Posts Tagged: chord

Career — Comments Off
15
Nov 10

Learn Music Fast Online

With the advent of the internet there is no longer any excuse for not learning music if a person wants to learn. Learning music online has revolutionized learning, since it is the first time in history that anyone with a computer can virtually find out anything they want to know about music — and find out quick!


There are sites galore teaching everything about music from chords to trombone lessons to drum lessons to music theory lessons to guitar lessons to piano lessons, and a whole lot more. Many are free while others charge a very reasonable tuition. But think what a bargain that is; no travel, no traffic jams; no rescheduling lessons; no missed lessons; and because the lessons are online (or in some cases on CD’s and DVD’s) they can be replayed over and over until the lesson is thoroughly learned, which is not the case in a personal lesson or a college classroom. You have one chance to understand, and if you don’t, you’re immediately behind the curve and have to do extra studies to catch up. Not so with online music lessons.


Back just 15 years ago if an individual wanted to learn music, about the only places he or she could do so would be from a private teacher, a music school of some sort — private or public or correspondence, or self-taught from a music book. All of which is fine, but slow if an individual is really chomping at the bit to learn, and learn fast.


But today there are literally hundreds of sites on the internet from which any ambitious person can access and learn virtually anything they want about music. There are sites dealing with music instruction for beginners as well as college-level sites that deal with figured bass and advanced music theory and composition issues, as well as improvisation and arranging music.


For example, there are piano lesson sites that teach how to improvise — all styles of improvisation including jazz, rock, gospel, new age music and more. There are piano instruction sites that shows you how to play piano sheet music as a map, instead of having to sight read the printed music as it is written. By learning how to do this, you can create your own free piano sheet music by creating a song and then notating it in a music software program such as Finale using piano tabs, piano chords, and chord symbols. A person can learn to play piano notes by the fist-full by learning piano chording music styles.


Learning to play the piano, learning to read piano music, learning piano songs from classical music to popular music is one of the most fun things a person can do. There are piano lessons online using major chords, minor chords, 7th chords, and all kinds of chord progressions. Learning to play the piano music of your dreams using piano chords & piano chording techniques is now within the reach of anyone with an internet connection! And don’t forget harmony and music theory — including scales and fingering of scale and chord passages in musical scores and sheet music — it’s all available online. Music history and music appreciation is important too — guys like Bach & Mozart & Beethoven & Chopin knew what they were doing — and we can learn much from them and stand on their shoulders simply by accessing the biggest library in the history of mankind — the cyber library of the internet.


Here are just a few of the phrases you can search online that will lead you to sites where you can learn music online (I have used piano and guitar as an example, but obviously you can search for anything from singing lessons to drum lessons to harp playing and everything in between):


* piano lessons

* music lessons

* guitar lessons

* guitar chords

* piano chords

* how to form chords

* chord piano

* play guitar

* play piano

* learn guitar

* learn piano

* guitar playing

* piano playing

* learn music online


You will find that if you type “music lessons online” into the Google search box, you will come up with something like eight million results! “Piano lessons” will call up about a million and a half, while “guitar lessons online” will bring up over two million search results.


With this abundance of material online, there is no excuse for anyone who really wants to learn music to not avail themselves of the opportunity, especially when they realize that this is the first time in the history of the world that this riches of knowledge has been available with just the click of a mouse.

You can sign up for Duane’s free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled “Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” which now has over 70,000 current subscribers worldwide.

Career — Comments Off
30
Oct 10

The Benefits Of Learning Music Theory

That’s music to my ear is a common phrase used to express a person’s emotional response to how a particular tune can make them feel. Some people listen to music all the time. Some study the art of playing an instrument. It’s therapeutic; it’s enriching; it’s a way of creating moods in any environmental setting. If you are interested in music for more than the pure enjoyment people get out of listening to it, then learning about music theory is an ideal mode for you.


Music theory can be an important attribute in a person’s life, for many reasons. People often ask, “Is music theory necessary?” “Why do we need it?”


First of all, even though you don’t have to understand how to read sheet music to perform as a musician, you will need an understanding of music theory. It opens so many other doors for you in the world of music. Music theory will not show you how to understand music, but with music theory you will be able to communicate musical ideas, explore music in whole new ways, and redefine the tremendous scope that entails the magical world of music.


Music theory allows you to voice your opinion with others in the field, expand your musical horizon. Give a little input to a fellow musician and you’ll get something in return.


Notations And Communicating With Other Musicians


Music lovers all develop a keen sense of awareness, musically speaking. Sometimes, musicians explain that if they study music theory, then it’ll stunt their creativity. Wrong! The world’s greatest composers were all masters of music theory: Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, J.S. Bach. These experts composed a keen understanding of the theoretical concepts. Years were spent studying the concept, down to some of the smallest details.


Music can be played by ear, picking out tunes without the aid of written music. Your ears can be your guide. The reason this is brought to light is that some musicians with strong theoretical training often disregard the art of playing by ear.


