Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Hello

I taught a class last night to a wonderful group of people at Minuteman Technical High School in Lexington, MA. One of the women mentioned that it was on her "bucket list" to learn how to play the piano. She said that her three children all learned on the piano and that they are all grown up now and the piano is just sitting there. It's her turn now.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard this in private lessons and in classes.
Maybe this is one of the reasons I am so passionate about teaching adults to play pop/jazz music. Times a ticking and I want you to satisfy your deep desire to learn the piano before, well, you know!

This video lesson is a very beautiful jazzy voicing that you can use for a 7th chord.
The left hand will play the 7th and then the 3rd of the chord. The right hand will start on the 9th of the chord (one whole step above the root) and will be two perfect fourths above it. (A perfect fourth is 5 half steps). Put it together and you've got a gorgeous voicing.

It's like taking a plain black sweater and adding a beautiful purple and blue scarf and bright gold earrings. You can dress a chord up just like that!