Musicarta Piano Lessons Online blog page

Jul 20, MEPS Reboot Mods One and Two now out

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 12:08:33 -0400

Modules One and Two of the Musicarta Easy Piano Style video reboot are now out and linked in the Musicarta Patreon Zone. MS for the first two 'Pairs of Chords' modules is also available for you weekend doodling pleasure. Enjoy!

Apr 21, Pentatonics Workbook sample content pages

Sun, 21 Apr 2019 14:02:23 -0400

Getting round to finishing some sample content pages for the Musicarta Pentatonics Workbook on Udemy. Just one of three so far. Pop along and perhaps get inspired for a bit of an Easter reboot.

Apr 15, Chords 101 home

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 14:46:57 -0400

Chords 101 home

Apr 15, Chords 101 now available

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 14:31:49 -0400

The Musicarta Chords 101 study pack has HIT THE SERVERS! Specifically, the PATREON servers - Chords 101 joins perennial favorite The Pyramids Variations in Musicarta's economical (only US$5.00 a month!) Patreon Tier One. Click through and discover how to knock your chords into shape for more and better keyboard composing!

Apr 2, Pentatonic Hanon

Tue, 2 Apr 2019 12:16:13 -0400

Watcha gonna practice today? Something that COUNTS, that's what! Get with the pentatonicss and figure out this latest hip finger-warmer. You know it makes sense!

May 26, Hanon finger exercises - a humanitarian approach

Fri, 26 May 2017 08:37:41 -0400

Let’s face it – it takes a lot of time and practice to build good keyboard technique and get to the point where your fingers (sort of) do what they’re told. The Hanon finger exercises have been part of that equation for generations, but Musicarta has been concerned for some time that the many free printed versions are a rotten introduction for the self-propelling keyboard student. Indeed, one sight of those thick-black-ink-drenched pages is enough to put most sensible people off for life. And so, (music swells dramatically) the idea of a talk-through video introduction for beginners was born. And here it is, in fact. On two pages – Page One and (you guessed it) Page Two with a covering Exercises page on the navbar. A one-octave version with non-threatening dots and a human approach withal. Hard copy to download here; Mister Musicarta easy-reference video playlist here. The choice is yours! Rome wasn’t built in a day! Practice makes perfect! Steady as she goes, the tortoise and hare, four walls do not a prism make, and so on. Yours in time! Mister Musicarta Your creative keyboard companion.

Oct 30, Seven clicks from trending on Skillshare!

Sun, 30 Oct 2016 07:46:35 -0400

Needed by Tuesday 01/11 to start trending – just seven more clicks on these FREE Skillshare-hosted Pyramids Variations video lessons:
Lesson One and Lesson Two
Click through and spread the music – and grab three whole months of full Skillshare Premium membership for a mere $0.99!
Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion
P.S. Feel free to spread the love and pass it on to your friends.

Oct 21, Musicarta on Skillshare

Fri, 21 Oct 2016 15:23:25 -0400

Have you heard about Skillshare? It's an 'edutainment' site with thousands of creative and life skill video classes. I've just put the eight Pyramids Concert Performance build-up video lessons up there, and to kick-start the Musicarta presence on the new platform, I've created 50 free trial coupons for Lessons One and Two. Here they are. Lesson One Lesson Two And then Skillshare have given me this fantastic discount link, which will give you three whole months of full premium membership (membership typically costs ~$10/mo) for a mere $0.99, including access to all eight Musicarta classes and any new ones coming up in the next 3 months. So if you like the lessons, you can either come back and use the $0.99 three-month Skillshare Premium discount link - or buy the whole package direct from Musicarta using discount code TPVNtcASGawZ9 on the Musicarta discount sales page. If you're looking to keep your brain alive and/or move along in your creative journey with Musicarta, the Skillshare deal is a really good opportunity. You can cancel your subscription at any time and you lose nothing. Yours in harmony Mister Musicarta Your creative keyboard companion P.S. Feel free to spread the love and share with your friends and rellies!

Jul 22, Pyramids Variations 2nd edition out now!

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:45:46 -0400

Pyramids Variations second edition out now! The second edition of Musicarta Pyramids Variations has just been released. The Pyramids Variations is a creative keyboard home study course which coaches beginners and re-starters to an impressive ‘New Age’ piano solo in just eight lessons. Watch a video of the Concert Performance on MisterMusicarta YouTube by clicking through here. In Part Two, you learn a set of variations which model all the contemporary popular styles (pop, rock, New Age and jazz) keyboard player’s knowledge and skills .Watch the Mister Musicarta YouTube Pyramids Variations playlist for a selection by clicking through here. With website audio and video support, the Pyramids Variations offers pianists of all ages and stages fast-track guidance to a performance beyond expectations and a practical, step-by-step introduction to 'composing at the keyboard'. The home-study download comprises a 150-page workbook PDF, 200-plus MIDI files of the musical examples and a free ‘virtual keyboard’ MIDI file player. And the entire workbook is replicated online in a password-protected purchasers’ zone, where you can hear audios of all the musical examples and watch more than 50 videos of the performances and practice suggestions. The Pyramids Variations is a comprehensive creativity booster for every keyboard player. Building major and minor chords, understanding chord symbols, forming inversions, seventh chords, suspensions and ‘slash chords’, the circle of fifths, song form, syncopation and anticipation, playing a chord sequence in different rhythms – the Pyramids Variations is a practical, hands-on introduction to essential popular music theory. Browse the extensive try-before-you-buy sampler pages starting on the series home page, and you’ll see how you could soon be playing a beautiful solo without music and improvising on a chord sequence as if you’ve been doing it all your life! Your place on Musicarta Publication’s RSS list has earned you a 33% discount on the usual selling price of US$14.95. Use this discount code TPVNtcASGawZ9 on the discount sales page, and the Pyramids Variations is yours for just $9.95! But hurry – your discount code is only valid until the end of August! Improvising and composing at the keyboard – or ‘messing around with chords’, as it’s sometimes known! – is one of life’s great joys, and it’s Musicarta’s mission to put it within your grasp. Come along to www.musicarta.com or visit Mister Musicarta YouTube and see how we’re making it happen! Yours in harmony Musicarta Your creative keyboard companion

