Features article index
This section has longer articles on various aspects of the piano and synth, including playing technique, improvisation, composition, theory, practice, and preparing for performances.
Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard: Away in a Manger (alternative tune)
August 16, 2010
How to play Away in a Manger on the piano or keyboard. Note that this is an alternative (some might say the original) version of the melody. The British version of Away in a Manger is also available.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Introduction
Like Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger is in 3/4 (Waltz) time.
It’s written here in F major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.
Main Melody
The melody is quite different to the alternative version. There’s more variation here, though there is a hint of repetition between the two halves.
Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:
Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).
Those notes are:
- – C | C Bb A | A G F | F E D | C C | C D C | C G E | D C F | A C | C Bb A |
A G F | F E D | C C | Bb A G | A G F | G D E | F
Single Note Bass Line
Here’s how to add a single bass note to each bar to add a little harmony. In fact, it only uses three different notes — C, F and Bb.
Melody and Accompaniment
The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody note as the highest, plus two bass notes an octave apart in the left hand.
Note that the lowest one or two notes in each right hand bar are held for the duration (three beats) while the melody notes are played. This can either be done by physically holding the notes down (if comfortable), using the sustain pedal, or a combination. See what sounds the best — generally sustaining a whole bar when there are only a few melody notes in each will still give a pleasing sound without fear of notes running too much into one another.
I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
Popularity: 1% [?]
Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard: Away in a Manger
August 13, 2010
How to play Away in a Manger on the piano or keyboard. Note that this is the English version of the melody. Here is a well-known alternative tune for Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Introduction
Like Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger is in 3/4 (Waltz) time.
It’s written here in F major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.
Main Melody
With the exception of the last couple of notes, which are swapped, almost exactly the same melody is repeated twice in each verse. However, the accompaniment chords do vary very slightly.
Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:
Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).
Those notes are:
- – C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D | Bb G A | Bb Bb C |
A A F A | G D F | E C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D |
Bb G A | B B C | A A F A | G D E | F -
Single Note Bass Line
Here’s how to add a single bass note to each bar to add a little harmony. In fact, it only uses three different notes — C, F and G.
Chords Only
If you simply want to play appropriate chords so you can sing or have another instrument playing the melody, here are very simple ones. Note that in bar 8 the chord is a G major in first inversion (this is significant because it requires you to play a B natural not a B flat). It doesn’t sound bad if you play a G minor chord here, but I prefer this version. [Find out more about major and minor chords here]
Melody and Accompaniment
The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody note as the highest, plus two bass notes an octave apart in the left hand.
Note that the lowest one or two notes in each right hand bar are held for the duration (three beats) while the melody notes are played. This can either be done by physically holding the notes down (if comfortable), using the sustain pedal, or a combination. See what sounds the best — generally sustaining a whole bar when there are only a few melody notes in each will still give a pleasing sound without fear of notes running too much into one another.
I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
Popularity: 1% [?]
22 iPad Music Creation Apps
August 2, 2010
The iPad is a beautiful device for all kinds of music-making and synthesiser goodness. Here’s our selection of iPad-ready music creation and learning apps that we think you’ll like:
Click on the title to go to the iTunes Store for more information.
ThumbJam – $6.99
Over 30 high-quality multi-sampled real instruments and hundreds of musical scales allow you to play a range of styles.
It’s endorsed by Jordan Rudess, and comes with two of his signature sounds.
TouchOSC – $4.99
For sending Open Sound Control (OSC) messages to other devices via Wi-Fi. Includes touch controls for faders, rotary controls, toggle buttons, XY pads, multi-faders, multi-toggles, LEDs and labels, with full multi-touch of up to five controls at once.
miniSynth PRO – $9.99
Grab hold of analog synthesis on your iPad with this completely revamped version of the original iPhone synth.
Fully-featured, professional grade virtual analog synth incorporating an improved version of the zero-latency “push-pull” Yonac keyboard algorithm.
