Piano Lessons – 2 Tips
January 1st, 2010 Brian
Piano lessons (1) Knowing the Key of a Piece of Music: – Key means the scale of the notes contained in the piece of music. If there are no sharps or flats in the key signature, the piece will be in the key of C major or A minor. These are related keys and both have the same key signature i.e. no sharps or flats. The scale of C major consists of the notes C D E F G A B C. Play them going up (ascending) and going down (descending) using one finger if you don’t know the scale with the correct fingering. The scale of A minor consists of the notes A B C D E F Gsharp A.
In the first and last measures you will usually see the notes C E and G, and this piece would be in the key of C major. If the first and last measures had the notes A C and E, the piece would be in the key of A minor.
Piano lessons (2) It is beneficial to know why chords are named C chord, A minor chord etc. In the scale of C major the most important chord is C chord. The notes of the chord are C E G, and are built up in 3rds from the tonic or the first note (C) of the scale. In music it is denoted by the letter C and this is called a chord symbol, the chord being called C chord. The notes are C E G and the chord is named by the bottom or lowest note C. This chord is said to be in root position and the root note is C.
Minor chords are designated by the root note of the chord followed by a lower-case m standing for minor. Therefore A minor chord is denoted by the letters Am, the notes being A C E.
The next piano lesson (tip) will explain how these chords can be inverted, and also the next two most important chords in a key (scale).
For online piano classes or keyboard classes (six week courses) go to Piano-Keyboard intro online class or Piano-Keyboard advanced online class
Posted in Chords & how they are named, Knowing the key of a piece of music, Piano Advanced, Piano Classes, Piano Intro | No Comments »