Dec 31, Two Easy Pentatonic Fugues (PD 29-12-15)

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 03:56:04 -0500

For your pentatonic edutainment, Two Pentatonic Fugues at Mister Musicarta YouTube. One of the attractive properties of the pentatonic scale is that it harmonises so well with itself. The adventurous keyboard player can 'doodle' with both hands in the same pentatonic scale and scarcely play a note wrong.* If your second hand imitates or repeats what your first hand played, you’re playing a fugue – a musical composition in which themes are repeated with a delay. These two easy fugues in C pentatonic major were created in just that way. See full teaching notes on the website page. Get it while it’s free! All will be moved to the Member’s Only pages when the Musicarta Pentatonics Workbook comes out in February. Your creative keyboard companion
Mister Musicarta

Jul 3, Work Song (Pentatonics Diary 02-07)

Fri, 3 Jul 2015 07:28:04 -0400

For your pentatonic edufication: Work Song (Pentatonics Diary 02-07) at Mister Musicarta YouTube. A deliberately ‘dirty’ performance of this time-honoured theme. Just the five tones, no semitones. The theme at practice speed for learning is at the end of the video. I’ve made it a four-repetition chorus in A and B minors, for the transposing bonus. So it’s an AABA, both ways of looking at it. You don’t need to play it as fast as here, or copy the end-of-phrase octave-roll drumming. You should aim to be able to ‘see’ this riff practically anywhere on the keyboard – although you’d be unlikely to play it in F sharp minor. (Not an easy key on any instrument!) D and E minors would give you an all-white-key version of this AABA arrangement. Try singing along! Anybody can sing the blues, and ten minutes of pentatonics will give your mojo a boost any time of day! For your convenience, the YouTube video: Work Song (Pentatonics Diary 02-07). Brush up on the basics first, starting with Musicarta Pentatonics Module One. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Jul 1, Pentatonics in the cross-hairs

Wed, 1 Jul 2015 14:31:31 -0400

Musicarta is on the move again, with pentatonics now in the cross-hairs. Any musician worth his/her salt should be able to pick out a pentatonic riff at the keyboard – either make one up or play one by ear. Repetition is the key, of course – the more you play, the more obvious it becomes. You hear the notes in your head and you ‘just know’ what they are. So get ready for a trickle of ‘Pentatonic Diaries’ from our Claremont studios. Brush up on the basics, starting on the first Musicarta Pentatonics web page, then see how easy it is to pick up the new Pentatonics Diary 01-07 entry over at MisterMusicarta YouTube. It’s in A minor – the root plus two notes up and two notes down. Only the basic five notes, no semitones. The left hand copies the right hand, but doesn’t play all of the notes. how many it does (or doesn’t) play varies, as part of the pattern. (Sometimes it plays notes that the right hand doesn’t play.) Make a point of working out some decent fingering so you’re not always ‘running out’. Start RH2, LH4 and take it from there. The optional ‘B section’ (Part Two) plays the pattern in D (D minor) and C (minor). “If you want to learn something, transpose it!” D minor pentatonic is another all-white-key scale (like A minor); C minor pentatonic has two black keys – E and B flats. As an exercise, transpose the main riff into E minor. That’s another all-white-key pentatonic scale so you can 'just move your hands up a fifth' and do the same thing. The ‘B section’, were you to attempt it, would be back in A minor, then G minor (B flat). If you get that, then try starting in D minor. The B section will start in G minor (see above), then pass through F minor (A flat and E flat). And you know your riff in six keys! Practice visualising the riff away from the keyboard. How many keys can you ‘see it’ in? Pentatonics – so much music, and so easy to get into! Watch out for more – get the site RSS, subscribe to MMYT, follow Mister Musicarta on Facebook. Little and often, never give up, the tortoise wins the race… . For your scrolling convenience, those links again: The first Musicarta Pentatonics web page, and Pentatonics Diary 01-07 Thanks for playing with – Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Apr 20, Up-to-date Musicatra Sitemap pdf

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 07:20:26 -0400

For your studying convenience - an up-to-date, linked Musicarta sitemap pdf is now available. Because, sadly, looking for stuff doesn't count as work! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion P.s. You can always search the site, too.

Apr 16, Troable following pdf links in Foxit

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 10:55:39 -0400

I've recently had trouble following links in pdf documents using Foxit reader. Research reveals the solution is to make sure the hand grabber tool is selected before hovering. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Apr 16, Introducing... 'Introducing...

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 09:51:55 -0400

You may find // may you find inspiration in Mister Musicarta's latest precis of his life's work - ‘Introducing Musicarta’. Yours in harmony!
Elf 49

Apr 15, MIDI Piano Music

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 05:58:56 -0400

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.

