The facinating secret of learning just a few chord progressions...

Here is a typical chord progression:

C Am7 Dm7 G7

It is commonly referred to as the "We want Cantor!" chord progression, because those are the first 4 chords of a famous song by that name.

But you can use that very same piano chord progression not only in "We want Cantor", but also in "Blue Moon", "Heart & Soul", "Unchained Melody", "Ebb Tide", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", "It's The Talk Of The Town", and cou! ntless other tunes. You can also use the exact same progression in gos pel songs such as "He's Everything To Me", "I ! Am Not Worthy", and many others.

So if you knew that progression -- I mean REALLY knew it -- you could play countless songs, and portions of countless others.

This same piano chord progression also makes an excellent introduction to most ANY song.

And this very same chord progression also makes a great "turnaround" in dead spots in a song, as well as for use between 1st and 2nd verses of a song.

All this from just ONE chord progression!

Please go to http://www.chord-progressions.com

More Reasons Why Everyone Should Learn Chord Piano

Click below to play this 5-minute video from Google Video! (You might have to click twice on the start button to get it going, for some unknown reason)

Music software: Exciting things you can do in music on the internet using software!

Are you a musical prodigy as well as a tech savvy computer fiend? You might as well combine the two and look into the hundreds of ways in which you can not only learn, but create, and edit your music with your computer, using software readily available online. There are hundreds of options out there, many of them perfect ways for you to unlock your inner virtuoso.

Please go to http://www.playpiano.com/Articles/36-musicsoftware.htm to read the entire article.

Famous people who played the piano

Of our 42 US Presidents, two of them were pianists, both Richard Nixon and Harry S. Truman. Even today, famous politicians such as Condeleeza Rice serve who is a wonderful pianist, who at one time considered becoming a concert pianist before pursuing her degrees in international relations and economics.

Please go to http://www.playpiano.com/Articles/37-famouspeoplepiano.htm to read the entire article.

Chord Substiution Technique #1

Please go to http://www.playpiano.com/101-tips/34-chord-subs-1.htm

Music Theory & Harmony: Boring?

Music Theory & Harmony: Boring? No!
It's An Exciting X-Ray Into

How Music Works!

It's a sad fact that most people, including piano players, regard music theory and harmony as some abstract concept that has very little to do with the songs they play on their pianos. Nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing music theory and harmony is the key to opening a whole new world of exciting insights into the songs we play, and enable us to do things on the piano we never dreamed we could do, to say nothing of enjoying the process a hundred times more.

What is music theory, and how can I benefit?

Here are just a few of the wonderful skills and insights a person benefits from by learning music theory:

How notation works -- a huge advantage in sight-reading.

The hierarchy of rhythm -- solving rhythm problems before they begin.

All kinds of scales -- the "ladders of notes" every song is composed of. Major scales, 3 types of minor scales, chromatic scales, whole tone scales, modal scales.

How transposition and modulation works -- playing songs in different keys, and getting from one key to another smoothly.

Complex time signatures, and what they tell you.

Perfect, major & minor intervals -- helps ear training greatly.

Two-part and four-part harmony.

For the rest of this article, please go to http://www.playpiano.com/musictheoryharmony.htm

Piano Chord-Casts

If you listen to podcasts, here are some piano-related podcasts called "Piano Chord-Casts"

http://web.mac.com/chordsgalore/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

Duane

PS They are all free, of course.

Is It Really Possible To Play The Piano By Ear?

Is It Really Possible To Play The Piano By Ear?

Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece of music (or, eventually, learn an instrument) by simply listening to it repeatedly. The majority of self-taught musicians began their education this way; they picked up their instrument and began playing an easy melody from a well-known song, slowly picking out the notes as they went along. And even after these musicians master their instruments or a particular song, playing by ear still plays a large role.

Many pop and rock bands don't play or write their songs based on sheet music, they figure the songs out by playing by ear. It's even common among non-musicians. Ever sit down a piano and mindlessly pick out the tune to "Mary Had a Little Lamb"? What about grabbing a guitar and suddenly finding yourself playing the opening licks to "Smoke on the Water"? That's playing by ear. You're able to play part of the song just because you've heard it so often.

Playing by ear is a valuable technique for many musicians; learning songs based solely on hearing them is a great way to understand song and chord structure. In fact, a great number of rock and pop musicians learned to play their instruments this way. Instead of picking up a book or taking lessons, they concentrated on figuring out the notes and rhythms to a song until it was mastered. Then they moved on to another song. And another. Gradually, they learned their instrument just by playing by ear -- and in the process learned how to effectively structure a song in that particular genre.

To continue this article, please click here:

http://www.playpiano.com/Articles/33-pianobyear.htm

Piano Books: The Top Piano Books To Help You Become a Better Piano Player!

Piano Books: The Top Piano Books To Help You Become a Better Piano Player

There are umpteen zillion piano books available in music stores and online at such places as Amazon. And piano books are usually necessary if your goal is to become a better pianist.

But how does a person know which piano books are necessary and which books are redundant, to say nothing of good or bad. There are books on music theory, scales, chords, books about composers, books about music in general, and of course piano lesson books by Schaum, Williams, Alfred d'Auberge, Bastien, John Thompson, Glover, etc., etc.

The best way is to divide the study of piano playing into it's components:
General lesson piano books:

For the rest of this article, please go to: http://www.playpiano.com/pianobooks.htm

Chords

In contrast to a unison or an interval, a chord is any group of 3 or more notes that are played at the same time. Broken chords, also known as arpeggios, are chords which are played one note at a time, but add up to 3 or more notes.

For full article, please go to:

http://www.playpiano.com/Articles/chords.htm