Jazz, Rags & Blues

The piano tutorial for this song can be found here. Martha Mier produced a music
book of Jazz, Rags & Blues for the early intermediate to intermediate pianist. There
are 8 original pieces in the book... I chose one of the songs, Beach Buggy Boogie.
It really should be played lively, with a solid beat. It has 4/4 time signature.

Jazz, Rags & Blues, Book 2 (Alfred's Basic Piano Library)
 
I have been asked to fill in a lot of notes on this song. It's a 3 page song.

Basically, the l.h. is playing low C and G together, then C and A; back and forth.
F and C played together, then F and D. They are quarter notes that get one count each.
There's a bass walk down for a few measures, G and D - F and C - C and G.
And another one... G and D to Gb and Db, F and C to Eb and Bb, then C and G.
For the ending... C and G, C and A, C and G, to G and F... then CEG to low C.

O.k., the right hand runs have triplets and eighth notes. They are fun to play.
Along with the CG and CA bass notes, play these single notes in the r.h.

1. Bb, A, G, E, D#, E, G, A then the chord EGAC (2x)
2. Bb, A, G, E, D#, E, G, A, then EG.

With bass notes, FC and FD, add this run.

1. Eb, D, C, A, G#, A, C, D, then ACDF (2x)

Along with CG to CA, play this riff:
1. Bb, A, G, E, D#, E, G, E, C

With GD/ E, D, A#, B, G, G#
With FC/ A, C, G#, A, F
With CG/ Bb, A, G
With CA/ E, D#
With CG/ E, G
With CA/ E, C

There's a mid-section on page 2 that goes like this:
l.h./ r.h. single notes

CG to CA/ D#, E, G, D#, E, C... D#, E, G, D#, E, C
CG to CA/ D#, E, G, D#, E, G, A, then EBb.
FC to FD/ G#, A, C, G#, A, F, G#, A, C, G#, A, F
CG to CA/ D#, E, G, D#, E, G, D#, E, G, D#, E, C

Here's a cool part of the song with bass walk down:

GD/ G, B, G, B, G, B, G... then GbDb/BbGb
FC/ F, A, F, A, F, A, F... then EbBb/GEb
CG/ EGAC

For the third page and final section of the song, play thirds in r.h.

CG to CA/ BbD, AC, G#B,  GBb
single notes D, D#, E
CD to CA/ BbD, AC, G#B, GBb
single notes G, G#, A

FC to FD/ EbG, DF, C#E, CEb
CG to CA/ C, A, G, E, D#, E, G, E, C

GD/BG
GbDb/BbGb
FC/ AF
EbBb/GEb
CG/EGAC
FC/EbGAC
CG/EGAC
GF/BD#A
CEG/BD#A
CEG/AC

Sincerely hope this breakdown helps some of you who want to play
Martha's Beach Buggy Boogie.

When you get the chance, stop by...
4 Free Video Lessons and Sequence

Warm Regards,






"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

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Video Thursday: Amazing Love

Photo credit: bang

I enjoy reading all your emails and sadly, I cannot respond to each and everyone. Lately, the number one question I am asked, "How do I read a chord chart or lead sheet?" I need to share with you in up-coming posts about this, since that's my experience having been a church musician. You see, we are not given sheet music, with all the notes on it, but usually a one page chord chart. This is where those slash chords come in. Knowing your chord vocabulary is essential in becoming a better piano player and church musician's will echo, that it's knowing chord progressions in every key that builds those praise and worship songs.



Amazing Love is an easy song that I learned a long time ago.  Not to be confused with Chris Tomlin's Amazing Love (You Are My King). I learned to play this song in the Key of C on the video and then tried to play it in all the keys.

The song is written by Graham Kendrick.