A huge range of specs include dual subtractive / FM virtual-analogue polyphonic / monophonic synthesis, fully configurable FM filter or modulation based tone shaping, 16-bit quality stereo output, dual syncable oscillators, six optimised custom waveforms per oscillator, adjustable dual keyboards, BPM-based arpeggiator module, and so much more.
Korg iElectribe – $19.99
A faithful virtual recreation of Korg’s ELECTRIBE-R sound engine, featuring analog synth modelling, PCM samples, virtual valve force tube modelling, patterns and effects.
Pianist Pro – $9.99
The original iPhone piano now arrives in a pro version for the iPad, featuring full recording and overdub, standard MIDI output, MIDI to OSC, multiple instruments, pitch bend, modulation and swell pedal, arpeggiator and a drum machine.
Pocket Organ C3B3 – $2.99
Optimised for the larger iPad screen, play a simulation of the Hammond Organ using a virtual tonewheel system controlled by nine drawbars as per the real thing. Features include scrollable keyboard, transposition, rotary speaker effect, harmonic percussion effect, reverb, overdrive, vibrato, chorus, and glissando via the accelerometer.
SunVox – $4.99
Another iPad app endorsed by Jordan Rudess, SunVox is a small and fast multi-platform pattern-based (tracker) sequencer with modular synths. This means you can use it across different operating systems.
Features include a modular interface, optimised synth algorithms, Wi-Fi import and export, including WAV samples, various generators and a sampler, DC blocking filter, effects including delay, distortion and echo, a three-band equaliser, low-, high-, band-pass and notch filters, flanger, LFO, loop, reverb, a vocal filter and vibrato.
bleep!BOX – $9.99
A combination drum machine and synthesiser box with sounds generated in real time (not from samples).
Features include real-time processing, audio copying, classic x0x drum emulation, analog style 2-Osc synths, 10 parts, 50+ parameters, ringmod, FM, PhaseMod, Sync, Distortion, global delay FX, eight waveforms, tempo, swing, pattern length, saving of patches and patterns, step sequencing and recording, automation, song mode, and recording songs and patterns to WAV files.
Ellatron HD – $5.99
Experience a virtual Mellotron synth on your iPad, featuring 27 voices, 16 banks of programmable chord buttons, ‘fat keys’ for better playability, save and restore of voice settings, and ready to take on the road. Jordan Rudess say’s “it’s pretty cool”.
Looptastic HD – $14.99
Create remixes and electronic compositions simply by dragging and dropping loops, using the built-in DJ mixer and adding effects with the touch pad.
Features include over 900 samples plus the ability to record your own, a dozen real time effects with X-Y touch pad, including Bit Crusher, Multimode Fingering, flanger, delay and glitchy repeater, time stretching, triple-zone mixer, scratch strip for triggering samples part-way through, importing of a range of audio sample file types, export in 16-bit AIFF, and sharing via SoundCloud.
GrooveMaker Hip-Hop for iPad – $9.99
The application for creating non-stop electronic, dance and hip-hop tracks in real-time.
Features include instantaneous control of eight stereo loop tracks, play, mix and randomise loops on the fly, combine studio-quality loops, manipulate loops in real time, arrange grooves with drag and drop, save and recall tracks and upload WAV files via Wi-Fi.
Nota HD – $5.99
Designed for pianists of all levels, Not a HD features piano chord and scale browser, piano and staff note locator, note quiz and reference library with over 100 symbols.
Raindrops for iPad – $1.99
Play music simply by touching the screen, either solo or over the Internet.
Synth – $0.99
Simply titled “Synth”, this cheaper app offers over 40 instruments, mod and pitch bend wheels, adjustable delay and distortion plus a built in sampler.
Bebot – Robot Synth – $1.99
Feature packed polyphonic musical synth with a unique multitouch control method — an onscreen animated robot character who moves and sings while you play.
Four synth modes, analog-sounding filters, versatile delay/loops, overdrive distortion, programmable scales, and full touchscreen control.
