tones and semitones.

If you are tickling the ivories, whole steps of a C major scale are all the white keys. If you went down a C Major chromatic scale you would alternate between the white keys and the black keys [2]. Half steps are all the black keys.

On a guitar, if you pressed every fret, you’d be hitting the half steps. Every other frets would be a whole-step.

You can recognize the major scale with the famous sound: do-ra-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do

Check it out:

Root: Db

Major 2nd: Eb

Major 3rd: F

Major 4th: Gb

Perfect 5th: Ab

Major 6th: Bb

Major 7th: C

The Db scale follows the pattern of:

Root, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, octave

Cheat sheet: There are half steps between notes 3 & 4 and 7 & 8. Eight, the octave, is the root note eight notes higher.

There is a whole system behind the scale degree names [3]. For now, you only need to be able to recognize the names.

The D Flat Major Chord

Unless you play the didgeridoo, you’ll be able to put these chords to use right away.

Chords of the Db Major scale also follow a pattern:

Major (I), Minor(ii), Minor(iii), Major(IV), Major(V), Minor(vi), Diminished (VII)

Often called harmonies, chords are the essential building blocks to creating beautiful music.

D Flat Triads

Triads are the building blocks of all chords and the most common you’ll find.

A basic major triad is constructed by using the root, the major third, and the perfect fifth.

Put another way, we start with the root and stack on a note a 3rd above it and another a 3rd above that.

Here’s what it looks like:

I. Db: (Db-F-Ab)

ii. Eb minor: (Eb – Gb – Bb)

iii. F minor: (F-Ab-C)

IV. Gb Maj: (Gb-Bb-Db)

V. Ab Maj: (Ab-C-Eb)

vi. Bb minor: (Bb-Db-F)

vii C diminished: (C-Eb-Gb)

Another popular chord form is the Power chord. Power chords are two note chords popularized by Rock music. They involve the fifth and the root but are still based off triads.

Can you guess which note was kicked out of the party?

Db5: (Db-Ab)

Power chords are based off the major scale and are always the same formula in any scale.

Frederic Chopin changed the repertoire of piano students forever with his Nocturnes. Some have been reimagined in the key of D flat.

Building on the Basic Triad

In genres like Blues and Jazz, you’ll see the use of a fourth tone added to the basic triad. This is called the 7th.

Seventh notes are a third above the fifth in a chord.

Check out what this looks like in the key of Db:

Basic Triad/ 7th chord

I. Dbmaj7 (Db-F-Ab-C)

ii. Ebm7 (Eb-Gb-Bb-Db)

iii. Fm7 (F-Ab-C-Eb)

IV. Gbmaj7 (Gb-Bb-Db-F)

V. Ab dominant 7 (Ab-C-Eb-Gb)

vi. Bbm7 (Bb-Db-F-Ab)

vii Cm7flat5 (C-Eb-Gb-Bb)

You can hear the extensive use of 7th chords in Girl from Ipanema by Gilberto & Jobim.

Extensions

Extensions ascend like crystal stairs into the next octave of a scale.

The 9th and 13th scale degrees are the most common. These are the same as the 2nd and the 6th scale degrees only an octave higher.

In practice, these chords create four to seven-note harmonies. Four and five note chords are most common.

Notice that 9th and 13th chords include the 7th note as well:

Db9 (D flat dominant 7 add 9): Db – F – Ab – B – Eb

Db13 (D flat dominant 7 add 13): Dd – F – Ab – B – Bb

Listen to Ben Folds Five’s Underground for a bouncy use of the 13th chords.

Check out James Brown’s I Feel Good to hear 9th chords in practice. This sound is very effective in all of his music.

For something from the Romantic era with 9th chords, listen to Ravel’s Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte.

Sus Chords

There’s nothing more romantic than Grungey Indie Rock.

Suspended chords are partly responsible for the dreamy sound of the 90s and early 2000s.

They occur when the major 3rd is omitted from a chord and replaced with the 2nd or 4th.

For example:

Db: Db-F-Ab

Dbsus2: Db-Eb-Ab

Dbsus4: Db-Gb-Ab

Listen to the Googoo Dolls’ Iris for a heavy dose of sus chord pwnage.

Make It Work For You

The Romantic era was littered with epics of valiant heroes. Their daring journeys took them through moments of tension that delayed the inevitable end.

Music does the same.

All music is a series of building tension and delaying the resolution.

If you play a chordal instrument, writing music with chords will be easier for you. For everyone else there is melody.

Harmonies are built on top of melodies. Occasionally, the harmonies suggest a melody.

To get started, you’ll need to know the basics of chord families.

The three-chord families are Tonic, Subdominant, and Dominant. Substitute any of the chords for another within the chord families.

The chord families of the D flat Major scale are:

Tonic: Db, Fminor, Bbminor

SubDominant: Ebminor, Gb

Dominant: AbMaj, Cdiminished/Cminor7flat5

Beginner rule of thumb: the Tonic leads to the Subdominant which leads to the Dominant which leads back to the Tonic.