"Graham Kendrick (born on 2 August 1950, Blisworth, Northamptonshire) is a prolific British Christian singer-songwriter and worship leader. He is the son of a Baptist pastor. He now lives in Croydon and is a former member of Ichthus Christian Fellowship. Together with Roger Forster, Gerald Coates and Lynne Green, he was a founder of March for Jesus." For more information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Kendrick

Here are the music chords that I am playing in the above video:

Key: C (intro vamp Gm7 to C 4 x's)

VERSE 1:
    C        Dm7     
My Lord what love is this
    G           F     C    
That pays   so dear - ly
            Dm          F   G  C
That I, the guilty one  may go free!

CHORUS:
  Gm7                  C
A-mazing love, O what sacrifice
    Gm7                  C
The Son of God given for me
   Gm7                  C
My debt He pays and my death He dies
    Gm7        C
That I   might live, 
 Gm7            C
That  I   might live.

VERSE 2:

    C        Dm7

And so they watched Him die

   G       F    C

Despised, rejected 

            Dm7           F      G   C

But oh, the blood He shed flowed for me.

VERSE 3:

      Am       Dm7

 And now this love of Christ 

 G               F  C

Shall flow like rivers 

 C               Dm7       F    G   C

Come wash your guilt away, live again!


1989 Make Way Music (ASCAP)

Key: D

VERSE 1:
    D        D/E     Em7
My Lord what love is this
     Asus A    Dsus   D        
That pays   so dear - ly
A/D  D      D/E    Em7  G   A  D
That I, the guilty one  may go free!

CHORUS:
  Am7          Am/G   D
A-mazing love, O what sacrifice
    F          F/G       A
The Son of God given for me
   Am7          Am/G   D
My debt He pays and my death He dies
     Am7 Cmj7  D
That I   might live, 
      Am7 G/B   D    Am7/D
That  I   might live.

VERSE 2:
And so they watched Him die
Despised, rejected
But oh, the blood He shed flowed for me.

VERSE 3:
And now this love of Christ
Shall flow like rivers
Come wash your guilt away, live again!

Key of A

VERSE 1:
    A        Bm7     
My Lord what love is this
     E       D        A    
That pays   so dear - ly
            Bm           D  E   A
That I, the guilty one  may go free!

CHORUS:
  Em7                A
A-mazing love, O what sacrifice
    Em7                 A
The Son of God given for me
   Em7                  A
My debt He pays and my death He dies
     Em7        A
That I   might live, 
      Em7        A
That  I   might live.

VERSE 2:

     A      Bm7

And so they watched Him die 

    E      D   A

Despised, rejected 

            Bm7            D

But oh, the blood He shed flowed for me.

VERSE 3: 

     F#m      Bm7

And now this love of Christ 

E               D   A 

Shall flow like rivers 

A               Bm7        D    E A 

Come wash your guilt away, live again!

The rhythm you hear in the background is not coming from my keyboard, 

but rather software installed in my lap top.

Back Pocket is about:

1. Turning your computer into a complete practicing machine?

2. Pulling a real-sounding band out of your "back pocket?"

3. It gives you access to over 350 real-sounding backing tracks.

4. Practice and live performance files are played in all 12 keys. 

5. You can choose between multiple speeds: slow, medium, and fast. 

6. 3 different sections, 9 styles of music, & drums-only option. 

7. Instant streaming playback and automatic downloading to your system for burning to cd, transfer to ipod, and editing. 
 
Here's where you can see a demonstration of Back Pocket Band Video and place your order here. The software I'm using that is available, I believe is selling for $37.00 at HearandPlay.


Warmly






"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Friday Freebie: Learn to Play Melody

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" melody doubled at seconds: neither consonant nor equivalent. About this sound Play ( help · info ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I came across this wonderful article and wanted to share it with you, http://pianolessonsworld.com
I'll add my own take on this, too.

The fundamentals aspects of learning music- Ears, and melody.

1) Think of a tune you already know. The simpler the better (at least at first). Recommended tunes: Twinkle Twinkle, Mary had a little lamb, Happy Birthday, God Save the Queen, Row Row Row Your Boat, etc.