Think of playing music by ear this way: We’re all born as non-verbal creations. Communication begins with crying, making sounds, displaying body language. Parents quickly become experts on baby talk. It’s an innate sense. Over time, language develops by mimicking sounds. Toddlers don’t learn nouns and verbs; they learn to speak by example. Music can be the same way. Hence, the reason so many people pay top dollar for live performances. It’s invigorating, magical.


Understanding Harmony And Chord Progression


Chord progression and harmony, two features of music theory, help broaden any musician, regardless of their genre of study. Chord progression is a series of chords that are used to harmonize music. All compositions use chord progression. Those that improvise – which, as already mentioned, adds charm and magic to the environment of music – invent brand new melodies that blend in with an existing chord. It’s a musical transition, something that must be practiced, repeatedly. The great composers and musicians develop chord progressions and transitions until it becomes natural, a second-natured maneuver.


If a musician improvises in a more interconnected manner, these new melodies show the musician the progression as one whole unit, and not a series of bumpy transitions. The more practice that goes into this aspect of music learning theory, the more interesting substitutions they will develop along the way. Once the concept of chord progression and its structure is understood, it will be easier to remember. Jazz musicians, therefore, show a keen interest in the study and analysis of chord progression.


The study of music theory will show musicians and musical scholars that the objective, initially, is not to consider an entire composition in one sitting. Instead, musicians, students and teachers alike, view a chord progression in segments, or units. These units correspond to musical sections known as stanzas.


A stanza is the complete statement and development of a single musical idea. It’s a fairly simple act of dividing pieces into small manageable sections, with the melody itself forming, or suggesting the boundaries for sound.


Tonality, another element of chord progression, means different things to different people. Some would consider it to be this: any piece of music with a well-defined key center. Others envision any music that uses the conventional chords as tonal.


Music without the use of chords in a functional manner to reinforce a tonal center is not tonal. It is referred to as non-tonal music. The names of these styles are not always agreed upon between musical connoisseurs. But expressing difference is one key element that makes music such a beautiful art form, with countless possibilities.


So, if you are considering studying music, be it to play an instrument, teach music, or simply hone in on personal curiosity, learning music theory is a must for you.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.

Basic Types Of Music — Comments Off
22
Oct 10

Guitar Chords Learn To Play – Fast Tips To Improve Your Chord Transitions

There are a lot of songs out there for the guitar and most of them involve two chords or more to play. However, the difficult aspect of playing chords isn’t forming them, but transitioning between them.

Once you master the technique of transitioning smoothly between two chords, you can really present yourself as a professional when you play any guitar tunes. Here are a few tips to improve your chord transitions when you play the guitar.

1. Know the chords before you play them.

When you learn guitar chords to play, your fingers know exactly where they need to be when the time comes to play. If your fingers hesitate before they make it to the next chord, work on solidifying those chords into the memory of your fingers so that you can form them with your eyes closed.

2. Work through the progressions slowly.

We all know that you’re going to need to play fast eventually, but now is not the time when you’re developing smooth chord transitions. Practice at a tempo that allows you to play a progression perfectly before you decide to increase the speed.

3. Plan the path of your fingers.

Sometimes a couple chords might have your fingers tripping over each other on their way to the next chord formation. Plan where you’re going to place your fingers next and how they’re going to get there in order to avoid your fingers getting tangled up in the process.

4. Go between two chords over and over again.

A little monotony isn’t a bad thing when you have a difficult set of chords to get through and you might need to bite the bullet and hash it out. When two chords can’t seem to transition, play between those chords over and over again to ingrain them into your muscle memory.

5. Place your fingers on the frets simultaneously.

Learning chords to play can get you into a habit of placing your fingers on the frets one at a time, but you’ll be slowing down your technique. When you form a chord, practice placing all of your fingers on the strings at the same time.

This will shorten the amount of time you need to play each chord and increase your playing speed overall.

6. Strum through the transitions.

There are going to be subtle hesitations between each chord when you first begin, but you need to continue to strum through the pauses. If a pause is only for half a second, playing through it gives a more fluent feel to the progression.

Whether you like it or not, you’re going to need to learn to play guitar chords because they’re everywhere. Focus on creating very smooth transitions and fluent formations and your audience will start to recognize you as a professional.

