Modern & Classical Chord Symbols – Absolute & Relative Good morning. This is Duane. Today I’d like to talk about absolute and relative chord symbols, absolute chord symbols and relative chord symbols, and talk about the difference between the … Continue reading →
How To Play Piano Using Chord Symbols such as F6, G7, Cm and so on Over the years I have been a piano teacher I have had many people call or write me and ask me something like this: … Continue reading →
What is a fake book? What are chord symbols? Good morning. Chord symbols. You know what chord symbols are? Those little notations above a line of music. They may say just C. That means to play the C chord in … Continue reading →
Playing Piano By Chord Symbols vs Reading Sheet Music                    Good morning. This is Duane, and I’d like to ask you a question. What makes music tick? Have you ever thought about that? What are the guts of music? … Continue reading →
How Do Chord Symbols In Music Work? Chord symbols are often a part of sheet music and usually appear above each line (music staff), above each individual measure. There can be as many as five or six chord symbols for … Continue reading →
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sit down at a piano and play a song you like without having to read the music to do it? Maybe you’ve seen or even know people who are able to play music … Continue reading →
A fake book is a book of songs where the melody, the lyrics, and the chord changes are included. If there is anything unique about the song, like an area where everything stops for a certain amount of time, that will also be noted.
Continue reading →Most people play the piano by reading music and playing what is on the written sheet music, and that’s fine.
Continue reading →The best of all worlds, however, is to be able to read music as it is written in a sheet music score, but also be able to read the chord symbols. Then the musician is free to choose which is best — the written part, or an improvised part. The sky is the limit for musicians who can do both.
Continue reading →When I was about 14 years old I bought my first fake book. They were illegal back then, but most professional musicians had them. I paid $50. for mine — under the counter from a music store owner. $50. then was something like $500. now, so for a teenager, it was a huge purchase.
But it paid for itself many times over as I used it for years learning song after song, and allowed
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