Apr 15, New Beat and Rhythm Workbook release

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 04:39:02 -0400

Tricksy rhythms – your end is in sight! Most popular music has a strong rhythmic component, and the modern keyboard player needs well-developed beat and rhythm skills to keep up. Sadly, a lot of people (musicians included!) seem to think that, when it comes to mastering complex keyboard rhythms and syncopation, you’ve either ‘got it’ or you haven’t! The Musicarta Beat and Rhythm Workbook (OUT NOW!!) presents three complete teaching-room-tested lesson series which have proved that, with the right material and methodical, incremental lessons, anybody can master syncopated rhythms unattainable with the unscientific, unschooled ‘try-and-try-again’ approach. You might have seen some of this new, improved material over on the new, improved Mister Musicarta YouTube Beat and Rhythm playlist. We’re not going to bloat your RSS fed with a full product description when you can click through to the Workbook sample content page and browse in glorious Technicolor! You’ll know as a musician how we often seem to have hit a syncopation ceiling – and to be avoiding being reminded by steering clear of rhythmically complex repertoire. So we’re thinking you’ll go and have a look anyway! But we would like to remind you savvy subscribers to look out for the imminent Musicarta Newsletter – with discount code putting this essential learning material in your hands for just $9.95. The Musicarta Beat and Rhythm Workbook. Finally, a methodical approach to building advanced keyboard rhythm skills! From Musicarta, your creative keyboard companion.

Mar 30, Ornamenting the Snake Dance

Mon, 30 Mar 2015 11:24:51 -0400

New on the Snake Dance playlist and for your urgent attention – the all-new MMYT Snake Dance ornaments video. Every pop-styles keyboard player has a bag of ‘ornaments’, little melody decorations which he or she has usually slaved many hours over and which raise a melody out of the ordinary. The Snake Dance melody, with its oriental flavour, is an ideal place to start building your collection. At normal playing speed and with just the audio – as in the new public MMYT video – it’s not easy to get to a handle on what’s going on. And here’s where MidiPiano comes into its own. With MidiPiano, you can slow the MIDI down AND bring up the ‘Piano Roll’ pane – then you can see exactly what’s being played. Just a matter then of picking your ornament (one at a time, please) and polishing it. And that’s what happens on the members-only page in the new Musicarta Beat and Rhythm workbook. Plus, you get the MIDI file in the download to zoom in, slow down, and really nail the thing. But seriously – pianists take years learning these little things, so better start now and be ready for the long haul! For your edutainment: the video and the playlist. The Musicarta Beat and Rhythm Workbook. Out soon – stay in touch! Yours with a beat
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Mar 23, Rhythmic developments

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 06:02:55 -0400

Have you seen what’s happening over at the Musicarta School of Beat and Rhythm? The series always shows good numbers and Mister Musicarta thought it deserved a bit of a brush-up. The pages have transitioned over to the new format – much easier to update and upgrade. The longer pages have been subdivided to make study a little more manageable, and the Snake Dance YouTube videos now appear on the series (RH) nav, where they belong. ‘Tapping Five’ might be of interest to recent purchasers of the Twelve-bar Styles workbook – it’s a meticulous count-based approach to nailing those rock 1-4-7 rhythms down, once and for all. It’s shameful how much time we waste trying to ‘get’ the rhythm of riffs by just playing them over and over, when a third of the effort spent methodically would do the trick and let us get on to the next thing. So get with your inner drummer and check your rhythmic foundations over at the new, improved Musicarta School of Beat and Rhythm. You know it makes sense. Yours in rhythm
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Mar 19, Another BMP outing for your edutainment

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 14:10:26 -0400

A new BMP outing for you – to Scarborough Fair this time! Here’s the public video (on YouTube). But you know the drill by now – hop on over to the BMP page for the teaching video with MidiPiano and chord symbols. Remember, you can simplify the left hand chords all you like while you get used to playing the tune, then let your own arrangement evolve itself. This is really what it’s all about – Scarborough Fair is everybody’s tune; Musicarta’s left hand is merely a ‘serving suggestion’! These public video and BMP page links should get you there. Hope you’re enjoying the new seam! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative musical companion

Mar 15, Twelve-bar developments for all!

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 12:40:56 -0400

MTBPS purchasers will have received their first Twelve-bar Bulletin this weekend, keeping them up to date with developments in the Zone and announcing new video content for most of the Moving Pair (Part One) modules. They also have a new Twelve-bar Diary (TBD) 01-03-15 entry to play with. The link takes you to the public MMYT video – steal it if you can! The members-only teaching video has the simultaneous MidiPiano performance and comes in two flavours (G and A) for some couldn’t-be-nicer transposing practice. All intended to keep your mojo working. Your boogie bosom buddy
Mister Musicarta

Mar 10, Another entry in the BMP Diary!

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:45:40 -0400

BMP Diaries 10-03-15 is a four-four meander over a full five positions – from G major up to D minor – but still starting with our home A minor/G pair. The right hand only plays two of the triad chord tones – usually middle and bottom but sometimes middle and top. That’s the thing you have to ‘get’ to be able to play the study. The end breaks out of the four-four and into those supposedly only-for-grown-ups triplets (US: tuplets). I’ve found younger learners are much better at triplets/tuplets than they’re supposed to be! Just play the last ten notes as evenly as possible – the tempo match will come if you give it a chance. A thought: BMP Diary entries are a bit like musical ‘speed dating’. You’re supposed to get acquainted really quickly, then move on. This isn’t deep-and-meaningful – it’s crash course in getting-to-know-you chord-work! The aim is always to feel able to make up your own entries. Get on over to the BMP Diaries web page for the teaching video with simultaneous MidiPiano performance and chord symbols. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Mar 10, Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles download out now!

