Q. Ok so I am 14 years old, I started learning how to play the piano at age 13 which was not too long ago.
I am so stressed! I always wanted to play but I had no idea it was so much work! Feels like the notes will never end! lol
Do you know how to play the piano?
What was it first like when you started learning?
A. First let me say that it's refreshing to read a question from someone who is 14 that is written in proper English.
As for your question: I started taking piano lessons when I was in sixth grade. At first I was very enthusiastic but soon I got frustrated and stopped practicing. My parents continued to pay for lessons and told me that if I missed a lesson I would have to pay for it myself. I kept going to lessons but I didn't practice very much. But once I got into high school I started enjoying piano more. I ended up learning enough that when I went to college to study music education I was able to skip out of the first two years of piano classes. I love playing piano now and do so nearly everyday.
You're right that it is daunting to learn piano. Unlike most instruments you have multiple notes to keep track of at one time. Try setting aside 15-20 minutes everyday to practice. Whatever you get done in that amount of time is what you get done. Don't worry that you're not learning fast enough, just work at your own pace. It's better to practice a couple times a day for 15 minutes than it is to sit down for an hour and get stressed out about you mistakes. Set a timer and stop when it goes off. If you are able to practice for 15 minutes two or three times a day then you will be even better off. Each time you practice will be like a new day of practicing because you have to start over again. Don't stress yourself out. Remember that you are doing this for fun.
Work on it one bar at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to deal with an entire piece at once. Practice the parts that give you trouble until you feel comfortable with them. Bring the tempo down as much as you need to and check your fingerings. Is there an easier way to play the notes? A lot of times the suggested fingerings are noted above the notes and you should follow them even if they don't seem to make any sense. Ask your teacher if you have questions, that's what they're there for.
Set a goal for yourself. Ask your music teacher at school if there is a piece in the winter or spring chorus concert where they would need a pianist for a piece they singing. They might even choose music that has a piano part at your level specifically so you can play. Or you could work towards an adjudication. In NYS we have NYSSMA. Students choose a piece from the repertory list and learn it. Then they go to the competition and play the piece as well as some scales and sight reading. There are all different levels to choose from and it's not a performance, rather it's an opportunity to get feedback from someone else who is an expert in the field.
Practice the scales/chord progressions/exercises you are given and do the theory work. It may seem dry but if you pay attention it will help you. The general rule of thumb is that piano music is based on chords. Each measure or beat or phrase is built on a specific chord. Once you determine the chord then the notes in the measure should match the notes in the chord. It's not always true but it's a good starting point.
Are you learning in the style that you are interested in? I took classical lessons until I was a senior in high school and while it wasn't bad I found that I was working on the same piece for months on end. If I was going to continue to learn piano I needed to try something new. I changed teachers and started focusing on accompanying and sight reading. I learned how to read lead sheet music and found that all of the sudden I could play many more songs than I could before. Lead sheet is when you are given a melody line and then there is the chord names written above it. So if I had a Cm about the melody then I would play C, E-flat, and G. There is no rhythm given for the chords so you have to improvise. It's a lot of fun, but you will probably need a few more years before you have the skills to try it.
Be patient and keep at it. With a little bit of work you'll be surprised how much you will learn.
Good luck!
how to convert piano chords into minor?
Q. like I wanna play a song, and I wanna make the chords minor to make it sound darker, but how do I do it. Is there like a way to do such? Help would be great, thanks!
A. You might want to mean a minor progression chord. Yup, it is possible. Converting pieces from major progression(where your main chord is a major) to minor progression(where your main chord is a minor) is a little bit tiresome. But, I'll try to explain this as brief but precise and easy to understand as i could.
The result of converting the major progression depends on what minor scale you would like to use.
The most common scale is the Harmonic Minor on its descending order (I call it personally HMDO). That is, 1 2 â3 4 5 â6 â7 8. Why HMDO? It is because HMDO scales are very similar to Major scales(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8). For example in A minor scale(on HMDO):A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A', just move the first two notes and you'll get the C Major scale!
Legend used: converted to: =>
1.) Ok. Start making a list of the chords that are used.
