Duane Shinn (that would be me) has good news for you if you want to play the piano. He (me) has little fat hands & stubby little fingers - not at all suited for playing the piano - more suited to making mud pies or some such. I am also fairly uncoordinated with just average musical ability - certainly not a great piano player. But I've learned a ton about music over the years and people tell me I'm pretty decent at explaining how music works & how to progress more rapidly on the piano. Over the years I have developed about 150 techniques for conquering the piano. Most professional pianists can do these techniques, but very few can explain them in a way people can understand. I specialize in making complex techniques simple. I invite you to watch a few of my free videos and see some of these for yourself before making any decision about taking any of my courses.
Some musicians are true naturals. This certainly is true of Floyd Cramer, who learned to play the piano by ear at the age of five. Once he refined his raw talent, Floyd Cramer was on his way to being a musician others would seek when recording. Today, Floyd Cramer’s legacy is the wealth of music recordings that display his elegant style of piano playing.
Continue reading →The first thing you need to do is ensure that you do in fact wish to modulate rather than transpose your music. Many people mix up these two terms because they appear to be similar, whereas in practical terms they are very different. If you wish to modulate from one key into another, you are moving the music along and playing the music in the keys in which it was composed (or arranged). Transposing on the other hand is taking the existing music and changing it into a new key.
Continue reading →There are many different musical forms, such as the concerto, the symphony, and so on.
Continue reading →A piano is an instrument, a piece of equipment that makes sounds when you press the keys. Anyone can take piano lessons, and with some practice and a patient piano tutor, can manage to make the piano play a tune. But there’s more to playing a piano that being able to bang on the keys in the right sequence as dictated by the piece of music.
Continue reading →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 the same measure. For the most part, they are there as a guide for “playing along” with the music in the sense of accompanying the written music whether sung, played on piano, or both. These chords symbols are essentially designed for a guitarist, but can be played by other instruments such as a ukulele, banjo, mandolin, etc. Sometimes the chord symbols include the finger positions for a guitarist (to play the proper chord).
Continue reading →Using just 5 notes of any major scale, the pentatonic scale is the basis for much of music from the far east. Watch this short video to see how you can use it in a “pentatonic turn.”
Continue reading →There’s really only one way by which you can improve your timing and rhythm, and that’s through hours and hours of practice. You can read books about music theory, listen to masters explain how to play a waltz or samba rhythm, but unless you put in the hours of practice, you won’t make the technical connection between what your head knows and how your fingers perform.
Continue reading →Here is a commonly used technique which you’ve heard a thousand times in country-western songs, gospel music, and even some pop music. When the chord changes from a I chord to a IV chord, you “walk up the scale” between … Continue reading →
It’s very common for musicians to say they hate to practice. One undesirable aspect of practicing is the simple fact that the musician must practice passages and techniques that are difficult for them to play. This creates frustration on the part of the musician and can make them question their abilities.
Continue reading →Major 6th chords and minor 7th chords are really just inversions of one another. It depends which note you put on the bottom as to how the chord functions. Watch this 2-minute video and you’ll understand.
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