LadyDpiano

Perfect 5th and Enharmonic Use of Tri-Tones

Question: What's a tritone? I've heard this was considered dangerous music and banned by the church in the middle ages. - J.P.

Answer: Strictly speaking, it's an augmented fourth (such as C up to F#), and is called that because it's three whole scale tones in succession (for example, C-D, D-E, E-F#). But a diminished fifth (such as F# up to C) is just a tritone turned upside-down (inverted) and is treated in traditional music with the same care as the tritone. The tritone was in traditional counterpoint studies known as "the devil in music," and was avoided as a difficult-to-sing-in-tune awkward melodic interval. You may read stories at unreliable internet sources about this interval being "banned by the Catholic Church" but really it just presented a technical problem in composition and performance, and so the style "rules" studied by budding musicians advised that one should not use it. Nonetheless, it was used on occasion, and some theorists thought it useful when handled well.

Leonard Bernstein made a little joke out of this in West Side Story - in particular with his song "Maria," whose melody begins with a tritone, Eb-A, that is lovingly repeated.

Here are Tri-tones and 7th chords. They involve the 3rd and 7th or the other way around. Think in terms of the left hand where you're playing your chords. The left hand tells the right hand what to do. Here are some examples. Try these:

CG/C

DA/D

EB/E

FC/F

GD/G

AE/A

BGb/B

Then go to the black keys:

DbAb/Db

EbBb/Eb

GbDb/Gb

AbEb/Ab

BbF/Bb

Then try this:

EBb/C

GbC/D

AbD/E

AEb/F

FB/G

DbG/A

EbA/B

FB/Db

GDb/Eb

EBb/Gb

GbC/Ab

EbA/Bb

A great resource that I have bought online from Jamal Hartwell regarding tritones can be purchased here:

Learn the X-treme Way to Play Worship by Ear!

Thanks to all my readers and your wonderful messages I have received. I decided to post answers to your music questions instead of replying individually to your messages. Thanks for understanding. I hope that you enjoy practicing tritones and loving the sounds!

All the best,
~ LadyD
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How To Play Common Progressions In Gospel Music

Image via Wikipedia

There's common progressions in gospel music that correspond with the numeric scale/chord degrees. For example:

7_3_6
5_1_4
3_6_2
2_5_1

Longer progressions are a mix between the above shorter progressions. To play these contemporary chords, you must know what they are. The rule of thumb is, what you can play for the 1, you can also play for the 4. Here's a list of chords and they are all C chords:

CG/CEG
CG/CEGB
CG/CEGBb
CG/CEbGB
CG/Bb
CG/Eb
CG/G
CG/Em
CG/Am
CA/G
CBb/A
CBb/DGC
CBb/EbM7
EBb/D
CBb/Ab

So depending on the inversion, you can come up with some interesting sounds in your music. You can add altered chords at "key" points in the music:

GD/FM7 There
CG/Em7 Is
DA/C A Name I
EB/DM7 Love To
AE/Dbm7 Hear

Depending on the type of songs you play, you can take progressions and use different voicings:

Common Progressions:
2_5_1
7_3_6
5_1_4
7_3_6_2_5_1
1_6_2_5_1
5_6_2_5_1
3_6-2_5_1

Scale Degrees and Chords Associated with them:

Major=1
Minor=2
Minor=3
Major=4
Major=5
Minor=6
Diminished=7
Major=8

Use Chart Above and Create Voicings with Above Progressions:

2_5_1 Key of C (normal)

2= DC/Gbdim7
5= GD/F6
1= CG/C7

2_5_1 Key of C (altered)

2= DC/E
5=GD/Eb
1=CG/Em7

C Chords/ Substitutions:

CG/Em7
CG/Am7
CG/Eb
CG/Bb
CG/G
CA/G
CBb/A
EBb/E
CBb/E
CBb/EAD
CEG/BDG
CEbG/BDG
CEbG/Bb
CEbG/Eb

If you use any of these for the I chord, you can use the equivalent of that chord for the IV chord. Depending on how you look at the board, these altered chords offer color to your music. If you want a more mellow or aggressive tone to your music, it's all about voicings:

1_4_5 (normal)

CG/C
FC/F
GD/G

1_4_5 (7th voicing)

CBb/C7
FEb/F7
GF/G7

1_4_5 (9th voicing)

CG/G
FC/C
GD/D

1_4_5 (11th voicing)

CG/Bb
FC/Eb
GD/F

1_4_5 (13th voicing)

CA/G
FD/C
GE/D

Hearing the differences in the sounds, mix them up, play around with them and practice in every key... have fun! If you're looking for a music theory book, I recommend:

Learn to Play Altered Chords

All the best,
~ LadyD

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How To Play Slow Gospel Blues Piano

Image by zen via Flickr

My friend dazza from the zone community at hear and play sure can play the blues! You will learn so much from dazza's piano tutorial on playing slow blues. I have posted a chord chart for his chord progressions. Those quick grace notes add such a cool sound!

learn this at:

http://www.learnasongseries.com, plus loads of free videos on how to play piano

* Chord Chart

Pick Up - (r.h. notes) Bb, B, D, E

G D/B G

B B/A B D G

C C/Bb, (Eb), E G, (Bb, B, D, E) (C9)

D D/F# C D (D7)

/ D Bb, C A

G D/(Bb) B G

E E/Gb D G (E7 add9)

A A/G C# (A7)

D D/F# C (D7)

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