Mokless Girgis, Lute And Piano Player

Author: Duane Shinn

Chances are if you’ve ever taken piano lessons, you probably spent at least a little bit of time on piano chords. But learning the names of a few basic chords and actually understanding chord theory are two different things. And while it’s possible to learn to play the piano without learning chords, there are several benefits to learning theory.

Many piano students complain that music theory is too hard to understand. They quickly give up in favor of simply playing piano by reading a score of written music. Those who take the time to get the basis of chord theory find that chordal theory helps them in several ways.

Learning chord-based theory is something like learning math. You can simply memorize the fact that 2 + 2 = 4, and that may get you by for a few years in school. Or, you can learn and understand why 2 + 2 = 4. Once you do, you’ll be able to succeed in math when the formulas become much too hard to simply memorize and regurgitate. The same is true of chord theory. It’s one thing to memorize a chord chart. If you don’t understand how chords work, your skills won’t get you very much further than basic piano playing.

One of the most obvious benefits of learning chords is that you will soon develop the skill of playing piano by ear. Have you every watched a band play, such as those on late-night TV talk shows? The pianists seem to be able to pick up any song, off the cuff, and begin playing it without the advantage of sheet music or having practiced. That’s music theory at work. There are few things more thrilling than to sit down at a piano, impromptu, and provide accompaniment for any song.

Those musicians with a bent toward writing original music will find that knowing theory is essential in creating music for lyrics. Even if you don’t transcribe the music yourself, chord theory will give you the means of communicating your ideas to the transcriptionist. The final product will be exactly as you envision it.

Once you understand how chords work, you’re also in a better position to learn to play other instruments; if not play them yourself, be able to work with other musicians in the setting of a band. For example, another instrument which relies heavily upon chord theory is the guitar. This is why many piano players find it easy to pick up on playing the guitar. In a band, the music relies very heavily upon the lead of the guitar and the piano. A knowledge and understanding of chord theory ensures that the pianist and guitarist are always on the same page, so to speak.

Author: Peter Edvinsson

In my previous article I suggested ways to develop a command over the guitar fretboard. Usually when you are playing your first guitar sheet music melodies you will have to learn the notes in the first position on the guitar. To have a good grasp of these notes on the guitar I suggest that you learn them slowly and with concentration. I usually begin by teaching the notes on the first string like E on open string, F on fret 1 and G on fret 3. On string two you’ll find B on open string, C on fret 1 and D on fret 3. With these notes you can play the song Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Using the previous notes the melody can be played as follows:

E D C D E E E - D D D - E G G - E D C D E E E - E D D E D C

I hope you recognized the melody. This kind of music notation doesn’t give any hints as to how the rhythm is to be played but presupposes that you already know the melody. Traditional classical guitar sheet music notation shows both the notes and the way they are supposed to be played.

My dad was the only guitar tutor in the town where I lived and he taught mostly classical guitar playing. His young students, I was one of them, learned those first guitar pieces very fast because he used a system similar to tablature showing the frets and strings to play, along with the sheet music. Tablature wasn’t common back then when playing classical guitar sheet music. I remember somebody remarking that his system prevented the children from learning to sight read sheet music. His reply was that if somebody really wants to learn the notes they will anyway. I agree with that and I have found that if a pupil is not motivated learning guitar sheet music they will not advance in this area whether they play with or without tablature.

What has fingers to do with guitar playing? The answer is obvious. Quite a lot. A more important question is if the fingers you choose to use can have a bearing upon your guitar playing. Left hand fingerings are numbers on the sheet music indication which finger you are suggested to use when playing a specific note. Usually when playing the first pieces on the guitar on the first frets it can be a good idea for you to play the notes on the first fret with the index finger, notes on the second fret with the middle finger, notes on the third fret with the ring finger and notes on the fourth fret with your little finger.

What then are the left hand fingering advantages? Can’t you play every melody with your left index finger and forget about all this fingering stuff? Well, of course you can play melodies with your index finger but your progress will be very limited beyond just playing easy melodies. You’ll have to move your left hand all the time as you change frets and, most importantly, when reading sheet music, you’ll have to look at the guitar fretboard all the time instead of looking at the sheet music which means that it will be hard to sight read music.

To summarize this learn to play guitar sheet music article, I could say that the important thing when learning to play the notes on the guitar is to make a conscious effort to learn the notes and not to work on to many notes at the same time.