John Mayer: Gravity

Gravity (John Mayer song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In 2005 John Mayer wrote a song in 2005 called Gravity. The guy is an excellent musician
and I like his style. I'm back on track with blog posts, having had a wonderful visit with our sweet grandaughter. Many of you have asked me for some worship songs and I will do that. Some have little children and want to get started with piano lessons. I'll talk about that much more in future posts. In addition, we all have our favorite artist and style that we enjoy listening to. So, here is a cool mellow song played slowly in the Key of G. It's in 6/8 time and has tons of grace notes.

Gravity by John Mayer

Intro:

 For the intro, Just play G and C, listen to the song and ull hear the switch


 Now for the rest of the song u use these chords, its quite simple:


G                   C
Gravity is working against me


    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down


        Am
Oh I'll never know what makes this man


     D7
With all the love that his heart can stand


Gm               Fmaj7           D7
Dream of ways to throw it all away

G                   C
Gravity is working against me


    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down


   Am
Oh twice as much aint twice as good


    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could


     Gm
It's wanting more,


             Fmaj7         D7
That's gonna send me to my knees


 After this, the little solo comes in and once again, all u play is 2 chords, Just G and 
ull know when to switch cause ull hear it. After that, u repeat the same lyrics and do 
same chords:

   Am
Oh twice as much aint twice as good


    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could


     Gm
It's wanting more,


             Fmaj7         D7
That's gonna send me to my knees


   G                      C
Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me


   G                         C
Oh gravity has taken better men than me (how can thet be?)


                       G
Just keep me where the light is


                       C
Just keep me where the light is


                       G
Just keep me where the light is


                          C
Come on keep me where the light is


                          G
Come on keep me where the light is


                       C
Come on keep me where, keep me where the light is


The song keeps fading and you keep on playing the G and C in the same pattern.

Ultimate Guitar.com 

Here's another version of the song: Guitaretab.com 

G                   C
Gravity is working against me
    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down

        Am7 
Oh I'll never know what makes this man
     D7
With all the love that his heart can stand
Gm/Bb                             D7
Dream of ways to throw it all away

G                   C
Gravity is working against me
    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down
[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/j/john-mayer/258506.html ]
   D7sus11
Oh twice as much aint twice as good
    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could
     D#Maj7
It's wanting more,
                              D7
That's gonna send me to my knees

[Solo]: Alternate between G and C, just like the verse.

    D7sus11
Oh twice as much aint twice as good
    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could
     D#Maj7
It's wanting more,
                              D7
That's gonna send me to my knees

   G                      C
Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me
   G                         C
Oh gravity has taken better men than me (how can thet be?)
                       G
Just keep me where the light is
                       C
Just keep me where the light is
                       G
Just keep me where the light is
                          C
Come on keep me where the light is
                          G
Come on keep me where the light is
                       C
Come on keep me where, keep me where the light is
 
Music Chords to Gravity (This is what I play)
 
G                   C
Gravity is working against me
    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down

        Am7 
Oh I'll never know what makes this man
     D7
With all the love that his heart can stand
Gm/Bb                             Ebmaj7
Dream of ways to throw it all away

G                   C
Gravity is working against me
    G                         C
And gravity wants to bring me down
[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/j/john-mayer/258506.html ]
   Am7
Oh twice as much aint twice as good
    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could
     Gm/Bb
It's wanting more,
              Ebmaj7                D7
That's gonna send me to my knees

[Solo]: Alternate between G and C, just like the verse.

    D7sus11
Oh twice as much aint twice as good
    D7
And can't sustain like a one half could
     D#Maj7
It's wanting more,
                              D7
That's gonna send me to my knees

   G                      C
Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me
   G                         C
Oh gravity has taken better men than me (how can thet be?)
                       G
Just keep me where the light is
                       C
Just keep me where the light is
                       G
Just keep me where the light is
                          C
Come on keep me where the light is
                          G
Come on keep me where the light is
                       C
Come on keep me where, keep me where the light is
 
 
Remember to play the inversions of some of the chords:

    l.h./ r.h.

C = C/DEGB or C/CDEB or C/EGD or C/BDB

G = G/DGB or G/GBE

Am7 = A/DGB

D7 = D/DF#B or D/F#CF#

Gm/Bb = Bb/DGD

Ebmaj7 = Eb/DGD

I hope you enjoy playing the song. One of the cool things about Song Robot software is that you can get tons of free midi files and learn how to play songs. Song Robot now has HD, expandable keys! That means the keys can fill your entire screen... two or three screens if you have them... even a TV! The keys never get blurry and can be enlarged to any size you want! Don't have a Song Robot yet?

Warmly,






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

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