Musicarta's free piano lessons blog

Jan 11, Final 'Moving Pair' module now out!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:21:19 GMT

With a final flourish, the Moving Pair series roll-out has drawn to a close, with the two last Module Seven 'Three-Plus-One' variations getting the standalone treatment. You will love these mature, full-bodied blues-funk riffs. Click through to the 'Other Three-Plus-One Variations, and don't miss the final cross-over 'Two only' teaser, which shows how versatile the moving pair material is and points in the direction of the Musicarta Chord Progressions series for 'further study'! Musicarta's Moving Pair series has not been about reproducing historic performances or copying this or that blues great's licks. The aim all along has rather been to get fingers on keys, laying down beats that get feet tapping and fellow musicians reaching for their instruments. What stage-ready musicians have to do is KEEP GOING! Practicing on our own, this is something we need to work at, and the humble 12-bar offers a great opportunity. It's relatively easy to put together attractive riffs out of easily-understood base material, and the repeating 12-bar form is a great stimulus to 'just keeping going'. Your own style will develop as keeping the notes coming gets easier and easier. Always something new at Musicarta, though! The next installment is another 'Two-Handed Boogie' module, bringing some classic boogie right hand riffs into the mix. So, don't touch that dial! Stick with Musicarta, your portal for keyboard creativity!

Dec 31, Playing by ear – guaranteed!

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:34:56 GMT

There are lots of reasons for studying the Canon – as well as being a beautiful piece of music, it's a 'core' chord sequence, used, with often minimal alteration, in countless other pieces Another good reason is that knowing a chord sequence well puts you in a position to practice your 'playing by ear' more easily. A tiny, gifted minority of keyboard players can just sit down and play what they hear – the rest of us have to take a more roundabout route! The Canon section of Musicarta's audio table of contents (Sounds – TOC tab on the navbar) has just been updated, and there are now sample audio files from all thirteen of the Musicarta Canon Project modules currently online. If you have studied the series to the point where you know the chord sequence and some sample textures reasonably well, the expanded 36-cell table of audio clips from the modules offers you an unparalleled opportunity to hone your aural skills. Try to play the audio segments you hear. When it comes to improving your 'playing by ear', trying – again and again! – virtually guarantees success. If you can't quite 'get it', you can link through the module in question and find out exactly what's going on. If you're serious about 'owning' your music, this is a golden opportunity to get on with the real work. You can do the same thing with any of the audio sample tables on the Sounds page, providing you have done the basic work and know the relevant chord sequence (Pyramids, for example) pretty well. Click through now and give it a go! Good luck, and best wishes for a massively musical 2012 – with Musicarta, of course!

Dec 28, More Blues news

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:41:24 GMT

Two more Moving Pair modules are now online. Moving Pair Module Six makes good on the Musicarta promise, "You never learn just one riff" by turning our Moving Pair upside down and splitting the notes between the hands differently for a bluesy, almost gospel feel. Module Seven takes it one step further and offers four new, made-from-the-elements riffs to play. Another advantage of Musicarta's combining-the-elements approach is the fast track it puts your play-by-ear skills on. Module Seven is arranged as an 'invitation to play'. You get the audio performance file to copy – with some broad hints to help you. You also have the MIDI files to show you what the keys are doing on MidiPiano. Finally, you can link through to full modules to fill the gaps and tighten up your performance. Twelve-bar grooves are a perfect way to get your mojo working. Come and play!

Dec 18, That recurring Texas blues rock shuffle nightmare

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:54:04 GMT

Ever wondered what a Texas blues rock shuffle sounds like? Dreaded finding yourself on stage with a crowd of rock legends, totally unable to dredge a straight-eighths soul-funk groove out of your musical styles bank? Mister Musicarta feels your pain and would like to share a wonderful discovery. It's the PG Music Band-in-a-Box RealBand audio TOC, which is stack full of those arcane insider terms - with matching audio samples. Informative, great ear training and a wonderful reminder that there is not a second to waste! Pablo Casals, the virtuoso cellist quizzed on still practicing the cello for three hours a day at the age of ninety, said, "I think I'm beginning to hear some improvement"! 'Ars longa, vita brevis' indeed. So make an appointment with destiny – click through via Musicarta and be prepared. You never know when fame and fortune might come knocking!

Dec 14, Musicarta Blues Express picks up speed!

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:40:44 GMT

We're sorry! A dearth of platform announcements has left passengers at Musicarta Central less than perfectly informed of progress on the Moving Pair blues piano series! Here's an update. Firstly, in Module Three, we've livened things up with a familiar kick note in the right hand (you're bound to recognize it!) and followed up in Module Four with some funky off-the-beat left hand anticipation. The Moving Pair riff now sounds like a ready-made single rolling down the tracks. Module Five is dedicated to unleashing your keyboard creativity by dividing the riff notes two right and two left. Not only do you get a fatter, more driving sound, you're also prepped for Module Six, which turns our Moving Pair upside down, relaxes into a bluesy, cruising-speed rhythm and introduces some crushed right hand notes for a real pro 12-bar sound. Take the Musicarta Blues Express! Click through now, catch up with the Moving Pair riff and be jamming in time for Christmas!

Nov 27, Moving Pair roll-out on schedule

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 16:17:05 GMT

The Moving Pair riff continues to roll out of Musicarta Central with an admittedly rather dry Module Two - a necessary look at fingering and the chord sequence and some honest talk about practicing efficiently which you’d do well to incorporate into your practicing! Click through to Module Two and stay with the project. The Station Master at Musicarta Central promises that Module Three (almost ready for hitching) will have a much bigger foot-tapping quotient!

