It’s time to learn another epic power-ballad of a song, Adele’s ‘Someone Like You.’ This song is about two things: sweeping heartfelt emotion and a flashy piano technique known as the arpeggio. In this lesson we’ll take a look at the four sections that comprise the song, as well as the right hand piano pattern that runs through the whole thing.

The Verse

First, let’s take a look at the verse. This verse is a four chord loop consisting of the chords:

A – C#m – F#m – D

A fairly simple, common progression. To get acquainted with each chord in this progression, it’s a great idea to practice the chords in all of their inversions. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with each chord, you can move onto the patterns and forms of each chord as they’re played in the song.

So what is that piano pattern that’s played throughout the entirety of the song? If you’ve been practicing your broken triads, you’ll be right at home playing the right hand part of this tune (Need to brush up on those exercises? Check out the members- only Foundations series at Pianote!)

So here’s the pattern-mentality to lock into your right hand. Take that first A major chord and rather than play it solid, play it in a broken pattern starting from the bottom note up, then back down to the bottom. That means you’ll play A – C# – E – C# – A, or bottom – middle – top – middle – bottom.

You can apply this pattern to every chord in this song. Each chord played consists of three separate notes, but this broken chord-arpeggio pattern is what gives the song is driving, consistent rhythm.

The left hand is luckily quite simple, with tied whole-notes creating a slow moving bass part with each note lasting two bars. Those bass notes are:

A – G# – F# – D 

 Let Adele’s piercing gaze guide your hands and eyes as you learn this song.

The Prechorus

The prechorus continues this right hand pattern, but with some interesting new chords.  Those new chords are:

Eadd9 – F#m7 – D

The first two chords of this progression are a little more elaborate, so let’s break them down note by note. The Eadd9 chord consists of an E in the bass, and the notes F#, G#, E on top in the right hand, again played with that broken style chord progression.

The F#m7 chord is a little simpler, with the bass note moving up to play F# and the right hand changing its middle note from a G# to an A. The progression then ends on a simple D chord, played for two measures.

The Chorus

The chorus is actually quite similar to the verse progression, with a few simple exceptions. In the verse, the chords typically don’t move any higher than the fifth as their top note, but in the chorus they move all the way up to the octave. There’s also a bit of a different progression going on the in left hand as well, so here’s the new chords you have to work with:

A – E – F# – D

Again, very similar but note the E as the second chord. This actually makes the chorus easier than the verse because the left hand directly reflects the root note of the chords!

The Bridge

The bridge is arguably the most complex part at the song, but it’s actually quite simple if you learn how to process each hand’s part. Here’s the chord in the right hand for the bridge:

E – F#m – D – Bm – A – D – E

So these chords in the right hand are quite simple to follow along with this pattern we’ve been looking at throughout the song. The bass pattern is where things get confusing, so just bear in mind these notes as you’re practicing:

B – C# – D – B – C# – D

There’s a bit of work to do in order to sync your hands up solidly here, but that’s what practicing slow is for.

Summing It Up

‘Someone Like You’ is a song that’s really about those right hand broken patterns, so make sure that you’re nice and polished with those hand motions. Take is slow, and listen out for those cool new chords in the prechorus. Have fun practicing!

The post Someone Like You Piano Tutorial – Adele appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

Who hasn’t wanted to bust out a little ‘Happy Birthday’ at a birthday party? It’s a highly recognizable tune, and it’s super easy to play. In this lesson I’ll show you how to play it!

The post How to Play “Happy Birthday” appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

And then they’ll just leave you.

Or they’ll show you the simple scale, and then play something far too complicated for what you have just learned.

Jordan is here today to show you a really cool blues riff, and then break it down note-by-note so you can see exactly what he’s doing, and pay it for yourself.

The Scale We Will Use

The riff uses the C minor pentatonic scale (C-Eb-F-G-Bb) AND we are using the ‘blue’ note as a grace note. That note is the Gb. So really you can think of it as a C blues scale!

