5 Core ‘Getting Started’ Tips For (how to play the ukulele) Playing Piano By Ear

October 1st, 2008 admin Posted in music |

By Jermaine Griggs

When it comes to playing piano, or any instrument for that matter, there are proven guidelines you can follow to minimize mistakes and speed up the process.

While this article mainly focuses on playing an instrument without sheet music (”by ear”), there are rules here that will be beneficial to all types of players.

Tip #1: Understand how music works

One of the biggest myths is that you don’t have to understand music to play by ear. You just play. That is the furthest from the truth.

While there are a lot of “gifted” and talented musicians out there that have no idea what they are playing (…they just play by “listening”), this is not the way you want to be. At least if you can help it.

Believe it or not, understanding how scales are formed and how they create chords and progressions is one of the most important things you can learn.

(By the way, major scales are a series of seven unique notes played one after the other. They are the basis of what we call “major keys” and everything is based on them. Chords, on the other hand, are three or more notes played at the same time. These are the combined sounds you hear in songs. And chord progressions are no more than chords going from one to the other — a series of chords played one after the other).

Scales basically create chords. Chords create progressions. And progressions ultimately create the songs you hear! Understanding “how” and “why” is the difference between an average musician and a professional musician.

Tip #2: Master the patterns rather than memorizing stuff

I always get asked, “How do you memorize thousands of songs?”

The answer is I don’t. I understand patterns.

A couple dozen songs may follow the same exact patterns — so to a regular person, they think I know 36 songs but all I’m doing is playing the same pattern. Yes, the song may be in a different key (there are 12 keys but once you understand scales and patterns, you can instantly play ONE song in all TWELVE keys very easily). The song may have a different melody, but at the end of the day, it will almost always share the same chords and patterns as many other songs.

Tip #3: Learn to listen

Playing by ear is not reserved for geniuses. It’s all about listening.

Do you hear tones going up? or down? Does a chord sound happy (perhaps it’s a major chord) or sad and serious (minor chord). Maybe it’s a scary sound… spooky (diminished chord). How about a blues feel… very soulful-like (dominant chord).

See? All these chords have feelings attached to them. Those that play seamlessly what they hear and feel have simply learned how to unlock their ears.

Tip #4: Become a pro at recognizing intervals

“Intervals,” in music, are distances between notes. As simple as that.

There are very small intervals out there like unison, seconds, and thirds and there are larger ones like fifths, sixths, and sevenths. These intervals actually help to name the chords that we play. When you say the name, “major chord,” you’re actually referring to a particular interval in that chord that gives the chord its main sound quality. The same applies to minor and other chords.

There are different kinds of intervals: melodic and harmonic.

Melodic intervals are distances between single notes, played one after the other. Like “melodies.”

Harmonic intervals are distances between notes played at the same time (i.e. - “chords”).

Songs contain both melody and harmony so becoming a pro at recognizing both types of intervals allow you to hear the stuff songs are made of! And if you can do that, then it’s just a matter of putting this interval with that interval and you get chords and progressions.

Tip #5: Practice and get some real-world experience

You can study, study, study all you want but it won’t do you any good if you don’t put what you learn into action. Of course, this sounds a little cliche but it’s the truth.

Practice doesn’t make perfect.

Perfect practice makes perfect. Make sure to practice the right stuff. I’ve learned in music (and practically in life) that:

1) You can do things right

2) You can do the right things

There’s a difference. You can do things right… the WRONG things, right. Focus on the right things and do THEM right and you’ll get better, fast. My blog gives you a lot of things to practice (scales, modes, chords, progressions, harmonization techniques, etc.).

In the area of speed and finger independence, Hanon are great exercises. Focus on the right things and do them as best as you can, and you can’t go wrong.

Well, there you have it! My five personal tips to getting started the right way. Follow them and you will succeed!

Jermaine Griggs is the founder of HearandPlay.com and the author of the best-selling, “Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear” home study course.

If you want to learn music in an easy-to-understand, ‘no fancy words allowed’ way, you’ll love these piano lessons.

Jazz Music - History and Facts Revealed
By Sayid Aksa

The 20th century music world has seen the entry of light and easy listening music with African-American jazz music. Originating in southern USA, jazz music is a combination of African and European music traditions. It puts together the use of blue notes, improvisation, syncopation and swing notes.

Jazz music was first used in reference to music from Chicago early in the 20th century. It has evolved in several other subgenres such as New Orleans Dixieland, big band-style swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, Brazilian jazz, jazz-rock fusion, and the more recent acid jazz.

The realm of jazz music was and still is predominantly associated with the American black community. These black musicians transitioning from banjos and tambourines learned to play European instruments such as the violin. Black slaves from early America used to sing and play music as a form of spiritual or ritualistic hymns.

