Piano Keys And How To Make Sense Of Them
To the uninitiated, the piano keyboard looks like a sea of black and white. So many keys!
The way most piano teachers handle this problem is to first show students where middle C is - and I agree this should be the first thing newbies learn. But after they learn this visual marker, it’s time to really make the piano keyboard easy to see. How? By showing students how to form chords.
Sure, you could spend your time learning every single note on the piano. And you’d probably still be confused as to how to make music. But if you learn a chord-based approach first, you’ll be able to see piano keys as chords instead of individual notes. And when this happens
...This can get confusing but it's just a system of counting. The C Major 9 chord is spelled c-e-g-b-d. This chord has a very rich sound and is used often in New Age music. It can be used as an ...
What I have my students do is master something called the open position chord first. Using this chord gives you a unique perspective to keyboard harmony. Both hands are called into play as you play something called a seventh chord. Seventh chords are used by contemporary pianists to create a “modern” sound.
In my free lesson “Reflections in Water,” we use open position chords in the Key of C Major to create a calm, gentle ambience.
Four chords are used in total: C Major 7, A minor 7, F Major 7, and G 7. If you’re unfamiliar with these chords don’t worry! You can learn them in a matter of minutes and start making music just as fast.
...the ability to learn at your own pace. A quality many adults really appreciate. Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New ...
You see, all you really need to know to make music and understand the keyboard is to know what Key you’re playing in and the chords from that Key.
The Key of C is located on the white keys. It’s the perfect place to start your understanding of keyboard harmony. Once you can play the C Major scale and form a few open position chords on the piano, you’ll see the keyboard in a whole new light!
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play
...can figure out how most solo piano pieces are constructed. Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over ...