Getting used to sliding from that Gb to the G and the F is probably the hardest thing about this riff. It’ll take some practice and won’t feel natural if you’ve never done it before. But once you get used to it — it will really help your blues playing. Those slides are really common in blues, and they sound super bluesy

It’s The Blues, Baby

Now, this is the blues — so you don’t have to try and play it exactly as Jordan does (even HE changes it throughout this video lol). It’s about giving you a riff and the notes that you can experiment with and make your own!

Feel try to change the tempos and rhythms. Find what feels and sounds good for you!

When you’re ready, you could even try playing it in different keys using the corresponding blues scales.

The most important thing is to have fun — and play the blues.

The post Piano Blues Riff Breakdown appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

Those are the 1-5-6-4 chords. The reason so many songs use them is simply that they sound great together. There’s nothing wrong with it.

But it can get a little … boring.

So Jordan is back with an awesome tip on how you can make your progression more exciting by adding in an additional chord that is OUTSIDE they original key. (The fancy name for this is non-diatonic)

The “Exciting” Chord

The chord we’re adding is the Major 3rd chord. So in the key of C Major, this chord will be an E Major chord. It will contain a G#, which is NOT in the key of C. But that’s what makes it sound so exciting.

This E chord works beautifully as a transition chord between the 4 and the 6 chords, so it could lead to the F or to the Am. (This is because of secondary dominance, but that’s a bigger lesson).

This progression has been used by David Bowie, Radiohead, Lady Gaga, Sting and Twenty One Pilots.

So try it out!

Applying It In Any Key

Just remember to find the Major 3rd chord of the key you are in. So if you’re in the key of F, it would be an A Major chord. If you’re in G if would be a B Major chord etc.

It is such a great, unique sound, that I’m sure it will inspire you to come up with your own progressions and melodies.

Have fun playing the piano!

The post Make Your Piano Chord Progressions More Exciting appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

Here are some ideas from Jordan on how he finds inspiration when he sits down in front of the piano and just wants to make music.

Forget all about sheet music and music theory and find an actual picture of something that inspires you visually. Ideally, that picture sparks ideas or feelings you can translate from your head to the piano.

Jordan’s example involves a flame and a snowflake. The flame evokes feelings of warmth and comfort, which might mean you play warm 7th chords and happy major chords. It may also bring to mind a forest fire, which could suggest frantic arpeggios and minor chords. Contrast that with a snowflake, and suddenly you’re playing delicately – you might play higher up on the keyboard with broken arpeggios and a lighter touch.

The idea is to tell a story about whatever you’re using for inspiration. Choosing more than one picture to help you contrast your feelings and sounds can really help you create an epic and inspired improvisation.

What pictures will you use for inspiration the next time you sit down at the piano?

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Riffs & Fills

Riffs and fills are what take a piano player from good to great. Take your playing to the next level with Riffs and Fills. Free with your Pianote membership.

CHECK IT OUT

Let’s learn this riff in the key of A minor. If you place your right hand in the shape of an Am7th chord you will be set up for all the notes you will need! This riff is based off of thirds. All you need to do is play  E/G to D/F# to C/E and then back up to D/F# and finally land on C/E. That’s it! Once you’ve got that mastered, you can add in the left hand using a simple root note bass or using the blues bassline that Jordan demonstrates in the lesson. The riff works over top of the 1, 4, and 5 of the blues progression making it the perfect beginners blues riff because you don’t have to move your right hand around once you’ve established your main positioning.

Watch the lesson.  Try the riff in the key taught and then challenge yourself to explore it in a variety of keys!

Enjoy!

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The chords needed for the 12 bar blues are the 1, 4 and 5 chords. In the key of C you will play the chords based off of the 1st, 4th and 5th notes of the C scale:

C as your 1

F as your 4

G as your 5

Your left hand can create a perfect bluesy back drop by playing a 5th that walks up to the 6th and back again. Add a bit of a swing to your rhythm for even more of a blues sound. Here is how the chords are distributed in terms of timing:

C (1) for 4 bars

F (4) for 2

C (1) for 2

G (5) for 1

F (4) for 1

C (1) for 1

G for (1)

With your right hand you can play something as simple as octaves or a basic chord in varying rhythm patterns. If you want more inspirations and ideas for how to put this all together watch the lesson. Jordan will walk you through step by step how to build the 12 bar blues!

