Another Christmas Carol arranged for piano using chords

Angels From The Realms of Glory using 2/1 ratio of chords

Playing "Angels We Have Heard On High" on the piano

There are many ways to arrange any tune. Here is one "classical sounding" piano style you can use:

 "Angels We Have Heard On High"

Arranging "O Come All Ye Faithful" on the Piano

Musical passing tones and ostinato in "O Come All Ye Faithful"

How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next In a Song

Wouldn't it be nice if you could predict which chord would probably come next in a song

That would be like having your own crystal ball.

I've got some GREAT news for you.

It is possible. Not 100%, but somewhere on the order of 75% to 85% accurate.

That's because music has FORM -- like the skeleton that holds your flesh, muscles, and skin up. If you had no bones -- no skeleton -- your flesh and all the other parts of you would fall in a heap on the floor. Not a pretty picture. But because you DO have a skeleton, you are able to walk around and pretty accurately predict which way your next step will take you.

It's the same in music. Music has FORM -- a skeleton to hold it up, hold it together. And that skeleton is made out of chords -- harmony -- the tonal center of the song or piece.
In any given key you can play in, there are PRIMARY CHORDS -- chords that occur way more than other chords. They are like family members of that particular key.
At your house, let's say you have 3 people in your family -- your spouse, your child, and you. On the same block, but down the street a few houses, lives your cousin and her family.
At any given moment, who are the most likely people to be in your house?
President Obama? George Bush? Kyle Singler?
I don't think so.
It's possible, of course, but not too likely. If I had to guess, I would say it would be either you, your spouse, or your child. It might be your cousin down the street -- there's a much better chance of that than, say, Michael Phelps -- but my best odds would be to guess that the family members would be there.
It's the same way with chords. In any given key, there are 3 "family members" that are residents of that key -- the I chord, the IV chord, and the V chord. They are far and away the most likely chords to occur in any given key.
For example, if I am playing in the Key of C, and the first chord is the C chord and I have to guess what the next chord is, I would guess that it would be either the F chord or the G chord. Why? Because those are the other "family members". So we have narrowed the odds a great deal just by knowing who the members of the family are.
What chord comes next?
So how could I tell whether it should be F or G?
If the melody is a "B", then the chord is probably a G chord. Why? Because "B" is in the G chord, but is not in the F chord.
If the melody is a "A", than I would guess that the chord is F. Why? Because "A" is in the F chord, but is not in the G chord.
Does that mean that there are always just 3 chords in a song? No, but there are literally hundreds of songs that are made of just 3 chords.
For more complete information see "How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next In a Song"

Are You Able To Think In Any Musical Key?

To speak Spanish or German or French well, you have to be able to "think" in the language. It's the same with music...unless you can "think in Bb" when you're playing a song in the key of Bb, you will leave out flats, miss chords, etc. that are just not necessary to miss.

.....what each scale degree is

.....what the primary chords are

.....what the secondary chords are
.....what the fingering for the scale of that key is
.....what the relative minor key is
.....patterns that work particularly well in that key.

If you need help in this area, check out "How To Think In All 12 Keys"

What is Rhythm?

Stupid question, isn't it?

/We all know what rhythm is -- at least we know if when we hear it and feel it. But what is it really -- what makes rhythm tick? Wikipedia defines it as "any measured flow or movement, symmetry" - in other words, it is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events.

The sun, for example, has a rhythm. It comes up every morning and goes down every evening. Steady. The earth has a rhythm too, as it revolves around the sun. We call that rhythm a "year." Your heart has a rhythm too -- if you take your pulse you'll see it is quite steady. All of nature has rhythm, and so it is quite natural that music has rhythm as well.

We speak of that rhythm in terms of "beats", and we measure those beats using tools such as "time signatures", "quarter notes", "eighth notes", "syncopated notes", "steady notes", etc, etc, etc. Most music is in either 4/4 time or 3/4 time, although there are many other varieties that are not used nearly as music.

To master rhythm a person needs to have a "baseline" by which to measure the notes that are occuring in various patterns.

Rhythm Piano

What does it mean to "Dress Up Naked Music"?

That's a strange phrase, isn't it? What in the world is "naked music"?

You've probably noticed that virtually NO professional piano player plays music exactly like it is written in sheet music (except for classical, of course -- that's a different matter).

Instead, they embellish and improvise and arrange the music that is on the printed sheet -- in other words, they "dress up naked music."

There is a great course on the subject at "How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano"

Check it out. It covers 101 things that pianists do to make plain old sheet music come to life in new and exciting ways.

What Key Are You Playing In?

What does it mean when you hear a musician say "this song is in the key of C" (or key of Bb or any key? Watch this short video:


What does it mean "to be in the key of C" (or any key)

What do those sharps or flats mean at the start of a song?

What do those sharps or flats mean at the start of a song? Watch this short video to find out.

"How many chords do I have to know to play a song?"

Lots of people over the years have asked me some variation of the question "How many chords do I have to know to play a song?"

The answer is "What song?" Some songs have many, many chords, but there are hundreds of songs that have only 3 chords, and hundreds more that have only 4 chords.

So to be able to play a simple song like "Amazing Grace" (simple in terms of music, not theology) or "On Top of Old Smoky" or "Happy Birthday" all you really need to know are 3 chords -- the tonic chord, the subdominant chord, and the dominant chord.

Please see "Songs you can play with just 4 chords" for exciting information on this idea.

Also see "Songs With 3 or 4 Chords"