Music Basics

Here is an article on how to get better at palying the guitar. The guitar is a fun instrument for all ages. Everyone is unique and has different learning curves. Just be patient and stick with it....

Augmented chords are not difficult to play on the keyboard or piano. In fact, they are easy to play. Just follow the simple steps below.

You don't need to be born with perfect pitch to hear music notes. Learning to hear notes and recognize the names of those notes takes time and practice. It may be that you never develop perfect...

If you play piano or keyboard, fully diminished seventh chords are important to know. There are, amazingly, only three of them, and they continue all the way up and down the keyboard. These...

If you're learning how to play the guitar, but don't know how to read sheet music, tabs can be a great resource to you. They provide a way to learn how to play your favorite songs even if you have...

If you want to play thirds and sixths on the keyboard or piano, you should learn them together. There are two types of thirds and sixths, major and minor. If you learn both the theory and the feel...

Chord changes can be challenging to read. Although there are standards of how to notate the changes, there are multiple styles and some composers seem to invent their own from time to time. So...

One of the most fundamental chords in guitar-playing is the E Minor Chord. Also referred to as one of the "open" chords, it is used in everything from rock music to blues guitar. The...

If you are new to guitar or just never learned how to read guitar tablature you are in for a treat. It's SO easy! After I show you some easy examples of guitar tablature and clearly explain how...

The acoustic guitar is oftentimes seen as the boring predecessor to the electric guitar. If taken full advantage of, the acoustic offers an entirely different and fulfilling musical experience. ...

Some of the greatest guitarists of all time have played left-handed, including Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Paul McCartney. And they all began the same way that right-handed players do: by...

"Three's Company", "Three's a crowd", "A natural number can be divided by three if the sum of its digits is divisible by three." Yup, three is even the number of...

There are many ways to go about songwriting and just as many ways to go about teaching it. Here is one strategy that worked well for me with helping to teach a children's group about songwriting.

The piano is one of the most complex musical instruments on the planet, capable of all manner of musical intricacy and depth. But it can also be simple. With a little guidance, you can create...

Learning to play piano is not difficult. All you need is a lot of practice, information and patience.

Music improvisation is the act of making up your musical part as you go. The ability to improvise comes from being able to hear musical keys and knowing what notes will fit within those keys. This...

In music theory, chords are said to be inverted when the root of the chord is not in lowest position of the chord. Inverted chords are used in every piece of music. Melodies are said to be...

If the major chord is the sound of happy music, then the minor chord is the sound of sadness, angst, or anger. Think of the power of the organ, played by someone in a a state of inner turmoil...

In jazz music, the B hexatonic scale adds a basic B black chord, as well as a sharp three, sharp four and a flat six. Find out how to obtain the richness of the B hexatonic scale with help from a...

This article is a beginners guide to play metal guitar. If you want to bypass the boring stuff beginner guitarists are subjected to, like learning to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and...

No matter what kind of music, there are chords. They may be notated differently, but groups of notes are fundamental to any kind of music.

There are many different basic chord shapes for guitar. These are usually called "open chords" because you leave 1 or more strings open when playing. Today I will teach you how to play...

Even a prodigy can't just pick up a guitar for the first time and start playing a song without some initial training. If you want to play a song on the guitar, it stands to reason that you must...

Many musicians tend to mystify the songwriting process, but the fact is that most popular songs rely on simple chord progressions that anyone can master. These progressions set the groundwork for...

Learning how to perform in the gospel genre first requires an understanding of the unique attributes which set the music apart from other similar genres (jazz, rock, and hip hop are a few genres...

A fake book is a music book that typically contains 500 songs, or more. The songs are arranged to include only lyrics and chord progressions, and sometimes a simple melody line. Fake books are...

When studying, listening to, learning or otherwise enjoying a piece of music, it is important to understand the inner workings of the piece and how it moves from the beginning to the end. It may...

When a third note on a saxophone stays the same, but the sevenths change, the chord becomes a dominant seventh chord. Know what the third is when playing saxophone with lessons from a music theory...

In saxophone playing, arpeggiating the seventh chord is known as outlining the seventh chord. Know what the seventh is when playing saxophone with lessons from a music theory teacher in this free...

When notes of a chord on saxophone are played separately, they are known as arpeggios. Play arpeggios on the saxophone with tips from a music theory teacher in this free video on woodwind instruments.

"Wildwood Flower" was a folk standard long before it was made famous by the Carter Family. It requires only two chords, E and B, to play, and anyone can learn to play it on guitar with a bit of...

At first, playing guitar seems like an intimidating exercise---what to do with those six strings? However, learning the meat-and-potatoes basics is easier than you might think. The approach need...

Modulations seem to strike a chord of fear (pardon the pun) in the hearts of pianists and keyboardists. Those six little words ––“let’s take it up a key”–– make most of us players break out in a...

A G major chord, consisting of the notes G, B and D, can be played in many ways on the bass guitar. In root position, the G is the lowest note. In first inversion, the middle note---the B---is the...

Just getting started in music, piano, or music theory? Start here! The major chord is the most basic building block in musical harmony. Once you learn this one, you can work outward and learn...

Often dismissed as little more than Mongolian string-benders, heavy metal musicians deserve more respect for the uncommon levels of skill that the genre demands. This is especially obvious for the...

The ukulele is a beautiful and simple instrument. It does not take very long to learn how to play, although more complex songs can obviously take greater time to learn. Most musicians consider the...

Piano or Guitar! Come learn some neat music theory in this lesson on Chords - Enharmonic Respelling of The Diminished Seventh Chord.

Chords work the same on all instruments, Guitar, Piano, or Vocal, it doesn't matter! Learn about the Diminished Seventh chord in this lesson.

Chords work the same on all instruments, Guitar, Piano, or Vocal, it doesn't matter! Learn about the Dominant Seventh chord in this lesson.

If you are interested in playing guitar and are wanting to play popular songs right away, learning chords that alot of players use will get you playing songs in a short period of time. I will show...

If you are learning the guitar, then you can also expect more than one option for learning to read music. One of the options that is used frequently for aspiring guitar and bass players is the...

When I play a chord on my guitar and can't get the right sound I do this.

Learn tips on how to properly use an A minor chord on acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play an A minor chord on acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play chord transitions on an acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play an Em chord on an acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play a G chord on an acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play a C chord on an acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.

Learn tips on how to properly play a D chord on an acoustic guitar in this free video clip on musical instruments and music theory.