Beginner Piano Lessons

I'm getting geared up to kick off a new piano teaching year that is soon approaching. One of my favorite quotes:

Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.

Bill Cosby

With notes off to the parents, cleaning up my studio and organizing teaching approaches, I came across an assessment sheet:

Beginning Assessment for Children

1. Go over policies with children and adults – this includes timing, semester concepts, practicing, etc. (5 minutes)

2. Questions for children: (5 minutes)

– What types of music do you listen to / like?
– Who are your favorite artists?
– What types of instruments are you familiar with?
– What have you learned about music in school / from others?

3. How my studio works – general overview, my philosophies / expectations

4. Musical Assessment (5 minutes on each)

– Piano – copying rhythms / song / identifying patterns
– Keyboard – copying rhythms / patterns / how to get noise out of the keys

(Note to parents: This assessment allows 2 evaluations to be made – The first is to see if they are drawn to the instrument they want to take. By seeing how they respond to the instruments, they can open a space of exploration for their instrument. The second is to see how well they grasp onto musical concepts. This will allow me to customize the curriculum for their needs).

5. Questions after assessment:

– What instrument did you feel the most drawn to?
– What do you recognize about each instrument?
– Which one would you want to learn songs on?

After this assessment, child and parents will be able to decide on an instrument, time, etc. or will be able to determine if there is enough interest. If unsure about the instrument / desire, take some time before deciding to commit to lessons.

I discovered a cute program where you can take a video and upload your own text. I so much enjoyed watching this delightful little girl play the piano with all her heart and soul! Have a look:
http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2008/04/lightly-row.html

My Cousin sent me a video of Ethan on the Tonight Show.
Did you happen to see it? Little Ethan was a charmer, for sure and quite a talented young man at that!


For those who are beginners at the piano and would like to have something to play by tonight, then take a look at
Boston by Augustana Piano Lesson



There are three valuable music resources to help you play by ear. I highly recommend these products if you're just starting out as a beginner piano player. For sure, some learn from books, some from dvds and others prefer cds.
Overall, just mess around and move those fingers!


Learn to Play the Piano By Ear

How To Harmonize The Melody


Audio Chords Series



http://www.LadyDpiano.com

Three Steps To Passing Chords

Passing Chords= Passing notes are non chord notes that lead from one chord note to another. They can be diatonic or chromatic; they can be in a melody or in a harmony part. If you read notes, then Pete Thomas explains passing chords with great illustrations:

http://www.petethomas.co.uk/jazz-passing-chords.html

Learn how to use cool Passing Tones, Turnaround Chords and Endings that Black Gospel And Jazz Music are so famous for. Any chord can be changed or altered, thereby changing its color, its sound.
http://www.jazzchrisitan.com/workbook-pages/passing-chords

The passing note fills in the gap between the two harmony notes in the chords before and after the passing note. The short duration and nature of the passing note does not create a feeling of a change of harmony. The passing chord is an extension of the passing note such that the duration of the passing note and the way the note sounds, in conjunction with other notes of the chord, creates a senses of a change in harmony.

There are three steps in getting passing chords to work for you. The first, is to learn how to simplify the changes down to their bare basics so you can hear the actual changes of the tune as you play through it. The second step is learning to play passing chords comfortably and in time to start with. Third step involves learning to hear where the bass line is going as this will key you in on where you need to go with the chords. As you have more and more experience listening to Jazz, and as you get more experience playing and used to playing with a more analytical ear, you'll eventually just naturally feel what's missing.

