Minor Chord

In music theory, a minor chord is a chord having a root, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord has these three notes alone, it is called a minor triad. Some minor triads with additional notes, such as the minor seventh chord, may also be called minor chords.

A minor triad can also be described as a minor third interval with a major third interval on top or as a root note, a note 3 semitones higher than the root, and a note 7 semitones higher than the root. Hence it can be represented by the integer notation {0, 3, 7}.

A major chord differs from a minor chord in having a major third above the root instead of a minor third. It can also be described as a major third with a minor third on top, in contrast to a minor chord, which has a minor third with a major third on top.

Piano Pop

Piano pop is a style of piano playing with melody and harmony based in the chord symbols. Piano pop isn't as difficult as classical piano because the you just need to remember the chord and make improvisations based on the chords.
Usually, the right hand plays the melody and improvisation and the left hand plays chords with broken chords style or bass chords. In piano pop, your piano playing isn't limited to your sheets. You can make improvisations and expansions by yourself as long as it is according to the chords.
For the right hand playing, you can use dual tone so the music is sounded more harmonious.
That's my knowing about piano pop playing because I still learn it too. Actually it's not difficult at all. Just make your music according to your feel and mind...

The Piano Maker ~ Johann Stein

Johann (Georg) Andreas Stein, (Heidesheim, 16 May 1728 - Augsburg, 29 February 1792) was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano. He was primarily responsible for the design of the so-called "Viennese" fortepiano, for which the piano music of Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven was written.

He learned his trade in part at the Silberman workshop in Strasbourg (1748–9), working for Johann Andreas Silbermann, nephew and pupil of the great instrument maker Gottfried Silbermann. He settled in Augsburg, where he also served as an organist.

He built not just pianos, but other keyboard instruments, some of them of novel invention. One extraordinary instrument, called the "Poli-Toni-Clavichordium" (1796), combined a large harpsichord having four choirs of strings (registration 8', 8', 8', 16') with a piano. He also built (1772) the "Melodika," a small organ in which the player's touch could alter volume; thus it stood to regular organs much as pianos do to the harpsichord. He also built "vis-à-vis" instruments, with a piano and a harpsichord facing one another in a single case.

Toward the end of his life, Stein's business was largely taken over by his daughter Nannette (see below). Pianos with his name after 1790 are held to be Nannette's work, as Stein was himself too ill to build instruments by this date.

The Prellmechanik action

Stein's most important innovation, his piano action, was perfected around 1781. This is the so-called Prellmechanik with escapement. In this arrangement, each hammer was mounted on top of the key, with the head on the end closer to the player, a traditional arrangement in German pianos of Stein's day. The hammers were like small, asymmetrical levers, with the hammer head far from the fulcrum, and a small upward-facing hook ("beak") on the other side of the lever, much closer to the fulcrum. When the player depressed the key, the whole hammer assembly would rise. The beak would engage an escapement hopper attached to the keyframe. The escapement hopper pulled down on the beak as it rose, in turn causing the hammer (the other end of the lever) to fly upward and strike the key. The escapement hopper was hinged and sprung; this permitted the beak to move downward past it as the key sank back to rest position.

Latcham (see Grove reference below) calls this invention "a breakthrough in the piano's history;" it "offer[ed] the player a remarkable control of the hammers, especially when playing softly, and [wa]s astonishingly responsive to the player’s touch."

Piano Six Hands

There is also a small repertoire of pieces for three people to play at one piano. This is called Piano six hands. These pieces are often fun pieces which are not too hard to play, although there are examples of serious pieces - see the separate wiki article. The three people need to be good friends, because it is a bit of a squash. The player at the bottom ought to do the pedalling but it may be easier for the middle player to do it.

Source:http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_duet

Piano Duet

A piano duet is a piece of music written for two people to play at one piano. It is often called Piano 4 hands.

To play piano duets the two players sit with one person on the right (playing the high notes) and the other person on the left (playing the low notes). The person on the right is called “Primo” (“First”) and the person on the left is called “Secondo” (“Second”).

