learn keyboard chords quickly

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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leighbeynon wrote:this is a nice example of the sound i love, chords sound quite simple
but is very effective and with vocals etc its a great sound

http://www.gogo-music.net/media/gogovin ... al-Mix.mp3

what chords are used here ??
The chords sound quite intimidating at first. So better first focus on what the base plays:

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| E    | %    | A    | B    |
That's one of the most basic progressions there is. Side-note: A and B are just one hop away from E in the Circle of Fifths.

Now for the e-piano...
First chord on E. I hear G3 & B3 & D4 & F#4 (could be actually G2 & B2 etc so one octave lower, but you get the idea.) The G is minor third, B is fifth harmonic (fifths always go without telling in standard chords unless stated otherwise), D is seventh and F# is ninth. So that makes it a Em79 chord.

Second chord on A. The G3 and B3 remain there, but now with C4 and E4. In the key of A the G is seventh and B is ninth. C is minor third and E is fifth. So again it's a minor plus 7 & 9: Am79

Third chord on B. I bet it's another m79. Just the previous one with everything shifted a whole tone: A3 & C#4 & D4 & F#4

So put it al together, here's the chord progression:

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| Em79  | %    | Am79  | Bm79  |
This chord scheme doesn't hold any info about the exact voicing. It could be played differently. In fact, the musicians could have worked with the following:

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| Em  | %   | Am  | Bm  |
and assume that sevenths and ninths are added, since it's a basic ingredient of their style.

I did this analysis without any keyboard besides me, just using my ears and years of experience doing stuff like this.
Last edited by BertKoor on Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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wow, that i a fantastic skill you have, i would just be happy to be able to play my own chord progressions some day and create melodies that stay in key !

well alot more learning for me !!
L P B

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leighbeynon wrote:wow, that i a fantastic skill you have
Never mind my skills... Can you follow what I've written? Could you now actually play it? If not, then there's some work we have to do on the musical language you and I speak. There are alternative notations around such as

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| Im79  | %   | IVm79  | Vm79  |
But it surely pays off to work on intervals and recognising them. Chords are built from them.
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ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
L P B

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leighbeynon wrote:ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
How about Em7: E minor 7th.
Em79 is just E minor with seventh and ninth. Like having mustard and ketchup on the hotdog ;-)

When dysecting chords I work as follows:
* What's the root (often found by examining the bass)
* Is it major or minor third? Or no third at all, maybe diminished?
* What else is added? 7th, 9th, maj7, or suspended?
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now im with ya, so you would play the extended 7th and 9th notes on top of Emin

ok i get it, i wouldnt be able to tell what the bass was playing myself though at the stage im at, which is pretty much the beggining,

thats very interesting as ive never heard 7ths and 9ths being played together, ive probably seen it but thought it was a more complex chord than
you have explained !

ta leigh
L P B

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Well, the 79 combination is not that exceptional. Given that a standard major or minor triad is just the stacking of thirds intervals... 1 & 3 & 5. Just continue stacking thirds and the next ones are 7 and 9.
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leighbeynon wrote:ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
7-9 = Eb G Bb Db Eb
7+9 = Eb G Bb Db Gb

edit: sorry that is sharp

7-9 = E F Ab B D
7+9 = E G Ab B D

But you see the simularity right :D?
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stay juicy!

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leighbeynon wrote:ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
the chords bertkoor wrote are minor 9ths, i guess some people write them as minor79.

btw this is a good basic chord and scale resource if you get stuck trying to translate chords into notes: http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/
Last edited by martian on Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:37 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Optomadic wrote:
leighbeynon wrote:ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
7-9 = Eb G Bb Db Eb
7+9 = Eb G Bb Db Gb

edit: sorry that is sharp

7-9 = E F Ab B D
7+9 = E G Ab B D

But you see the simularity right :D?
these arent the chords BertKoor figured out, which are minor 9ths. whereas 7-9 is a dominant 7th chord with a flat 9.

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7th chords are assumed to contain the 5th.
9th chords are assumed to contain the 7th and the 5th.
11th chords are assumed to contain the 9th, 7th and 5th.
13th chords are assumed to contain the 11th, 9th, 7th and 5th.

In practice it ain't necessarily so.
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alienmachine wrote: Read this chapter and you will understand what I'm talking about: http://www.howmusicreallyworks.com/Page ... ter_6.html
I haven't read *All* that stuff of course;-) but think i've got what you mean.

The only thing I don't understand is when you say:
" I won't disgread yet the circle of fifths"
as if it is opposed to the chordwheel: the inner circle of the chordwheel is just..right..
a circle of fifths!
nuffink wrote:I haven't seen one up close. There are a lot of variations on the theme... http://images.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&safe= off&q=chord+wheel&btnG=Search+Images

They all pack in a lot of information.
Indeed allot of variations (though that link shows allot of repetitions too:-)
it's also true they are all busy of graphic stuff.. but i find it has its own peculiarity: first it isn't a specific instrument-fingering tool like guitar/piano/dulcimer etc stuff, but gives a general theory approach. It isn't *just* a key transpose circle: it does the key transpose plus the whole tonality-chords (also secondary dominants); Key signatures included..
at your fingertips.
Last edited by tonAP on Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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right ok, this is all now started to make more sence to me and becoming easier to get to grips with,

i actually bought one of these weird harmony wheels not so long ago from here

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/harwheel.html

thats not by chance laid out like the cycle or 5ths is it?

not had alot of use for it, but maybe now ive been having lessons for 1 year might become more useful,
many thanks leigh
L P B

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leighbeynon wrote:i actually bought one of these weird harmony wheels not so long ago from here

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/harwheel.html

thats not by chance laid out like the cycle or 5ths is it?
Let's have a look at a section:

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Bb | F | C | G | D | A | E | B | F#
Yes, it is!!
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

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martian wrote:
Optomadic wrote:
leighbeynon wrote:ok i understand Em9 E minor 9th and i can play this
not sure i get Em79 ?
7-9 = Eb G Bb Db Eb
7+9 = Eb G Bb Db Gb

edit: sorry that is sharp

7-9 = E F Ab B D
7+9 = E G Ab B D

But you see the simularity right :D?
these arent the chords BertKoor figured out, which are minor 9ths. whereas 7-9 is a dominant 7th chord with a flat 9.
:dog: I see now!
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stay juicy!

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