Have fun!

The post 12 Bar Blues appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

The progression is built up of only 3 chords based on the 2nd, 5th, and 1st intervals of the scale. If you are playing in the key of C you will play a Dm7 G7 and Cmaj7.  Playing the 2 chord using its 2nd inversion will help you move between the progression very smoothly so try playing these chords as follows

• Dm7 is D-F-A-C (root)
• G7: D-F-G-B (2nd Inversion)
• Cmaj7: C-E-G-B (root)

If you are new to 7th chords and jazz sounds I suggest you spend some time playing each of these chords on its own until you are comfortable with it. You can play them in broken and solid form, using inversions up and down to help get really comfortable with the chords. Once you are feeling great with these shapes play them as a progression. There are lots of ways to do this.  You can play chords in both hands, You can play the chord left hand only and then use your right hand to play riffs or melody OR you can play the chords in your right hand while you left-hand plays a simple accompaniment based on the root note.

Enjoy!

The post The 2-5-1 Chord Progression (Jazz Piano 101) appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

It’s important to keep in mind that they won’t tell you everything you need to know in order to be able to play a song. They just give you chord names and the rest is up to you!

Here are some of the most common chord symbols you will find in chord charts. For the sake of this article we will use G for all the examples but you can encounter these symbols in any key.

G Maj7  – This means to play a major 7th chord. Major triad with a major 7th on top.

G min7 – This means to play a minor triad with the 7th of the minor scale on the top

G7 – This is a dominant 7th. It is a G triad with a flat 7 on the top

Gsus4 – Play a G chord but swap the 3rd for the 4th note of the scale

Gsus2 – Same as a sus4 but swap the 2nd for the 3rd this time

G+ – A stack of major 3rds

G dim – A stack of minor 3rds

Those are some of the most common chord symbols. Want to know more? Feel free to send us your questions. We always love to hear from you!

Lisa Witt

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Riff #1

The first riff is really common in TV and Film. In fact, the sitcom 30 rock uses it as their opening theme! It uses the coolest elements of the blues scale to great effect.

Here is how it’s done: Play A -C-D-Eb-E. We bop that E note a couple times at the top and then crawl back down the same way we went up. Play this in any key using the blues formula. Use a minor third, whole tone, semitone, semitone and then back down and you’ve got it!

Riff #2

This riff uses the same notes but in a different order. Begin on D and move to Eb back to D-C-D-C-A.  All we’ve done here is utilize the elements of the blues scale. Same notes, different order, whole new sound! Try this in a variety of keys! For example, Starting on G you’d have G-Ab-G-F-G-F-D.

Riff #3

This riff packs a funky feel and uses some harmony notes for an extra kick. My first notes are A on the bottom with my thumb, and then E-G played together on top. For a bluesy effect, I’m taking my third finger and brushing it over the Eb onto the E to slur the notes. Then back to A and this time I will play D and F# as my top notes – then back to A on the bottom and C and E become my top notes. 

Afterward, I play A once again to reset my pattern and bump my top notes up back to D and F#, finishing with one more anchoring of A in the bottom and a C-E on top. It sounds super sweet and isn’t hard to do at all!

There you have it! 3 great blues riffs that anyone can play!

The post 3 Blues Piano Riffs That Anyone Can Play appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

The major blues scale formula is 1 – 2 – ♭3 – ♮3 – 5 – 6. Which means the C major blues scale consists of the notes C – D – E♭ – E♮ – G – A. The minor blues scale formula is 1 – ♭3 – 4 – ♭5 – 5 – ♭7, so the C minor blues scale has the notes C – E♭ – F – G♭ – G – B♭.