Piano duet music is usually printed with the Secondo part on the left-hand page and the Primo part on the right-hand page. Occasionally it is printed with the two parts underneath one another.

Playing piano duets is great fun and an excellent way to become a better musician. Like all group music making, each player has to learn to listen and adapt to what is going on in the other part. Sometimes one player will have to take away his or her hand quickly so that the other player can play the same note immediately afterwards. Sometimes the players have to cross their hands (secondo’s right hand crosses with primo’s left hand).

A lot of the time the primo’s part may have both hands written in the treble treble clef and the secondo’s part may have both hands written in the bass clef. This can sometimes be confusing at first.

The pedalling is usually done by the secondo player. This is because pedalling is very much about keeping chords going (“sustaining”), and it is the secondo who usually has the chords which give the harmony because these are in the lower part.

Source:http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_duet

Play The Piano by Ear...?

Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece of music (or, eventually, learn an instrument) by simply listening to it repeatedly. The majority of self-taught musicians began their education this way; they picked up their instrument and began playing an easy melody from a well-known song, slowly picking out the notes as they went along. And even after these musicians master their instruments or a particular song, playing by ear still plays a large role.

Many pop and rock bands don't play or write their songs based on sheet music, they figure the songs out by playing by ear. It's even common among non-musicians. Ever sit down a piano and mindlessly pick out the tune to "Mary Had a Little Lamb"? What about grabbing a guitar and suddenly finding yourself playing the opening licks to "Smoke on the Water"? That's playing by ear. You're able to play part of the song just because you've heard it so often. 

Playing by ear is a valuable technique for many musicians; learning songs based solely on hearing them is a great way to understand song and chord structure. In fact, a great number of rock and pop musicians learned to play their instruments this way. Instead of picking up a book or taking lessons, they concentrated on figuring out the notes and rhythms to a song until it was mastered. Then they moved on to another song. And another. Gradually, they learned their instrument just by playing by ear -- and in the process learned how to effectively structure a song in that particular genre. 

Playing by ear is also beneficial in helping a musician develop his or her own style; sure, they'll at first mimic the style of the song they're imitating, but the amalgamation of the music that they're playing by ear will help them create something distinctive, something indicative of them only.

What is Arpeggios?

An arpeggio is one of those terms in music that sounds very impressive. If you go to your friends and tell them that you played arpeggios in your piano lesson today, they are sure to be impressed. It sounds like something complicated and difficult and our first word of advice is to let you friends think that. You’ll impress a lot of people!

Now for the secret. We music types know that an arpeggio is not a difficult concept at all. In fact, the name contains the definition. Arpeggio is an Italian word meaning broken chord. Simply speaking, when we play an arpeggio, we split a chord in to its component notes and play them individually.Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say that we play a C Major chord. You probably remember from our chord article that a simple three note C Major chord is the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale degree of a C Major scale. In this case, a C Major scale has the notes C-E-G and they are all played at the same time. When we play an arpeggio we simply play each of these notes separately. Maybe we play 1-3-5 up and down in quarter notes. In this case, we would play 1-3-5-3-1 broken up like we would play a melody.

The Types of Modern Piano

Types

Modern pianos have two basic configurations (with subcategories): the grand piano and the upright piano.

Grand

There are many sizes of grand piano. A rough generalization distinguishes the concert grand (between about 2.2 m and 3 m/9.84 feet long) from the parlor grand or boudoir grand (about 1.7 m to 2.2 m) and the smaller baby grand (around 1.5 m).In grand pianos, the frame and strings are horizontal, with the strings extending away from the keyboard. The action lies beneath the strings, and uses gravity as its means of return to a state of rest.

