• Merry Christmas and A Happy “Leap” Year in Advance

    in Piano

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    Merry Christmas

    Christmas is here!

    In the spirit of the season, I want to appreciate all our esteemed students all over the world who have contributed to our success in 2015, especially to:

    Those who visit this blog. On daily basis, our site statistics have shown that several thousands spend quality time on the blog section of our site. We appreciate the time spent and that’s why for the past 6 weeks, we’ve invested extra time and money into our blog to keep you updated now daily with priceless information at no cost.

    Those who read our newsletter. These days, life is busier. And we understand. However, you’ve always made time to read every newsletter or promotional e-mail we send to you, regardless of how busy your schedule is or how many unread emails you have in your mail box.

    Those who have invested in themselves. We’ve broken two records this year with the introduction of our Musician Xplosion collection and Song Tutor software. We are grateful to each of you who invested in these priceless study aids. I’m sure you’ve made a lot of progress. 2016 has so much more to offer.

    You. We all are here for “u”. In 2016, hearandplay.com has so much in store for u. We’re personalizing your hearandplay experience and also reviving our musicians zone. We’re calling it “Hear and Play U.” Stay tuned.

    Happy New Year in Advance

    Who else is excited about the new year? I am certainly excited about 2016 which is barely an octave from today. It’s normal to get your hopes high every new year. However, 2016 is not one of those years.

    Just in case it escaped your notice, I wish to remind you that 2016 is a leap year. A handful of international events like United States Presidential Election, UEFA European Football Championship, Summer Olympic Games and other international events are aligned to leap years.

    Isn’t there more to it than coincidence? I consider leap years special because it literally looks like 24 hours have been added to the calendar in a world where you can’t add a second. And there are 25 of them in one century.

    Who Else Wants to Take a Quantum Leap?

    A new year is coming, not like this one or the last. It’s a Leap Year and there’s provision for everyone who wants to make a quantum leap. In the Hearandplay model, we have six various layers of tonal organization – Notes, Scales, Intervals, Chords, Chord Progressions, and Songs. You have to quickly decide the area(s) you want to take a quantum leap in.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Notes And My Full Understanding Of The Piano And How Notes Work

    • Understand visual (color, shapes, layout, design, pattern, etc) and musical (direction, melodic and harmonic relationships) properties of the keyboard.
    • Delve into sound, frequency, and pitch. Explore pitch class sets (0-11) , Naming systems (Letter, Sol-fa and Interval), Octave, Melodic progression (semitone, whole tone, sesquitone, ditone, diatessaron, and tritone), Pitch modification, Enharmonic Equivalence and lots more.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Scales And How They’re All Related To Each Other

    • Learn various ways to classify scales according to Culture Area, Usage, Note-Aggregate and Tonality.
    • Discover the relationship between the circle of fifths and key signature (the number of sharps and flats a key has).
    • Understand the proper approach to playing ALL traditional scales (pure Major, Pure minor, Melodic minor and Harmonic minor) on all keys with both hands.
    • Explore all diatonic modes – Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian etc and how to construct them in any key.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Intervals, The Building Blocks of Chords

    • Expose yourself to the harmonic and melodic implication of any two notes on the keyboard.
    • Discover the harmonic properties of these chords and their potentials in chord formation intervals by understanding what two notes relate to each other.
    • Learn how to describe intervals using note knowledge and scale knowledge.
    • Get started with the proper spelling of intervals.
    • Find out how to distinguish scale-step and non scale-step intervals.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Chords, The Stuff Songs Are Made Of!

    • Get started with a proper introduction to chords by understanding scalar and intervallic relationship between chord tones.
    • Learn how to classify chords according to class of harmony, aggregate, stability quality etc.
    • Equip yourself with ALL scale degree chords (triads, seventh chords and extended chords [ninths, elevenths and thirteenths]).
    • Experience chord inversions (choral style and keyboard style) like never before.
    • Understand other advanced concepts (like Harmonic function, Chord Voicing, Chord Notation, etc) that will ground you in chords. Bonus chapter on triad and seventh chord arpeggios.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Chord Progressions and Patterns

    • Discover what it takes to combine chords into progressions.
    • Explore chord progressions like never before – cyclical, blues, etc.
    • Learn how to play major and minor 2-5-1 progressions in all keys.
    • Discover the difference between various types of progressions and when and where they’re used.
    • Get exposed to the secrets of borrowing chords, modal progressions, and more.

    I Want To Take A Quantum Leap In Learning and Understanding Songs

    • Understand the structure and form of music.
    • Get properly introduced to cadences and modulations.
    • Take an adventure through various styles like blues, hymns, spirituals, rock, and others.
    • Learn how to end your songs using fancy endings covered in this course.
    • Discover how to use all what you’ve learned in subsequent courses to play real-life songs.

     

    Cheers! Happy Holidays!!!

    P.S. – Here’s a holiday message from a funny man and friend of Hear and Play (I always get a kick out of sharing it, even though it was shot many years ago):

    The following two tabs change content below.
    Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!




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