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:21:28 -0400

Who wouldn’t like to be able to sit down and get the room rocking in seconds with an irresistible boogie-woogie? Think twice before you lay out good money on historical boogie-woogie performance transcriptions, though - those ’40s and ’50s boogie players were giants in both technique and stamina terms, and transcriptions are probably the worst place to start if you’re wanting to learn twelve-bar keyboard styles. The Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles workbook is not a collection of transcriptions or even ‘just’ a collection of riffs. Instead, Part One of the study course aims to get some real-time riffs under your fingers with a minimum of theory ‘noise’, while Part Two goes on to explain and demonstrate the harmonic and rhythmic building blocks you’ll need to develop your own ability to ‘just sit down and play’ twelve-bars at the keyboard. (In fact, twelve-bar form and keyboard styles have spread far beyond the old historical blues/boogie/rock’n’roll heartland and can be heard and felt right across the pop spectrum. Every modern-styles keyboard player needs to be able to bring some twelve-bar savvy and ‘feel’ to his/her playing!) Listen to the Mister Musicarta YouTube Twelve-bar playlist to get an idea of the variety of riffs the Twelve-bar Styles home study course will teach you, and see if don’t you think the Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles home study course mightn’t be just the thing to inject a little raunchiness into your keyboard chops! Your boogie buddy
‘Impecunious’ Bob
(aka Mister Musicarta)

Feb 27, BMP Diaries - new 26-02-15 video entry

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 03:39:58 -0500

More ‘BMP Diary’ entries! BMP 26-02-15 wanders over four chords, but still starting with our home A minor/G pair. Get on over to the mother site BMP Diaries web page for the teaching video with simultaneous MidiPiano performance and chord symbols. And a P.S. before I sign off (!) If you want to forge ahead with your Basic Music-making Position explorations, go see how the BMP forms the basis of the Pyramids Variations (web page and sister MMYT playlist). The Pyramids Variations workbook leads you right into ‘composing at the keyboard’ – a.k.a ‘just sitting down and playing’! Deep stuff. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 19, Final diatonic sixths twelve-bar riff on MMYT

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:30:01 -0500

The snappily titled ‘More Diatonic Sixths’ section of the Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles workbook now has its third and final riff in place. MDS Riff Three uses only two of the three sixths (per chord – and tweaked!) - with a bit of a New Orleans shuffle beat. MDS Riff Three brings the MMYT 12-bar playlist to 17 videos, now arranged by difficulty and in the order they’ll appear in the Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles workbook (nearing completion in our South African workshops). So stay posted! Get the Musicarta site RSS feed or bookmark the site blog page and check in regularly for news – and subscribe to the Musicarta YouTube channel for a one-line heads-up when the next video (and the home study package) appears. That link again – the third ‘More Diatonic Sixths’ riff for your delectation and edutainment. Thanks for taking the time!
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 17, Another classic boogie at MMYT

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:56:55 -0500

Sixths form the basis of a huge amount of twelve-bar music. Before we move on to chromatic sixths and muddy things up with all the semitones in between, the Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles workbook offers three ‘diatonic sixths’ riffs – made from just the tones of the dominant seventh scale the blues is based on. The second one is now up on MisterMusicarta YouTube – check it out! You’ll hear the similarity to the first MDS (more diatonic sixths) riff straight away – it’s just a matter of a more driving tempo and feel coming from the left hand. This one also explores a series of ‘run-ups’ to the sixths – classic boogie stuff. You don’t need a lot for a boogie – you just need to organise it well! Full teaching video, make-it-easy analysis and practise drills in the forthcoming Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles digital home study//online creativity cornucopia. And if you don’t need the coaching, go right ahead and steal it right off the page. A twelve-bar a day keeps your mojo working – you know it makes sense! Get the Musicarta site RSS feed or bookmark the site blog page and check in regularly for news – and subscribe to the Musicarta YouTube channel for a one-line heads-up when the next video appears. Here’s that link again: MDS Riff Two (… sitting right up there on the Twelve-bar Piano Styles playlist, btw.) Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 11, BMP Diaries 08-02-15

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 02:48:15 -0500

Another little improvisation. designed to demonstrate the versatility of Musicarta’s Basic Music-making Position. Yes!! If you want to ‘just sit down and play’, the BMP is the answer! The public video has joined the MMYT BMP playlist and the teaching video is on the site BMP page. Once you’ve learned the BMP basics, you’ll find it easy to pick these little chord studies up by ear – great practice for bigger things ahead! See you on site!
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 10, Easy twelve-bar riff for you to steal!

Tue, 10 Feb 2015 07:03:49 -0500

Sixths form the basis of a huge amount of twelve-bar music. Before we move on to chromatic sixths and muddy things up with all the semitones in between, the Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles workbook offers three ‘diatonic sixths’ riffs – made from just the tones of the dominant seventh scale the blues is based on. The first one has hit MisterMusicarta YouTube just now – check it out! And if that first paragraph sounds like gobbledygook to you, you might want to look out for the forthcoming Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles digital home study package. It will make the technical jargon far less daunting - and once YOU can talk and think like that, twelve-bar music is an open book! Get the Musicarta site RSS feed or bookmark the site blog page and check in regularly for news – and subscribe to the Musicarta YouTube channel for a one-line heads-up when the next video appears. And if you don’t need the coaching, go right ahead and play it by ear! You know what they say – A twelve-bar a day keeps the Doctor away! Here’s that link again: MDS Riff One Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 5, New BMP Diary entry for you!

