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what are the family chords?

The ones responsible for this website will hardly be accused of being quick to answer questions. But I'll give it a try, in case anybody is following this thread, which I doubt.

There are three family chords, also called primary chords, in each scale, with the first, fourth and fifth note of the scale as the root note. For example in the key of C major or the C major scale, the family chords would be based on the C, F and G notes of the piano.

C major scale is C, D, E, F, G, A and B. Hope that is clear. So when you count starting with C as 1, you see that F and G notes are notes number four and five, C of course number one.

So the family chords of C major scale are:

C chord = C - E - G notes.
F chord = F - A - C notes.
G chord = G - B - D notes.

You can build the family chords of any scale, for example in the key of F, the family chords would be F (FAC notes), Bb (Bb-D-F notes) and C (CEG notes.)

Hope that helps.

Hello from Norway

There are probably other sites, like vmeo.com. The quality depends on the camera you have, at least I think that's the biggest factor.

Andrew has a $2000 camera, therefore his videos are crystal clear! But I think you can do fine with a 720p camera, there are still photo digital cameras at $150-$200 that can record in 720p.

Hello from Norway

Think I understand what you mean, it (eksamen) is like when you go to school to take some course, like mathematics, physics, computer programming and when you pass the test (or exam) you get a certificate that you've finished this particular course with some grade, 6, 7, 9 or whatever. You want to learn this sonata and be able to say you can play it (and show that you can.)

It's good to have a piece that you like and work on it along with the easier basic stuff, which sometimes can be boring, I know that. But it pays off in the end because the techniques you learn with the beginner pieces are used in the more difficult ones. Hope it goes well for you.

Hello from Norway

If you are a beginner then maybe it's better for you to start on pieces in an easier key. Most people start on C major (or A minor, it's relative minor key) which has no sharps or flats, only white keys.

Then you can gradually work your way up according to the circle of fifths. The next key would be G, which has one sharp, F#. Look at Andrew's video on the circle of fifths (again, you've probably seen it.)

I've benefitted from this site here. It has many pieces in nice arrangements in categories ranging from easy to intermediate. I find it best to start with easy pieces and gradually increase the difficulty level.

You can both download the sheet music (PDF) or in MIDI format. You can use a program like Synthesia to play the MIDI files, but beware that you don't learn to read notes from it. I sometimes use it if the piece I'm playing is difficult, lot of hand movement, different lenght of notes and such. Then I try to play the same piece from the sheet music.

Hello from Norway

Hello Petter and welcome to this forum. Greetings (hilsen) from another Nordic country!

Congratulations on your P95, I have it's predecessor, P85. Got it in Malmö Sweden for 5.000 svenska kronor last summer, about 500 Euros I think. The P95 is supposed to be some improvement over the other one.

Piano For a COMPLETELY Beginner!

You're welcome.

Piano For a COMPLETELY Beginner!

Hello ichris87, and welcome to the forum.

Have you tried G major music theory? This site has a lot of pieces, grading from absolute beginner to advanced players. Plus they all have fingering written on them, so you don't have to be uncertain which fingers to use and when.

You can download both the written notes (PDF) and as MIDI. Some people play the MIDI files in Synthesia a program which shows notes falling down to a keyboard, very visual.

Then of course you can watch Andrew's videos (if you haven't) they include a lot of basic information.

You can also get some internet courses for about $40, if you're willing to spend some money. But you should do fine with G major music theory songs and Andrew's videos.

Regards.

Chords of the same note

This is a bit confusing. You talk about chords of the same note in the title of your message. Chords are notes played at the same time, and then you say the you're supposed to play two B-s in a row. Then it can't be a chord, besided chord can't be two B-s unless they're an octave apart and includes some other notes.

Can you post a picture of the measure, maybe the measures before and after as well?

Sounds Of HIV

Interesting, I downloaded one of the MP3 files and it sounded like a dark symphony, very fitting I assume.

playing off of other pieces

It's not wrong to use other artist's music to get inspiration or learn from them, on the contrary it would be foolish not to do so. I was just elaborating on what VictorCS was talking about.

