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To be continued,....
In my trying to play the piano, well, and not able to read music. (believe me I've tried), yet, on most instruments, can by ear play anything I hear.
Anyway, To figure out what keys to hit, I played my guitar and with a marker wrote on which keys to hit.
In doing such I came up with a progression that really got my gears turning. I think I just might make something cool out of this. or at least I'm going to have a lot of fun trying. I love when an accident turns out to have a potential to bear fruit.Well, hopefully. I'll post when I have more.

so an update. I did some more work to it.
TristanNuvo 8 Oct 6
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13 comments

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I agree. Sounds like "Beautiful."

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I started by ear and ended up getting a terminal degree in composition and performance on the classical guitar.
The graphic staff is bipartite; horizontal=rhythm, vertical=pitch. Piano has one location for each note, the guitar has many positions for a note, thus harder to sightread. I never got too good at it.
It is good to read but not essential unless you want to teach.

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Sounds good! I learned piano by ear with a few months of lessons to get me started. I can read music but not well enough to sight read while playing. It takes me a long while to learn from sheet music.

Work on learning all your triad chords, and how to invert them (putting the tonic first, second or third). Notice how you can switch between chords a lot faster with only 2 or 3 hand positions if you use the second or third inversions. Learn the way chord construction works to modify those triads into minor, diminished, augmented, m7 and M7. Work on hitting octaves in the bass notes while playing those chords (you might already be doing that, you’ve got a good full sound there). Work on rolls of notes in the bass (for a C chord for example hit C-G-C in the bass, rolling upwards with your pinky, first finger and thumb. Or for a longer bass roll in a slow song try C-G-C-D-E-G by reaching over your thumb with the middle finger for the D, first finger on the E and thumb again for the last G if that makes any sense. That pattern can be shifted to any key and you’ll only have to hit black notes for an A, B, D, E or a chord that was already sharp or flat to begin with.) Look up some YouTube lessons on how the circle of 5ths works (for individual notes, chord progressions, and also song keys). Those are the main things I remember from lessons that made it click for me. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll try that. In my inane way, playing the chords on my guitar, and atm slowly matching that on my keyboard, has slowly, yet positively showing some results. BTW, I did post a follow up to this riff. I think it's coming together more than I expected. I will try what you said. I really would love to play the piano better.

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Kind of sounds like "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera.

I've not heard this one. and yeah, it seems the same riff. But as I've been shown, this riff has resulted in myriad tunes, from just as many artists, just like the C, Am ,F, G that 70% of all hits in the last twenty years ish have been. I would imagine that there are other combo's that have equal status in the pop field as well.

@TristanNuvo Right, most songs have the same chord progressions. I'm not really a music snob or purist, but it's why I tend to respect jazz chord progressions more than pop. There is more variety.

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The day my dad put the cheat sheet for our piano away was the last day I could play. Some of us just struggle figuring out those lines and dots.

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People do not realize that learning to play the piano is really hard. Here are a few hints. 1. It is the space between the notes that gives you the harmony. Count the first note and the end note to identify the interval. Start with the seconds, sometimes called "steps." There are 2 kinds of "steps:" whole steps (there's a note in between) and half steps (no note in between.). If you like, I'll continue with this method I have devised and get you playing.

Great advice, I'll work that into my practice. TY.🙂

For the fun of it I suggest a simple workbook. You can do it while watching TV. The Schaum series...Notespellers and then Schaum's HARMONY LESSONS BOOK 1. If you complete the HARMONY LESSONS BK 1, I can give you exercises to practice that use that info and start to develop finger memory.

@TristanNuvo Try, for pennies, getting the Schaum notespellers Bk 1 & 2. They are workbooks that will help you read and they are painless. Put aside any anxiety about learning to read music.

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You're in good company - Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Eddie Van Halen , and I'm sure lots of others , can't read music either !

Nice piece , by the way.

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Very good!!! Well, keep insisting and practicing and you'll be able to do good things.

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Have you looked into composition programs on the computer? You can easily change keys etc.

I actually have a few. But they are all midi, and I haven't figured out how to set that up yet.

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Sounds like the basis for good a composition...keep at it.

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hubba hubba dude

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Yeah man.. That's a classic progression that's been used in so many hits it aint even funny. Now put an original melody to it and come up with a good hook and you've got another hit. 😀👍 The first one that popped in my head was Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue. Hell, it's even in the same key..

Good to pick up that similarity!

Another good example of that walk-down progression is the classic Mr. Bojangles.

Man. I haven't heard that one in many moons.

Yeah, there is also the C, Am ,F, G progression that half a bajillion songs are in. I did one with that a while back just for fun.

@TristanNuvo One of my faves is how Elton puts his own spin on the walk-down in the chorus of Don't let the sun go down on me... Pure genius..

@Marionville It's what musicians do.. 😉👍

What are the actual chords in that progression?

@mischl What song? They can vary a bit..

@Captain_Feelgood I was referring to the song at the top of this thread. I know and use the C, Am, F, G a lot already. I'd like to learn a few subtle variations to that. I'm an "ear player" and just don't have the discipline to learn to read (better).

@TristanNuvo Yes, The I-VI-IV-V and to make a variation I-VI-II-V.

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Looking forward to your next post. 🙂

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