Thu, 5 Feb 2015 06:27:48 -0500

Another play-by-ear or pick-it-up-n-a-jiffy BMP diary entry: BMP Diaries 05-02-15. In four-four, for a change. Beginners to make sure they get the basic 4/4 pattern (in the introduction) secure first! The teaching video – with simultaneous MidiPiano performance.– is on the site ‘BMP’ web page. Stay tuned for your daily dozen! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Feb 3, Adventures in the Basic Music-making Position

Tue, 3 Feb 2015 14:10:53 -0500

A new teaching term, and little hands hungry for new (but easy-ish) material… The Basic Music-making Position (basis of the Pyramids Variations, you will recall) really is very fruitful thing. Among other benefits, it’s great practice for equalising and strengthening the hands for chordal playing ‘going forward’. Hence the new ‘BMP Diaries’ now appearing on Mister Musicarta YouTube. These are: BMP Diaries 03-02-15 (actually two-in-one) and BMP Diaries 03-02-15. The public videos show the hands only. The teaching videos – for now publicly available on the new site ‘BMP’ web page – show simultaneous MidiPiano performance. BMP Diaries so far available use only A minor and G chords, so they should be ‘get-able’ without music. Young players, in my experience, can generally play better than they can read, so MS only slows things down. More experienced creative keyboard mavens might like to memorise and reproduce these studies after, say, two or three listenings…? Get on over and have a go. Those links again in full: BMP Diaries 03-02-15 BMP Diaries 03-02-15 ‘BMP’ site web page Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Jan 15, New Twelve-bar Styles video on MMYT

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:58:47 -0500

New Twelve-bar Styles video on MMYT For your edutainment… Adjacent Diminished Sevenths (aka ‘Friendly Neighbours’) I know, I know… ‘Adjacent Diminished Sevenths’ is hardly a title to stir the blood, but Mister Musicarta is one of those gritty Northern types who delights in calling a spade a spade. And in the end, knowing that this all-pervading blues/twelve-bar sound is built on – well, adjacent diminished seventh chords, is really what matters. This is the free-to-view version of the video, of course. The teaching video has the MidiPiano performance in-frame, so there can be no doubt as to what notes to play. The Twelve-bar Styles workbook is packed with practical examples like this, and all the learning resources you need to make rapid progress, with live Musicarta website modules to make learning even easier. Blues and twelve-bar music is an excellent and time-honoured route into improvisation and self-expression, as well as being a perennial musical meeting ground for pop-style musicians of every stripe. You owe it to yourself to have a few blues-and-boogie licks at your fingertips! Check the Twelve-bar Piano Styles contents on this Mister Musicarta YouTube playlist and via the Blues & 12-bar tab at www.musicarta.com. That video link again: Adjacent Diminished Sevenths (aka ‘Friendly Neighbours’) Thanks for cchecking in!
Mister Musicarta
Your boogie bosom buddy

Jan 6, Another Chromatic Sixths study

Tue, 6 Jan 2015 15:24:28 -0500

More on the chromatic sixths front… Chromatic Sixths Study No. 2 live over on Mister Musicarta YouTube. This little study sounds a lot better than its working title (!) and splits the sixths up between the hands, with tonics top and bottom. (You did the same thing in the Moving Pair series.) Are you noticing that it’s not the usual I, IV, V twelve-bar suspects? In fact, it’s I, II, V (G, A and D in key G), but the chromatic sixths give it an incontrovertible twelve-bar feel. Mister Musicarta isn’t even thinking about putting that fingering in the MS! Different every time I play it! Plenty of ‘dabbing’ on the pedal, I noticed in the MIDI… Such a fruitful seam to mine, and such history! Thirds first, now sixths; next up, the ‘compound third’ (third plus an octave). Yes, stand by for chromatic tenths. You know it makes sense! To save your scrolling finger, that link again. Chromatic Sixths Study No. 2. Go for it! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
You creative keyboard companion

Jan 5, Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles - new video

Mon, 5 Jan 2015 04:31:31 -0500

The Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles workbook is on track for late January release, and here’s a taster to whet you appetite! Slippery Customers (Version 1) public video This is the free-to-view video of the first of two chromatic sixths twelve-bar piano styles keyboard studies in the Musicarta Twelve-bar Piano Styles digital home study workbook. The Twelve-bar Styles workbook is packed with practical examples and all the learning resources you need to make rapid progress, and has live Musicarta website modules to make learning even easier. Blues and twelve-bar music is an easy route into improvisation and self-expression, as well as being a timeless meeting ground for pop-style musicians of every stripe. You owe it to yourself to have a few blues-and-boogie licks at your fingertips! Check the Twelve-bar Piano Styles contents on this Mister Musicarta YouTube playlist and via the Blues & 12-bar tab at www.musicarta.com. Yours with a beat
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Dec 10, Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles rock!

Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:56:53 -0500

The Dominant Doodle web page just got a heck of an upgrade! You should certainly get along there while it’s still free. That’s right! Even a bluesman needs new shoes, and the forthcoming Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles volume is fast approaching monetization. So brush up your boogie for free over the Festive Season starting at the Moving Pair Riff Module One riff page. Check out the Dominant Doodle Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles YouTube video and read all about it at that Dominant Doodle web page while you can! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your bosom boogie buddy

