Piano

They Analyzed 1,300 Songs & Here’s What They Found

by Jermaine Griggs

I recently came across a site called, HookTheory.com, where they’ve created innovative tools to analyze songs and chord progressions. I really think they’re on to something great there but what really caught my attention is their analysis of over 1,300 songs. What’s more, they’ve organized their findings into a very intuitive, visual format that anyone [...]

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Here’s a Nice Sounding Chord Movement You Can Use Immediately

by Jermaine Griggs

In this post, I want to share a cool way to play a 1-chord. What do I mean by “1-chord?” It’s simple. Every major key has chords associated with each tone of its scale. For example, the C major’s scale is: By simply numbering the scale, you get: C = 1 D = 2 E [...]

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The Art Of Polychords

by Jermaine Griggs

If you’ve ever wondered how master musicians execute and remember large, extended chord voicings, understanding polychords will be especially helpful for you. A polychord is simply a big chord made up of smaller ones. For example, C minor 11 is: By all means, this would be considered a “big” chord. But do you really have to [...]

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The Secret Link Between Chess & Playing Music By Ear

by Jermaine Griggs

Along with golf, I’ve recently picked up playing chess. And like any new interest, I’m a huge proponent of immersing myself in the topic by reading books, subscribing to services to learn from others’ experience, and of course, practicing regularly by playing friends online. But I cannot underscore enough, the power of “reading.” Some will [...]

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One Thing You Cannot Leave Out Of Your Practice Sessions

by Jermaine Griggs

I’ve probably received thousands of questions over the years on how to practice, what to practice, how frequently to practice, what time to practice, why practice regularly, and other related questions. And several years ago, I finally created a 37-pg guide, “The Missing Chapter,” where I introduced and thoroughly explained a practice regimen you can [...]

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The Secret To Smooth Playing

by Jermaine Griggs

If your playing suffers from lack of smoothness or your chords sound choppy or disconnected from one another, here’s one technique you can practice and employ almost immediately to enhance the flow of your playing. The secret is “INVERSIONS.” Granted, you may not always have the liberty to change the inversion of a chord, especially [...]

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The “80/20 Rule” Of Playing Piano By Ear

by Jermaine Griggs

The “80/20 Rule” states that 80% of results or rewards will come from 20% of causes or effort. Put another way, 20% of input creates 80% of output. This especially applies to music, where the same chords and progressions repeat themselves over and over. Think about it — how many times have you played the [...]

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A Quick Follow-Up To “Approach Chords”

by Jermaine Griggs

After writing about Approach Chords the other day, I received a request for more of these types of chords. Recall the definition of approach chords – In music, an approach chord is a chord one half-step higher or lower than the goal (aka – place you’re going to), and especially helpful in turnarounds and chord [...]

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How Would You Like 3 Free Gospel Video Lessons?

by Jermaine Griggs

If you’re a gospel musician or dream of becoming one, I have a treat for you today. At GospelMusicTraining.com, we’ve taken 3 videos out of our vast 300-hour library of gospel lessons and posted them absolutely free. All you gotta do is head over to GospelMusicTraining.com, fill out the form that says, “3 Free Gospel Lessons,” [...]

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The “Minor Chord Test” To Finding The Key Of Any Song

by Jermaine Griggs

In my free lessons, the first concept I cover is “Finding The Key Of A Song.” Without a doubt, it is the #1 skill needed to start playing by ear. Not the only… but one of the foundational skills because if you can’t start your song-learning process by finding the key, you’ve started on the [...]

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