Piano Note

When a landscape artist wants to get the essence of a beautiful scene, they make a quick pencil sketch of it.

The artist doesn’t want to represent the entire landscape as it is, but as they feel it to be. A few lines scribbled here and there indicate the feelings the artist wishes to convey. We musicians can do the same thing! We can quickly sketch out our ideas on paper by using chords and a chord chart.

A chord chart is just a way to notate when chords change through time. You can write out 8-bars to begin with (as I do). Now let us suppose you have the urge to capture something musically. What do you do? Well, for starters,

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Be sure to make time this holiday season to celebrate the accomplishments your child taking piano lessons has made over the past year. Take time to listen to them as they play before family and friends and in their holiday recitals. This is also a great time to take some special photographs of your child at the piano. Collect photos of previous years and arrange them in a holiday piano memory book as a unique Christmas gift for your child. Be sure to leave plenty of room to add future photographs so your piano student can continue to celebrate their piano journey as they grow.

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This piece is written as an aid to training. Amateur movers should regard the information here as reasons not to attempt piano movements. Basic knowledge of lifting techniques may only encourage severe harm to assistants, yourself, and least of all…the piano.

The piano is not only heavy and unwieldy, but has polished and vulnerable surfaces to protect. Grand pianos have legs which are designed as stands, and they should be jacked up with proper tools - just to be moved across a room. Even upright pianos, which may be very heavy, typically suffer from failed castors. I wonder what percentage of the pianos moved actually do have a full set of working castors?… not many!

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So, you want to learn how to play piano by ear. You think this skill is reserved for those with “special” talent. You’re wrong about that!

What does it mean to play by ear? Simply that the musician understands the fundamentals of diatonic harmony. To understand this, you just need to know a little about chords.

For example, in the Key of C Major we have 7 chords. These are: C Maj. D min. E min. F Maj. G Maj. A min. and B half-diminished.

Notice that these chords are lined up in order and that they are triads. Most harmonic theory in the western world gives a number to these chords using roman numerals. Simply put, we can call the C Major

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Oh, Boy! Did Roy Orbison get it wrong? Buddy Holly would have rolled over in his grave while Beethoven, contrary to the lyrics of Chuck Berry’s classic song, rests peacefully in his, secure in the knowledge that his music has withstood the test of time. Rock ‘n’ Roll die? That’ll be the day!

In the late nineteen sixties Roy Orbison, on a concert tour of Australia, arrived in Adelaide on the same flight as the Walker Brothers. I recall watching on television the airport interview in which Roy, always the nice guy, explained how much he loved the music of Scott Walker and his fellow band members. He went on to explain that he believed Rock ‘n’ Roll was a passing

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