Music Theory
Chord Fingers: How to Coordinate Chords
Today’s video is all about chords – what fingers to use with your chords, different types of chords (root, inverted, seventh), and best practices. Enjoy!
Read MoreHow to play from a Christmas songbook, part 2
In the last video, we discussed: How to find the melody line How to read the chord symbols How to use the given chord symbols while following the bassline idea Definitely check it out if you haven’t already, because today’s video is going to build on the same ideas. This week, well be looking at…
Read MoreHow to Play from a Christmas Songbook, Part 1
I know, I know. It’s the beginning of November. Most people are far from putting up the Christmas tree. But the thing with Christmas piano music is that you need time to practice it! So I thought I would start talking about Christmas music now, to help you get prepared for the upcoming season. Here’s…
Read MoreHow to Play Swing Rhythm (Shuffle Rhythm)
This video on how to play swing and shuffle rhythm is going to be short and highly focused. It’ll help you transform your “straight” 8th notes into “swing” 8th notes – and we’ll talk about why you’d want to do something like that in the first place. This is called “shuffle rhythm”, though I’ll be…
Read MoreCan you practice sight reading for 7, 14 or 30 days in a row? (GIVEAWAY!)
Hi everyone! I’m very excited about today’s episode – I hope you join us for a group SIGHT READING CHALLENGE. In today’s video I’ll explain how it all works and how to participate. And at the end we’ll talk about the awesome giveaway and how to participate! Note: Today’s video will be using the program…
Read MoreFour Melody Writing Tricks (Primer on Non-Chord Tones)
In today’s episode of PianoTV we’re going to be looking at melody writing tricks. These tricks all center around non-chord tones – and if that makes no sense to you now, it will soon! With our Songwriting Workshop in full-swing, I’ve had melody on the mind. We talk quite a bit about melody writing in…
Read MoreBoogie-Woogie: A Fast-and-Fun Piano Genre [Guide]
In today’s episode of PianoTV we’ll be discussing Boogie-Woogie, a piano-centric branch on the jazz/blues music tree. Once upon a time we looked at an overview of American music history, where we discussed Jazz, Rock and other American-born genres. We’ve also done a video about another piano-based genre, ragtime, which you can check out. Boogie-woogie…
Read MoreCut Time (and how it’s different from common time)
In today’s episode we’re going to talk about something seemingly simple – cut time. We haven’t talked about time signatures in a good long while on this channel (see our videos on 4/4, ¾, and 6/8), so I figured now was a good time to tackle this oft-confusing time signature. We’ll look at what cut…
Read MoreHow to Play Dominant 7th Chords
In today’s lesson, we’ll be exploring how to play dominant 7th chords. These appear for the first time in your technical tests for grade 5 RCM. And they’re the first 4-note chord you’ll need to learn if you’re following this examination system.
Read MoreHow to play cadences (level 5-6)
In today’s video I wanted to discuss how to play cadences. We’ve talked about cadences before on this channel – what they are, what the point of them is – so check out that video for more information. Today is going to be about the practical application of cadences. This is going to be especially…
Read More