Q. I've played for 8 years, but I only know how to read sheet music, and I don't have time to learn to read chords before i play next. Please help??
A. You mean to say that you can't read chord symbols? Like G7 F#m Bb7(#9) etc?
You've been playing 8 years and you can't do that??!?! No offense, but what have you been learning? Getting by for 8 years without a basic understanding of how music is constructed... I just can't understand that. Do you even know how to play your major scales? If not, learn that... NOW! You're way behind.
If you can play your major scales, it's not that hard to understand how chords are made.
http://a.1asphost.com/LukeSniper/ccc.html
This is a chart of chord formulas I made. My first guitar teacher gave me something like this my second lesson, and it gave me a HUGE leg up on my peers. Actually understanding music is crucial to giving a moving performance. Otherwise what you're doing is no different than someone reading a poem in a language they don't speak.
If you play two octaves of any major scale, number each note on the way up (you really only need to go up to 13 though). Then, to play any type of chord, you just play the notes the formula says. SO a major chord is 1 3 5. In C, this would end up being the notes C E and G. Any combination of C E and G is a C major chord. Some of the chords have alterations to a specific note, for example, a dominant 7th chord is 1 3 5 b7. So you would take the normal 7th, and flat it. In C, this would result in C E G and Bb.
Get it? Good.
That chord chart should give you plenty to work with. Seriously though, playing for 8 years and you couldn't play an F7 if somebody asked? There's something wrong with that... I'm not saying that you've failed, but your teachers have definitely failed you.
How do I learn what guitar chords to play in order to jam in a certain key.?
Q. I know scale positions on a guitar but how do I learn which chords can be played in a certain key? I want to be able to jam with chords, not just play solos.
A. Doing this well requires a good knowledge of music theory, but here is a basic stuff to get you started:
You first need to find the relative major scale of key you are using. For example, G is the relative major to E min because they have the same notes, just a different order. C is the relative major to A min, ect.
If you are in a major key, the distance between the notes should be as follows
I-whole-ii-whole-iii-half-IV-whole-V7-whole-vi-whole-viidim-half-I
The "wholes" represent two half steps (two frets) and the "halfs" represent one half step, or one fret. For example, F# is one half step above F. G is one whole step above F.
When counting up, remember what a piano looks like - there is no black key between B/C and between E/F. This means that F is one half step up from E.
Now that you have your scale, you find the chords. If you look at the spacing chart above, you'll notice some roman numerals are capitalized - this means they are major chords. The lower case are minor chords. The V7 means a 7th chord (you can do major or minor depending on the style of music [ie jazz uses min7]) You can also just play a major chord if you don't want to get fancy. The viidim is a tricky chord. It is REALLY hard to figure in melodically. Many people just use vii instead.
To sum it all up, let me give an example. Let's say we have the Emin scale. I'd want to find the relative major scale - G. The notes in G are G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G. The chords, therefore, are G Amin Bmin C D (or D7) Emin F#min (or F#dim) G.
There is quite a bit more to this on when to use 6th chords, and augmented chords, and more....but you need to know the basics first. Every song can be jammed to or played with basic chords. Making them more complex will add style once you get the basic chord progression down.
Is it possible to teach myself how to play piano?
Q. my parents won't sign me up for piano lessons, but i really want to learn. they probably wouldn't buy me any books about it or anything either. is there any place online that can teach me? or any youtube videos? anything??
thank you.
A. I'm currently trying to teach myself piano, and yes, it is hard, but still possible. You need a couple steps to be able to start playing;
1.Learn to read music-piano uses standard notation always. To be able to know what you need to play without having to figure it out by ear you need to know this. http://datadragon.com/education/reading/ (learn to read music)
2.Understand where the notes are on the keyboard-obviously knowing what note you have to play means nothing if you can't find that note. http://img.quamut.com/chart/401/10cscale.jpg (also keeping in mind the black keys are sharps and flats)
3.Know how chords work and how to play them-music is often based around chords, playing multiple notes together that make a distinct sound. A chord finder is here http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/vpc/piano_chords.htm but it would be good to pick out the patterns of how chords can be found just from their name, such as minor chords have their 3rd lowered (this takes basic knowledge of music theory, which I would also recommend http://musictheoryblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/basic-piano-chords.html)
4.A good site with piano music-it helps to have access to a large amount of free sheet music right? http://my-piano.blogspot.com/
with all this it's just a matter of practice. Lots of practice. Most people take years to become successful with the piano, so it's something you've got to be ready to put a lot of work into.
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Title : How do you convert piano chords into sheet music? Is there some sort of program you can use?
Description : Q. I've played for 8 years, but I only know how to read sheet music, and I don't have time to learn to read chords before i play ne...