Nov 28, New Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles video

Fri, 28 Nov 2014 04:30:40 -0500

For your edutainment, Musicarta presents the all-new Dominant Doodle Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles video. Musicarta is hard at work on the forthcoming Musicarta Twelve-bar Styles volume (ETA Jan-15) and has dusted off this little study, which drills the notes you need to play the Moving Pair Module One riff – and in fact any twelve-bar in any key. There’s a Dominant Doodle webpage to help you learn the riff, too (should you need it!) – and take it up a notch or two if it all looks too easy! The Dominant Doodle will be a module in the new publication, which will have members-only pages like the Modes workbook – so owners will have a drip-feed of new twelve-bar material to keep their mojos working. It’s great to have lots of different ways of looking at the basics of any keyboard style. Eventually, all the learning melds into ‘just knowing’. And, let’s face it – knowing how to play a twelve-bar is pretty much a must-have for any self-respecting muso! So why not pop over and make sure your foundations are secure! If you're past this stage, there’s a transposing exercise on the webpage that will wile away a half-hour very constructively. For your convenience, that YouTube video link again. Enjoy! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your bosom boogie buddy

Nov 20, Twelve-bar Diaries 20-11-14

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:59:47 -0500

Kick-start your day with this newTwelve-bar Diaries 20-11-14 riff. The two-note riff might sound familiar from the 1964 Kinks song 'You Really Got Me', but in fact it has a far older pedigree. Whatever - this short twelve-bar Diary entry is by way of a 'two-part' challenge - to keep the left hand pattern going (and to template) under the relatively straightforward right hand. And have a good time, too! Note the couple of groups of five bars at the end - always nice to tweak the straight fours a bit. Trying drop the extra bars – it’s ‘right’ but sounds too short. Funny, that! Get on over to the Musicarta Twelve-bar and Blues series home page in the meantime and watch out for more twelve-bar 'Diaries' in the near future - the series is being buffed up for publication with live ‘membership-enclosure’ pages online (like the Modes workbook). So study hard while it's free! Again, for your convenience, Twelve-bar Diaries 20-11-14. Your daily dose – take after meals. We should be knocking one of these off every day – keeps yer mojo working! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Nov 19, Testimonials

Wed, 19 Nov 2014 02:57:44 -0500

As a teacher, on-line or off, you mainly just plug away. Every now and then, however, pupils spontaneously ‘share’, and you get a lovely, warm, it’s-all-worth-it feeling. To wit, the following: • “I just want to take my classical training (which was without much theory) and be able to play piano well by ear. Thank you for your courses, which I believe will help me reach that goal!” • “Today, I worked through all of Part 1 of the Pyramids Variations course. I love it! Your teaching style is so clear and teaches much more than just the classical way of playing the notes on the page, which I appreciate. I’m planning to get the Canon Project course as soon as I finish this one.” • “I have made really good progress on the Pyramids Variations. The information that you connected me to hints at all that I aspire to in my piano studies; greater chord fluency and being able to play by ear.” (… these all guaranteed 100% genuine, anonymized by me for obvious reasons.) Ah! Pass the Kleenex, and on with the show! Your keyboard companion Musicarta

Nov 3, New Snake Dance concert arrangement

Mon, 3 Nov 2014 11:27:38 -0500

New in town – a little Snake Dance arrangement for your concert platform! Mister Musicarta uses the Snake Dance (aka The Streets Of Cairo, Poor Little Country Maid) to methodically build keyboard syncopation skills down here in Claremont, Cape Town, and from time to time the Snake Dance variations get selected for the school concert or eisteddfod stage. Mister Musicarta and pupil then put their heads together and stitch together two or three do-able variations, tack on a novelty ending – et viola, as the French say. The original Snake Dance Syncopation Challenge Parts One and Two show the easiest way to build the syncopation. You can always put the right hand under and play the melody in the bass, as in this arrangement. Just remember – keep going and end confidently!

Oct 2, George Gershwin - Three-Quarter Blues

Thu, 2 Oct 2014 11:28:44 -0400

George Gershwin’s Three-Quarter Blues is a delightful miniature, though the sheet music is hard to find. You should be able to pick it up from the video, though. Pick out the tune first, then add the supporting right hand melody notes. Then get the left hand and practice it solo (lots!). The Three-Quarter Blues works well as a pre-amble/prelude to a longer piece – preferably in C, but you could get creative! That MMYT link again: George Gershwin’s Three-Quarter Blues, for your edification and delight. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Sep 4, Lessons with Mister Musicarta

Thu, 4 Sep 2014 05:55:04 -0400

Mister Musicarta has withdrawn somewhat from the global stage recently to concentrate on his local teaching practice in Claremont, Cape Town. Additions to the new Lessons page might still be of interest – links to free Hanon pdf downloads and recommended online guitar tuners. Keep up the good work! Rome wasn’t built in a day, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and all that jazz… Your co-worker in the Music mines - Musicarta

Aug 18, Musicarta makes you smarter!

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:39:50 -0400

It’s official – Musicarta makes you smarter! See this wonderful infographic - if your own experience isn’t convincing enough. Pass it on and save the planet! Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Aug 18, 'Lady Eleanor' piano solo release

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:16:39 -0400

Lady Eleanor is now available as a Musicarta Piano Solos download. Four pages of professional MS, four pages of teaching notes detailing the efficient way to really learn a piece of music, the track audio and MIDI files plus MidiPiano and a bonus bag of goodies for only $3.95. What a deal! Click on through to the Musicarta Solos page to purchase – and start getting that mesmerising modal sound into your keyboard creations! Btw – Modes Zoners get the teaching notes free online. Log on to the Modes Zone home page and follow the ‘What’s New’ or RH nav link to view. Yours in harmony!
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Aug 15, Lady Eleanor Modes Zone web page