2) Sing it.
Don’t be shy. Part of your ultimate goal is that you will be able to play music that’s in your head without hesitation as well as playing music that you hear around you with the same ease. So step one is taking music in your head and learning it on piano. Now the big difference between singing a tune, and playing it on piano, is that you have probably been singing since you were a toddler. If you can’t sing it, you probably aren’t hearing it, so don’t be shy.

Find the first note that you sang on the piano. Now notice that each note is repeated about 6-8 times on the piano (I’ve never actually counted). Find the one that matched the register of your voice. If you are having trouble finding it, don’t worry. Just try to keep that note in your head by singing it over and over again (like when you are trying to remember a phone number). Start with a random key and listen to the note it produces. If you can tell how far away you are, follow you gut, but if you can’t, just try every note.

Now that you’ve found your first note, remember which note it is. Sing the first couple words of the tune (Mary Had-end). Now you are going to find the second note. using a similar process, except that you have a reference point which makes it easier. Sing it and ask yourself: “Is it higher or lower?” “is it right next to the last note (part of a scale), or does it jump over a few notes?” “is it the same note or have you heard it already in the song”.

Repeat these steps until you have enough of a piece of the tune to practice. All you really need is a minimum of 3 notes to practice. Repeat this part you have learned until you can play it comfortably with your eyes closed (literally).
Continue this process through the whole tune breaking it into smaller pieces for ease of learning.

Once you can play the whole tune you can try some different things.

1) learn it completely in your other hand. Stopping to work out fingering issues as they arise.
2) learn it with both hands playing it at the same time separated by two octaves
3) Pick another note to start on and learn the tune again on this note.

Do this for many tunes. In fact this is an exercise that you can stick with for most of your life, as you will always need to learn more melodies. As you become more experienced at this, see if you can play a melody perfectly on your first try, but still practice it.

***************

I love this article and refer to it often with my piano students. In fact beginners learn at an early age where C position is on the piano, with thumb on C (r.h.) and pinky on C (l.h.) From there, we build on the melody line in the right hand, like "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven and add chords in the l.h. You'll find that with this particular song, you can play the melody line with the l.h. bass notes, too.

I use simple nursery rhymes to teach my grandkids the notes of the scale and how these easy tunes contain 3 white keys... C, D, E and sometimes F so they can practice these repeated notes while singing the song that they are familiar with. Perhaps you have gone to a piano and tried to pull out the melody line, whether it's "Heart and Soul" or "Happy Birthday."

Remember that the note you start on and end with determines the key you play in. This is a very important point to know. With the 300 page course theory book, I find it's a great learning resource for intermediate players. If you are just getting started with the piano, you might want to look for additional work books as well.

4 Steps to Learning How to Play Any Song on the Piano 1. Determining the melody - Melodies determine what chords will be played. If you can use your ear to figure out what notes are being played in the melody, you are 1/4 on your way to learning a song! More resources on learning how to determine melodies 2.Harmonizing the melody - Once you have figured out the melody (using some of my techniques on the resource page), it is time to harmonize it. This is simply choosing various chords to accompany the melody. There are several techniques and tricks to doing this. More resources on learning how to harmonize melodies 3. Altering Chords - This is the best part! Now that you have strategically figured out the melody to a song and have harmonized it, altering your chords to produce certain sounds is the next step. If you were playing gospel music, you would alter your chords differently than if you were playing classical or country music. More resources on altering chords 4. Listening - After you have determined the melody, harmonized the melody, and altered some of your chords, there are various techniques you can use to make sure that your song sounds right. More resources on listening techniques I personally recommend "The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear" 300-pg Course and through my relationship with Jermaine (the author of this course), I've been able to get him to throw in a few bonus items (3 additional piano software programs). He has taught literally thousands of musicians how to play the piano by ear. If you understood just half of what he discussed above, you'll definitely benefit from his 300-pg course. Click here to learn the secrets to playing absolutely any song on the piano in virtually minutes! I highly recommend it.

