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Personal Piano Professor, Issue#029 -Unchained Melody Tutorial
March 31, 2014
Greetings keyboard friends!

Unchained Melody Tutorial the 1-6-4-5 progression

Greetings piano fans.

Once again , thank you for your interest in these free online lessons. I sincerely hope that you are experiencing all the great benefits learning to play keyboards has to offer.

I really appreciate each and everyone of you who take the time to contact me and offer suggestions for lessons. I really wish I could be there in person to help with everyone's goals when it comes to learning to play keyboards.

It's hard to know where everyone is in their learning curve and your communications help me greatly.

About "Unchained Melody"

"Unchained Melody" was written in 1955 with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret.

North used the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained, hence the name. It has since become one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, by some estimates having spawned over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages.

Les Baxter released an instrumental version which reached #1.

Then came song recordings by Al Hibbler reaching #3 on the Billboard charts; Jimmy Young which hit #1 in the United Kingdom; and Roy Hamilton , reaching #1 on the R&B Best Sellers list and #6 on the pop chart. Hundreds of other recordings followed.

However, it was the July 1965 version by The Righteous Brothers that became a jukebox standard for the late 20th century, achieving a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the 1990 blockbuster film Ghost.

The song is for the most part is a simple 1-6-4-5 progression which is a close relative of the common 1-6-2-5 progression.

The link below will provide you with the complete lesson including Chord Chart and Video tutorial.

Unchained Melody Tutoiral

For Beginners Only

If you are just sitting down at the keyboard for the first time you will want to check out this first adult beginner lesson.

It covers sitting at the piano, hand position, basic fingering and you will even learn 7 important chords that will have you making music quickly.

Click the link below to begin.

First Adult Piano Lesson.

What are Keyboard Workstations?

Keyboard workstations will vary in features but will all have the common ability to record and edit complete musical compositions.

If you are a serious keyboard player and are also interested in performing live and having the ability to create you own original music than you will want to consider exploring the many models that are currently available

Click the link below for the rest of the article....

About Keyboard Workstations

Diatonic Chords...an introduction to chord progressions

This lesson on chords will open up your understanding of all the basic chord progressions that are used in nearly all popular music.

You will learn what chords fall naturally into any given key and how these chords are most commonly used in writing and playing music on the piano.

This lesson explains why we use numbers when talking about common chord progressions. If you learn this you can speak the language of the pros!!

To get started click the link below.

Diatonic Chords

Jazz Chord Progressions and "Satin Doll"

Jazz for many people is an acquired taste. At least it was for me. So was Coffee and Beer but I learned to appreciate them and it was that way with Jazz.

Learning Jazz Chord Progressions is by far the best way to learn and understand chord progressions in general..

This is because in the realm of the Jazz genre you will find a great variety of songs that have more complex, varied and interesting chord progressions.

This lesson will give you a basic introduction to the most common jazz chord progressions and other musical elements both rhythmic and harmonic that give a song that Jazz flavor.

Jazz Chord Progressions 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

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