Piano Tricks

Feeling a Bit Lost??

This post is for those of you who are a bit more advanced and have already grasped the concept of chord progressions. For most people after they get chord progressions down pat, their next major problem is that their music sounds boring. It's at this point that many new musicians and older ones alike tend to get discouraged and start to lose interest in playing the piano. I have a few pointers that can help revive your interest in playing and guide you on your path to establishing your own unique musical identity.

DON'T BE CLOSE MINDED

There are many musicians out there who feel that they must stick to the original chords and play them verbatim. This is approach is correct for classical music where every note is crucial. Not so in contemporary music. Nowadays it's all about expressing what you feel through the piano, by adding color to you music. Unsure of how to do that? here let me explain.

SAME CHORD DIFFERENT SOUNDS

The common notes for a C chord would be CEG. Now for a begginer playing that chord in different songs may seem like an accomplishment. But for those of us who like to hear something fresh and inspiring the same old CEG chord can get kind of boring. This is where I like to throw in "second chords" (commonly notated as C2, D2, Eb2, (I2) etc...) Instead of playing CEG, throw a D note into the mix, you will be surprised at the result. Once you get the feel of the C2 chord try switching and playing around with the C2 and the ordinary C chord. Great sound isn't it. Now you can apply this to several other keys, and already your on your way to creating more colorful music.

This is a picture of the C2 Chord, notice: the term C2 really means that your using the second note in the scale, thus the reason why the notes of the C2 chord are CDG. Hope this helps