In fact the Wikipedia article about God Save The Queen says that as noted composers as Beethoven, Haydn, Clementi and Bach (junior, the son of J.S. Bach) all used the anthem in their works, either based on it or quoted it as it is called.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_save_the_queen

playing off of other pieces

That is a very, very good question, VictorCS. I've often wondered about this myself. Every now and then I hear about this or that artist suing another, for stealing his or her song, at least a part of it and using it in a new song.

I cannot answer which thumb rules apply about this. Right now I'm studying an online course which teaches about the basic riffs and techniques used in many popular songs.

We know that nobody has a patent for the C, A-minor, F and G chords, but an artist might have a copyright through some song on a particular sequence of those same chords. In this course I mentioned it's said that the chord progression C-Am-F-G is used in countless songs.

How complicated does a chord progression have to be to make an artist able to claim copyright over it? Hope someone more experienced can answer these questions asked here.

Circle's Performances

Thanks for your explanation, CoF. So if we sum it up, there are two ways to record from a digital piano:

Using only the camera, which records the sound and picture, not only the piano of course but every sound heard in the room. Thus risking unexpected noise, people talking in the area or knocking at the door. Then transfer the video with sound to the computer. Maybe some cutting needs to be done, apart from that the video should be ready for upload.
Connect the DP to the computer and let some recording program record what is played, resulting in an audio file. Record your performance with the video camera and cut out the audio from the recoreded video, or mute it before recording. Mix the audio file with the picture, then upload the resulting video.

Would like to avoid the trouble of synchronizing sound and video, so I'd prefer the first option. Besides I don't want the notes to be heard one second after they're played.

By the way I saw that you put your videos on Pianoworld and everyone was pleased, congratulations with that. I also think your performances are good.

Making chords fun

That's another way to do it. The course covers blues scales in some of the later books. Jytte, how about setting up an underpage on your site with useful riffs and improvisation exercises? Just an idea to think about.

Making chords fun

I'm studying an online course, which teaches how to play rhytms and riffs using simple major chords. For example you can play a rhytm used in many popular songs with C, Am, F and G chords, all in the C major scale.

Just by playing the root note of the chord with the left hand and the whole chord with the right. Goes like this:

LH: C (half note, octave below middle C) + RH: C chord (start on middle C, quarter notes.)
LH: A (half note, octave below) + RH: Am chord (start on A to the left of middle C, quarter notes.)
LH: F (half note, octave below) + RH: F chord (quarter notes.)
LH: G (half note, octave below) + RH: G chord (quarter notes.)

One more thing. You start on the left hand note, the pattern is left: half note + right: quarter rest, quarter note chord. Which means you start with the right hand after you've held the left hand note for 50% of the time (50% of a half note is a quarter note.)

Remember, you're moving down the keyboard, to the left. Try this, sounds great. Will put in more riffs as I discover them, you can too if you know about them.

Looks like this on the staff:

FREE Music sheets (beginners on up) UPDATED Nov. 19, 2010

The trick is to combine the melody and chords in the same hand, so it sounds like the one note melody, but deeper. I've not learned it but that's how PianoJohn does it. Works well for Michelle, haven't checked the other tutorials.

For example if you're playing the note E, you can replace it with an E or Em chord. Or play a three note chord and use the free finger to squeeze in an extra note, to make the melody stand out.

FREE Music sheets (beginners on up) UPDATED Nov. 19, 2010

Thank you jytte, you always have some interesting pieces on your site and it's constantly growing. Glad you got Michelle and Hey Jude. In case there are other Beatles addicts here beside myself, I'd like to tell you about this site:

https://www.youtube.com/user/pianojohn113

This guy's great, he has tutorials of most of the popular Beatles hits, along with other rock artists like Billy Joel, John Lennon and Elton John. In his videos he teaches how to mix the melody with chords, in the right hand (the left also playing chords or octaves.) It adds a deeper sound to the song. I might even pluck out the score in midis from some of the songs, if I have nothing to do!

introduce myself

Welcome, Risella and thanks for your introduction.