In western music, this looks like the typical I-IV-V chord progression.

Some other common chord progressions you can use today are:

1-5-minor6-4, Db-Ab-Bbm-Gb

5-minor6-4-1, Ab-Bbm-Gb-Db

minor6-4-1-5, Bbm-Gb-Db-Ab

4-1-5-minor6, Gb-Db-Ab-Bbm

Learn the Chords

D Flat Major chords are precious to our musical history. You only need to listen to a decade of hits to hear how it has been mastered. Check

Check out our website for guides on finding the best musical instrument for your mastery.

The post Your Guide to the D Flat Major Chord appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/d-flat-major-chord/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/11/your-guide-to-d-flat-major-chord.html

[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to Primary Chords

There are at least 8,400 possible chords on the piano [1].

Musicians don’t worry about memorizing every single chord. Instead, they learn the mechanics that go behind creating them. When you understand the music theory of chords you can build them on your own.

In this article, we’ll explain the theory behind primary chords and how to pair them together. We’ll also explain the 3 main music chords you’ll need to start playing hundreds of songs today.

Theory of Primary Chords

Music consists of 12 distinct tones in each octave. The octave will have seven natural tones and five accidentals.

Look at your piano or keyboard, locate middle c and count each half step to the next c. There’s 12 distance between middle c to the next c, practice saying the names out loud while you count them.

In ascending order (moving up) the 12 tones are :

1.C

2.C#

3.D

4.D#

5.E

6.F

7.F#

8.G

9.G#

10.A

11.A#

12. B

In descending order (moving down) the 12 tones are:

1.B

2.Bb

3.A

4.Ab

5.G

6.Gb

7.F

8.Fb

9.E

10. Eb

11.D

12.Db

Your tonal center will be whatever note you start on. In the example above you are using C as your tonal center. You are playing all of the tones that occur in the key of C. It’s not the same as playing a C scale.

If you were playing a C major scale you wouldn’t play any sharps or flats. However, for this exercise, you play every available tone, including the sharps and flats.

To practice further, choose a new tonal center. For example, after playing all of the C tones, try to start with F. Play every available tone as you move your tonal center (F) to the next F.

Scale Degree Chords

Now that you understand what tones are, we can explain the degrees.

When you play a scale you don’t play every tone within the octave. Instead, you play only the specific 8 scale degrees the key demands.

For C major there aren’t any flats or sharps, so it’s a great place to start learning. You can skip the black keys and will only be playing the white (natural) keys.

From your tonal center C to the next C, you have 8 degrees in a C major scale. You already know all of the notes in a C major scale just by understanding that you will only play white keys.

Here are all 8 of the degrees found in the C major scale :

1.C

2.D

3.E

4.F

5.G

6.A

7.B

8.C

From C to C you have one full octave on the piano. C is the first degree and it circles back to make your next c the 8th degree of the scale. When you start to practice other keys, like D major, you’ll have to pay attention to sharps and flats.

Now you have a better idea of how a tonal center works to build a scale. Next, you can start to learn how to use a scale to create the 3 most popular musical chords.

3 Primary Chords

The primary chords are chords you will hear over and over in thousands of songs. You can build these chords on notes 1, 4 and 5 of the scale. Take a moment and discover what those notes are for a C major scale.

Remember from C to C you have 8 total degrees. Locate what note is on degree 1, 4 and then 5 of the C major scale. For C major the 3 main chords are C, F, and G.

1=C

4=F

5=G

The tonality (agreeable sound) of these chords make them excellent for composition. Locating the 1, 4, 5 scale degree is the starting point before you can begin to build the triad.

Practice locating the 1, 4 and 5 degrees on scales other than just C major.

Building a Triad

Now that you’ve practiced locating the degrees of different scales, let’s return to C major.

Once you’re comfortable locating C, F, G (1, 4, 5 scale degree) you can start to form your triads. Your goal now is to use the information above to play a C, F and G chord or triad.

You will build your triad off a root note. For this exercise, your root notes are C, F, and G. But you can apply this technique for any major triad you want to build.

3 parts make up a major triad; the root, a major third above the root and a perfect fifth above the root.

Major Triad:

Root

Major 3rd (above the root)

Perfect 5th (above the root)

Next, we’ll review the half-step or semitone counting method as a learning tool.

Half-Step or Semitone Counting Method

Do you remember what a half step is? A half step is a distance from one key to the next closest key. If you had your finger on C a half step up would be C# and a half step down would is B.

C is once again the perfect place to start your practice. See if you can create the major triad off of C (1st scale degree) using the half step formula.

Half Step Formula:

Root Note + 4 half steps + 3 half steps

Primary chords are 1, 4 and 5, so now move on to #4. For C major the 4 chord is F (four scale degrees from the root). Use the same half step formula to build a triad with F as the root note.