In this lesson, we’ll explain the theory behind the blues scale formula and show you all the major and minor blues scales in all 12 keys.

Major Blues Scale Formula & Theory

The major blues scale formula is 1 – 2 – ♭3 – ♮3 – 5 – 6. Which means the C major blues scale consists of the notes C – D – E♭ – E♮ – G – A. 

Every Major Blues Scale

Here are all the major blues scales in all 12 keys:

A-Flat Major Blues
Notes: A♭-B♭-C♭-C-E♭-F-A♭

B-Flat Major Blues
Notes: B♭-C-D♭-D-F-G-B♭

C Major Blues
Notes: C-D-E♭-E-G-A-C

D Major Blues
Notes: D-E-F-F♯-A-B-D

E Major Blues
Notes: E-F♯-G-G♯-B-C♯-E

F-Sharp / G-Flat Major Blues
Notes: F♯-G♯-A-A♯-C♯-D♯-F♯

A Major Blues
Notes: A-B-C-C♯-E-F♯-A

B major Blues
Notes: B-C♯-D-D♯-F♯-G♯-B

C-Sharp / D-Flat Major Blues
Notes: D♭-E♭-F♭-F-A♭-B♭-D♭

E-Flat Major Blues
Notes: E♭-F-G♭-G-B♭-C-E♭

F Major Blues
Notes: F-G-A♭-A-C-D-F

G Major Blues
Notes: G-A-B♭-B-D-E-G

Other Ways to Understand the Major Blues Scale

Another way to remember the major blues scale formula is as a series of steps: whole step – half step – half step – minor 3rd (3 half steps) – whole step.

If you know the major pentatonic scale formula, you can also think of the major blues scale formula as the same thing except we flat the third and repeat it as a natural note. The flatted third is our blue note.

Minor Blues Scale Formula & Theory

The minor blues scale is more common than the major blues. Chances are, if someone says “play a blues scale,” what they’re referring to is the minor blues scale.

The minor blues scale formula is 1 – ♭3 – 4 – ♭5 – 5 – ♭7, so the C minor blues scale has the notes C -E♭ – F – G♭ – G – B♭. (Note that the blues scale formula is based on the major scale.)

Every Minor Blues Scale

Here are all the minor blues scales in all 12 keys:

A-Flat Minor Blues
Notes: A♭-C♭-D♭-E♭♭-E♭-G♭-A♭

B-Flat Minor Blues
Notes: B♭-D♭-E♭-F♭-F-A♭-B♭

C Minor Blues
C-E♭-F-G♭-G-B♭-C

D Minor Blues
Notes: D-F-G-A♭-A-C-D

E Minor Blues
Notes: E-G-A-B♭-B-D-E

F-Sharp / G-Flat Minor Blues
Notes: F♯-A-B-C-C♯-E-F♯

A Minor Blues
Notes: A-C-D-E♭-E-G-A

B Minor Blues
Notes: B-D-E-F-F♯-A-B

C-Sharp / D-Flat Minor Blues
Notes: C♯-E-F♯-G-G♯-B-C♯

E-Flat Minor Blues
Notes: E♭-G♭-A♭-B♭♭-B♭-D♭-E♭

F Minor Blues
Notes: F-A♭-B♭-C♭-C-E♭-F

G Minor Blues
Notes: G-B♭-C-D♭-D-F-G

Other Ways to Understand the Minor Blues Scale

Another way to remember the minor blues scale formula as a series of steps: minor 3rd (3 half steps) – whole step – half step – half step – minor 3rd.

If you know the minor pentatonic scale formula, you can also think of the minor blues scale formula as the same thing except we add a flatted fifth. This fifth is our blue note.

More About Blues Scales

For fun, try playing the notes of this scale in any order over a I-IV-V progression. For example, if you’re playing a major blues scale starting on A, you’d play Amaj (I), Dmaj (IV), and Emaj (V) in your left hand while playing notes from the A major blues scale in your right. It will sound awesome!