Circle's Performances

CoF, you're welcome you worked for it and thank you for explaining your recording process. With a quick net search I saw the Flip Ultra sells at 120-200 dollars, the cheapest at 120.

I assume that since you have an upright (sounds good) you need that extra software for the sound? Isn't the sound recorded through the MIDI ports on digital pianos? Then you only need a good camera or what?

Does the Flip Ultra record audio (I understand you need something more to capture the deep sound of an upright, but in the case of digitals?) Sorry for so many questions.

Hello from downunder!

Hello Joosh from down under! Welcome to this forum, hope you feel at home here. It might be of interest for you to read through some of the older discussions, like in the How should we practise and Genearl Music Theory sections.

Besides view Andrew's videos if you haven't done so already. There is a link to them at the top of this website, howtoplaypiano.ca.

Circle's Performances

Thank you for these uploads Circle_of_Fists, a shame that noone replies until now, been a bit quiet around here. You show you're walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Nice playing, I play just like this...in my dreams!

But tell me about that camera, Zoom H1. Is it good? I'm starting to look for equipment to record, if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Musical Fossils

When I play with Synthesia I find that I have my eyes on the computer screen and try to guess where the keys are (can see it on the screen if I hit the right ones.)

So it practises blind playing, better than reading from sheets. Because when you have the sheet the notes are always there, while in S. they stay on the screen for a short time. Means that using the sheets I tend to look more at the keyboard.

But I can of course play a passage from notesheets or PDF, by first knowing what notes to play. Requires good sight reading abilities, which comes with practice. Better to have the MIDI-file as well (or a recording of a good pianist) in order to know how the song should sound.

Musical Fossils

Here is one fossil speaking to another, hoping to learn some piano before being put to a museum.

This site has been placed in my (already too long) piano bookmarks folder. Had a quick glance at it, will take a closer look later.

There are downsides and upsides for us the late starting fossils. We usually have more discipline and are serious about our study, though time is not on our side. Family and career also make it difficult to find enough time.

Learning from the masters

Pensum (Danish:) syllabus, curriculum, task assignment. That's right, nobody has assigned us a list of songs we are obliged to play.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pensum

That was the language pensum of the evening!

Agree with you guys, everyone has to find his or her own way. Except the government comes up with some official list of songs all piano students must play, if not done the punishment (pensum?) will be jail sentence.

But not even the EU would be so authorative, even though they like to control most aspects of our lives.

Learning from the masters

jytte wrote:...
I am also very impatient, and I'm extremely tenacious (kinder word for stubborn). I find myself wanting to play music, that is light-years ahead of my skills, and that isn't available in one of those nice "scaled down for beginners" versions.

+2 (that means me and Alistair123 are like this too.) When I started learning in the end of last April, I just wanted to sit down and play Hey Jude or Piano Man by Billy Joel. Then I saw a tutorial video on Piano Man and when the guy's hand just swept across the keybed, playing the intro, I thought to myself:

Hey, you must be joking, am I supposed to be able to do that!? That's when my inner voice said you'll have to begin with one note versions of Silent Night, Für Elise, Ode to Joy, Amazing Grace and such stuff. Maybe throw in some left hand chords. Even though my outer voice still protests against that.

Actually my way of working out more sophisticated versions of my favorite songs was a little different from yours. I don't try so much playing by ear, don't see myself being very good at that. I find MIDI-files, with maybe eight instruments, play them, try to work out which ones I can throw out and which are essential for the melody and chords. Occasionally I study tutorial videos for particular songs. Was very happy when I could play the start of the intro of Michelle and Let it Be, the Beatles songs.

Nvm

Pitch wrote:...
I really don't understand the thing about whole tone scale and harmonic scales. I guess whole tone scale is all white keys and I believe harmonic scales are different ' on the way back' or something?

No, not necessarily, a whole tone scale is a scale that has only whole steps, as opposed to major scale, which has whole and half steps. But you're right about the harmonic scales (I think, because I don't know much about them.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_tone_scale

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30