Posts Tagged ‘music piano major chords minor music melody keys notes rhythm’

Chord Progressions

Previously, we learned about major and minor chords. Every major and minor chord has a scale of 8 notes, a major goes whole note then whole note then half note, then three whole notes and another half note. What you can do with that scale is pick three keys and figure out the chords of that scale. Certain notes on that scale are either major minor or diminished, and you may look up which notes are major and minor. The first, third, and fifth notes of a scale normally sound good, but if you want to stray from the beaten path you can experiment with the sixth or the fourth or whatever you want to do. You can also change the keys if you play a note in two different keys. The way to do that is to play a chord that is similar to that of another key  right next to the first key in the circle of fifths. The circle of fifths is a circle where every note that is the fifth is written after the original note in a circular pattern until it is a complete circle. You will know when you have drawn the circle of fifths correctly because it starts with c, which has zero sharps or flats, then it goes to g (the fifth of the c scale), which has 1 sharp in its scale. Then the circle goes to d (the fifth of g) which has 2 sharps in the scale. The pattern continues until eventually it goes full circle.

So the main lesson is, free style until you find a fun melody, then find the scale that melody is in, and make a nice left handed pattern to it so that you can show your friends and marvel at how cool you are.

Major and Minor Chords

The other day I had an old music teacher come over to my house and explain the difference between major and minor chords. It felt very enlightening, so I thought I might explain it here, just in case it helps somebody else! (sidenote: everything is on the piano, not guitar or bass or some other instrument)

So on the c major scale, there are eight keys in a row, starting on c and ending on the c an octave higher. It is very important to know the note numbers on the scale, meaning that c is 1, d is 2, e is 3, and so on and so forth all of the way up to 8 at the higher c. So, if you take your hand and play the first, third, and fifth of a scale, that is called a chord. So on the c major scale, C E and G are the chords of c major. Now, if you were to play any note with those three fingers as such, you would be playing in c major. Now, if you move your thumb over to the 6th note in the scale (A) and keep your hand in the same position as in the C major scale. That is A minor in the key of C major! You can do that for any note in any scale, but there is an exception when you get to B. But, that will be explained in a different blog.