scales / chords - keyboard lessons

[VoodooDoctor]

hey guys, so my weakest link in my music endeavor is the fact that I really can't play the keyboard. I have tried various software packages and all, but I have had trouble sticking with them. I do not need to be a great player I just want to be able to program simple chords and have some fun in Ableton Live.

I am looking for exercise that would help me memorize scales and chords. so that way when I am looking at a midi file on a piano roll it actually means something to me. any websites or exercise books to do this that you suggest?
thanks, Brendan

[jcrisman]

hey guys, so my weakest link in my music endeavor is the fact that I really can't play the keyboard. I have tried various software packages and all, but I have had trouble sticking with them. I do not need to be a great player I just want to be able to program simple chords and have some fun in Ableton Live.

I am looking for exercise that would help me memorize scales and chords. so that way when I am looking at a midi file on a piano roll it actually means something to me. any websites or exercise books to do this that you suggest?
thanks, Brendan

Are you opposed to entering notes in step time?

[VoodooDoctor]

not oppused. its more so I understand at a broad level concepts such as parrel motion, disonet and so on and so forth. i understand a general concept how to do chord progressions and voice them. its like i get the concepts of what needs to be done but I do not have the note relationships in my head. so when i look at notes i do not instantly know is that a 1st, 3rd and 5th. is that a blank chord. like i cant visualize what i am looking at. i feel that i should be able to play basic chords and hammer out slowly in a step sequencer a simple boring melody. but i have no clue. its hard to explain, but its like I am missing some huge fundamental building block and its so simple that its hard to explain.

[apolo]

I am looking for exercise that would help me memorize scales and chords. so that way when I am looking at a midi file on a piano roll it actually means something to me. any websites or exercise books to do this that you suggest?
thanks, Brendan

Maybe this course could help you...

http://www.pianoforall.com/

[jcrisman]

not oppused. its more so I understand at a broad level concepts such as parrel motion, disonet and so on and so forth. i understand a general concept how to do chord progressions and voice them. its like i get the concepts of what needs to be done but I do not have the note relationships in my head. so when i look at notes i do not instantly know is that a 1st, 3rd and 5th. is that a blank chord. like i cant visualize what i am looking at. i feel that i should be able to play basic chords and hammer out slowly in a step sequencer a simple boring melody. but i have no clue. its hard to explain, but its like I am missing some huge fundamental building block and its so simple that its hard to explain.

Here is a pretty good free PDF book (126 pages) that will help you visualize what you are looking at:

Changes: Chord/Scale Reference Manual
By Larry Ross Norred, ASCAP
http://www.changes98.com/New/Changes.pdf

As far as being able to hammer out chords and a basic melody on a keyboard, that is merely a matter of practicing. But then again some wonderful music, including piano music, has come from those who have to step enter their notes because their keyboard skills resemble someone attempting to play piano chords while wearing boxing gloves.

[MOK19]

Craigslist! Piano instructor sessions! Get!

[VoodooDoctor]

thanks all to your responses.

[flowdesigner]

not oppused. its more so I understand at a broad level concepts such as parrel motion, disonet and so on and so forth. i understand a general concept how to do chord progressions and voice them. its like i get the concepts of what needs to be done but I do not have the note relationships in my head. so when i look at notes i do not instantly know is that a 1st, 3rd and 5th. is that a blank chord. like i cant visualize what i am looking at. i feel that i should be able to play basic chords and hammer out slowly in a step sequencer a simple boring melody. but i have no clue. its hard to explain, but its like I am missing some huge fundamental building block and its so simple that its hard to explain.

Here is a pretty good free PDF book (126 pages) that will help you visualize what you are looking at:

Changes: Chord/Scale Reference Manual
By Larry Ross Norred, ASCAP
http://www.changes98.com/New/Changes.pdf

As far as being able to hammer out chords and a basic melody on a keyboard, that is merely a matter of practicing. But then again some wonderful music, including piano music, has come from those who have to step enter their notes because their keyboard skills resemble someone attempting to play piano chords while wearing boxing gloves.

This link doesnt seem to work

[psenior]

I think you might need a book that shows you a visual representation of the keyboard along with what notes to press down in order to get certain harmonies. I had to buy a book like that a long time ago when I first began to teach myself how to play. I know there is a pdf with this info that you can download. I have a printed copy at home. If you like, I can look for the file again and post a link to it here.