To learn more about the blues scale and how to incorporate it into your playing, check out our full lesson on how to master the blues scale on piano.

The post The Blues Scale Formula: Theory & Diagrams appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

So how do we get over it?

Well, there are a few ways to tackle this issue. Here are a few of the tips I’ve found the most helpful for getting past stage fright and onto a satisfying musical life!

1. Understand your anxiety  

So your first step in combating your anxiety should be learning to UNDERSTAND it.  Anxiety is primarily a physiological response. That means you feel it in your BODY, and a lot of the time that can influence your thoughts, behavior and moods without you even realizing it.

How do you get around this?  Easy! Go for a run or walk outside, hit the gym, even do a few jumping jacks if you need to.  Anything to get your body back and feeling good will help your head feel better too!

2. Remember to breathe

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but breathing is a rather big deal. We’ve all been doing it since literally day one, but when we get nervous, often it’s one of the first things we forget to do! By shifting your breathing rate and pattern, you are stimulating something called your body’s parasympathetic response system. Think of it as the opposite of your body’s fight or flight response: that thing that causes your body to freak out and go into fight or flight mode.

So the parasympathetic system calms you down and keeps your body from getting all hyped up on adrenaline. So go ahead, take a deep breath in right now. Feels pretty good, and you can do it anytime!

3. Change how you perceive discomfort

Ok, so this one requires a little bit of thinking to really develop for yourself, but it really works. The hard truth is that you’ll NEVER remove nervousness or anxiety entirely from your life. Instead, you can change how you perceive and respond to it.  

Rather than treating anxiety as something you need to shrink away from, instead treat it as something to PUSH forward into. This is a secret trick that TONS of great performers use: actually learning to use their stage fright to help them play better. If you can learn how to keep yourself grounded and practice your breathing techniques, you can ride that wave of adrenaline that you normally perceive as crippling anxiety and instead turn it into a sort of superpower, giving your playing focus and energy. 

4. Be prepared

This one should be pretty obvious, but it really helps take the edge off any overthinking before a big gig. Simply be prepared! That means having all of your music prepared to the point where you can confidently play without any mistakes.  

Of course, being prepared means more than just having all of your songs nailed.  It also means knowing everything you need to know to feel comfortable playing. That means if you’re playing at an event, find out where you should be playing and what you need to bring. There’s nothing more stressful than showing up to a gig and realizing there’s missing gear, or you don’t know where to set up and who’s in charge of the event.

5. Everyone in the audience is your friend

Now, I don’t know where this weird phenomenon of fearing the judgment of the audience comes from. Maybe American Idol and all those reality TV shows mocking bad singing back in the day? Either way, it doesn’t matter, because that kind of thinking is ridiculous. Getting up on stage and showing people who you are is one of the most admirable things a person can do. Just know that you’re up there because you’re brave enough to be, and 99.9% of people in the audience are going to respect that bravery.

So those are some of the tips that I’ve used to get through my own stage fright.  Playing music doesn’t have to be scary! Sharing music can be a fun way to show the world who you really are, so get out there, find some places to play… And show people what you’ve got!    

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To begin, all we need is a C minor chord. We can build this chord by using a C-Eb-G. Now, we need to make this chord a 7th by adding in the 7th note of the C Minor scale which is Bb. Now we have C-Eb-G and Bb. Sounds good already doesn’t it?

Let’s see what happens if we flatten the 5th by a half step. This means we will take the 5th note of the C minor scale which is G and move it down a half step to Gb giving us C-Eb-Gb-Bb. This is the minor 7 flat five. Tada!

Fun fact: This chord can also be called a half diminished chord because you will notice that our first intervals from C-Eb are a minor third and Eb-Gb is a minor third. This mini stack of minor 3rds is what gives it that diminished feeling.  

What we end up with is a chord that has a really nice bluesy vibe. This is because of the flattened 5 which is a part of the blues scale or pentatonic scale. Who knew that one little change could have such a great impact?

Enjoy!

