Q. I've recently been messing around on the piano, and have found myself using a really beautiful chord. To the best of my knowledge, its an Abmaj7add9 basically it goes
Ab Eb Ab C Eb G Bb
When I asked my band teacher she said assume whenever you have a ninth, that you also play the seventh. I've taken piano lessons for years, but only classical so I've never dealt with much more than major or minor chords. Thanks in advance for any input! =)
A. You have it right...
AbM7add9 is exactly right.
When you play a 9th, assume you add the 7th, but when you play an 11 or 13, ONLY add that pitch... don't play the intervals inbetween... (so it would be 1 3 5 7 11... or 1 3 5 7 13)... hope this makes sense?!
Here's some quick, basic theory about why you put the "maj" or "M" before the 7...
If it's AbM7 (or Abmaj7), it is a major chord with a major 7th... Ab C Eb G
If it's Ab7, it would mean it's a Dominant chord... it would lower your 7th a half step... Ab C Eb Gb
If it's Abm7 (or Abmin7), it's a minor chord with the dominant 7th... Ab Cb Eb Gb
So great job! Keep it up... you might find that you have a talent for jazz piano! Have fun! :)
*EDIT: I also found a neat little chord chart... this'll show you how to play a TON of chords, including most jazz chords with sus4, etc! http://www.8notes.com/resources/notefinders/piano_chords.asp
I know the chords...now how do I play them?
Q. I play piano, and frankly I'm clueless as to how people manage to play chords so amazingly, like they flow from one to another.
Sure, I know combination chords and chord progressions, but how do I play them?
What I mean to say is, to back a song, say by Taylor Swift, I know all the chords, but it sounds boring, and well, frankly, just plain weird if I play one solid chord. How do I make it sound, more...well......more? More...fun, exciting, more like a real piano cover? Without playing the whole melody in the right hand and just chords in the left hand.
I can play the songs on the guitar fine, strumming isn't that complicated. But when I sit at the piano, I'm lost. And I have like 5 years more experience in Piano.
I think my problem is that in my keyboard class, when I play the pieces, I play them exactly as the sheet music says. No variations, not much expression.
Ok. NO expression.
But I know I could play actual songs (taylor swift stuff, for example) with more feeling...more emotion.
...
But then I gotta know what to play and we come back to the problem.
I know I'm not really explaining this very well...I don't know how to. But if you play "chord piano" or know something about it, help me! How do I make chords sound real? How do I play broken chords? When should I play an inversion or a slash chord?
Anything you can give me is fine, but please, if you're giving website addresses, make sure they work...and I don't have to pay.
Also, any SMALL downloads are also fine...about maybe upto 500 MB? If necessary, even 1 GB is fine, but my computer is too crammed for much more ;)
So please, help me if you can!
Oh yea...and if you could explain this chart to me it'd help...
http://mugglinw.ipower.com/chordmaps/mapD.htm
(D is my favourite scale..i dunno why, it just is. So the map's on D...but if it'd be easier with any other scale, here's the page with ALL the maps. I've not really seen them, but any map that might help, pls suggest! http://mugglinw.ipower.com/chordmaps/chartmaps.htm )
A. You really seem to have everything under hand. Charts that are very helpful, although I may understand a little of first it just sends my head a swimming when I look at it.
Although I am not very good at guitar I can tell you that playing piano as it is written only works with classical music. To make a piano sound something like a guitar you must play cord like a guitar. Again you answered your own question, Play the cord say if from top, big string, from left thumb on down one key at a time. This is with a quick speed. The notes on the sheet music are only guides and the artist playing music often plays song his own way.
On Youtube search for the piano guy. He may seem a little to simple but he gives you great suggestions.
Here is site ----- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDzPQyGEqM
Hope this helps (Rocky keep on flying)
How can I learn to play guitar well?
Q. *I have two electric guitars and a small amp that used to belong to my brother. Both of the guitars are missing strings, the black one it's biggest string and the red(and black) one it's smallest string (I don't know the proper names of the strings). I don't have any spare strings, I don't know how to get new ones (yes, I have been to music store before when my brother used to play to buy strings, I just always got confused at all the different sizes and names and types, I would have no idea WHAT to buy) and I have no clue how to restring a guitar.
*I also don't have a guitar tuner, so they are often out of tune. I do get the opportunity to retune them every once in a while, and do so every chance I get.
*I practice evey day, although for me that means listening to music as I practice to make sure I am playing the correct notes up to speed.
