If you’ve been on the blog the last few days, you’ve probably watched my 33-minute video teaching you how to play Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You.”
I chose this song because of its simplicity in structure and to show you how easy it is to play a popular song… if you have the right process. Plus, I love the progressions!
Yesterday, I posted a quick lesson summarizing the chords. But I couldn’t stay long because I was headed to the hospital to support my grandma as she underwent surgery... Read Full Story
Lately, I’ve been having a good time talking about minor keys, scales, and chords!
(If you’re just now catching the blog, I’d recommend eventually going back to the last 7 or so posts to catch yourself up).
Today, I’m going to show you how to actually use one of the minor scales we’ve been talking about in real-life situations.
Theory is great! It helps you to understand the “what” and “why” behind things. But I’m going to show you how it also allows you to systemically pick what... Read Full Story
(If you haven’t read Wednesday’s and Thursday’s post, it’d be a good idea to start there as this lesson continues with what we’ve already learned…)
Today, we’re going to keep exploring the number system and circle of fifths and see what else we can do to spice up the primary chords we already know.
Yesterday , we took it a step further and added the 2-chord.
C major
1-chord
(C major)
2-chord
(D minor)
(D major, when needed)
4-chord
(F major)
5-chord
(G major)
Now, let’s... Read Full Story
Today, we’re going to keep building on what we learned Wednesday , Thursday , and Friday .
If you haven’t caught up, it might be a good idea to do so now. If not, just keep reading this lesson and if it makes sense, awesome! If not, visit the links above as this lessons builds on prior concepts.
As you know, we’ve been talking about using the number system and how to go from playing “Amazing Grace” with only three chords (aka - the “primary chords”) to adding more interesting chords from... Read Full Story
Chord progressions are derived from musical scales like this one: C D E F G A B C. This is the C major scale which is used very often in music. It is just a sequence of notes with no sharps or flats which makes it easy to use to teach music students the principles of music. When we study chord progressions we think of these letters as chords instead of single notes. If we number the chords from one to seven we can work in a practical way with the chords in any key because the basic... Read Full Story
Wow, the last 4 posts have been crazy!
On Thursday, I introduced you to the power chord’s little cousin, “ tritone .”
Then on Friday, we talked about tritone substitutions with 2-5-1 chord progressions .
Just yesterday, we took it a step further and applied tritone substitutions to 6-2-5-1 chord progressions .
Today, I want to show you another way to use tritone substitutions.
Consider this simple 1-4 turnaround progression:
C major
C7 (1-chord) >>> F7 (4-chord) >>> C7 >>> F7... Read Full Story
For the past couple of days, we’ve been talking about slow ballads. If you’re just now tuning in, I recommend you check out both Tuesday and Wednesday’s lesson.
Today, I’m going to show you how to take it even further! Right now, you know how to play a very popular ballad movement from the past two lessons — and the best part is that you’ve only used TWO chords!
So, how do we venture outside of these two chords? I’m glad you asked…
The key is understanding “circular” movements.
I... Read Full Story
Over 20 minutes of Free Organ Video Lessons Available Here The organ is a lot different from the piano , although the concept of progressions and how chord changes work generally remain the same. Basically, a "2-5-1" progression on the piano is still a "2-5-1" progression on the organ. For example, in the key of C major, the progression would still consist of some kind of D chord (almost always minor) going to a G chord, finally ending at a C chord. While this doesn't change on the organ... Read Full Story
Hi, My name is Lucion Pennant. If you are on my blog , then you are bound to learn something. Let me tell you a little about a 2-5-1 chord progression , and then I will give you some free chords for you to go and practice. Remember, the more you practice, the better you will become. What is a 2-5-1 Chord Progression? This is simply a 2 chord progressing to a 5 chord , which progresses to a 1 chord (If you keep reading, I will give examples) It is very important for you to be familiar with... Read Full Story
You hear a song you like.
You can pick out the melody line using your right hand.
You don’t know what chords to play on the right hand.
Usually, if you know it, you’ll know the whole sequence of chords to play. If you don’t know, you’ll be picking the chords by trial-and-error, right?
What you need to know now, is you need to be familiar with many chord progressions. You need to know the songs that use those progressions.
For example, many theme songs from Japanese animation as... Read Full Story
