Thank you John.

Keep it coming, John

John....good for you trying to re-introduce "music lingo" back to the group.

Thought I'd add a supplement...the Ab7 before a G7 chord (chromatic progression).

G7 to C in 4/4 time...Ab7 for 2 beats - G7 for 2 beats - to C the root

Example: Ab7/9 chord: from bottom note Gb-Bb-C-Eb
G79/13 chord: from bottom note F-A-B-E
to C6/9 (root) from bottom note C-G-A-D

Keep your posts going!!!

Mark, thanks for joining in, all ideas are very welcome. For now, let’s not use the term chromatic when going from Ab7 to G7. Let’s call it a bII7 to a I , it will help in as we move through.

Many songs follow the A B A rule; a melody is played, then it moves to something different (melody) and then it goes back to the original melody. Hence A B A
The B part normally travels to the IV of the scale.
Key of Cmajor; C = I F = IV.

C to F --- that move can be made stronger if you use C7 to F. Bb, is the 7th of the C chord. Although you are in the key of Cmajor, C to F puts you in the key of Fmajor, where all the B notes are now Bb notes. When this happens F is I and C7 is V7 (scale of Fmajor)

Now let’s used what we learned: C7 to F can be:
Gm7 – C7 – F or, Gm7 – C7 – F or, Gm7 – Gb7 – F or, C7 – Gb7 – F

When you leave the B part (key of Fmajor) it may be possible to use the same group of chords, but in the key of Cmajor.

It’s gonna get even better, John C.

I THINK I HAVE MADE A MAJOR ERROR! Everything I have written is for the left hand, as applied to an arranger keyboard. Not in piano mode, or two finger chords.

My thought is to control everything with the left hand, right hand follows. The left hand is part of the orchestra (Accomp.)
The right hand adds the colors that you feel.

John C.
PS, I am going to record some of what I posted -- soon.

This explanation by Chas should be right up there in the top echelons with Tolstoy's War and Peace.

NOW...FINALLY...the penny dropped. Chas has his finger on the pulse much more clearly than I do.

Yes, John is right. I'm at a different place. But only because this is what I do full time. I have to keep working toward getting better both at music AND at my presentation and interaction with an audience.

"but we can't expect everyone to share our musical goals and aspirations"

So...I never expected people to follow my agenda. Just mistakenly thought everyone was dedicated to improving their playing in some way. To be honest, as much as I like music, listening to it and playing it, these days I, more and more, need to get away from it. When I'm driving, I NEVER listen to music....only talk show and some news. In short, I have to say I envy those who don't go overboard with it like I often do.

I think I shall now do less (but not NONE) "getting better posts." Give myself a break in the process.

Mark

I think I'd like to emphasis that if you don't mind, Bill

Rikki...you're my kind of a person. Somewhere in Time!!! One of my all time favorites. It's still sitting on my piano waiting to be learned. I have the sheet music for it here if you need it. It was on Turner Classic Movies last week. I recorded it and am going to watch it again for about the umpteenth time. The acting was a tiny bit weak and unconvincing but the Rachmaninoff music you never tire of hearing. And the message that was sent to viewers really hit home for a lot of us active and latent "romancers." It pains me to say it, but as the film intensifies toward the end, I can't keep myself from crying. It was the ultimate fairy tale. They need to put that movie in a time capsule to be opened 100 years from now when love and romance won't exist anymore.

Rikki, you mentioned in a couple of places that you'd like to get batter at playing the piano.

I read John's post also with his simplified and effective teaching methods.

This is a good time for me to say to you (and others) what I've been meaning to say for a while now. Learning becomes a heck of a lot easier when you find the right person to teach you. Looking at John's explanation of chords, etc tells me he's been "around the block" a few times as a teacher. He knows what he's talking about and presents the (necessary) info in a non-pressure, easy to follow manner.

Equally as important: In learning the piano, and in just about anything you do, it is difficult ONLY IF YOU VIEW IT AS DIFFICULT. If see see an endeavor as EASY then the mind works on that too and it becomes EASY and learning time is cut in half.

I only realized this in the last few years. It's power of the mind principle at it's best. Norman Vincent Peale wrote about it in an all-time best seller: The Power of Positive Thinking.


Wish I knew all this stuff when I was a dumb kid!

Thank YOU for your welcome into the conversation, but I'm giving up on introducing "learning" and "playing" ideas. Just not enough time.

But I'd be happy to see you on the same journey. Your presentation is so well thought out, anyone here who stops to listen to you will benefit.