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Personal Piano Professor, Issue#038 -Major 7th chords
September 19, 2014
Greetings keyboard friends!

Major 7th chords

Hello to all my friends and Keyboard fans!

Now that summer is over lots of readers are returning to their keyboard studies.

The requests are starting to come in for tutorials on different aspects of playing piano by ear.

A reader wanted to know a little more about major 7th chords so I have posted a new lesson at www.piano-lessons-for-life.com that will explain how they are formed and a little about how to use them.

To view the lesson click the link below.

Major 7th chords

Diatonic chords and the number system.

Diatonic chords are those chords that are naturally related to a given key. They are built on the seven notes of the major scale which is also called a diatonic scale.

If you sit at the keyboard and play a C major triad with your right hand, thumb on middle C, third finger on E, and fifth finger on G, and then move that hand position up the keyboard with the same finger spacing you will play all the diatonic chords related to the key of C.

For more about this important topic and the number system of naming chords used by professionals click the link below.

Diatonic chords and the number system

Hey, I wonder if you could do me a favor and visit and like my Face Book page for Personal Piano Professor. I am really trying to learn the whole social media thing. Perhaps you can help me...lol

Personal Piano Professor on Facebook
More about Blues Chord Progressions.

After you get comfortable playing the classic I IV I V I blues progression and have played it enough times you will want to explore other Blues Chords progressions.

You will find that the blues is more a feeling than it is just that basic three chord progression.

One of my favorite Blues chord progressions is The classic blues progression for "Georgia on my mind" by Hoagy Charmichael and Stuart Gorrell.

While learning to play this Classic song you will learn to expand your knowledge of blues chord progressions in general and how to use the blues scales and pentatonic scales you have learned over more interesting chord movement.

More about blues progression and "Georgia"

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I started www.piano-lessons-for-life.com to help with my retirement and also to help others learn to play and change their lives.

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Learn the 12 bar blues progression on piano."

Learning the 12 bar blues progression is basic to understanding the roots of American popular music.

When you see a group of musicians getting together to play everyone seems to know what to do almost magically.

This is because at one time or another they learned the 12 bar blues progression.

While there are lots of variations of this timeless progression the most common is a three chord 12 measure version explained in this lesson.

The 12 bar Blues for piano

4 Steps to Learning How to Play Any Song on the Piano

1. Determining the melody - Melodies determine what chords will be played. If you can use your ear to figure out what notes are being played in the melody, you are 1/4 on your way to learning a song! More resources on learning how to determine melodies

2.Harmonizing the melody - Once you have figured out the melody (using some of my techniques on the resource page), it is time to harmonize it. This is simply choosing various chords to accompany the melody. There are several techniques and tricks to doing this. More resources on learning how to harmonize melodies

3. Altering Chords - This is the best part! Now that you have strategically figured out the melody to a song and have harmonized it, altering your chords to produce certain sounds is the next step. If you were playing gospel music, you would alter your chords differently than if you were playing classical or country music. More resources on altering chords

4. Listening - After you have determined the melody, harmonized the melody, and altered some of your chords, there are various techniques you can use to make sure that your song sounds right. More resources on listening techniques

I personally recommend "The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear" 300-pg Course and through my relationship with Jermaine (the author of this course), I've been able to get him to throw in a few bonus items (3 additional piano software programs). He has taught literally thousands of musicians how to play the piano by ear. If you understood just half of what he discussed above, you'll definitely benefit from his 300-pg course. Click here to learn the secrets to playing absolutely any song on the piano in virtually minutes! I highly recommend it.
Learn Jazz Here!!

Best Gospel Course for Ear players

Introducing GospelKeys 101...

Now In Less Than 2 Hours, You Can Jump Start Your Piano Playing With These 3 Easy Steps!

Dear Friend,

Jermaine Griggs, the pioneer of the award-winning GospelKeys learning system, has come up with 3 simple steps so that you won't waste any time at all. In fact, it'll virtually cut your learning time in half! I copied and pasted the most important parts below so you can get a general idea.

HERE IT GOES...

Step One: Determining the Melody

Step Two: Harmonizing the Melody

Step Three: Adding the Bass


These three steps are not super complicated theories that require several years of experience. In fact, they were designed for the total beginner with absolutely no musical experience.

What most people don't understand is that most songs follow patterns. If you've been mistakenly learning songs, one by one, you're only exercising your ability to MEMORIZE chords --- and
that's exactly why it takes SO LONG to learn just one song.

BUT...

If you concentrate on LEARNING PATTERNS, you'll never go wrong because songs are built on repeating patterns. You should NEVER EVER have to memorize dozens of songs when they all share the same exact CHORDS, PROGRESSIONS, AND PATTERNS.

So head over to their site and let me know what you think

If you have any questions, feel free to reply.

Talk soon,




P.S. - You might find more interesting information, techniques, or resources just by clicking around on their website..
I want to remind you that many of the ideas for lessons come from those of you who contact me with questions. I encourage you to let me know what you need.

Also you can find a contact form on the site and suggest a song for a future lesson. Don't be shy. Let me know how i can help!!

I am grateful for all of you, and wish you the best success in your playing!!

Thanks, Greg

Go To Piano Lessons For Life
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