After emancipation, employment opportunities for black slaves were very limited as segregation laws were still in force. Most of these black slaves found themselves in the entertainment industry as piano players and instrumentalists. They became low-cost entertainers as minstrels, vaudeville players, piano bar players, and marching band members. Soon, this kind of jazz music called Ragtime Jazz spread from the southern USA to other areas in the western and northern cities in USA.

Ragtime jazz became very popular in the early part of the century. Musician Jelly Roll Morton published the first ever jazz arrangement in print in 1915 with the title Jelly Roll Blues. This printed arrangement brought forth a new breed of musicians playing ragtime. Ragtime music moved on from red-light district bars and vaudeville shows to major concert locations such as the Carnegie Hall.

The first jazz record was recorded in 1913 by Society Orchestra, the first black group to come out with a record. Another group that came up with their very own jazz music recording is the “Original Dixieland Jazz Band”. Other bands followed suit, releasing jazz music recordings starting in 1917. In 1922, the most famous blues singer of the decade, Bessie Smith, also released her first recording. Also in the 1920s, Jelly Roll Morton played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and made history as the first mixed-race recording collaboration. Big bands like those of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines played the more prominent venues and paved the way for the development of big-band-style swing jazz.

Louis Armstrong, a trumpeter, band leader and singer, came to be known as the Ambassador of Jazz, what with his early innovations in jazz music. Swing music is considered to be popular dance music and is played from printed musical arrangements. Then came the bebop which focuses more on small groups and simple arrangements.

Throughout the years jazz music has always been preferred music genre among those who enjoy light and easy listening. There are radio stations that play only jazz music. Jazz music can be heard most everywhere hotel lounges, salons, concert halls, wedding receptions, Jazz music is perhaps also the most unique form of music as there are no two jazz music performances are ever the same.

Sayid Aksa is the author of http://musicmars.com

You can watch best jazz music videos and other cool music videos from various genres on his site.

Rock Music - History and Facts Revealed
By Sayid Aksa

Rock music is often associated with heavy instrumentation, reverberating through a sound system, and played by hyperactive musicians wearing all-black garb. This kind of music has enjoyed over half a century of popularity with its strong beat and catchy melody.

Rock music started in the 1940s and the 1950s as a fusion of rhythm and blues, gospel music, and country music. Originally known as rock and roll, as branded by disc jockey Alan Feed from Ohio, rock music combined influences resulted in simple blues-based style that was fast and danceable.

Instrumentation for rock music often include electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboards. Others add to their line-up reed instruments like the saxophone and the French horn. String instruments like the mandolin and the sitar are occasionally seen in the realm of rock music. Of all these instrumentations, it is the guitar that is considered to be the star of the show. Guitars come as solid electric, hollow electric or acoustic.

The electric guitar was played rock and roll style by early rock legends Chuck Berry, Link Wray and Scotty Moore. Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan played a fusion of blues and rock. As multitrack recording was developed by Les Paul along with electronic sound treatment by Joe Meek, it was not long after when rock music artists like Jackie Breston and Bill Haley came out with their first rock and roll records. Breston released his record Rocket 88 under recording label Sun Records. And then several years after, Haleys Rock Around the Clock was launched and topped the charts of Billboard magazine in terms of record sales and airtime plays. Sun Records also produced rock and roll king Elvis Presleys first single labelled Thats All Right (Mama). Shake, Rattle & Roll of Big Joe Turner was also topping the Billboard R&B charts during this time.

The fusioning of rock music extended into the 1960s and the 1970s, with rock music being combined with folk music to create folk rock, with blues to create blues-rock, and with jazz to create jazz rock. Electrical instrument ambiance was incorporated into rock music to create the carefree psychedelic rock. Influences from soul, funk and latin music were integrated with rock music to pave way for subgenres as soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock, and punk rock.

Rock music took a metallic turn in the 1980s and 1990s with the entry of rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, Aerosmith, Kiss, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. Hard rockers heightened the commercialization of rock and roll with albums and concerts being launched all over the country. Arenas and other similar big venues were used as a places to gather crowds and crowds of rock music fans. Live performances in rock concerts had rock fans screaming and going wild over rock bands performing to full performance level complete with stage design and pyrotechnics.

Some of the other developments in rock music are retro style grunge, theatrical glam rock (Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and the New York Dolls), intense Britpop (John Lennon and the Beatles), indie rock and nu rock (Police, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, and the Culture Club).

Rock music has not been as popular with music critics at some point in time owing to its dark and overly loud metallic sound. But innovations and developments in look, style and sound has slowly developed a following for rock music not only in the young crowd but for the public in general as well. Rock music still manages to chalk up big hits in popular music.

Sayid Aksa is the author of http://musicmars.com

You can watch best rock music videos and other cool music videos from various genres on his site.

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