Jordan

The post The Minor 7 Flat 5 Piano Chord appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

The chord itself gets its distinctive quality from the combination of Minor and Major qualities in the notes that make up the chord.  

Let’s look at a C Minor/Major 7 chord as an example. This chord is built of the notes C-Eb-G-B. The Minor element of the chord is found in the bottom two notes: C and Eb. Together, those two notes form an interval called the Minor 3rd, which is the most important interval that defines a Minor chord.

So that explains the Minor element of the chord, but where does the Major come in?  Well, we get a hint on where it comes from in the name of the chord. The Major 7 is another important interval to remember, as it features in a lot of chords. The way to find this tone is simple enough, all you have to do is count up 7 tones in the Major scale, which will lead you to the top note of the chord:  B.  

Put that all together and you’ve got the perfect combo of minor and major giving you the iconic “spy” sound found in the James Bond theme. Not only will this chord make you sound like a pro but it is a really great tool to learn how more advanced chord types are created and written in a chart.

So give this chord a go and play your very own spy theme. No license to kill required. 

Jordan

The post International Chord of Mystery: The Minor/Major 7th appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

Wanna know what that pattern is? Well, read on…

…Ok, I’ll just tell you: It’s directly based off of the natural minor scale.  

Let’s look at the pattern in the key of C minor.  Start on the root note and walk down to the 5th, playing the notes C-Bb-Ab-G. This is the bass pattern that you can hear in iconic tunes like “The Cat Came Back” or “Hit The Road Jack”. 

Ray Charles wrote Hit the Road Jack’s timeless melody over this minor key bassline.

To improvise on top, try playing the C minor blues scale and listen out for anything that might sound like those classic melodies. There are tons of songs that use this bassline, so you’re bound to stumble upon a few of them!      

What other melodies sound great overtop this bass line? Is there any we haven’t thought of? Let me know by posting a comment below!  

Cheers,

Jordan

The post The Best Blues Bass Line For Piano appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

The core of my time spent with Kenny was spent discussing a musical concept he calls “The Space”. This can be a trippy concept, but I like to think of it as a sort of flow state: a place where things just seem to happen naturally and effortlessly.  

Kenny Werner and Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock’s drummer) having a musical conversation at Pianote.

I think we’ve all experienced “The Space” at some point or another in life, whether in front of an instrument, playing a sport, or even saying the right thing at the right time in a conversation. But most of us (myself included) have difficulty finding and holding ourselves within that space. Kenny’s lesson with us will give you a few tips that you can use to find and maintain that mindset at the piano!  

It’s a truly fascinating concept and was such a pleasure to spend a few days wrapping my head around the brilliant thinking of Kenny Werner. I really hope you enjoy this lesson, and if you want to learn some more about the concepts that Kenny discusses here, be sure to check out his acclaimed book, Effortless Mastery.  

Enjoy! 

Jordan

The post Kenny Werner: Liberating The Master Musician Within appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

Any scale formula you ever come across is made up of two types of steps on the piano: Whole Steps and Half Steps. A whole simply means that you’re technically jumping up or down TWO keys on the keyboard, while a half step means that you’re stepping up or down to the VERY next key.  

I’ll write out the formula for you with ‘W’ indicating Whole Steps and ‘H’ indicating Half Steps, and this will work in any key that you want to play the formula in. So here’s that formula:

W, H, W, W, H, W, W

So if we take that formula in the key of A minor, we’ll have the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A. That’s pretty easy since you’ll only be playing the white keys of the piano to play that scale.  Let’s try that formula out in the key of E minor.  

Starting on E, the notes will be E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E.  

If you’ve ever wondered the technical reason why you’ve got to play an F# note in the E minor scale, now you know! You’ve got to play it to keep in line with the Minor Scale Formula.

Jordan Leibel

The post How To Play The Minor Scale In ANY Key appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

If you’re listening to music and things feel happy and mellow, you’re probably listening to a song that mostly uses major chords to create that feeling.  An example of a major triad would be the first chord most piano players learn: a C major triad (C – E – G)

So you play that chord a few times along with some other major chords and you’ve got a pretty happy little jam going on.

