Wagon Wheel

I enjoy playing himns

I love John Barry’s theme from Dances with Wolves called the John Dunbar theme which is a simple 1-6-4-5 in Eb major followed by 4-1-2-5 in the same key.

@@ReneAviles-ge6dw I do too and I'm in the process of applying what Tom is teaching here to playing hymns without memorizing the notes on the page. It's challenging!

That's wonderful to hear!!

That's wonderful to hear David. I'm inspired to hear your story. Reach out to us anytime if you need more help with anything!

You are so welcome!

Thank you, Phil. Teaching is a mixture of the technical craft and being able to remember how you somehow learned something many moons ago, or even better still how you wish you had learned it, had you had the knowledge of hindsight!

You're very welcome! I'm glad my explanation was able to cut through the rust - I must be using some pretty sharp tools!...

I'm glad you enjoyed the lesson.

Many thanks!

Me too! Classically trained, relied heavily on sheet music and always had a hard time memorizing. Finally this new world is opening up to me of improvisation using chords, etc. Plus, even in classical music, I’ve started making myself look away from the sheet music as I’m learning it, thus learning pieces and memorizing at the same time.

Dear Barb, It is definitely possible for classical musicians to learn how to improvise off the score,I n fact, I have helped many musicians over the years to open up to this world. The first step is to leverage the knowledge you already have, which you may be taking for granted. For example, you already know your major scales, so why not start by improvising on them? The next step is to establish some basic definitions and steps for improvisation. For instance, we could define improvisation as simply playing a scale with the notes in a different order. Now, you may be thinking that 99 percent of classical music already does this, as we don't just listen to scales going up and down. But let's take a step back and focus on the Blues. By locking in a Blues scale on Blues Rhythms (swing patterns) and moving around the scale in different directions, we can start improvising. Breaking it down into steps like this can be very effective for classically trained musicians. It's worth noting that classical music has a rich history of improvisation, which has sadly become a lost art in recent times. I hope this explanation helps and inspires you to start exploring the world of improvisation. Please let me know if you have any questions or need further guidance. www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com

Count me in. 😢😢

It's always my goal to provide clear and concise instruction while also encouraging exploration and creativity.

I'm so glad to hear that you found the content insightful and that you enjoyed my piano playing. It's always great to hear.

Thank you!!

Enjoy the journey !! Great news.

"far out" - so good to hear that phrase from back in the day!

Welcome!

which keyboard are you using? I play dexibel s 9 but is no so brillant...

In a jazz context, "Maiden Voyage" "All the things you are" and "So What" would be good for modulation in improvisation. These pieces can be found on the LCSP channel. Let me know if you need any links.

Dear Oluf. Welcome aboard, we look forward to working with you.

you can reach us at admin@contemporaryschoolofpiano.com

Yes, just visit www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com and ask ask for the 7 chords cheat sheet.

Thank you!

Can you email us via our website, www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com and our team can check this for you. We removed some of our older YT videos.

Contact us at www.contemporaryschoolofpiano.com and we will send you the resources pack immediately

Throughout my life, I've had the privilege of being in the company of musicians - they're some of the most selfless, caring, and generous individuals I've encountered. Usually, it's the impersonal, vast corporations that demonstrate such avarice, not the artists who breathe life into music. As a point of interest, chord progressions are not subject to copyright. The notion of owning a chord progression borders on the absurd, akin to staking a claim on the very foundations of music! Wishing anyone the best of luck with such an attempt. Here's an interesting anecdote that illuminates this point - the renowned jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker didn't merely perform the tune for Erroll Garner's 'Misty.' Instead, he followed its exact chord progressions, resulting in his masterwork, 'Anthropology.' This tale beautifully illustrates how musicians build upon and transform existing pieces into new, unique works of art.

That's odd, the videos have mastered audio on them, and we haven't had this feedback before, for the many views we've had with this video. What device are you using? One other option is to use headphones or turn on the subtitles, they have been transcribed by us, so they are 100 percent accurate to what is being said.

Ah, the scroll bar, friend! It's a ticket to hop over the tedious theory that makes your brows furrow. After all, you never know when Beethoven might pop on by.....

@@contemporaryschoolofpiano All I'm saying is, why not start off by telling us the four chords then give the theory to those who who'd like to know? You know full well you were deliberately dragging it out. And by the way, there's an even more popular chord progression, some call it the '50s progression: C Am F G7. Ask Beethoven, when he pops by, if he's heard of that.

@@justinthyme5730 Crikey, you'll never guess, we've just had a chit-chat with good ol' Beethoven, yes, Ludwig himself! And, would you believe it, he's only gone and told us that this flippin' 1-5-6-4 progression kicks off at the very start of this video. Ha! There we were, puffing out our chests, thinking we were all big and clever and keeping it suspenseful, but it's right there from the word "action." And it doesn't let up, not even for a tea break, just like any other ear-battering modern pop tune. You can just imagine him, sitting there, miffed beyond belief. This is hardly his cherished 9th Symphony, where you've got to wait, what, a good hour until the crescendo of the Ode to Joy. I'll tell you, he'd be breaking a sweat in today's quick-fix world, where your average Joe Public barely has the patience to wait a minute for the gag that's already slipped past him in the background...

@@contemporaryschoolofpiano Playing the chords and naming the chords are two different things. The Wiki page, regarding this progression, names the four chords in the very first paragraph (Then the page goes into the techo stuff). Wiki does exactly the same on the '50s progression page, no messing around, straight to the point. My main point remains... you were stalling with the main point of your video. As a guitarist, I personally knew what the four chords were... I was simply amused by how you unnecessarily dragged out the main point of your video. Although I would imagine that beginners would find that quite frustrating.

​@@justinthyme5730 Cast aside our snore-inducing videos," you exclaim, "And gallivant off to Wikipedia to master the piano!" A great bit of advice for the masses of discontented beginners on this page, (when they show up) and we wait with bated breath! Side note, can you hear a 1-5-6-4 on Wiki played on a piano, within 1 second of viewing, like you can on this video?....

Chord theory is best understood in numbers, not letters. If you think of it in letters, you will never know the relationship or understand the meaning of the chord progressions. That's why learning the numbers of the progressions, and 1 5 6 4 is used in hundreds and hundreds of songs, too many I would say! But if you personally don't like the Beatles, I can suggest a whole bunch of other tunes by other bands that use this progression... They all use 1 5 6 4. So start with some scales you know, C major, what is a 1 5 6 4 in C major? C G Am F ... or in G major G D Em C and so on... A few songs that come to mind.... Journey -- "Don't Stop Believing" James Blunt -- "You're Beautiful" Black Eyed Peas -- "Where Is the Love" Alphaville -- "Forever Young" Jason Mraz -- "I'm Yours" Train -- "Hey Soul Sister" The Calling -- "Wherever You Will Go" Akon -- "Don't Matter" John Denver -- "Take Me Home, Country Roads" Lady Gaga -- "Paparazzi" U2 -- "With Or Without You" The Last Goodnight -- "Pictures of You" Maroon Five -- "She Will Be Loved" Bob Marley -- "No Woman No Cry" Marcy Playground -- "Sex and Candy" Men At Work -- "Land Down Under".

mm, I think that although the video is for ‘beginners’ which covers a really large spectrum of learners and styles of learning. Perhaps what you could do is just work (assuming you have keyboard) on the key of C and work out all the chords / triads. So personally I think a little familiarity with scale letters I think is helpful - I use it almost in conjunction with numbers as I figure things out. CDEFGAB correspond to 1234567 C Major = C E G = 1 3 5 Don’t be frustrated! Learning is often muddy before the rain washes off the mud!