Q. I read sheet music and i decided that it was about time I start to learn how to play piano by ear.
But that requires chords and I don't know which chord to use for a certain part of a melody since there are to many chords. How do we know which chords should be used?
A. That's pretty easy to answer. I have been in this officially for 25 years and doing this since 42 years ago.
The right hand part is pretty straightforward - up down or the same.
For the left hand part, you need to know how to form all the 144 chords (at least) using 9 formulas. To learn that, the formulas are as below:
My advise is to forget about scales if you want the fast track to getting chords. It will just like touching your nose the other way around. We can get back to the scale theory behind it later. In my profession, I strife to make learn as simple as possible for my 5000+ student in my 25 years of teaching. I hope this helps you.
Just think in terms of semitones (or half-steps in American Terms) and sharps and flats. With only 9 formulas, you can create at least 144 chords. There is absolutely nothing complicated with forming chords if you do it this way. Just peel open your eyes and ears.
You most probably would have already learnt that major chords are formed by pressing the Root note, next note 4 half steps up and then 3 half steps up. ie. C E and G in C chord. You can get every other major chords by using this R - 4 - 3 formula.
Now, to get the minor chord, just flatten the middle note (i.e. E flatted to E flat). So Cm chord = C Eb G. I do not want to use R - 3 - 4 because by doing so, you end up memorizing 12 formulas at least. I just want you to remember 9 for the time being)
Now for the 6th, 7th and Major 7th. (6th & Maj 7ths omitted. See reason below) Basically it means:
For 7th ADD a note 3 half steps from the 5th note. C7 will result in C E G Bb. These chords with "unfinished" feelings alway appear in pairs with root chords. I.e. G7 with C chord in C key; C7 with F Chord in F key; etc.
FYI, Yahoo answers has prevented me from submitting the complete article which becomes too long if everything is there. So you have to contact me to get the full picture.
For all the above, you will see that all these adds to the color of sound and like an artist, these are your shades that will help you paint your masterpieces. How you use them will determine the quality and output of your music.
With the above, you can create 144 chords at least. Test it out.
With so much 144 colors, you should have enough to paint your masterpieces. Only after mastering these, we worry about the 9ths, 11ths, 13ths later. If you take the course as I prescribed, there will be exercises and charts for you to put these into practice and also later, for reference..
To put them into your melody, you need to start being aware of the sound and the feeling (intention) of the song. Some part of the song will feel like it is getting stronger, some will feel like it is finishing, some will feel like it is unfinished. If it is getting stronger, you apply Chord IV (F chord if in C key); If the song sounds finished, you use chord I (C chord in C key); If unfinished, you use V7 (G7 in C key). There is a reason why you use G7 instead of G which can be explained in my course mentioned in my link.
As for the other chords like II, III VI and VII, they all convey different feelings and intentions. You have start getting aware. Then you will always get them right. In fact, you can even come to the stage of hearing the song and knowing exactly what goes where. It takes time to develop. I can do it. I have a course for that too but it is in Level 3A. You need to complete Level 1 and 2 first.
The above tips should be good enough to get you through the 1st stage.
There is a theory that the chord to be chosen should the based on the chord tone of the melody note. This will get you the correct answer only 70 to 80% of the time. This theory is a fallacy and does not help you to really bring out the best in a song. To prove me right, I would like to ask you to try that for Elvis Presley's song "Love Me Tender" or the folk song "Aura Lee".
I hope with these, you will have a good time making music.
There are a few more elements which you need to incorporate into your playing to make it to a hobbyist level. Check the below link to see the details.
the difference between guitar and ukulele?
Q. i know this is a stupit question but....i wanna learn to play ukulele cause i like its sound, but i Wonder If its possible to play all the tunes or chords like on guitar. Whats the basic difference ? (please dont judge me im a complete noob :D i play piano but just by ear so i have no idea about music theory ) thanks:)
A. Most people that already play guitar find it very easy to pick up the ukulele. That is beacuse the string note/tuning relationships are the same -- meaning that the chord "shapes" are the same if you are missing the two lower sounding (and usually closer to the sky) strings on a guitar. However, the ukulele is usually tuned five half-steps (three white keys and two black keys) above the guitar. So in the case of a G Major guitar chord shape, you lose the first two fingers from the guitar chord and are left with the pinkie on the first (closest to the floor) string. This, however, is no longer a G major chord but a C major chord (three white keys and two black keys above the G note is a C Note on the piano).