Here's an example of a song that uses passing chords:
I Don't Feel No Ways Tired
F/ACDF.....I
A/GCE.....don’t
F/ACDF....feel
Bb/BbCDF..no
C/BbDEG...ways
F/ACDF....tired
Bb/BbCDF...come too
A/GCE......far
D/ACDF....from where
G/BbDFG...I started
C/BbDEG....from
Db/BbDbEG...(passing chord)
D/ACDF......nobody
A/GCE.......told me
Bb/ACDF.....that the road
A/ACDF......would be easy
G,A,Bb,C/DbFGBb-CFA (alternate the chords with the bass LH)
C/CFA.......I don’t
A/CEG.......(passing chord)
D/CFA.......believe
G/DbFGBb.....He brought me this far
G,A,Bb,C/DbFGBb-CFA (alternate the chords with the bass LH)
C/CFA.......I don’t
A/CEG.......(passing chord)
D/CFA.......believe
G/DbFGBb.....He brought me this far
C/BbDFG......to leave
F/ACDF.......me

The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh: Low Voice Arranged by For Solo Voice By Harry T. Burleigh. For Voice. (Low Voice). Vocal Collection. Spiritual. Book. 208 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (EL03150) See more info...

To sum it up, my dear friend James says:
"Passing chords are chords that move in between the main chords in a progression, but don't necessarily have the same strong PULL that a dominant or diminished chord may have by wanting to move up a perfect 4th or up a minor 2nd, respectively.

Here is an example of PASSING chords where each chord would represent 1 beat:

C - C - Dm7 - C/E - F. Notice the main chords are C and F. The Dm7 and C/E are just passing chords, but don't by themselves lead strongly in any direction.

Let me give you an example of a Dominant Chord being used as a passing chord. Suppose I was beginning on a C chord and heading to A7, just for fun I might insert a B7 and Bb7 on the way to A7. Even though these two are dominant 7 chords, in this setting, they would be just PASSING chords.

So whereas Dominant and Diminished chords my lead strongly to a certain chord, major or minor, passing chords are just "Passing Through" filling the space in between the main chords of a line to provide a little color." I think I'm getting the hang of passing chords.


http://www.LadyDpiano.com

The Eagle- The Eagles

The Eagle is famous as the USCG training ship, based at the Coast Guard Academy on the Thames River in New London, CT. No, the above photo is not The Eagle.(photo copyrighted) Directly across the river is the US Naval Submarine Base. Friday morning, The Eagle came into the LA harbor main channel as part of the big tall ships parade. The ‘Eagle’ was built in 1936. She is operated as a training ship by the US Coast Guard Academy. Eagle is a very large vessel which accommodates approx. 175 cadets and instructors. She is almost 300 feet long and has a sail area in excess of 21,000 square feet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_ship
The Eagle moored between the Love Boat Terminal and the fire boat station. They would sail the next morning to San Diego, the next and last Tall Ships stop. The Tall Ship fleet has been working down the coast all summer, starting in Tacoma.
http://www.tallshipstacoma.com I was thrilled to have my Cousin share with me his account of boarding The Eagle!
The Eagles are an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the early 1970s. With five Number 1 singles and six Number 1 albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the ten best-selling albums according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
http://www.last.fm/music/Eagles/_/Hotel+California
Take a peek, if you like. Go on because millions have already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkD-Mrg1BOQ
I discovered a piano tutorial for Hotel California. The explanation on pattern playing is great! And you'll sound pretty much like the song:

Plus, here's a little bit of a chord chart:
Verse
Bm F#
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
A E
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
G D
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
Em
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
F#
I had to stop for the night
Bm F#
There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bell
A E
And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell
G D
Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way
Em F#
There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say: Chorus
G D [Fill 1]
Welcome to the Hotel California
F# Bm [Fill 2]
Such a lovely place... such a lovely place... such a lovely face
G D [Fill 3]
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Em F#
Any time of year... any time of year... you can find it here
http://www.911tabs.com/link/?4451070
For those who are beginners and would like Easy Piano Versions, here you go:

The Best Of The Eagles - Easy Piano By The Eagles, arranged by Dan Coates. Songbook for voice and easy piano. Easy piano. 60 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (AP.AF9556) See more info...

http://www.LadyDpiano.com