Music Studio – $14.99
A complete music production environment featuring dynamically configurable 85-key keyboard, 74 studio-recorded instruments, low-latency, high polyphony, real time effects, 128-track sequencer, note editing, quantising, transposition, repeat, move, velocity and so on, Wi-Fi transfer, MIDI import/export.
iSequence for iPad – $14.99
Music creation studio featuring eight-track sequencer, flexible mixer with DSP, real-time recording and control, 160 instruments, pattern editing, sampler, and wi-fi file sharing.
Electrify – $14.99
A virtual sample groovebox for iPad, designed to combine the best features of existing hardware grooveboxes and the ease of use of software applications.
Features include an eight-track sequencer with individual track lengths, two chainable effect buses with 8 effects, direct access to track parameters, step sequencer, pattern matrix, seven parameters editable per step, professional sample library, import of samples, sample editing, copy and paste to other iPad apps.
Mellotronics M3000 for iPad – $11.99
The only moxMatrix – $4.99
Turns iPad into a canvas for rhythm and melody, featuring a multicoloured, multitouch pulsating groovebox.
Features include tone matrix interface, loop creation, sampler, alternative scales, pattern storage and jam mode.
olsynth – $6.99
Classic monophonic synth with a clean and simple interface. Settings include dual oscillator with four waveforms, fine tune, modulation, filter, envelope volume and filter, and arpeggio.
TuneLab Piano Tuner
– $299.99
A highly specialised app designed for professional piano tuners. It can be calibrated to an accuracy of 0.02 cents, stores hundreds of tuning files for individual pianos, plus historical temperaments for period music, automatic note switching, plus a range of displays to aid in tuning.
Popularity: 2% [?]
How to read printed music: a basic primer for pianists and keyboard players
June 11, 2010
Standard musical notation might at first look confusing, but really it’s very logical. This guide will hep you to read, interpret and play all but the most complicated printed music.
Staves and Clefs
The foundation of music notation is the staves on which it’s written.
Each staff is made up of five lines. Notes can be written to sit both on the lines and the spaces in between them, as well as above and below.
Most music written for piano and keyboard instruments is displayed on the “grand staff”. This simply means two staves joined together. See the diagrams below.
Treble clef
Bass clef
Grand staff
Music notation is written and read from left to right, just as most Western languages are.
The clef sign is displayed to the far left of each staff. Generally pianists will see music written in the treble clef (upper staff) and bass clef (lower staff). Middle C on the piano keyboard denotes the boundary between treble and bass clef.
The diagram below shows which note each line and space on the grand staff represents.
It’s also possible to represent notes higher or lower than this by using additional lines, called ledger lines, that sit above or below the grand staff.
Notes, Chords and Rests
Note symbols are used to tell the musician which notes to play on the keyboard and for how long.
Most notes look very similar. They have a round body which sits on a line or in a space on one of the clefs, and they usually have a ‘stem’ which points up or down and helps determine the duration of the note.
See the diagram below for the main note symbols (click for the full size diagram):
What we have here are six bars containing the most common types of notes you’ll see. There are others but they are used less often.
Here’s a description of them and their duration, with the name of each note as commonly used in the US, followed by the name often used in the UK:
| Bar | Note name (US/German) | Note name (UK/Classical) | Duration | Appearance |
| 1 | Whole note | Semibreve | Four beats | Hollow note head with no stem |
| 2 | Half note | Minim | Two beats | Hollow note head with stem |
| 3 | Quarter note | Crotchet | One beat | Solid note head with stem |
| 4 | Eighth note | Quaver | Half a beat | Solid note head with stem and one beam |
| 5 | Sixteenth note | Semiquaver | Quarter of a beat | Solid note head with stem and two beams |
| 6 | Thirty-second note | Demisemiquaver | Eighth of a beat | Solid note head with stem and three beams |
Higher pitched notes are written in higher vertical positions on the staff, whereas lower pitched notes are written in lower positions.
Generally, all notes that line up in the same position horizontally are played at the same time, and the space between notes is usually proportional to their duration, though this sometimes changes due to styling and layout considerations.