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 11:13:21 -0400

Lady Eleanor – Sketch in A Dorian now has her own web page. The link is to the free-to-air video showing only the MidiPiano performance. On the web page in the members-only online Modes Zone you’ll find the with-hands version, teaching notes with sample MS and practice suggestions plus the MIDI file download link for up-close what-goes-with-what study on MidiPiano. Buy the Musicarta Modes Workbook right now and start getting these beguiling modal harmonies into your keyboard creations – or wait for the piano solo version (in preparation). Yours in modal harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Aug 12, Lady Eleanor – Sketch in A Dorian

Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:02:02 -0400

For Modes connoisseurs, another Modes Diary entry in the What’s New section of the online Modes workbook: Lady Eleanor – Sketch in A Dorian. She’s in the Dorian mode (of course!), which you can find easily at the keyboard using the white keys only from D to D (think ‘D for Dorian’). As a white-keys-only harmony, the Dorian mode takes the D minor chord as the tonic/home chord. To build the Dorian mode on A, you need to sharpen the sixth white key up and use F sharp throughout. (The Dorian mode uses the major key signature of the note a whole the below the tonic.) This free-to-air video only shows the MidiPiano performance. The with-hands version is unlisted and only available via the Lady Eleanor web page in the members-only Mode Zone online. There, you’ll also find teaching notes with sample MS and practice suggestions, plus the MIDI file download link for up-close what-goes-with-what study. Buy the Musicarta Modes Workbook right now and start getting these beguiling modal harmonies into your keyboard creations! For your convenience, that MMYT link again. There’s also a SoundCloud audio-only version, if you’d like to test your play-it-by-ear skills! Yours in a mode
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Jul 31, New Modes Zone pages

Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:37:46 -0400

Announcing a new Modes Zone video/page: Modes Diary 21-04-14 – Mixolydian Five-Chord Workout A relaxing amble in and around five white-key chords ending on G major – and therefore, in Mixolydian mode – but only a glimpse, now that the Musicarta Modes Workbook is up and running. For the full video, plus teaching notes and the download link for the MIDI files, you’ll need to have purchased the Musicarta Modes Workbook download, with access to the exclusive members-only ‘Modes Zone’ ongoing, online workbook. This Mixolydian meander has a peaceful end-of-day feel to it, with no technical fireworks. It’s relaxing to play – an ideal wind-down after work or just before sleep. The modes as keys have unique properties and come s close to being ‘objective’ as music can. You can listen to the full-length audio version on Mister Musicarta Soundcloud. Modes fanciers – told that it’s a five-chord Mixolydian bash – should be able to figure out what chords they’re going to find. The Musicarta Modes workbook is the most concise and practical introduction for the modern keyboard player/composer available. Check it out via the Modes tab on the main site navbar. A working knowledge of the musical modes is essential for the modern keyboard player – and great fun to acquire! Those link again: YouTube sampler video // Soundcloud full audio version. Yours modally
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Jul 22, ‘Now That I’ve Found You (Again)’ – MD 08-07-14 Revisited

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 11:34:53 -0400

Most of the music you hear – be it classical, jazz or pop – is based on a harmonic driver known as the Circle of Fifths – a cadencing circuit with the roots falling a fifth. Modes account for most of the rest of the music you hear, and are great at providing harmonious strings of chords where the root falls a fourth (the ‘Circle of Fourths’*). Modes Dairy 08-07-14 , ‘Now That I've Found You’ is a case in point, and showcases a string of five descending ‘Circle of Fourths’ chords. Modes offer an invaluable resource to the singer-songwriter and contemporary composer – not to mention the inveterate keyboard doodlers addicted to that wonderful passion known as ‘messing around at the keyboard’! The practical what, how and why of modes is the subject of the new Musicarta Modes Workbook, the latest of Musicarta’s digital keyboard creativity downloads, Modes Dairy 08-07-14 is now a new page in the Musicarta Modes Workbook members-only Modes Zone. This password-protected collection of web pages mirrors the download workbook (for your studying convenience) and also hosts ongoing modes-harmony explorations like MD 08-07-14 – with full video, teaching notes and practice drills and MIDI file download link. The full video is being aired on Mister Musicarta YouTube for a week before moving to its permanent home in the Modes Zone. Catch it while you can! There’s also a Soundcloud version, if you’d like to exercise your playing-by-ear skills. That link again: Modes Dairy 08-07-14 , ‘Now That I've Found You’. Click through to the Musicarta Modes page for further Modes Workbook sample content and to buy. Yours in harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion

Jul 16, Modes Workbook Release (part 2)

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:13:02 -0400

The Modes series of web pages at Musicarta.com has been upgraded and is now available as a downloadable keyboard creativity home study package – the Musicarta Modes Workbook. (…continues) Tune up your ears! Western music is either based on the classical major-minor system (and this includes most pop and jazz), or it is based on the modes. Like a knowing ‘straight’ harmony, knowing what modal chord sequences sound like is therefore essential for playing the music you hear by ear. Just reading about modes won’t get you there, though! Repeated exposure to the purpose-built modal riffs in the Musicarta Modes Workbook virtually guarantees that the characteristic modal sounds will sink in! The long-distance learner Many self-motivating keyboard players are unable to connect with a teacher who understands their needs and aspirations and has the knowledge and teaching material to satisfy them. The alternative is Musicarta – sector leader in popular music styles distance learning! As well as being a thorough introduction to modes for the modern keyboard player/composer, the Musicarta Modes Workbook is also a practical workbook for learning and improving popular-styles keyboard technique across the board. Many attractive, syncopated, modern keyboard textures are methodically explained and taught. You can watch many examples of the Musicarta keyboard style and this fail-safe way of learning on the Mister Musicarta YouTube channel. There’s a further bonus. All the riffs in the Musicarta Modes Workbook have ‘stepping stone’ versions that you can enjoy playing while you tackle the next level of development – one of the great motivating features of the Musicarta way of learning the piano, especially for adult beginners/continuers! The Musicarta Modes Workbook is a great opportunity to add the modes sound to your keyboard creations and develop your contemporary keyboard stylings. Go to the Musicarta Modes home page for a more detailed look or to purchase. Musicarta Publications proudly presents the Musicarta Modes Workbook for your consideration! Yours in (modal) harmony
Mister Musicarta
Your creative keyboard companion.

