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Win Friends & Influence People Through Music -- Is It Possible?
Can learning to play a musical instrument really help you "win friends & influence people?" It almost seems like a stretch, but scientific research seems to support the idea. Rock stars aren't the only ones to be popular; there is a direct correlation between music study and the ability to relate will with others.
What In The World Would We Do Without Music?
What in the world would you and I do if there was no such thing as music? Can you imagine a world without music? No songs, no tunes, no rock, no roll, no jazz, no hymns, no boogie-woogie, no country-western, no symphonies. No singing in the shower. No whistling Dixie.
What All Do I Have to Know to be a Really Good Piano Player?
Many students ask me a question that goes something like this:
"What all do I have to know to be a really good piano player?" The answer is multi-facited and depends largely on the motivation and talent of the individual.
Transposition and Modulation: How To Transpose To a Different Key & Modulate Between Keys
How do transposition and modulation relate? Are they the same? Let's take a look at both of them and see what makes them tick.
To Make Your Kids More Successful, Teach Them Music!
Besides being a sure way to become the life of the party, learning to play an instrument can make your children smarter, better adjusted, and better equipped to adopt a position of leadership in a diverse world.
They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano -- but When I Started to Play --
Is there a "backdoor to piano playing?" Chords are a way in to the world of piano playing without having to go through the front door: years and years of scales, drills, rote practicing, etc. Chords are really a shortcut to understanding and playing music without all the formal training.
The Many Incredible Benefits Of Learning Chording Techniques On The Piano
Many piano players seem to spend their entire lives "chained to the written music". They can sight-read sheet music, but when it comes to knowing what to play when the music blows off the stand and onto the floor, they are entirely lost.
The Immense Popularity of the Piano Continues To This Day
The piano has been vastly popular for about 300 years now, and despite the resurgent popularity of the guitar, piano sales and piano lessons continue to accelerate.
The Blues Scale & Cool Stuff You Can Do With It
Most of us who took piano lessons as kids are all too familiar with scales, and most of us hated practicing them with a passion. But understanding scales and what they do is critical to the process of improvisation as well as key orientation and just a general understanding of what's happening in the song we are playing.
So You Want to be President? Learn to Play a Musical Instrument!
From Bill Clinton and his sax to Richard Nixon and his piano, many Presidents and leaders have played a musical instrument. Does Condi Rice have an edge in future presidential elections because she is also a concert pianist?
Runs & Fills: How To Add Real Excitement To Your Piano Playing!
If you're anything like me, you would love to learn how to "fill up the empty spaces" in the songs you play with scale fragments, chords, broken chords, and so on. Learning how to "fill it up" with runs and fills would certainly take your piano playing to the next level.
Playing The Piano Using Chord Symbols Instead of Being Tied To The Written Sheet Music
Piano improvising and arranging is an art but definitely not a science. It is all based on chords and chord progressions. There aren't any steadfast rules for creating an arrangement, nothing to dictate the limitless potential of your imagination.
Piano Playing Your Way: How To Have More Fun Playing The Piano Than You Ever Have Before
Piano playing doesn't have to be boring. There's no law that says you have to play a song the same way everyone else plays it. By learning some basic music theory and chord formations, you can have the time of your life playing music like you've always wanted to.
Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form
Understanding musical form in music is one of the proven shortcuts to better piano playing (or better guitar playing, or any instrument). Form is like the blueprint to a house -- it holds the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition.
Piano Playing For Adults: More Fun Than Sex And Not Nearly As Dangerous!
The benefits of adults learning to play the piano are many and varied, but most of all, it's just plain fun.
Piano Lessons: Make Sure They Include Chords & Music Theory!
Proper piano instruction is an element extremely vital to learning the instrument well. Often overlooked in the teaching curriculum, however, is music theory and chord structure.
Piano Chords: How Many Are There?
An interesting experiment is to ask people how many chords there are in music. You'll be surprised to find out that most musicians don't do any better at answering that question than non-musicians.
Oh My Aching Head! Can Music Really Make You Feel Better?