Finally, you can create the third primary chord, the 5th scale degree chord. For C major this will be the A chord and once again you use the half step formula again.

Practice Building Music Chords

Before we tell you what the full triads will look like, try to create them yourself. Create all 3 main chords for the key of C major. Keep in mind the following overview:

Each scale has 8 degrees (one full octave)

3 Primary Chords in any key are 1, 4, 5

1,4,5 will each be your root note for each chord

Build triads with the half step formula

For the key of C major you should have found the 3 chords to be:

I CEG

IV FAC

V GBD

We used Roman numerals since they are the common musical notation [2]. The roman numerals above still represent the same degrees of the scale (1, 4, 5).

Practice Makes Perfect

Learning about primary chords is an important part of your musical journey! Once you get them down it will open up a whole new world of musical opportunity! Here is an example try to understand the Dm chord.

The post An Introduction to Primary Chords appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/primary-chords/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/11/an-introduction-to-primary-chords.html

[amaradjohnson]

Your Guide to Piano Chord Progressions

All music is based on chord progressions. Even single lines of music on their own imply their underlying chord progressions based on the order of the notes in the melody.

Learning to play basic chord progressions on the piano is reasonably easy to do. It allows you to accompany yourself as you sing, or other musicians you might be playing with. It is also a great tool when writing your own music.

So read on as we look at the most common chord progression and how to play them on the piano. You may also want to check out about the piano keys.

What Is a Chord Progression?

A chord progression is simply a sequence of chords played one after another.

You could play any number of random chords in a row and this would be a chord progression. But in this article, we will be looking at chord progressions that are deliberately ordered to be pleasing to the ear. Indeed, the chord progressions that we will discuss later occur again and again in both popular and classical music.

In order to learn these chord progressions, we first need to understand the conventions for reading and writing these chords.

How Are Chord Progressions Written?

The system of writing down chords and chord progressions is a clever one.

Since music can be written in a wide variety of different keys, it doesn’t make sense just to write the name of each chord in a row. This would mean that the same progressions in different keys would have to be written differently every time.

Instead, the notation we will use in this article is a system of Roman numerals [1]. Each Roman numeral represents the position of that chord in whichever key is being played. So the numeral I represents the chord of the first note of the scale. The numeral IV represents the chord based on the fourth note of the scale, and so on.

The full list of chords is written as follows: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii. As you will notice, some chords are written in uppercase and some in lowercase. Uppercase represents major chords and lower case represents minor chords.

If we were playing in the key of C major, the I chord would be the major chord based on the first note of the C major scale: the chord of C major. The ii chord would be the minor chord based on the second note of the C major scale: D minor. The V chord would be the major chord based on the fifth note of the C major scale: G major.

In a different key, such as E major, the I chord would represent a completely different chord: E major.

What Are the Most Common Chord Progressions?

Since the number of chords is limited, the number of combinations that sound pleasing to the ear is also limited. You will find that many chord progressions can be heard time and again throughout the history of music.

I-IV-V-I

This is one of the simplest but most effective chord progressions.

This is because it contains the three most important chords of any key. These are the tonic, the subdominant and the dominant. When you play them in order, you will hear that they seem to want to follow on from each other. This progression was used often by Baroque composers such as Bach and Handel to instantly define the key that their piece would be in [2].

In the key of C major, the progression would be: C major-F major-G major-C major.

I-IV-V-vi-IV-V-I

This is an extension of the previous chord progression, with a little twist.

In the previous chord progression, the chords seemed to want to follow each other. After the V chord, you ear expects to hear the I chord to finish the progression. By instead playing a vi chord, your attention is caught by the unexpected chord. This is called an interrupted cadence, as the normal pattern you would expect is interrupted.

I-V-vi-IV-I

This simple chord progression is used in an incredible number of different songs.

Huge pop songs such as “Let It Be,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “No Woman No Cry,” “If I Were A Boy,” “Poker Face,” “Party In The USA,” “Save Tonight,” “The Edge of Glory” and “Under The Bridge” all make use of this one simple chord progression.

Which means that if you can master this chord progression, you are already well on your way to being able to play a huge range of popular songs.

I-vi-IV-V-I

This chord progression makes use of the same 4 chords as the previous progression but in a slightly different order.

This progression was hugely popular during the 50s and 60s featuring in hundreds of songs from those decades including classics such as “Stand By Me” and “Unchained Melody.” And it can still be heard in current music, in hits such as “Baby” by Justin Bieber and “Messin’ Around” by Pitbull.

How to Make Chord Progressions Easier to Play

On the piano, you can make playing chord progressions simpler by giving your fingers less work to do.

In C major, the chords of the I-IV-V-I progression are C major, F major, G major, and C major. If you play these chords in their root positions, you would play C-E-G, F-A-C, G-B-D, C-E-G. The requires moving your whole hand up the keyboard between the first and second chords, with none of the notes being repeated from one chord to the next.