All else being equal, longer pianos with longer strings have larger, richer sound and lower inharmonicity of the strings. Inharmonicity is the degree to which the frequencies of overtones (known as partials or harmonics) sound sharp relative to whole multiples of the fundamental frequency. This results from the piano's considerable string stiffness; as a struck string decays its harmonics vibrate, not from their termination, but from a point very slightly toward the center (or more flexible part) of the string. The higher the partial, the further sharp it runs. Pianos with shorter and thicker strings, i.e. small pianos with short string scales, have more inharmonicity. The greater the inharmonicity, the more the ear perceives it as harshness of tone.

7 Rules of Piano Fingering

Piano fingering is one of the most crucial aspects of learning the instrument, yet it is among the most overlooked. Here are seven of the most important rules for fingering, prefaced by an instruction to...

Rule #0: Finger it out for yourself!

Though hands have more in common than not, no two hands are exactly alike. What's comfortable for one person may be unplayable for the next, as in the case of large stretches unreachable by small hands

More importantly, our fingering determines our sound. Using different fingers changes dynamics and articulation in subtle and sometimes dramatic ways.

It's therefore essential to devise your own piano fingerings rather than rely exclusively on the editor's. (The exception is usually the composer's own fingering, though these are generally rare and, in the case of early 19th-century music and earlier, may apply to period instruments such as the fortepiano, harpsichord, or sometimes even the clavichord, more so than to the modern piano.) This is why I recommend many unfingered sheet music editions.

That said, it is important to play by the rules. Good piano fingering is based on the natural shape of the hand. Generally, what is most natural is most comfortable, and what is most comfortable sounds the best.

5 Important Things in Playing The Piano

Attitude: The right mind set
The right attitude will go a long way. There will be times you encounter difficulties in mastering a particular technique. That is part and parcel of learning how to play the piano. Think positive and push yourself to correct your mistakes. With the right attitude, you can overcome any obstacles be it memorizing the notes, perfecting your scales or even dancing your fingers down the keyboard. There may be naysayer criticizing your efforts at learning how to play the piano. Ignore those negative comments and pursue forward towards your goal.

Determination: Keep pushing
So you have given yourself the push. Now to stay on track until you master the piano needs determination. Arouse the fire in your belly to counter any setbacks that may come your way. Determination will push you to your limits and bulldoze any negative thoughts harboring your mind. If you fail to coordinate both hands to play the scales properly, determination will make certain that you continue scaling your fingers down the keyboard over and over again until you perfect the scales. With every difficulty you resolve, you will be one step ahead in your pursuit to learn how to play the piano.

Discipline: Keep doing
Practice makes perfect. The cliché is proven to be true time and again. Learning how to play the piano will harness this trait in you.

How to Maintain Your Piano

1. Maintain and tune the piano only by a professional tuner. It should be done at least once to twice a year depending on the piano. As if it is an old piano, the tune should be at least twice a year versus a new one you can go up to once a year. My piano was brand new when I bought it directly from the manufacture so once I noticed the slightest change in the pitch or tone, I called the professional tuner that recommended by the manufacture. It doesn't matter if you rarely play it or on daily basis as not doing so will damage the piano by causing its strings to drop and loose its pitch.
2. Warm, moist or dry air affects the piano differently. Especially be cautious from the moisture as it can cause the strings to rust. Thus, the optimum humidity of the room ought to be between 43 to 60 percent and the temperature is 640F and 73‏0F.

Ten Ways to Improvise The Piano

1.      Use fake books. Fake books, as one of the top 10 ways to improvise on the piano, are gentle introductions to what could be interpreted as the Wild West of improvisation. Improvisation is largely based on freedom of expression. Without having a good foundation of the basics, beginners may feel intimidated by the possibilities. Fake books however contain music that provides opportunities of expression. Since it’s music lacks full notation, fake books allow the musician to fill in the missing parts with what *could* be there or what *should* be there without leaving *everything* up to the pianist.

2.      Make up your own songs. Making up your own songs really isn’t as easy as you might think. If you’ve been trained in the classics for example, you might find it difficult to break from instilled patterns.