The short answer is: No - the guitar chord diagrams will have too many strings and the chord names will be wrong. However, on most ukuleles the shape of the chord from a guitar will be very familiar -- cross out the fifth and sixth strings from the guitar chord diagram and rename the chord five half steps up and you are in business. I think, however, you are better off buying an ukulele chord chart and then recognizing the similar patterns from the guitar.
Now to confuse the issue. Not all ukuleles are tuned the same. Most traditional ukuleles are tuned to the old "my dog has fleas" tuning with a higher sounding note on the fourth string (closest to the sky) than on the third string. This string is a full OCTAVE above the other tuning. In both tunings the note names are g-c-e-a (or and older a-d-f-g style tuning hardly ever used anymore), but the reentrant tuning has a high G note and the "low-G tuning" has a low G note. You can play an easy scale from the low-G tuning starting on the fourth string. This only makes a huge difference when sight reading sheet music -- other wise the two ukuleles can play together with the same chord shapes -- one ukulele will sound lower than the other.
This all assumes the ukulele is not a britone ukulele -- in that case the chords are the same as a guitar but with two fewer strings. Some purists will call this a parlor four string guitar and not a baritone ukulele -- but who cares?
Any good online sites to learn how to play guitar?
Q. I'm 15 and I've had a guitar I got from my dad sitting in the back of my closet for like 5 years now and I've never learned to play it. Recently I found a love for music and I found out that I can sing pretty good so I've been taking voice and piano lessons but I want to learn to play guitar too. I found a website called OnlinePianist.com that tells you how to play pretty much any song you can think of on piano and I was wondering if there was anything like that for the guitar? I would take guitar lessons but there isn't anyone around here that teaches them and I don't think my mom can afford anymore lessons so I'm going to teach myself. I looked on youtube but the way people explain it on youtube is confusing to me. I tried to use youtube to learn how to play some songs on piano too but it confused me too. Thats why I wanted something like onlinepianist.com for guitar... Does anyone know of any sites?
A. It's best to find a guitar teacher, or at least an experienced guitarist that can show you some useful techniques that might be hard to pick up on your own.
However, if you only want to play some chords to accompany yourself singing, then that's pretty easy to do. You'll want to keep your practice sessions short at first so your fingers can get used to pressing down on the strings (you need to build calluses so it won't hurt). Later you can increase the sessions as long as you seem to progress and you're having fun.
There are plenty of online lessons for guitar. I'll just give you a couple of sites with free instructions for beginners that won't require you to sign up or anything (though there are plenty of those sites as well, some good, some bad). Make sure 'free" is really "free". Sometimes, it's a come-on to sell you a rather expensive "course" of some kind.
I think this is what you were looking for-- a kind of "virtual" guitar? I personally think it's an unnecessary step. And while you're figuring out how to read "tabs", why not just learn how to read actual sheet music. You'll find it will come in handy in case you want to learn songs you don't necessarily know that well (or at all).
http://virtualmusicalinstruments.com/guitar
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/ (especially if you have an electric guitar, but lessons for acoustic are here too)
Also check out Youtube and a site called Ehow.com--just search for beginning guitar lessons
Here are some other useful things you can find online to get you started:
Chord charts:
http://www.8notes.com/guitar_chord_chart/
http://www.guitar-skill-builder.com/free-printable-guitar-chord-chart.html
Online guitar tuners:
http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/onlinetuner.html
http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/tuner/
Guitar games
http://www.kongregate.com/chords.phpm/guitar-games
http://www.ababasoft.com/music/guitar_machine.html
There are plenty of sites that have chord symbols or names for popular songs, but these are usually done by whoever posted it. Their versions may not be accurate, complete, or in the key you want it in. There are plenty of songbooks out there so, you might want to invest in at least one, or get a couple of guitar instruction books to help you with things like learning individual notes on the strings (which is useful if you want to play a guitar solo instead of just chords).
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Title : I am just starting to learn how to play PIANO by ear but I don't know which CHORDS to use?
Description : Q. I read sheet music and i decided that it was about time I start to learn how to play piano by ear. But that requires chords and I don...