But by making use of inversions, you can reduce the amount of work that your fingers need to do. Try this instead: C-E-G, C-F-A, D-G-B, C-E-G. You will find that your fingers need to move much less and it makes the progression more natural to play.

Where to Go Next with Chord Progressions

Once you have mastered these simple chord progressions, you might want to start introducing some more complex chords into the mix.

We have a whole range of articles that can teach you how to play a variety of different chords, including major, minor and seventh chords. There are also plenty of other great articles to help you take your piano playing to the next level.

Whatever you decide to try next, we wish you the best of luck in your piano playing journey.

Let us show you the piano keyboard layout here.

The post Your Guide to Piano Chord Progressions appeared first on Music Advisor.

source https://musicadvisor.com/piano-chord-progressions/ from Music Advisor http://musicadvisorcom.blogspot.com/2018/11/your-guide-to-piano-chord-progressions.html

[amaradjohnson]

Your Guide to the A Flat Major Chord

Once you’ve mastered the A flat major scale, you can move on to playing chords within the scale. Today, we’re going to take a look at the A flat major chord.

This is a popular chord across genres of music. Bet you didn’t know that Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Pharrell’s “Happy” were both written in the key of Ab major [1]!

To help you understand what the chord is and how to play it, we’ve put together an easy guide to A flat major chords. Read on to learn more.

What Notes Do You Play In A Flat Major Chords?

Let’s start off by analyzing what this chord is. Chords can have three or four notes depending on what you’re playing. The Ab major chord is three notes.

There’s also a name for each note: the root note, the major third, and the perfect fifth.

If you have your A flat major scale memorized, you probably already know what the three notes in this chord are going to be. If not, take a look:

The root note is Ab.

Our major third is C.

Our perfect fifth is Eb.

This is how you form every major triad chord, so it’s a good rule to remember!

This is the standard way to create the Ab major chord, but there are also inversions of chords that you can play with to change up your sound. To create a scale inversion, you’re basically going to move your root note up or down one octave.

For example, for the first inversion, you’d move up to the next Ab on the scale. C becomes our root note, so you’d play the same C as you did in the original chord. Eb is our second note and Ab (one octave higher) is our third note.

For the second inversion, we’re actually going to go one octave down instead of up. Eb is the root note, one octave below the Eb played in the original chord. Ab is our second note, and C is our third.

You’re playing the same C no matter which inversion you use — the only notes that change are our Ab and Eb.

What Are The Other A Flat Major Chords?

Of course, there are other chords within the A flat major scale. (In case you forgot, those notes are Ab-Bb-C-Db-Eb-F-G.) This is just the first one.

There are three major chords, three minor chords, and one diminished chord. They follow this pattern: Major-Minor-Minor-Major-Major-Minor-Diminished.

Remember how we mentioned that chords can have either three or four notes? In the Ab major scale, there are both triad and four-note chords. The first triad chord in the key of Ab is the Ab major chord.

If you’re just starting out, it can sometimes be confusing when you hear about multiple A flat major chords. If someone asks you to play the Ab major chord, they’re talking about the chord we just dissected above. If they’re talking about chords in the key of Ab major, it can be one of seven different chords.

You use Roman numerals to represent each chord. If it’s capitalized, that means it’s a major chord. If not, it’s a minor chord.

Here are the triad chords, along with the notes they consist of.

I: Ab major, Ab – C – Eb

ii: Bb minor, Bb – Db – F

iii: C minor, C – Eb – G

IV: Db major, Db – F – Ab

V: Eb major, Eb – G – Bb

vi: F minor, F – Ab – C

vii: G diminished, G – Bb – Db

Finally, those four-note chords we mentioned are formed by adding sevenths, so they’re usually called major or minor sevenths. (Easy enough.) Check out the Ab major four-note chords and see how they only add one extra note.

I: Ab major seventh, Ab – C – Eb – G

ii: Bb minor seventh, Bb – Db – F – Ab

iii: C minor seventh, C – Eb – G – Bb

IV: Db major seventh, Db – F – Ab – C

V: Eb dominant seventh, Eb – G – Bb – Db

vi: F minor seventh, F – Ab – C – Eb

vii: G minor seventh flat five, G – Bb – Db – F

You might also see these chords called extended chords instead of four-note chords.

Recognize Quality

Now that you know which notes make up each Ab major chord, let’s take a look at their qualities.

No, we don’t mean which chord is better than the other. We’re talking about how you know if a chord is major, minor, augmented, or diminished.

Sure, you could memorize the pattern above. But to really understand these chords, you should know the theory behind it.

We already know that to create a triad chord, you combine the first, third, and fifth notes on the scale. That’s why the Ab major chord is Ab – C – Eb. The second triad does the same thing, but this time using the second note on the scale as the root note. Then that pattern is repeated all the way down the scale.

That’s the easy part. Knowing the quality gets just a little trickier.

