|
The "Salt"
of a Musical Meal
Hello
again, and welcome to the next lesson. I hope you are enjoying
learning about all the chords in the world -- and we're
going to cover them ALL before we're done --
you'll know more about chords than 99% of the people in
the world -- believe it or not, it's true.
If you recall the first week we learned about the three
chords you absolutely, positively CAN'T do without. If you
need to review that, click here. Then the next week we took
an airplane ride over Chordland just to get the lay of the
land -- the overview of the world of chords. If you need
to review that ride, please click
here before going on.
Then
in the next weeks lesson we showed you how easy it
is to learn ALL the
major chords (there are 12 of them) and be able to play
them in seconds -- not hours or days or weeks
or months or years. Some people go through their entire
lives not being sure about what such and such a major chord
is -- and it's all so unnecessary, because you can memorize
them in just a few minutes, and learn to play them in 12
seconds or less - one second per chord. I have had many
private students over the years who could play them all
in as little as 5 seconds -- one little gal (she was about
12 at the time) had particularly fast hands, and could play
them in - believe it or not - 3 seconds! I have slow
hands with fat fingers, and yet I can play them in something
like 5 or 6 seconds. If you need a review of that lesson
on major chords, click here before going on.
Next you learned
how to easily turn major chords into minor chords
just by moving one key one-half step -- by lowering the
3rd of the major chord. If you need a review of minor chords,
click here.
Then
we learned inversions -- how to stand chords on their
head. If you need a review of inversions, click here
.
Today
we are going to diminished triads. The formula is real simple:
|
Diminished Triad = Root
lowered 3rd
lowered 5th
|
Here's
what they look like on the staff:
...and
I'll let you figure out the other six diminished triads.
|
CHORD
SYMBOL DEFINITION
A
dimished triad appears in lead sheets as
any of the following chord symbols:
Co
Cdim
|
And here's
what they look like on the keyboard:
|
C
dim
|
F
dim
|
G
dim
|
|
D
dim
|
A
dim
|
E
min
|
|
Db
dim
|
Eb
dim
|
Ab
dim
|
|
Gb
dim
|
B
dim
|
Bb
dim
|
Now it's up to you. Play each diminished
triad in root position, then 1st inversion, then 2nd inversion.
Play each chord up and down the keyboard for at least 2 octaves
-- maybe 3 octaves. Play them with your left hand, then play
them with your right hand. Then play them hands together.
Go through all 12 major chords, inverting every one. Then
go through all the 12 minor chords, inverting each one up
and down the keyboard -- hands alone, then hands together.
Finally, go through all 12 diminished chords, inverting
each one up and down the keyboard -- each hand alone, then
together. Then skip around from major to minor to diminished,
etc.
When
you can do that you ought to feel really optimistic
about learning chords, because you've got a great start.
After all, you have gone from:
|
12
major chords
to
12
minor chords
to
12
diminished chords
and
3
inversions of each
which means you can now play
108
chords!
'Way
to go!
|
Next week we will add
12 more chords to our growing list of chords we can play.
We'll take up augmented
triads -- they are like the "pepper" of a musical meal,
and you'll see how easy they are to learn once you know
major and minor and diminished chords!
If
you are excited about what you're learning, then you are
cordially invited to sign up for my:
The
52-Week Crash Course in Exciting Piano Playing
Starting from square one, we work through 8 books and hundreds
of songs, learning not only chording techniques, but also
sight-reading and music theory. You will work with me each
week for a solid year by video, so you can SEE as well as
HEAR how to play! Please do yourself a favor and check it
out!
|
