• At Last! A foolproof method for naming chords

    foolproofsmall.jpgAs you know, a lot of my blog posts have exercises at the end that invite readers to participate. One exercise might be to figure out the same chord voicing in all 12 keys, with each reader taking a key of their own (I love those!). Others are more complex.

    And while these have been an overwhelming success, sometimes I’ve noticed some common mistakes when it comes to naming chords…

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    Discover the shortcut to playing minor pentatonic scales

    About a month ago, I posted a lesson on how to play pentatonic scales. As you learned in that post, this scale is called “pentatonic” because it has 5 notes. “Penta” is an ancient Greek prefix meaning “five.”

    We unraveled the numerical names for other scales too. Like… [more]

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    These melodic minor chords will have you sounding like a pro…

    In this exercise, I taught you the melodic minor scale. It was around the time we were talking heavily about minor concepts.

    In this lesson, I want to take it a step further and introduce you to the chords that are naturally created by the melodic minor scale. But first, let’s review…

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    This will spice up your major chords… guaranteed!

    quartersmall.jpgToday’s post is about something many people haven’t heard of. But it’s something that can really make your progressions sound nice.

    The good news is that you already understand the basics of forming this type of chord — I’ll just point you in the right direction. I’m talking about the quartal chord

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    The “What Key Am I In” Game 4

    popquizsmall.jpgTime for the 4th episode of “What Key Am I In?” Let’s see how well you know your not-so-obvious major keys.

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    It’s a numbers game! Discover how to crack the code…

    (If you haven’t read Wednesday’s and Thursday’s post, it’d be a good idea to start there as this lesson continues with what we’ve already learned…)

    numbergame-small.jpgToday, we’re going to keep exploring the number system and circle of fifths and see what else we can do to spice up the primary chords we already know.

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    What everybody ought to know about melodic minor scales

    secondary dominantLately we’ve been talking about minor scales. Yesterday, I introduced the harmonic minor scale and how easy it is to play when you know your natural minor scales.

    Today, I’ll go a step further and teach you how to form the melodic minor scale.

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