To know what the quality of the chord is, you’ll look at its third and fifth notes [2]. You’ll be able to identify the quality based on the intervals of those last two notes. Each quality is determined by a combination of major (M3), minor (m3), perfect (P5), diminished (d5) and augmented (A5) intervals.

Here’s how you can tell what quality a triad chord has:

Major triad: M3 and P5 note intervals

Minor triad: m3 and P5 note intervals

Diminished triad: m3 and d5 note intervals

Augmented triad: M3 and A5 note intervals

Play On

Now that you have a better understanding of A flat major chords, you can put this knowledge to good use. This is a great chord to know for every genre of music [3]!

If you’re feeling confident in your musical skills, you might want to get a new instrument to celebrate the occasion. Make sure you get the perfect instrument for your needs by reading our buyers’ guides before you make a decision. We’ve got you covered!

The post Your Guide to the A Flat Major Chord appeared first on Music Advisor.

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[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to Music Note Names

The first time someone learns piano, they struggle with reading music sheet and have no idea abut the music note names. There are multiple symbols drawn on the page, positioned on a variety of lines and spaces.

Music is a language of its own. For a beginner, learning sheet music is like trying to read a book in a different language. Once you start learning the basics, understanding sheet music becomes easier.

The most basic way to start is learning to read what you play on piano: notes! Each note corresponds to a different key on the piano. Sheet music expresses each note using staff positioning and even the amount of time you hold the note.

This guide describes the music note names and how to read them on the staff.

The Essential Music Note Names: A Briefing

All music notes are identified by a letter from the alphabet. The letters range from A-G. These notes are grouped together and in different groups of keys on the piano, called an octave [1].

On a traditional 88-key piano, the note on the farthest left is C1 (or C in 1st octave) and the note on the far right is B7 (or B in 7th octave).

Let’s focus on each note individually. Each note represents a letter and the letter describes the note’s pitch. For example, the C note is always lower than the D note in the same octave.

When reading sheet music, the notes you play are expressed by their position on the staff and the amount of time you play each note. There are additional important symbols that don’t correspond with piano keys, such as rests. See quarter rest, whole rest and half rest.

Like any other text, you read sheet music from left to right.

Reading Notes on the Scale

Reading the scale consists of reading a staff. The staff is made up of lines and spaces. Music notes are positioned on a specific line or space. These lines and spaces are represented by certain notes.

The notes you play depends on the clef [2]. Treble clefs and bass clefs have different notes on their staffs.

Treble Clef

The treble clef represents higher notes on the piano, or any note after middle C. Starting from the bottom to the top line, the notes are in order by the letters and their position on the piano.

From the bottom to the top line, the notes are E, F, G, A, B, C, E, and F.

Each line and space has a specific pitch symbolized by a note. The line notes are E, G, B, D, and F. The space notes are, F, A, C, and E.

Bass Clef

The bass clef represents lower notes on the piano, or any note played before middle C. Like the treble clef, the bass clef notes are in order from the bottom to the top line.

These notes follow the alphabetical order and the positioning of piano keys.

Since bass clef notes are lower, the notes on the bass clef are different than the ones on the treble clef. From the bottom to the top line, the notes on the bass clef are G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and A.

Each staff line and space has a specific pitch symbolized by a note. From the bottom to the top, the bass clef notes are G, B, D, F, and A. From the bottom to the top, the bass clef space notes are A, C, E, and G.

Ledger Lines

The piano has 88 keys but a traditional staff only has five lines and four spaces. What do you do with the other notes? You express these notes with ledger lines.

Ledger lines represent notes played that don’t fit on the staff.

Ledger lines look like lines through a note. One line below the staff represents the next or previous note, before or after the highest or lowest line on the staff.

Let’s look at the treble clef. The last note on the lowest line is E. To play the F below the E, the F note is right below the line. To play the E below the F note, a line is drawn through the E note.

The same thing happens with notes played above the highest line on the staff. The highest line on the staff is F. The next note, G, fits right above the line. The next note, A, has a line through the note.

As you add more notes above and below the staff, you add more lines.

Accents

Sometimes, you’ll see an accent by a note. These accents are either the sharp symbol (#) or the flat symbol (?). Sharps mean a half-step higher pitch and a flat means a half-step lower pitch.

Sharp and flat keys are the black keys on the piano. For example, the black key next to the F note on the right is F sharp, while the key next to the B note on the left is B flat.

These keys can have two different names. For example, one black key can be C sharp and the same black key is called D flat.

Note Time Values

Now you know the note names and their placement on the staff. When you play music, any musician knows timing is everything. So how do you know how long to play a note? That’s why sheet music expresses notes by their time value.

Note timing gets complex, but we’ll only go over basic times. Most notes fall between a whole note (or four counts) and a sixteenth note (or a quarter of a beat).

Here are the notes and their time value:

Whole note (looks like O): four counts

Half note (looks like a quarter note, but the circle isn’t filled in): two counts

Quarter note (?): one count

Eighth note (?): 1/2 count

Sixteenth note (?): 1/4 count

Once you start practicing, you’ll memorize these symbols. You may also want to read about the dotted half note and dotted quarter note.

