Welcome to Classical Music Guide
NEW! Classical Music Videos
Piano Sheet Music Classical Article
How To Play Piano Using Chord Symbols
Duane Shinn
Chord symbols (for example, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don't show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations.
The first part in chord symbols, the root, tells the musician which note is the root of the chord. In an E6 chord, for instance, the E serves as the root. Chord symbols also allow for inverted chords, or chords with a root other than the bass note. These chord symbols express that by showing the bass note with a diagonal slash under the original symbol.
Quality, the second part in chord symbols, denotes whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. In a Cmaj7, the maj tells us that the C chord is major. The abbreviations for this area in chord symbols are maj, min, dim, and aug, respectively.
The extension in chord symbols, written after the quality, shows the musician if the chord differs from a triad (a third chord), such as an eleventh or seventh. This part of chord symbols is not always shown; if there is no indication of an extension, the musician is to assume that the chord is a triad.
The last part in chord symbols, the alteration, is usually but not always expressed. Think of this part as the "notes" section in chord symbols; it gives the musician any specific (and sometimes irregular) instructions for playing the chord and is always written in parentheses after the extension (or the quality, if no extension exists). For instance, (no fifth) would tell the musician that the chord is to be played with the fifth tone left out. Sus - short for "suspension", would mean to play the 4th scale note instead of the 3rd. A minus sign would mean to lower (flat) a chord tone, such as C-9 which would mean to flat the 9th of the chord. Conversely, a plus sign would mean to raise (sharp) a particular chord tone.
Reading music using chord symbols allows a person to use written music as a map, rather than a note-for-note approach. By just reading the melody note and the chord symbols, musicians can improvise to their hearts content and create their own sounds on the keyboard.
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.
About the Author
Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music courses for adults including "How To Add Runs & Fills To Your Piano Playing!" www.pianolesson.tv is used by pianists around the world. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" at www.playpiano.com
Piano Sheet Music Classical News
How can you enrich the classroom?: Local students benefit from ... - TradingMarkets.com
There's no such money at Westerly Hills, a high-poverty school where she spends half her teaching time. But a host of benefactors -- many of whom have never set foot in the west Charlotte school -- have bought her kids instruments, sheet music and ...
Read more...Piano lessons unlock inspiration for young, old - Leaf Chronicle
Cierra Besses looked to be at ease as the melody flowing from the ivory keys drifted into the cozy atmosphere in the practice room. Joseph Kurz, her instructor at Klassy Keys, looked on in admiration, guiding her through the music sheet during ...
Read more...Play us a tune, Mr Piano Man! Our 'blundering buffoon' takes to the ... - Daily Mail
They normally play before an audience of none at all. They seek neither fame nor fortune. Their reward will never be a fat recording contract from Simon Cowell, but just the quiet satisfaction of mastering some fiendish masterpiece and then moving on ...
Read more...Pianist Richard Dowling to perform ragtime, Gershwin for Kemp Center ... - Wichita Falls Times Record News
Some children aren’t too keen on piano lessons. Not Richard Dowling. He loved them, in fact. He even loved the classical music that made up the backbone of his repertoire at the time. But when he got a little older, and when his piano teacher wasn ...
Read more...mock rock - San Francisco Gate
Imagine this: In a land of endless darkness, where the winter winds howl like the frost giants of old, 4,000 alcohol-lubricated rock animals crowd the cavernous bowels of meat-packing- factory-turned-concert-venue Club Teatria. Long before the lights ...
Read more...Taking a quick look at "Blind" Boone's life - Columbia Missourian
John William "Blind" Boone was a classical and ragtime composer and pianist. He settled in Columbia in 1889. Boone was born in 1864 and became blind when he was 6 months old. He was very ill, and 19th century doctors diagnosed him with brain fever ...
Read more...