I missed video Thursday yesterday, after spending some wonderful moments with my granddaughter.
Of course, I was giving her a piano lesson. Here's a video from Hear and Play that I found helpful.




















You'll also want to stop by a very nice site and pick up some free music with easy, recognizable melody lines at http://www.gmajormusictheory.org

Warmly,




"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Learn To Play My Cherie Amour: Stevie Wonder

Image via Wikipedia

Stevie Wonder My Cherie Amour Chord Video

1. My Cherie Amour Chord Chart

Intro:

D7     Cmaj7 C6 C  F
 La la la,   la la la,
F6/C Fmaj7 F7b5 F7     Gmaj7  D7
 La  la    la   la, la la.

Verse 1:

       Gmaj7      C11                Fmaj7  C/D
My che-rie amour; lovely as a summer day.
       Gmaj7      C11                  Fmaj7  C/D
My che-rie amour; distant as the Milky Way.

Chorus 1:

       Cmaj7      C/D                    F9
My che-rie amour; pretty little one that I adore,
E7               Bm7     E7          A7
 You're the only girl my heart beats for;
D7                        G6    C/D  D7
 How I wish that you were mine.

Verse 2:

     Gmaj7    C11                    Fmaj7   C/D
In a cafe, or sometimes on a crowded street,
          Gmaj7             C11           Fmaj7  C/D
I've been near you, but you never noticed me.

Chorus 2:

       Cmaj7      C/D                          F9
My che-rie amour; won't you tell me, how could you ignore,
E7                        Bm7   E7 A7
 That, behind that little smile I  wore?
D7                        G6    C/D
 How I wish that you were mine.

Interlude:

D7     Cmaj7 C6 C  F
 La la la,   la la la,
F6/C Fmaj7 F7b5 F7     Gmaj7  D7
 La  la    la   la, la la.

Verse 3:

      Gmaj7           C11                   Fmaj7  C/D
Maybe someday, you'll see my face among the crowd?
      Gmaj7         C11                        Fmaj7  C/D
Maybe someday, I'll share your, little distant cloud?

Chorus 3:

       Cmaj7      C/D                    F9
My che-rie amour; pretty little one that I adore,
E7               Bm7     E7          A7
 You're the only girl my heart beats for;
D7                        G6    C/D  D7
 How I wish that you were mine.

Coda:

D7     Cmaj7 C6 C  F
 La la la,   la la la,
F6/C Fmaj7 F7b5 F7     Gmaj7  D7
 La  la    la   la, la la.

(Repeat to Fade)
My Cherie Amour Chords 1969

 Here's a breakdown of chords I use when I play the song:


Bm7 = BA/DF#C


C6 = CG/CEA

C11 = C/BbDF


D7 = D/DF#B 


D7b9 = DB/CD#F#B

D11 = D/GACE

E7 = EG#/DF#B

Fmaj7 = FC/ACE

F9 = FA/EbGBD

F6 = F/ACD

F7b5 = F/AEbFB


Gmaj7 = GD/BF#





2. My Cherie Amour Chords For Piano

Intro (2x; vocals enter 2nd time:)

    F#maj7    Cbmaj7
La la la la la la
              C#maj7
La la la la la la

Verse 1:

Ab7+5  C#maj7      Gb7sus      F#7     Cbmaj7   Ab7sus4 Ab7
My   Cherie Amour, lovely as a summer's day
   C#maj7        Gb7sus         F#7  Cbmaj7   Ab7sus4 Ab7
My Cherie Amour, distant as the Milky Way
   F#maj7        Ab13                Fm7-5/B
My Cherie Amour, pretty little one that I adore
Bb9                    Eb9
You're the only girl my heart beats for
Ab13                    C#maj7
How I wish that you were mine

Verse 2:

Ab13-9  C#maj7...   [Ab13-9: 4x4564]
In    a cafe  or sometimes on a crowded street
I've been near you, but you never notice me
My Cherie Amour, won't you tell me how could you ignore
That behind that little smile I wore
How I wish that you were mine

[repeat intro - with vocals both times]

[key change to D]

Verse 3:

A7    Dmaj7          G7sus4       G7        Cmaj7    A7Sus4 A7
Maybe someday  you'll see my face among the crowd
      Dmaj7        G7sus4              G7     Cmaj7   A7Sus4 A7
Maybe someday  I'll share your little distant cloud
     Gmaj7         A13                    F#m7-5/C
Oh, Cherie Amour, pretty little one that I adore
B9                      E9
You're the only girl my heart beats for
A13                     Dmaj7
How I wish that you were mine

[repeat intro (in D) to fade:]

     Gmaj7    Cmaj7
La la la la la la
              Dmaj7
La la la la la la 

Version 2 with Key Change

3.  Free Print for Keyboard Chords
My Cherie Armour pdf

 

Steps To Video Making and Marketing

Image via Wikipedia

Three Steps To Add the Power of Video to Your Website
1. Shoot Your Video
2. Upload It To YouTube
3. Link or Embed Your Video Broadcast

What should your first video message be? 

If a visitor stopped by your show room you'd take the opportunity to show them around. Do the same thing on your website or blog. When a visitor arrives, welcome them to your site with your instruction video. In essence, you want to show them around your "virtual Internet showroom."
Tell them how you're different and the benefits you or your products offer. If your site has links, then tell your visitor what information they will find if they follow those links.
I offer lessons and instructions online. I play the piano and offer certain music resources to take your piano playing to the next level.

Step 1: Shoot Your Video 

Set up your camera and position yourself about two or three feet in front of it and start talking. In the beginning, I used a digital camera and set it on a tripod. Then I set the camera on video and sat down and started talking.

Don't worry about what you will say, just start talking and recording. If you were a first time visitor to your website what would you be looking for and what would you want to know?

Don't worry about scripting out what you will say. Just talk off the top of your mind and don't be afraid to record several takes. The delete button is powerful and allows you to re-take the shot many times over.

Then watch them back and pick the best one. The exercise of being in front of the camera and just talking will help you perfect what you say. It will also help you get past your fear of being in front of the camera. By recording several takes, it will help you to look, sound and feel natural. And that's important! Remember to smile and just be yourself.

One of the greatest powers of using video in your marketing is that it gives your customers and prospects the opportunity to meet you face to face. Once you are happy with the take, put it up on YouTube.

Step 2: Upload to YouTube 

If you do not yet have an account go to www.youtube.com and sign up for a free account. Once you have it set up, which will take a few minutes, connect your video camera to your computer and upload your video to YouTube. Most video cameras come with software that may require you to transfer the video to your computer before you can move it to YouTube.

The hardest part of the whole process is often getting the video off your camera. If you have trouble then you might want to consider investing in a video camera that is made specifically for putting video onto computer or uploading it to the Internet.

Step 3: Link or Embed Your video for broadcast. 

Once you have your video on YouTube you will find two different sets of Internet coding to the right of your video. The URL code lets you link people to your YouTube video and the Embedded code lets you place that video directly onto your Website.

I recommend you place your videos on your Website. Keep your visitors on your site rather than sending them away to another site. If you maintain your own Website then simply copy and paste this code onto your Web page. If you have someone who maintains it for you, then send the code to them. It can save you hundreds of dollars in getting video on your Website. The key is to just do it.

As a music teacher, I enjoy recording students playing their favorite songs and then sharing the link with family members and friends. I also have enjoyed making a video of pirate images and children's books with background music on one of my blogs.

Once you have put a welcome video on your website, there is a lot more you can do. Most importantly, put your website or blog URL in the Description Box. That way you will be directing more traffic to your site and increase effective newsletter sign ups.

Indeed there is power in adding video to your website.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Video-Making-and-Marketing&id=5353121

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

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• 44 reviews of Stevie Wonder (rateitall.com)
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