Start Practicing Piano!

Reading music notes is difficult for any beginner. But once you know the music note names, reading sheet music becomes a lot easier.

Notes have lettered names. They have different positions on the staff that represent the note you play. Each note is drawn as a time value so you know how long to play each note.

You also want to read about our article of grand staff.

For more music theory help, keep reading our blog.

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[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to the F Minor Chord

Understanding chords are essential to learning music theory: these triads form the basis of a composition and affect how a piece of music sounds.

This article will teach you basic music theory about chords, and how to play the F minor chord on the piano. And don’t forget to try out the E minor chord and G minor chord.

What Does Music in F Minor Sound Like?

The key of F minor was as popular with classical composers as it is with today’s songwriters. It has a dark sense about it, without being as dour as some other minor keys.

Classic compositions in the key of F minor include The Four Seasons – Winter by Vivaldi, Piano Sonata No. 1 by Beethoven, and Fantasia in F Minor by Franz Schubert [1].

To hear the key in modern songs, you could listen to Telephone by Lady Gaga, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, or Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

How to Find the F Minor Chord from the Scale

The scale of F minor has eight notes, including four incidentals. An incidental is a sharp or a flat, shown at the start of every music stave on sheet music. It means that each time you read a note that has an incidental, you need to step it up or down half a tone.

The F minor scale has eight notes [2]:

F, G, A-flat, B-flat, C, D-flat, E-flat, and octave F

The root chord uses a triad of the first, third, and fifth notes. That means you will play F, A-flat, and C.

How to Play the F Minor Root Chord

The root chord is the basic chord in F minor. There are other chord variations, but let’s start with the simple root triad [3].

Your Finger Numbers

To learn piano it is best to imagine that your fingers on each hand are numbered. This makes it easy to learn where to put each finger to play a chord or scale.

Numbers go from left-to-right in this order:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

That means on your left hand, your little finger is 5, ring finger is 4, middle finger is 3, index is 2, and your thumb is 1.

On your right hand, your fingers are numbered starting from the thumb. So, your thumb is 1, index finger 2, middle finger is 3, ring finger is 4, and finally, your little finger is 5.

Finger Placement: Right Hand

To play the root chord with your right hand, first, locate the F key. This is the white key that sits just before the group of three black keys.

Place your thumb – finger 1 – onto the F key.

Next, find A-flat. Count up one white key (G), then put finger 3 onto the next black key. This key is known both as G# and A-flat.

Complete the triad with finger 5. The key you need to find is C. To do this, skip the next two white keys after the A-flat and put finger 5 on the third white key along. This is the C key: you’ve now played the F minor chord!

Finger Placement: Left Hand

To play the root chord with your left hand, use the same keys as above but in reverse finger order.

So, finger 5 is on F, finger 3 goes on A-flat, and finger 1 finishes the chord on C.

How to Play F Minor Inversions

A chord inversion is where the same notes of the root chord are played in a different order.

This gives the chord a different feel. For example, the first inversion uses the octave F instead of the root F. This can lift the chord and make a more natural progression into higher octaves for other chords or a melody.

The inversion chords are played with slightly different finger patterns to help with the different spacing between the keys.

Inversion One

The first inversion puts notes in the order of A-flat, C, and F.

To play this inversion with your right hand, place finger 1 on the A key, finger 2 on C, and finish the chord with finger 5 on the next F key.

To play with your left hand, start with finger 5 on the A, then finger 3 on the C, and finish with finger 1 (your thumb) on the F key.

Inversion Two

The second common chord inversion for F minor uses the order of C, F, A-flat.

On the right hand, that means finger 1 starts on C. Then finger 3 goes on to F, and the ring finger (finger 4) is placed on the A-flat key.

To play this inversion with your left hand, start with finger 5 on the C key. Finger 2 (index finger) is next, on the F key, and you finish with finger 1 on A-flat.

What Is F Minor Chord ii?

There is a second chord in F minor that doesn’t use any notes of the root triad but is still an F minor chord.

This secondary chord in the scale is useful to know when you start to learn about music theory in more depth. The ii chord in a scale is used when composing music, and learning it will help you to introduce more complex practice drills as you progress.

The chord ii uses the notes G, B-flat, and D-flat.

To play the chord, use the same finger placement as you learned in the root chord. That’s fingers 1, 3, and 5 on the right hand, and fingers 5, 3, and 1 on the left.

Start with the G key to find the root of chord ii. The B-flat key is the last black key in the group of three black keys, while the D-flat key is the first black key in the group of two.

To carry on the chord, the next two fingers (3 and 5 on the right hand, 3 and 1 on the left), go on the B-flat key and the D-flat key in that order.

More Chords in F Minor

Just like the F Minor Chord ii, there are many more chords in the key of F minor that you can learn.

