| Back Theory Praise the Lord. I know alot you are starting out and I have compiled this list and midis of things I have learned in the past few years. To encourage those who need it it really doesnt take long to learn all this (and there is still a lot I dont know) if you are willing to put the time in practicing. I took some lessons before but I really did not learn to play until somewhere around 95 or 96. I would be twice as far if I had practiced more and in all keys J. I hope all my terms are correct but I name some things the way I see it. Let's get started!! Behold...Some basic theory for beginners Sat Jan 13 03:54:33 2001 If you don't know any theory of music this may help you out because it has me. Im trying to read more and more to get new patterns for church. Even though I dont always play everything ive learned it is good for practice. This will also help you figure out what to do with that lefthand. We all know the notes on the piano C...D...E...F...G...A...B...C This is the C major scale. It moves in half steps and whole steps. A half step is one note up or down reguardless of the color of the keys. (C to C# is a half and so is E to F). The whole step is 2 notes up or down reguardless of key color. (C to D is a whole step) The pattern for the major scale is Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half step. In music theory they give these notes in the scale numbers or roman numerals. So if you had the numbers you can play it in any key. So it will look like this. C...D...E...F...G...A...B...C 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...1 or 8 I..II..III..IV..V...VI..VII.I (roman numerals) If you know the C major chord and scale you can find the chords that make up the major scale. CEG=C major chord(abbrev...Cmaj) C, E, and G being the 1,3, and 5 of the C major scale. To make the Cmajor chord minor you would flaten the 3 by a half step so you have CEbG=C minor chord(abbrev...Cmin) So the next chord the the C major scale would be DFA. If you played a D major scale using the half step whole step pattern D...E...F#...G...A...B...C#...D 1...2...3....4...5...6...7....1 now play the D major chord 1,3,5 DF#A= Dmajor chord you will notice that if you flaten the 3(F#) you have a Dminor chord(DFA). Getting back to the key of C. The Dminor chord was the next chord in the Cmajor scale. If you keep playing the chords up the C major scale this is what you will come up with Cmaj..Dmin..Emin..Fmaj..Gmaj..Amin..Bdim...Cmaj 1......2.....3.....4......5....6.....7......1 I......ii....iii...IV.....V....vi....vii....I In the roman numerals capital numerals mean major chords and lower case mean minor chords. The 7 chord is diminished. You build on what I have just told you. For example if you play a fourth finger on the seven you get a 7th chord CEGB=Cmajor7 chord play up the scale in this pattern and you find the 7 chords in the C major scale. CEGB...DFAC...EGBD...FACE...GBDF...ACEG...BDFA Cmaj7.Dmin7...Emin7..Fmaj7..G7.....Amin7..Bdim If you flaten the 7th note(B) in the Cmajor scale the Cmajor chord becomes a C7 chord(CEGBb). The 7th note in the Gmajor scale is F# and it is flaten to F in the key of C. That is why it is a G7 chord and not a Gmajor7 chord. (Im not to sure how to name that B dim chord.)Any way if you want to find a 9 chord first count up C...D...E...F...G...A...B...C...D 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9 If you play a major7 chord it will be a major 9 chord and if you play a 7th chord it will be a 9th chord CEGBD=Cmaj9 chord CEGBbD=C9 chord See the C major7 chord and the C7 chords CEGA=C6 chord This should help you out some with chord posts. As far as left hand chording if you know you are in the key of C and the bass in the song goes to a D you know that D is the 2 and a minor chord so more than likely you can play a Dmin chord in your left hand. At least this is what I would try first. mysteryman Hope i didnt confuse you all |