Once you’re tired of listening to that chord, try contrasting it with this one: The A minor triad (A – C – E). This chord is known as the relative minor of C major. That means that the C major chord and the A minor chord are kind of like siblings: very different yet quite similar in a lot of respects.

So what does this all mean? Well, it means that ANY chord you can think of has a relative major or minor version as well! This is HUGE for anyone looking to make a creative alternate version of any song at all!

To show this off, let’s look at “Hey Jude” in the major key. The verses of this song are made up of the chords F – C and Bb. And for every chord, there’s a minor version that will completely reshape the melody.  Let’s take a look at this by first determining how to find the minor notes so we can build the minor chords.

To find the note to build the minor chord off of, all you’ve got to do is count up 6 notes in the scale. If you count up 6 notes in the F major scale, you’ll find out your relative minor note is D, and if you build a basic triad using the SAME ingredients as the F major key. So, in this case, it’ll be D – F – A, aka the D minor triad.  

The next question is to find the relative minor of C major, which is A – C – E. We get to that chord by the same method: by counting up 6 notes.  

Wanna find the relative minor of Bb? You guessed it. Count up 6 notes to land on G minor (G – Bb – D).

Now you have everything you need to play each “Hey Jude” chord in its minor form. If you keep the melody intact, but change the chords down into these minor shapes, you have a really cool example of how major and minor keys affect the emotion of a melody. This new version sounds familiar yet unique! And way more moody!

How does this new version of Hey Jude make you feel?  Do the new chords change how you perceive the melody? Let me know in the comments.

Have fun with this!

Jordan

The post How Do Major And Minor Chords Affect Emotion? appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

The good news is if you’ve spent time practicing your triads and basic major and minor chords, you have a really solid foundation that you need to jump into the next step: building major and minor 7th chords.

The best way to do this is by building on a little something I like to call “Focus Independence.”

Focus Independence is like hand independence except it’s more about the mindset of thinking about two separate frames to think WITHIN.

To illustrate this, take a look at each note of the minor 7th chord. In the key of A minor, for example, you have the notes A – C – E – G.  

Upon further inspection, you’ll find that the notes of the A minor scale actually contain both the A minor triad (A – C – E) and the C major triad (C – E – G), and the resulting A minor 7 sound happens when each triad overlaps.

You can use this to your advantage! Try playing each hand in different positions, your left hand playing the A minor while your right plays the C major. Whether you’re into songwriting, improvising, or just simply want to get yourself more practically familiar with the chord, practicing in this way will be of great help.

Think of it like breaking a big chord down into bite-sized chunks! And because these two chords are relatives of each other, you’ll actually find that you’re in a pretty safe spot to make sounds that are naturally going to sound good.  

Want to take this step even further? Try continuing to stack thirds on top of each other to create even more elaborate chords like 9ths or 11ths. It’s much easier to let both of your hands share the work!

Happy playing,  

Jordan

The post How To Build Complex Piano Chords appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.

In our discussion of what Jay deemed ‘The Four Streams Of Jazz Soloing’, he described the blues as a sort of ‘punctuation point’ within his playing to really drive the emotion of his music home.

Jazz as a genre was sourced from the blues, and as it developed more complex harmonies and chord movements, the role of the blues in a jazz solo became a sort of cathartic release of tension. One of the things that really struck me about Jay’s playing was how he would build these solos with intense, BIG chords and then settle into a beautiful blues line that would just feel like HOME.  

And the best thing about the blues is its scales and licks really do work over just about any form, as long as you’re listening and musical with it. You can take an elegant jazz standard like Autumn Leaves and create a really wonderful emotional trajectory through it, started off technical and then resolving in pure bluesy emotion.  

Try it out on a jazz standard you like!

The post Brilliant Blues Licks For The Piano appeared first on Free Piano Lessons Online | The Note | Pianote.