F Minor Seventh

This chord has four keys: F, A-flat, C, and E-flat. You’ll need to use your ring finger on your right hand, or your index finger on your left, to play the C key. This means you can use the last finger to complete the fourth note in the chord.

G Diminished and G Minor Seventh Flat Five

The other chords in the F minor scale are derived from relative minor and major scales. This means they are like the F minor chord ii above: the notes used aren’t always in the root chord.

The G diminished chord is the same as the F minor chord ii above. The G minor seventh adds an extra note, so you need to play an extra F as the fourth note at the end of the chord.

A-flat Major Chords in F Minor

There are two A-flat major chords in this key. A-flat major uses A-flat, C, and E-flat.

Add a fourth note of G to find the A-flat major seventh: A-flat, C, E-flat, G.

B-Flat Minor Chords

Find the B-flat minor chord in this key by using the notes B-flat, D-flat, and F.

You can use the minor seventh, too: add an A-flat after the F to create the four-note B-flat minor seventh.

C Minor Chords

The C minor chord in the key of F minor uses the notes C, E-flat, and G. You play these using the same finger pattern as the root chord.

The second C minor chord is the diminished seventh: add a B-flat to the top end of the chord for this variation.

D-Flat Major and D-flat Major Seventh

A related major key, you can use the notes of D-flat, F, and A-flat to play the D-flat major chord.

If you add a C note at the top of the chord, this is the D-major seventh.

E-Flat Major and Dominant Seventh Chords

Another major chord in the minor key, the E-flat major chord uses the notes E-flat, G, and B-flat.

Play this chord and add a D-flat at the top of the chord to create the E-flat dominant seventh chord.

Practice Tip: Play a Two-Octave Arpeggio

To practice playing the F minor chord in different ways, try playing each note in the triad individually across two octaves. This is called an arpeggio.

Remember, the finger pattern is always the same across octaves. For example, on the right hand, you would play 1- F, 3- A-flat, 5- C, and repeat again for the next octave. Finish the arpeggio with a final octave F.

The post An Introduction to the F Minor Chord appeared first on Music Advisor.

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[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to the Piano Chords Chart

You can play 73 different songs by only using 4 simple chords.

Piano chords are powerful tools but there’s way more than just 4 of them. In total there are over 8,000 different possible chord combinations on the piano. Many musicians reference a chart rather than trying to memorize every individual chord.

Read on to find out what a piano chords chart is and how it works.

Piano Chords Chart

Chords are a combination of 3 or more notes played at the same time. In special circumstances, the chord can consist of only 2 notes but 3 notes are more common.

Depending on what key you’re in, piano notes typically go from A all the way up to G. The standard chords your left hand will play include diminished, augmented, major and minor chords.

Diminished

Augmented

Major

Minor

A capitalized Roman numeral will represent the major chords. The Roman numeral tells you the chords position in relation to the scale. The minor, diminished or augmented chord numbers will appear in lower case numerals.

Major and minor chords are considered to be the foundation other chords are built from. For this reason, we consider them both to be basic types of chords. Most major or basic chords are a triad that consists of 3 different notes.

Your left hand is traditionally responsible for playing chords allowing your right hand to remain free for the melody. When you are playing a basic chord you need to use 3 fingers on your left hand.

The three fingers you’ll use are your first, middle and pinky finger. The notes these 3 fingers play will be alternating, meaning not next to each other. Alternating notes have a specific amount of space between them.

How Notes Alternate

One way to understand how notes alternate is to master the concept of steps. Every note on the piano is laid out with full steps and half steps. Look at a piano and put your finger on the key for A.

Immediately to the right of A is a black key option that can either be A# or Bb. The distance from the A key up to A# (or Bb) is the one-half step. The distance from the A key to B (or Cb) is a full step.

Every chord will have a different amount of steps needed to complete your triad. Certain chords are considered extended because they’ll require you to use 4 notes instead of 3.

C Major Chord Chart

The key of C is always a great place to build your understanding of chords. This is because the key of C major doesn’t have any flats or sharps. Here are all of the notes included in C major:

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

C

In music, a pattern occurs when you’re naming the major chords for every major key. The repeating pattern you’ll see a lot is:

Major

Minor

Major

Minor

Major

DIminished

Here’s an example of what this pattern looks like in C major:

I C major

ii D minor

iii E minor

IV F major

V G major

vi A minor

vii B diminished

C major D minor E minor F major G major A minor and B diminished make up the basic chords for the key of C major. The numbers all indicate the position of the chord you’re playing. C is #1 because C occurs first in the C major scale.

Also, C is the root note the rest of the chord is built from.

Identify the Root

First, you have to identify the root note of your chord. The root note will be a capital letter so for the key of c it would be a C. Next you’ll want to understand the letters and numbers following the chord root.

Any letter or number that follows a chord root is there to tell you the chord type. Major chords don’t have any type of suffix, instead, they stand alone, just like the C chord.