*I have a guitar pick, but I prefer to play without it. I mostly used it when I was just starting, and my fingers often got huge bubbly blister and hurt to much to play with. Now that my fingers are calloused I usually don't use it.
*What I mainly want is to learn how to read music. My brother said I should learn tab, (what he started to learn), but I'd rather learn to read music properly.
My main problem is that I have no means of learning. I have pretty much infinite opportunity to play, having two electric guitars at my moms house and an electric and acoustic (missing a string) at my dads. I just am not able to be taught WHAT or HOW to play. No one in my family has any experience (except my brother) who stopped years ago and has now forgotten absolutely everything he learned.
I can't afford lessons, and I don't work well with books, (though I suppose I can use one when I have to). Also, I can't take guitar at my school. I've tried to use YouTube videos (because people post lessons on there all the time) but they usually expect me to know certain things already, or don't explain what I want to know.
I am a quick learner (when it comes to music), I have quick fingers (from playing piano), and I can play by ear (play a song just by listing to it once, usually), and I can sight read fairly well on the other instruments I play (perfectly on clarinet, fairly well on alto sax, and I'm improving on piano). So I am always getting better at guitar. My family doesn't understand that even though I'm getting better, I'm only figuring out how to use the instrument really. Without a teacher, I can't actually learn how to get good at it, or anything other than operating it. Like how to read music, among other things. The same thing happened when I learned piano, after I certain point I stopped making progress. I still practice and don't degress, like my brother did with guitar, but I just can't make progress anymore (with a half size keyboard without petals and absolutely ZERO touch sensitivity.
There is no way to convince my family I need lessons. Please just try to help me figure out what to do. I don't want to learn how to play by ear at first without learning to read music. I did that with piano and screwed myself from th start. I had to unteach myself everything (a hard enough thing to do as is) and then reteach myself from square one. I want to learn properly this time!!!
SORRY MY QUESTION IS SO DARNED LONG. PLEASE READ IT OVER AND ANSWER.
(To make it a bit shorter for you, I put *'s beside the more important paragraphs. Also most of the stuff in brackets is unimportant. It's just me going on about myself.)
A. Ok, I'll begin at the beginning.
First thing first, you need some new strings. Sets of strings are usually referred to by their size, or gauge (gauge being the thickness in thousandths of inches), and usually just by the gauge of the high string. For example, Ernie Ball Super Slinkies' gauges are 9-42, and will usually be referred to as a set of 9's. For you, as a beginner, I would recommend a set of 9's, whatever brand you want, because they're a light gauge and are easier on the fingers. Personally, I use 11's, because I have big hands and a heavy attack on the strings. There are tutorials all over the internet on how to change strings, and if the dude at the music store is nice he might show you a thing or two as well. A good way to remember the notes for each string, from low to high, is "Edward Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Edward," EADGBE.
Get a tuner and use it. A chromatic tuner is best, average price is $20. It is a guitarist's best friend.
Practicing every day is how you eventually improve. Keep it up. I know using a pick is awkward at first, and although it's not entirely necessary you might want to eventually start using one. I'll point out, though, that not everybody does, but overall, most guitarists use a pick, and I for one would be lost without one even though I do like to fingerpick. Eventually fingers won't cut it and a pick becomes a necessity.
I don't think it's wise to altogether avoid tab. I admire that you'd like to read music "the right way," but ideally I think it's best to use both tablature and standard notation together. In my experience, any source of information can be used to learn. When you apply that to guitar and learning music, that means you should voraciously seek knowledge from whatever source makes itself available to you; whether it's from tabs, sheet music, by ear, or by watching someone else. Not one of these is perfect by itself, and each one can be the stepping stone you require to get where you want to be.
Also, when it comes to tabs, be realistic. Guitar seems to be the common man's instrument. Most music written for it winds up in tabs, or perhaps a bit more sophisticated in chord charts. Guitar music very rarely comes only in standard notation.
To be self taught requires lots of hard work and dedication. I know first hand; I've never had a lesson (directly) and I don't really intend to. One of the hardest things about teaching yourself I think you've already caught on to. There's no interaction; like you said about youtube, you're expected to know things and they don't explain the things you want to know. Well, that's what's supposed to push you to find out for yourself. Most of what I know about music I found out through research and experimentation.
From what I can tell, you're a reasonably intelligent girl (more so than many people whose questions I answer here - you can string together a sentence, hell, even a paragraph, logically) and you've already got a foundation in music. If you can sight read for clarinet, you're already light years ahead of your average beginner guitarist. I believe that you will be much more able than most at learning guitar, properly, even.
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