Q. I'm eighteen and I just started taking piano classes. I have some experience with the instrument and I really, really want to master it. My teacher says it'll take twelve years to be a Grade Eight pianist. I told him practicing three hours a day I could get it done in six and he laughed. Is it possible?
I basically told him I don't have twelve years. I was fourteen when I was introduced to the piano and my high school teacher said I was a fast and excellent learner, but I ditched it for another four years.
A. I started from scratch and could play anything I wanted in three years. I went from Jingle Bells with simple I, IV, V chords to Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, 3rd movement. You can do it, too.
I was able to do this because I was very passionate about the instrument, and I had plenty of time to devote to it. From as far back as I can remember, I was figuring out tunes on the home keyboard by ear. One day when I was 11, my grand mother bought the upright piano from across the street and wheeled it into our garage. She wanted to learn herself, so she bought a book called Alfred's All-in-One Piano Course for Adults. She took a break to garden, and I sat down and picked up where she left off on page 1. This, I told myself, was the day I finally learned to read music and play with both hands. No more playing by ear, with just one or two notes at a time. It helped that I was homeschooled and had most of the day to work through that book and teach myself to play the piano properly. Once I finished that book, by the end of the year I could play Fur Elise all the way through. My parents decided to get me a teacher to make sure I was learning properly (There have been people who learned concertina accordion, only to find out they were playing the instrument upside down!). She was amazed at what I had accomplished on my own, but had a few pointers for me. Only a year later she recommended me to another teacher, and I was playing Scott Joplin rags, Chopin waltzes, and Beethoven sonatas. After three years, I decided to continue playing and learning on my own, and I enjoy the instrument greatly to this day. I am now 22 and piano is a part of my life that will never be taken away from me. I will use what I learned for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. So yes, it is possible and it can be done. I'm not trying to brag, but if you want something bad enough and have the talent and the determination to make it happen then there is no obstacle that will keep you from attaining your goal. I for one welcome a new great fellow pianist into the fold, there aren't enough of us and it's a beautiful instrument, best ever made.
One last note, Of course a piano teacher is going to tell you it'll take twelve years. What's the rush when you're providing him with his paycheck? Some piano teachers nurture talent, others are in it only for their own gain. I was lucky enough to find the right teachers, but I certainly have been discouraged by the wrong kind too (This happened in college when a piano instructor told me no person who was self taught could read music!).
How do you find out the piano chord name of a piano chord you never played before?
Q. maybe u no a interweb site
A. I know a quick way to answer your question,
but it will require a small arts and crafts project on your part.
You need:
several sheets of cardboard or poster board
a pencil
a felt marker
a compass
a ruler
a protractor
a copper pin fastener
a pair of scissors.
Here's what you do:
1. With the compass, draw a circle on one sheet of cardboard or posterboard.
2. With the protractor and pencil, divide that circle into 12 slices of 30 degrees each.
3. With the scissors, cut the circle out.
4. With the felt marker, label those slices on the edge as C, G, d, A, E, B, F#, C#, Ab, Eb, Bb, F.
You have now finished making the Circle of Fifths.
5. Cut out another circle the same size as the Circle of Fifths.
Cut out peepholes for C, G, and E.
Draw an arrow pointing to the C.
With the felt marker, label this as "major."
6. Flip the major wheel over and try laying it on the Circle of Fifths.
You should be able to adjust it so that you see C, G, and Eb.
On this side also, draw an arrow pointing to the C.
Label this side "minor."
7. Make another wheel like the major wheel, only this time, cut another peephole for the Bb.
Again, draw an arrow pointing to the C.
Label this one "seventh."
8. For "diminished seventh," cut out peepholes for C, Eb, F#, and A, but don't draw any arrows.
This same chord can go all four ways.
9. For "augmented," the peepholes are at C, E, G#.
This chord can go all three ways.
To find a major chord, put the major wheel on top of the Circle of Fiths, fasten in the middle with the copper pin, and rotate.
Whatever the arrow is pointing to is the name of the major chord.
The same procedure serves for all the other chords.
For French sixths, the peepholes are at Ab, C, D, and F#.
For Italian sixths, the peepholes are at Ab, C, and F#.
For German sixths, you can use the wheel for sevenths.
But that's getting into advanced theory.
how to give the background music to song?
Q. I've a music band we have composed many song but still confused how to set the music for it.
A. I'm a songwriter and I get confused sometimes too. After reading your question and explanation I'm guessing that you have a melody and words but no music? That's got to be it, right?
Ok, here's what I do. I have a melody running around in my head but, I don't know how to play it yet on either the keyboard or the guitar. So, in my case, it's always been easier for me to sit down at the keyboard and sing or hum the song and try to find the notes on the keyboard that make up that melody. Once you have that figured out, all you really have is just the melody. That's what the singer is going to do. You still need the background music.
The background music has to do with the chord progression for the song. I don't know the chord progression yet but, I have the melody down and from the melody, I know what key it is in. This is where a good book on music theory helps a lot.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470615141/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0764554042&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1YE3F7BK1G1SAY4S83E7 - http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Music-Theory/dp/1592574378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285894846&sr=1-1 - http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Dummies-Michael-Pilhofer/dp/0764578383/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285894879&sr=1-8 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592572111/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0764554042&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1YE3F7BK1G1SAY4S83E7 - http://www.amazon.com/Chord-Wheel-Ultimate-Musicians-Instructional/dp/0634021427/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285895183&sr=1-1
To figure out the chords after I have the melody and know the key, I take each note of the melody and figure out on the keyboard what harmonies go with those notes. Now, if the melody is played only on the white keys, I know that is the key of C. Again if you go and get any or all of the following books, it helps a lot and all of a sudden it seems really easy.
Typically, you want at least three notes to make up a chord. I prefer four. So, I take the first note for the melody and so I add notes to it that are lower (below) that note that harmonize with the note and sound right for my idea of the song. Usually every other key on the piano works fine (not counting the black keys) in the key of C. So when I have 4 notes that sound good together, since I don't know the keyboard that well, I type the notes into some software that I found online called RPsoft2000 Musicord http://www.rpsoft2000.com/rps_musicord.htm and the software tells me, based upon the notes I type in, what chord it is.
Now that I know the name of the chord (and some chords have more than one name depending upon the key you are in), I know how to play it on the guitar. Chords follow the rhythm of the music. So, you almost always have a chord played on the first beat of the measure. That same chord may play in the back ground for the entire measure and sometimes more than one measure depending upon the melody. There could be as many as four different chords played in a measure. Normally you will only see one or two chords played in a measure. What chords are played depends upon the melody and the harmonies that go with the melody which determine the chords. Once you have the chord progression figured out, you can just play the chords on the keyboard or the guitar or both to give you the background music for your song. You can also add a bass part which typically consists of one note (the root note) of each chord. It is often best to allow the bass player to write his/her own bass part. They will often do a much batter job. In my case, I write all the bass parts myself. Usually the bass part is the last thing I do although some song I write are built entirely around the bass part. In those cases, I actually begin with a bass part. Another thing you can do, which a lot of bands do, is to start with a chord progression that they like, and then write a melody and some lyrics for that chord progression.
Here is a great web site for coming up with ideas for chord progressions. http://www.palojono.com/dev/chord_progression_generator/chord_progression_generator.php
There are patterns you will learn after you've been at it a while and when you are playing the melody you will begin to hear the chord changes and know what they should be because your mind will remember the chord changes and the muscles in your fingers know them too.
Good luck to you! The world needs more songwriters!
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