Nov 24, Slow Train A-comin'

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:55:03 GMT

The 12-bar blues form, in its many guises, is one of music’s best-loved meeting places. It has practically universal appeal, and there’s hardly a pop/rock/jazz musician who can’t play along, or doesn’t wish they could! And with its catchy riffs, simple form and driving rhythm, the ’12-bar’ is an ideal musical training ground - and a great warm-up for any combo session. MisterMusicarta has sworn to keep the Musicarta Blues Piano Lessons series home page a bare-bones directory page, so efforts can be concentrated on more practical matters. Indeed, the Musicarta blues jam kicks off with an irresistible and familiar riff – click through straight away and see if you don’t recognise it! The rest of the riff series is nearing completion, so climb aboard now and take the whole trip! Enjoy! P.S. Do you know of any solid blues music background sites Musicarta could link to? Suggestions via the Contact page, please!

Nov 11, Musicarta Enya page now complete!

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:09:29 GMT

The Musicarta Enya page now presents four chances to get to grips with Enya's simple, versatile keyboard texture - and “this thread is now officially ‘closed’!” (Musicarta is not about “Play this, by so-and-so” – it’s about putting you in the driving seat, as in “Listen to this – it’s by ME!”) So click through to the Musicarta Enya page, download your Enya MIDI files and chord charts, open up the Musicarta YouTube channel and get these four little gems into your repertoire. Play them until they’re part of you, then just “let your fingers do the talking” and beguile the world, just like Enya did! Good luck!

Nov 8, Enya comes to Musicarta

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:37:11 GMT

Enya is the latest tab on the Musicarta navbar! Her standard keyboard texture is simplicity itself, and her haunting Celtic melodies are a gift to the New Age piano soloist. Musicarta is rolling out a series of 'how-to' Enya videos on the Musicarta YouTube channel. MIDI files and annotated chord charts are also available. Click through to the Musicarta Enya page here, and download your Enya MIDI files and chord charts. With Musicarta's combination of explanations, MIDI, video and chord charts, you can't fail to learn these simple but attractive piano solos!

Nov 5, Pyramids Lesson Two - a correction

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:17:59 GMT

If you've been slightly puzzled by the manuscript music pdf for Pyramids Variations Lesson Two - the LH-Over Patterns, it might be because the chord symbols in line 3 were WRONG! A big sorry from Mister Musicarta! Click straight through to the CORRECT VERSION HERE and see what a difference it makes. Indeed, why not give yourself a Pyramids reviver and do a lightning run-through while you're at it? You're sure to be amazed at what you can remember!

Nov 5, New Musicarticle hits the streets!

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:42:23 GMT

"Love Those Mistakes!"

Yes, this is the latest advice from maverick piano teacher and Musicarta webmaster Bob Chappell. It's simple, really, Mister Musicarta maintains - you get it right more quickly if you know what you're doing wrong. Sounds plausible! Follow this link to the Musicarticles page and see if you agree.

Nov 5, Musicarta is now searchable!

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:31:59 GMT

Musicarta has added a Google custom search facility. So if you can't remember where you saw that explanation of slash chords that really, finally made sense to you, click through to the 'Search this site' page (navbar), type in your search term and hit the button! Enjoy!
(It's a chord where the left hand/bass plays a chord tone that's not the root - usually, but not always, the third or the fifth. But don't get me started!)

Nov 4, Chord Progression Series

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:20:35 GMT

Not before time! The Chord Progressions series NOW HAS MIDI SUPPORT! I've uploaded the MIDI files for all the music examples in the series so you can play them on MIDI piano and see exactly what your fingers should be doing.(I hope you've downloaded MidiPiano! No? Go to the MIDI Piano tab on my navbar and DO IT TODAY! Please! With MidiPiano and Musicarta's MIDI files and lessons, you CAN learn all the chords you need for modern keyboard styles, guaranteed!)

Nov 2, MIDI Piano Music

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:56:14 GMT

Download MidiPiano and you can play the free MIDI piano music files accompanying Musicarta’s flagship Pyramids Variations lesson series. Small, safe and simple, MidiPiano will double your progress.

Oct 30, Beat and rhythm for keyboard players

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:03:42 GMT

Beat and rhythm are as important to the modern keyboard player as to any other popular music instrumentalist. Train up your inner drummer with Musicarta’s super-effective progressive exercises.

Oct 27, Keyboard Chords - Finding Inversions

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:08:02 GMT

The modern keyboard player needs to know how to make inversions from familiar root position chords - fast! Easy-to-grasp explanations and never-before-seen exercises for lightning-fast triad mastery!

Oct 6, Keyboard Chords – Broken Chord Patterns 1

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:35:16 GMT

Practicing keyboard chords using broken chord patterns trains your hand to find chords and move easily between inversions. A syncopated bass line really brings them alive.

Oct 6, Keyboard Chords - Finding Inversions 3

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:10:46 GMT

The modern keyboard player needs to know how to make inversions from familiar root position chords - fast! Easy-to-grasp explanations and never-before-seen exercises for lightning-fast triad mastery!

Sep 29, Keyboard Chords - Finding Inversions 2

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:34:48 GMT

The modern keyboard player needs to know how to make inversions from familiar root position chords - fast! Easy-to-grasp explanations and never-before-seen exercises for lightning-fast triad mastery!

Sep 14, Keyboard Chord Generator

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:48:34 GMT

The Musicarta Keyboard Chord Generator is a new chord dictionary which groups chords according to how they look. This helps fast-track you to ‘seeing’ the chords you need right there in the keyboard.