As far as looking at a MIDI piano roll, you just have to carefully count the half step spaces. With most DAWs, they show a graphic representation of the piano keyboard on the left hand side of the screen, so this makes figuring out the notes even easier.

[deastman]

This really is just a matter of practice. I spent 20 years not practicing the guitar. Then I spent the next 6 years practicing scales and becoming competent at the instrument. Trust me, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll improve. There is no substitute.

[jancivil]

not oppused. its more so I understand at a broad level concepts such as parrel motion, disonet and so on and so forth. i understand a general concept how to do chord progressions and voice them. its like i get the concepts of what needs to be done but I do not have the note relationships in my head. so when i look at notes i do not instantly know is that a 1st, 3rd and 5th. is that a blank chord. like i cant visualize what i am looking at. i feel that i should be able to play basic chords and hammer out slowly in a step sequencer a simple boring melody. but i have no clue. its hard to explain, but its like I am missing some huge fundamental building block and its so simple that its hard to explain.

When you look at notes, where? On a stave of lines in music notation? In the piano roll? On the keyboard?

Keyboard playing, you sort of need it to enter onto a piano roll editor. But, I can't operate a keyboard for much good. I enter a phrase at a time or less and edit it into shape, and I have developed fingerings which probably only make sense for me to get a lick or two on there I can use. I certainly believe that to create a viable performance via midi is extremely problematic via only step-entering, that you're going to need to get 'something' with feel on there some kinda way (of course you can be satisfied with mechanical quantized no-feel music, and there are genres awaiting you where it's less of an issue, feel. ). That said, I don't think you have to become a 'keyboard player' to get there.

Getting the shape of a 'triad' in your head has to be done at a level of abstraction *in your head* <first>.
Where <recognition> is easy, there was time spent becoming familiar. I don't know any trick to it; whether for a keyboard, a fretboard, a piano roll, what-have-you, your problem is one of recognition and I'd look to 'your head' for the root problem here.

[flowdesigner]

I certainly believe that to create a viable performance via midi is extremely problematic via only step-entering

Ok, but is there a way to learn how to quickly look at chords in a sequencer pianoroll to see what is going on.
I understand the answer to this is practice, but how do I practice most efficient?

[A.M. Gold]

This really is just a matter of practice. I spent 20 years not practicing the guitar. Then I spent the next 6 years practicing scales and becoming competent at the instrument. Trust me, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll improve. There is no substitute.

I agree. I think for what the OP is asking for, just getting familiar with the scales in each key is essential, which requires practice. A book can tell you what you need to know quickly, but then you have to memorize all of it. You should start by learning the major and minor triad forms of each chromatic note, since they differ in shape on the keyboard. You should also get familiar with what chord falls on each scale degree in each key, minor and major. All of this takes sometime but it is far from being rocket science, and you will be far better equipped and better oriented after you have become familiar with it.

[jancivil]

I certainly believe that to create a viable performance via midi is extremely problematic via only step-entering

Ok, but is there a way to learn how to quickly look at chords in a sequencer pianoroll to see what is going on.
I understand the answer to this is practice, but how do I practice most efficient?

Well, concretely, you are asking about triad positions. I would say, practice *arpeggios*, aka 'broken chords'; record your result onto the piano roll, or make up some little tunes which are restricted for the time being to 'some triads broken into components': root, third, fifth, record these. I donno. Maybe you get a feel for how it appears in that piano roll...

As I type this, I wonder do I even look at the roll except to change something I know by ear has to be different? I'm not sure I can read a piano roll too well, but I know what to do with my music on it quite well...
A triad is a three note build, constructed via 'thirds'. They skip a step. That much is consistent no matter what, they are horizonatal bars with the other components vertically stacked a skipped step above or below. It's shapes. Play around with these shapes, get familiar with the distance between (INTERVALS).

btw, the reason I believe that strictly from step entering is problematic is RHYTHM, which is the time between and/or duration of events; if you don't get a grip on this manually, you depend on a machine for rhythm, and they have no sense of rhythm...

[A.M. Gold]

One thing: recognizing the shae of chords on the keyboard is the same as recognizing them on the piano roll, except they are tipped up/down rather than left/right. Recognizing the two should be fairly interchangeable.