We all know, if only instinctively, that music has a profound effect on us. If we didn't believe that music affects us then singing lullabies to calm children and help them sleep wouldn't be universal. In reality melody, harmony, and rhythm probably impacts the human brain in ways that are far more profound than we realize.
Musicians: What Chords Do You Absolutely, Positively Have To Know?
There are thousands of different chords in music, but there are 3 chords -- just 3 -- that you absolutely, positively have to know. If you don't know these three, there's hardly a song in the whole world that you could play. But by knowing just 3 chords, you can play hundreds, if not thousands of songs!
Music Notes: How Pitch & Duration Are Determined
Notes are the musical notation representing a fixed pitch. While the word strictly refers to the physical notation of a pitch, it's more commonly used to refer to both the pitch and the notation.
Music Downloads: Free & Low Cost Ways For Musicians To Get Their Music Known All Over The World
For the musician, music downloads are an absolute breakthrough technology, allowing, for the first time in history, for a musician to develop a following without ever leaving his or her house! Marketing possibilities are unlimited for the musicians who avail themselves of this wonderful new technology.
Music Chords: How To Become a "Chord Detective" And See Through The Notes Right Into The Music!
There's a logic behind every note written in music, & you can learn to understand that logic, and therefore understand music.
Music & Emotions: Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person?
How many times have you turned to music to uplift you even further in happy times, or sought the comfort of music when melancholy strikes? We all know it works -- we just don't know why. Now science is beginning to unravel some of the mystery behind the relationship of music and our moods.
Mp3's - - The Future of Music?
Mp3 music is audio file that has been digitally encoded and compressed to make the amount of data smaller without compromising the overall sound quality. Because of it's portability, it promises to be the future of music.
Minor Chords -- How To Form Them & Use Them
Minor chords create a sound which is somber or serious; some people even think of minor chords as "sad", as opposed to major chords which sound "normal", or "happy".
Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord Progressions
Piano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song's structure. And while it's a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement.
Learn Music Fast Online
Learning music online has revolutionized learning, since it is the first time in history that anyone with a computer can virtually find out anything they want to know about music -- and find out quick!
Learn a Musical Instrument, Prepare for a Career
From education to video games, there are careers available for those who happen to have a background in music which the rest of us never see. Each of these fields requires time and study for proficiency, but they represent a career path that is nonexistent for non-musicians.
Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!
When a lightbulb comes on in the mind of an individual who is seeking knowledge in some area, it is amazing how much progress can be made in a short time. For piano players and other musicians, that moment of insight that changes lives often has to do with understanding chords and how they progress to create music.
Is Your Child Struggling in School? Get Him (Or Her) Music Lessons
Playing music has been discovered to have a direct and almost immediate effect on the brain of the student. Music lessons have been shown in a German study to have a significant impact on the way the brain functions after as little as five weeks.
Is It Possible To Create Cool "New Age" Sounds On The Piano Without Knowing A Thing About Music?
I'll admit that for many years as a piano teacher I didn't think so. But in the last couple years I made a discovery about creating pleasant "new age" sounds on the piano that I never would have believed during my earlier piano teaching career.
Inversions: How To Stand a Chord On It's Head
Many people get all confused when chords are turned upside down. They recognize them when they are in root position, but when you stand them on their head...well, it gets kind of fuzzy for folks.
Improvising On The Piano: Jazz Musicians Do It -- Why Not Other Styles?
Jazz pianists improvise all the time. So why not classical pianists, gospel pianists, and piano players of many other styles?
I Like It, But Is It Music?
Are you frustrated when you try to explain your taste in music? Fortunately, one of the benefits of learning a musical instrument is a better understanding of your own musical taste. Learn to play an instrument, and soon you will be able to discuss what works or doesn't work for you, in music.
How To Tell What Major Key A Song Is In Quickly & Easily
Key signatures are a type of musical notation that indicate which key the song is to be played in. But key signatures, despite the name, are not the same thing as key.
How To Predict Which Chord Comes Next In A Song
It is quite possible to predict which chords will occur in a given song, once you know the key and understand the "guts" of music theory & chord progressions.
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