Whenever you see a capital letter standing by itself you’ll be playing a major triad. Remember for playing the triads you just need to use your pinky, middle and first finger (root, third, and fifth).

Reading Seventh Chords on the Chart

The chords with a #7 next to them say for you to include the key 7 notes from the root.

A C seven chord would end up being C E G and B-flat. You would play the traditional triad and also add the seventh note, B-flat. On the majority of piano chords chart, you’ll see a C seven written as C maj7 or C7.

If you were looking at a chart and saw a number 6 you would add a 6th interval. Pretend you saw the wording “C6” can you guess what it would mean? The capital C lets you know it’s a major chord, but what does the 6 mean?

The 6 is telling you to play the 6th note from the root in addition to playing a major C chord. For a C6 you would end up playing a chord that consisted of C, E, G (your triad) and you would add A (6th interval).

You will also see suspension chords on your chord chart. A suspension chord replaces one tone in the chord with another different tone. C sus 4 is a type of suspension chord in the key of C major.

C sus 4 means you’ll alter your triad to include the 4th tone above the root, not the third. If a chart tells you to play a C sus 4 you’ll play C, F, G, instead of C, E, G. In this example the F note (4th from the root) replaces the E tone (third from the root).

Where to Continue Your Music Journey

Now you’re ready to get hands-on experience and practice reading piano chords chart.

Music Advisor has quality resources to help you find answers to your musical questions. Visit our blog for more helpful tricks on how to play the piano like a pro!

For even more music-related facts, check out our completely free buyer’s guide.

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[amaradjohnson]

An Introduction to Chords in the Key of C Sharp Minor

If you’ve heard Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, and chances are you have, you’ve heard C Sharp Minor chords in action.

Maybe, you’re not a fan of classical music and big hair? Then you can listen to Lady Gaga’s “Let’s Dance” for another tasty spoonful.

From the Classical Era to electronic dance pop, C sharp minor chords have made a lasting impression on us.

Keep reading to find out what the building blocks are.

Notes in the Key of C Sharp Minor

There are only 12 notes.

In hundreds of years of music making, every composer has used these twelve notes to create masterpieces.

They are: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#

The chords of the key of C sharp (C#) minor are built on the C#minor scale. The scale follows a formula of whole-steps and half-steps.

Root, whole-step, half-step, whole-step, whole-step, half-step, whole-step

Here’s what the notes look like:

C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A, B

Chords by Key

Like the major scale, the minor scale follows a chord formula:

Minor, Diminished, Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major

C#minor, D#diminished, EMajor, F#minor, G#minor, A Major, B Major

You will commonly see minor chords notated with a lowercase “m”, a minus sign “-“, or an abbreviation.

For example C#m, C#-, C#min

Major chords will usually have the standalone chord note or abbreviated “Major”.

For example: E or EMaj

Chords are built using intervals of the scale. These intervals explain the relationship a note has to another in the scale.

Triads

Triads are the most common chords you will common across. By using the Root, the third, and the fifth notes of a scale, you can build a three-note harmony. This where the word “triad” comes from.

If you whip out your trusty piano keyboard app, you can follow the C# minor scale with your finger. Starting at C# you can find your other notes on every other key. E falls on a white key, while C# and G# are black keys.

Here are the chords of the C#minor scale:

I. C#m

II. Diminished. D# diminished

III. E

IV. F#m

V. G# m

VI. A

VII. B

This is how you’d spell it out:

I. C#, E, G#

II. dim. D#, F#, A

III. E, G#, B

IV. F#, A, C#

V. G#, B, D#

VI. A, C#, E

VII. B, D#, F#

7th Chords

Another common chord you’ll find is the 7th chord. The seventh note is an interval of a third above the fifth of the scale. These notes are common in blues and jazz.

Check it out:

I. C#m: C#, E, G#, B

II. minor7flat5. D#m7b5: D#, F#, A, C#

III. E: E, G#, B, D#

IV. F#m: F#, A, C#, E

V. G# m: G#, B, D#, F#

VI. A: A, C#, E, G#

VII. B: B, D#, F#, A

Extensions

Common extensions you will come across are the 9th and the 13th. They are called extensions because they extend into the next octave of a scale. They are the same as the 2nd and 6th notes, respectively.

9th: C#m9: C#, E, G#, B, D#

13th: C#m13: C#, E, G#, B, A

These notes can cause a little confusion around notation circles. This is because when you see a 13th or a 9th written, you should assume the 7th is included.

Notice it is included in the chord above.

But sometimes it can be written in the manner above when it is really meant as an add9 or add13. This means that it is a simple triad with the extension added to the end.

Learn the Chords

Beethoven kept playing beyond the c sharp minor even as he slowly went deaf. The muscle memory he built up over his years of playing allowed him to keep playing the right notes.

So if you get discouraged on your musical journey, remember that it can’t get any harder than being a deaf musician.

Check out our guides for the tools to become your best musical self.

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