Practice with Metronome

A metronome is a highly useful device that helps people to practice and play music. A metronome provides a strict pulsing beat that can help you control your music tempo (timing) and improve your musical rhythm. When you practice the piano, using a metronome can help you to learn your piece faster. It also provides a basic rhythmic guideline so that you can quickly learn to play your music smoothly and correctly.

The History of Piano Pedals

Piano pedals have existed for almost as long as the modern piano itself, but they had a rocky start. While the modern piano accepted most of its final touches, the evolution of the piano pedal continued.

In 1722, the piano’s first tone-modifying mechanism came in the form of a hand stop, and was created by Father Piano himself: Bartolomeo Cristifori. The device positioned the hammers to strike only one piano string per key, which created a soft, relaxed timbre. But it was far from ideal; a spare hand was required to use it, meaning the pianist either repeatedly removed one hand from the keys, or practiced alongside a hand-stop operator. Thankfully, the mechanism was later modified to be operated by the knee, and became the predecessor to today’s una corda, or “soft,” pedal.

The next modification arrived soon after. Gottfried Silbermann -- renowned European constructor of keyboard instruments -- created a mechanism that lifted the dampers off of the strings,

Tips For Better Piano Playing

 There are five tips to make your piano playing better...

1.   One Hand At A Time

When learning to play a new piece, begin by playing with only one hand. Learn the hand movements and play the piece with each hand separately. If you are right-handed, this exercise will strengthen your left hand. Once you know how to play the piece with each hand separately, you may be surprised how easy it is to play it with both hands.

2.   Foot Off The Pedals

When playing a piece that normally requires the use of the pedals, try playing the piece without the pedals. Doing so will allow you to hear the passages more clearly and identify any notes that sound wrong, ill-timed, or uneven.

Interesting Facts about Piano

These is interesting facts about piano...

• The Piano was invented in 1698 by an Italian, Bartolomeo Cristofori.

• There are over 12,000 parts in a piano, 10,000 which are moving.

• There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.

Piano Scales

Piano scales are great if you know how to use them, you need to know what fingering to use, the best way to practice them, and how much time to put in to them. Below are a whole heap of scales to keep you going with different ways of practicing them, the fingering, and how you go about implementing them into your playing, but first a little bit more about piano scales.
Scales are best used to get comfortable with a new or unfamiliar key signature, if you’re reading music and you’re hitting wrong notes all over the place it can be a good idea to go back to playing the scale of that key signature a few times, so that you can reconfigure your brain to that key signature, then when you go back to reading the music you’ll be hitting more of the right notes simply because your fingers will be used to hitting them.

What is Chord?

Chord is same with cord or accord. It has the same meaning. It means accompaniment. Chord consist of 3 tones so the sounds more "wide". Generally we play chord with left hand and right hand for the melody.

Basically there are 2 ways to play a chord. The first is "Block chord". We play all the notes simultaneously.

The second is "Broken Chord". We play the chord separately, one by one. But we can develop ways to play chord with other styles such as pop, jazz, blues, and any more.

Basic Techniques of Playing Piano

There are 5 basic techniques in playing piano :

1. FINGERING (hand and finger forms, relaxation of arms & shoulders) Exercises for this fingering, intended to make, we as musicians, especially piano or keyboard player, finger and hand position when playing we are in the correct position.  Also to shape our fingers over the keys when playing piano or keyboard is in perfect position. Finger exercises include Ladder Tone and Cadence.
2. TOUCHING (touch of the pad, Legato, staccato, phrasing, dynamics and expression) Exercises for Touching is intended to make, we as musicians We understand our interpretation in playing music. Not play music, but music that should come out from our hearts. We know where we should be able to play loud or soft. Playing with no pressure or disconnected or broken and / or with the appropriate accent. There are dynamics, feeling and expression, especially piano or keyboard player.
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How to read Musical Notes

A lot of people say that read musical notes or piano sheets is hard and complicated. But in fact, read musical notes is very easy. If you have know how to read it, you will be accustomed to read it.

Each tone is represented with letters.