2.) Identify what is the main/root chord being used. Move or transpose that chord 3 halfsteps/frets(or 1 & 1/2 wholesteps) DOWN . Example: G => E, C => A, D => B, and etc.
3.) Minor that chord. Ex: E =>Em, A => Am, B => Bm, etc. This will later become you root chord.
4.) Look for the fifth chords(if available) from the list. 5th chords are found by moving 4 notes up from the root note of a major scale. For example, if you have a C major chord progression, the major scale therefore is on C scale. That is, C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C'. Moving 4 notes from the root note which is C, we get G. Another one is, if you have an F major chord progression, the major scale therefore is on F scale. That is, F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F'. Moving 4 notes from the root note which is F, we get C.
5.) OPTIONALLY, move or transpose that chord(i refer to the 5th chord) down 3 halfsteps/frets. For example: D => B, G =>E and etc. So why optionally? Doing this step will make your chord progression more darker and 'minorer' to listen. But, if this results to a terrible sound/output, leave this step. Sometimes, you can also play either the natural 5th chord or the transposed 5th chord on one song. There are song that really have this type of progression.
6.) Leave the other chords as is. Don't change anything on them but if you think that you must have to do something on those chords, just do it. There's no NOs in music. Your style, your music!
7.) That's all, You're now have the converted minor progression chord
Those are the basics of transposing major progressions to minor progressions. And lastly, Experiment!
That's all for not now. Hope i helped.
Why do chord progressions have to follow the 'Chart'?
Q. If you have ever studied music theory, you know what I'm talking about (If not, just google "Chord Progression Chart"). Be as detailed as possible. Talk about what would happen if you didn't choose to follow the chart. Don't say, "It has to follow the circle of fifths" without explaining to me WHY that is important.
A. I went through music conservatory as a piano performance major and later did a second upper-level training in theory and composition, and never -- in all that classical study -- ever seen a "Chord Progression Chart."
ADD: I just googled it: this is a form of popular music theory, and specific for guitar playing more than actual 'music theory.' Please Do Not Mistake It In Any Way As Music Theory: what you learn from a chart like that would not qualify you for admittance to or be of any help to you in a freshman college theory 101 class. It may help you learn your way around basic guitar, but if you ever want a handle on music theory, of any sort, I'd ditch it. Thinking in nothing but 'chords' is very "pop theory" and wholly detrimental to your full development as a musician, regardless of musical genre. /// The shock there is another planet of music theory, often at odds with the pop theory terminology, shows up often enough in this category of Y/A, especially when it comes to analysis and identifying chords beyond the basic triads and seventh chords. END ADD
Some chords work, to all ears, better than others going one to the next. Initially, it is what is first learned, classical or other theory, since one has to start somewhere, and from the basics and beginning is almost always the best as well as most logical starting point. I repeat your chord chart has at least as much or more to do with 'the handiness' of playing guitar at a basic level vs. actual theoretic musical use, or other real musical possibility.
After one further investigates theory, there are no 'rules' but only examples of how, formerly, someone else 'made music work.'
If everyone 'followed the chart,' as if it were a law there would be no more music, no need to make anymore, and all listeners would be bored to tears!
Some progressions, within a certain context, may have one chord sounding really 'weak' - and your flow or structure collapse. That same chord, approached with different horizontal voicing of parts - individual lines, in an otherwise similar harmonic context, could sound 'fine.' That is nothing you will learn to do anything about if you are studying 'chord - chord - chord' instead of approaching those chords as a consequence of several simultaneous lines. -- Because, that is after all, how you learn enough to make anything sound good!
No rules, no laws, just examples of what most commonly 'works' or what others before you have made 'work.' At the time, at least in the common practice period of classical theory, what ended up in textbooks was 'breaking rules' of that day!
You are in trouble if you take those examples you study as a rule or 'law.' - you may have to mimic those examples closely for an assignment, that is so you learn how to work them yourself. It is not intended that will be the way you 'should' or will later compose.
That chart, again, is for pop music more than anything, all the conventional progressions, and very much about how to physically negotiate the guitar while mucking about within that set of conventions. It is a list of what has commonly worked and been done before, no more, no less.
Best regards.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers