Ten Tips For Piano Players

Tips for Piano Players

1.    Piano Practice

Practice Tips

2.    Ear Training

Ear-Training Article

3.    Sight Reading

Sight-Reading-Practice-Tips

4.    Chord Construction

Constructing-Simple-Chords

5. Chord Recognition

How-to-Form-Chords

5.    Pedal Practice

Damper-Pedal-Practice

6.    Suspended Chords

How-to-Play-Suspended-Chords

7.    Rhythm Workshop

Workshop-of-Rhythm

8.    Diatonic Harmony

Diatonic-Harmony-To-The-Musician

9.    Chord Voicings

The-Art-of-Piano-Chord-Voicings

10. Harmonize The Melody

How-Do-I-Harmonize-These-Melodies

Let's talk a little about some of these points...

#7 Rhythm:

You can hear and play rhythm patterns into different groups, like rhythm & blues, jazz, rock, dance patterns, marches, waltzes, swing, discos, ballads, gospel, bossa-novas and more. Practicing complex rhythms is indeed challenging. Learning how eight notes and dotted quarter notes relate and sound in one measure. Duane Shinn discovered how to establish a baseline in his left hand.

#6 Suspended

Suspensions (sus) are chords in which the 4th degree of the scale takes the place of the 3rd degree.

Example:

Csus = CFG and C7sus = CFGBb

Gsus = GCD and G7sus = GCDF

You’ll find suspended chords to Jesus Mighty God and a Tom Petty song at an earlier post of mine, how-to-play-suspended-chords

Duane illustrates these examples very well, suspensions

Example of suspended Chords:

Amazing Love by Hillsong

Intro: (D/F# G2 Asus A)

D/F#   G2           Asus        A     
I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken
D/F#   G2          Asus         A
I’m accepted, you were condemned
D/F#   G2          Asus         A
I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me
G2          A             D
Because you died and rose again
[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/h/hillsong/255499.html ]
Chorus:
D2		      G2
Amazing love, how can it be
D2                    Asus     A
That you my king would die for me
D2               G2
Amazing love, I know its true
D2 	      Asus    A
Its my joy to honour you

G                 A    D2
In all I do I honour you

Bridge:
D    D2    D  D2
You are my king, you are my king
D    D2    D  D2         D       D2    D
Jesus, you are my king, Jesus, you are my king

#5 Chords... So many to know.

major chords

  

  minor chords

  

  diminished chords

  

  augmented chords

6th chords

minor 6th chords

7th chords

minor 7th chords

7th with aug 5th chords

7th with flat 5th chords

minor 7th with flat fifth chords

diminished 7th chords

major 7th chords

major 7th chords with aug 5th

major 7th chords with flat 5th

major 7th chords with flat 3rd and flat 5th

major 7th chords with flat 3rd and sharp 5th

9th chords with all their variations (flat 5th, maj 7, etc.)

11th chords

13th chords

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

Related articles

• Play Diminished 7th, Half Diminished 7th Chords
• Let Everything: Kim Gentes
• How To Play Auld Lang Syne
• The 9th Chord

How To Play A Suspended Chord

Image via Wikipedia

The suspended chord (sometimes called a suspended 4th chord) is constructed from the major scale using the first (1), fourth (4), and fifth (5) notes of the scale. The symbol for this is the letters sus (or sus4), placed after the letter name of the chord. There are two inversions for each suspended chord that you should practice and become familiar with, using both left and right hands. This is a major chord with the fourth substituted for the third.

In root position:

Symbol Notes in Chord

Dsus D G A
Asus A D E
Gsus G C D
Fsus F Bb C

Unlike the V7th chord, which leads back (resolves) to the I chord (In the key of C, G7 resolves back to C), the suspended chord resolves to the same major chord it is derived from. Gsus resolves to G, Dsus resolves to D, regardless of the key of the chord progression. Sus chords are useful for making accompaniment more interesting when there are long passages of a song using one chord. Instead of playing a C chord for eight bars, you could add a few Csus chords.

So, here are more sus4 chords in root, first and second inversion.

Dsus4 = D G A
Dsus4 = G A D (first inversion)
Dsus4 = A D G (second inversion)

Then, we have:

Dbsus4 = Db Gb Ab
Dbsus4 = Gb Ab Db (first inversion)
Dbsus4 = Ab Db Gb (second inversion)
D9sus4 = D G A C E

Now, we have:

Esus4 = E A B
Esus4 = A B E (first inversion)
Esus4 = B E A (second inversion)

You can listen to suspended notes in use in songs like Free Falling by Tom Petty. They are useful when you have a song that makes use of one chord for a long time. You can also listen to suspended tones in worship songs like Jesus Mighty God.

Suspended second chords are merely inversions of suspended fourth chords. These chords are often found in folk music & popular music. A jazz sus chord is a dominant seventh chord with an added fourth (Gsus, for example), & may be written as a slash chord (F/G, or even Dm7/G) so as to show its function in II-V-I progressions.

Give it a try. The suspended triad will provide a cool tension and spice to your playing.
Ezine Article-Suspended Chords 

Tom Petty: Free Fallin' Chord Chart:

INTRO
D/Dsus   Dsus/D/Asus (x2)
(simply put, this is the chord pattern for the ENTIRE song)

        D    Dsus  Dsus  D   Asus
she's a good girl, loves her mama
      D  Dsus    Dsus D  Asus
loves Je-sus and America too
        D    Dsus  Dsus  D   Asus
she's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis 
      D   Dsus        Dsus  D      Asus
loves hors-es and her boy - friend too

(intro again 1x)

       D    Dsus  Dsus   D    Asus
it's a long day   livin' in Reseda
          D    Dsus  Dsus  D           Asus
there's a free-way runnin' through the yard
          D   Dsus        Dsus   D    Asus
and i'm a bad boy, cause i don't even miss her
      D   Dsus    Dsus     D   Asus
i'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart


CHORUS 
        D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
now i'm free                  
     D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
free fall-in'
       D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
ya i'm free                  
     D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
free fall-in'
http://www.azchords.com/p/pettytom-tabs-5458/freefallin-tabs-112674.html

Jesus Mighty God

Gsus  G
Jesus

Gsus  G 
Mighty God
 
Gsus  G             Our Rock Our Fortress Our  
 
C
Defense

Gsus            G Your conquering arm 
Gsus         G
will be our strength

Gsus    G                

O God of power and 

 C

righteousness

Am             C  

Every foe will tremble at Your
 

G

           

name             

Am             C

Every foe will tremble at Your 

G

name

Related posts: 

 mixolydian-mode-and-sus-chord

 http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

I play lots of suspended chords in worship songs. 
It really gives the musician something to do besides just laying on a chord. 
Vamping on a major chord and then back to a suspended chord is used a lot in an introduction to a song. 
It sets things up and then you're ready to break into your song. 
It's pretty easy to incorporate the suspended chord into your piano playing.

All the best,

-- LadyD          

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

Related articles

• The Minor Ninth Chord in Db (pianodiana.blogspot.com)

== SUSPENDED CHORDS ==

Suspended chords leave you hanging in mid air. They create suspense or anticipation. They sound and feel as though they should be resolved.

A suspended chord (or a chord suspension) is usually made by holding one of the tones of a chord a tone higher, then resolving it to its resting place. This can be done with any tones of a chord, but one of the more common suspensions is to manipulate the third of the chord, by first playing the fourth, and resolving it to the third. So a C suspended chord has the tones of the root, the fourth and the fifth:

A C suspended chord of this type is often shown in chord charts as either a "Csus", or a "C sus4". "Sus4" means that the third is initially played as a fourth, and resolved to a third.

In "real music", let's suppose you're playing a simple tune which uses three chords, C, F, and G, then returning to C. Try adding a little flavor to the mix: turn that final chord into two chords. Make it a suspended C chord, followed by a C chord.. Your chord progression would look like this: C - F - G - Csus - C. You can try this on a guitar or a piano.

Experiment with other suspended chords. Put them in places where you need a bit of emotion in your music. Might be just what you're looking for. Take a Christmas carol book (one that has chord symbols in it is good for this purpose), and try adding suspensions to dominant or tonic triads.

In the Key of C:

Sus 4 chords- Formed by raising the 3rd of the chord you are playing by a half step.

C-E-G is your basic major triad C chord. The E in bold is your 3rd.
C-F-G: The F in bold is your suspended 4th. Notice that the distance between E to F is a half step. This chord now becomes your suspended 4th chord. If you play a I IV V progression, the IV is the best chord to play as a suspended 4th.

Sus 2 chords- Formed by lowering the 3rd of the chord you are playing by a whole step.

C-E-G This is your basic major triad C. The E in bold is your 3rd.
C-D-G The D in bold is your suspended 2nd. Notice that the distance between E to D is a whole step. This chord now becomes your suspended 2nd chord. I hope this helps! ~ LadyD

http://www.LadyDpiano.com