Jul 16, Musicarta Modes Workbook release

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 14:56:40 -0400

The Modes series of web pages at Musicarta.com has been upgraded and is now available as a downloadable keyboard creativity home study package – the Musicarta Modes Workbook. Modes – they’re everywhere! Modes are scales with a different order of whole-tone and semitone steps to those used in the modern Western harmony, making music based on them sound different and interesting – both more ancient but somehow refreshingly original. A surprising amount of music you hear every day – from film soundtrack to piped music – is based on modes. Listen to the YouTube or SoundCloud Modes playlists to get the flavour of modal chord sequences. (Most of the pieces in the Musicarta Easy Piano Style album [playlist / home page] are modes-based too.) If you don’t know how to find the modal chord families, attempting to reproduce these sounds using conventional harmony can quickly go wrong. The Musicarta Modes Workbook isn’t an academic text. It puts the theory in an optional Reference section then gets right down to the characteristic modal chord sequences, with plenty of varied riffs to acquaint your musical ear with the uniquely modal sounds – and only as much theory as you really need. What do I get? The Modes Workbook download includes the Modes Workbook PDF file, MIDI files of all the musical examples and the MidiPiano virtual keyboard, to play them as teaching videos. Unlike the other Musicarta home study titles though, your Modes Workbook is mirrored online in web pages which you access through a password-protected Modes Zone home page. This is where you will listen to the audio of the Workbook music examples – simpler than managing folders of module audio on your desktop. (Please note though that most computer media players will play MIDI files as basic audio.) Musicarta is committed to expanding all its study programs content, and the new online study pages facilitate this. New content will be announced in the ‘What’s New in the Zone’ sections on both the regular Musical Modes web page and Modes Zone home page. Expect to see plenty of activity there in the weeks immediately following the project launch! Don’t read music so well? No problem! As usual with Musicarta, not reading music so well isn’t a big disadvantage. The chords needed for a riff are always presented on keyboard diagrams, and several other easily grasped shorthand ways of writing music down are also explained and used. Most importantly, MIDI files of all the examples in the workbook ship with the title, plus the MidiPiano virtual keyboard to play them on. MidiPiano turns these files into mini teaching videos for the musical examples in the Workbook. (You can see many examples of MidiPiano at work at Mister Musicarta YouTube. Accurate MS (written-out music manuscript) is however presented for all the musical examples. Musicarta Publications proudly presents the Musicarta Modes Workbook for your consideration! (continues...)

Jul 8, Now That I've Found You - Modes Dairy 08-07-14

Tue, 8 Jul 2014 06:47:50 -0400

Presenting Now That I've Found You - Modes Dairy 08-07-14 Most of the music you hear – be it classical, jazz or pop – is based on a harmonic motor known as the Circle of Fifths – a cadencing circuit with the roots falling a fifth. Modes, by contrast, excel in providing harmonious strings of chords where the root falls a fourth. Modes Dairy 08 - 07 - 14 (provisionally titled ‘Now That I've Found You’) is a case in point, and the longest presentable ‘Circle of Fourths’ string of chords possible (five). It also demonstrates that endless, questing character that modal sequences have. Those with an imaginative musical ear might care to think whether they’d agree with Mister Musicarta that resolving the string to the ‘relative major’ (here, chord C) would constitute a terrible cop-out! Modes Dairy 08 - 07 -14 will presently appear in the ‘Ongoing’ section of the Musicarta Modes Workbook, the latest of Musicarta’s digital keyboard creativity downloads – coming to a server near you VERY shortly. That means you’ll have the chord structure analysis and practice drills, the full MS and the MIDI file to watch and copy on MidiPiano (or other virtual keyboard). Modes offer an invaluable resource to the singer-songwriter and contemporary composer – not to mention the inveterate keyboard doodlers addicted to that wonderful passion known as ‘messing around at the keyboard’! The practical what, how and why of modes is the subject of the new package. Watch out for the forthcoming Musicarta Modes Workbook. Get the site RSS feed or bookmark the site ‘What’s New’ page for the announcement, and sign up for the Musicarta Newsletter NOW to get the customary latest-release discount code! For your edutainment: Now That I've Found You - Modes Dairy 08-07-14 Yours in harmony Mister Musicarta Your creative keyboard companion

Jul 2, Dorian Doodle revisited – Modes Diary 24-06-14, Take Two

Wed, 2 Jul 2014 14:42:21 -0400

Dorian Riff – Modes Diary 24-06-14, Take Two If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is the previous Dorian Doodle MD 24-06-14 cleaned up for print. The major subdominant (IV) makes the Dorian a favourite blues/funk groove generator – and provides that major, major, major, minor circle of fourths cascade all the way home from bIII. Video and full teaching notes with development of keyboard syncopation will be available exclusively on the Dorian pages of the all-new Musicarta Modes Workbook member’s-only hybrid home study download, coming to a server near you soon! Musicarta – the What, How and Why of Messing Around at the Keyboard For your edutainment Dorian Riff – Modes Diary 24-06-14, Take Two.