Kyle Hoffman is an experienced guitarist of 8 years that loves to play as a hobby and perform live on stage. If you’re looking for a solid foundation and valuable tips to playing guitar the RIGHT way, visit How To Guitar Play as part of Kyle’s popular guitar blog, How To Guitar Tune

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-chords-learn-to-play-fast-tips-to-improve-your-chord-transitions-1352870.html

Basic Types Of Music — Comments Off
16
Sep 10

Learning how to play a guitar

Guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments nowadays. Most band member’s plays guitar and it’s the main attraction for most band to attract their audience. But playing a guitar is not easy; one must posses a natural talent or may learn how to play it in long time by practice. But how these band’s play guitar like crazy? Even without looking at their guitar and fingers they can play it well. Learning how to play guitar has many solutions. One easy solution on how to play a guitar is by picking a certain song from cd or any audio format. First step is to train your ears, try to pick a cd and figure out the songs. This step is very important it helps your listening skills to figure out the song and in the future transcribe what the guitar is playing. In this process as you listen to the song, and hear when the chords are changing (you’ll also need to know what the chord is changing. This is a very simple task, which you can practice whenever you listen to music. The next time you have a song on, try and identify when the chord changes. As you manage to have a chance of figuring out how to play a song, you’ll need your guitar to be in tune with the recording. By doing this takes a little bit of patience and practice, and again, you’ll have to rely on your ear. One of the keys to getting in tune with a recording is to listen for open string in the guitar part. What you need to do in these situations is identify any note in the recording, then find the note which is closest to it on your guitar, and tune your guitar until it matches the note on the recording.

Bass notes is very helpful, to me listening to a bass notes is the easiest way to identify chords. Since the role of the bass in pop in rock music is generally to lay down the foundation of the music, and play the primary note of most chords. Try to pick a song that sounds simple to play-one that doesn’t move too quickly, and uses a basic strummed guitar part. Now, listen to the guitar part, and identify when the chords are changing in the song. Try to identify the bass part. The bass part in pop and rock music usually contains single notes, and is the lowest sounding instrument in the band. Using your guitar, try and identify what note the bassist plays when the guitar chord changes. Using your finger slide it up the sixth string of your guitar, and try every note, until you find one that sounds like the recording. Identify that note. Try playing different types of C chords at that point in the song. When you find the right chord, move on to the next chord change. This is a good method of figuring out songs, although some problems arise. Sometimes bass players don’t play the root note of the chord… for example, they may play the note E, when the chord is actually Cmajor.

Identifying open strings, this technique is particularly handy when you have tried the bass method of figuring out a chord, and in the end failed. The concept is simple: listen for any open strings ringing in the recording, and then find those same strings on your guitar. This method needs you to memorize all the chords. Another method to learn is note by note method. This method requires of figuring out chords, but sometimes, it’s a necessary evil. The concept is simple, simply listen to the chord on the recording again and again, picking out any notes you can hear, and trying to replicate them on guitar. By trying these methods you can easily learn how to play a guitar. But if these methods don’t suite you, maybe you need a companion that can teach you one on one session of guitar lesson.

May Smith is an SEO professional. She manages websites about orange county guitar lessons, and orange county music lessons. Visit these websites to learn more about these topics.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/learning-how-to-play-a-guitar-1732048.html

Basic Types Of Music — Comments Off
15
Aug 10

Play Piano Gospel to Uplift Your Spirit

Have you ever had the chance to hear a real gospel musician sing their heart out? Regardless of whether or not you are a very religious person, there is something uplifting about hearing music that makes you clap your hands and tap your feet. When you are singing and playing gospel music, you can leave all your troubles behind and really immerse yourself in the power of the notes. Although many people that play piano gospel have been studying it for years, there is something to be said for a little motivation and a lot of dedication to something that you love. If you are eager to start learning this inspirational music for yourself, you should know that you don’t have to spend hours a day on it. There are simple songs that you can improvise and improve until they sound just like the gospel that you know and love.

If you’ve never really thought about playing this kind of music on the piano before, you should know that you can learn it very quickly because this and all church music is basically based on the simple chords and keys that most people use to play hymns. All you have to do is learn a little bit of the most basic theory to know that chords are made up of two or more notes struck on the piano at the same time. Unless you are playing an octave, which is a chord made up of higher and lower registers of the same note, every time you strike a chord, you are creating a little harmony. This harmonious combination of sounds is the basis for gospel and all other music. Basically, chords teach you that some notes sound good together, while others do not.

If you understand the notes that make up the foundational chord of the gospel music that you want to play, you will be able to sound notes and chords that will always sound good with the melody. It also helps that most gospel songs utilize a common rhythm, this means that you will be able to sense when the beginning of the next beat is going to fall, and that’s when you can strike your chord. The best thing that you can do to get started playing piano in the gospel style is to listen to recordings of some of your favorite songs and try to pick out the basic harmonies and melodies on the keyboard.

This process is typically known as playing by ear, and you should know that many of the most famous early gospel piano players learned to play in this exact manner. Many people didn’t have the time or the education to learn to read sheet music, so they simply picked out the melodies they like by ear instead. This method will help you harmonize with any type of gospel musician without necessarily knowing the song. Familiarize yourself with a lot of different types of gospel music and styles before you settle on the one you want to play.

Benoit is a Passionate Piano Player Tutor who’s life mission is to teach the Wonder of Playing the Piano to the World. For more information on how to Play Piano Gospel, visit http://www.PianoTutorialSongs.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/play-piano-gospel-to-uplift-your-spirit-1505189.html