The ‘stems’ of notes can point either up or down. Generally notes above the middle line on a staff point the stem down, and notes below the middle line of a staff point the stem up, but this does vary sometimes for aesthetic or layout considerations, and doesn’t affect how the notes should be played (except sometimes it gives a clue as to whether the notes should be played by the left or right hand).
When the stem points up, it is drawn on the right-hand side of the note head, never the left. When the stem points down, it is drawn on the left-hand side of the note head, never the right.
Sometimes runs of the same type of note have their stems joined up. This tends to be more aesthetically pleasing and also helps to quickly identify a series of notes.
This can all be seen in the previous diagram.
Chords are simply written by grouping notes together. Play these notes together all at the same time. Occasionally you may need to split chords between the two hands.
The following diagram shows C major, F minor and F sharp major.
Every note also has an equivalent rest. These are written when nothing should be played on that particular staff.
The diagram below shows the main rest symbols.
These six bars show the equivalent rests for the note durations in the diagram above:
- whole note (semibreve) rest
- half note (minim) rest
- quarter note (crotchet) rest
- eighth note (quaver) rest
- sixteenth note (semiquaver) rest
- third-second note (demisemiquaver) rest
Time Signature
Every piece of music has at least one time signature (most only have one) which helps to determine the beat and rhythm.
These time signatures are written like fractions at the beginning of the first staff, plus anywhere in the music where they are changed (this is uncommon).
The top digit denotes how many beats are in each bar, while the bottom digit denotes what type of note each beat is.
So, a common 4/4 time signature means that there are four quarter notes (crotchets) in each bar. 3/4 means three quarter notes. 6/8 is six eighth notes (quavers), and so on. Generally the bottom number is (rarely) 2, usually 4 or 8.
The time signature and bars help to determine which beats in a piece of music are accented. Generally, the first beat of each bar is slightly stronger / heavier (even if only subtly), or the melody or some form of accompaniment is patterned in such a way as to make bars fairly obvious.
Not all music is like this — for example, some accents arbitrary beats — but for an example, think about a waltz. It has bars made up of three beats (ONE two three ONE two three), and therefore waltz music is written in 3/4 time. Marches are generally in 4/4 time (ONE two three four ONE two three four) or 2/4 time (ONE two ONE two). And so on.
Key Signature
The key signature determines what scale the piece of music is in.
There are 12 major scales and 12 minor scales, and a piece of music can be written in any one of those (there are a lot of other musical scales, by the way, but those don’t tend to affect a written key signature)
Think of the piano keyboard. A “sharp” note is a note that has been raised by one key, while a “flat” is a note that has been lowered by one key.
The note of D can be made D sharp, in which case you play the black note to the right of the white key representing D. D flat, on the other hand, is the black note to the left of the white key representing D.
It’s the same for all other keys. Generally, sharps and flats are written before white notes that are to become black notes (C to C sharp, D to D flat, D to D sharp, E to E flat, F to F sharp, G to G flat, G to G sharp, A to A flat, A to A sharp, B to B flat) but in fact you can sharpen or flatten any note: B sharp is C. F flat is E.
And just in case you were wondering, A sharp is the same note as B flat. F sharp is the same note as G flat. It just depends on how the music is notated.
So, back to key signatures. Every major and minor scale has a mix of white and black notes (except C major / A minor) but notes written on the stave are by default all white keys.
Look at the D major scale. It has a C sharp and an F sharp in it, so if we write a piece of music in D major, we have to find a way of telling the player to sharpen every C and F note. That’s how the key signature works.
The key signature is made up of sharp and flat symbols, and is written at the beginning of every staff. Here’s what D major looks like (it could also be a piece of music written in B minor, by the way).
It works the same for every other scale, except C major and A minor which don’t need a key signature. Here are all the key signatures.
In order, those key signatures are:
Top Line:
- G major (E minor)
- D major (B minor)
- A major (F sharp minor)
- E major (C sharp minor)
- B major (G sharp minor)
- F sharp major (D sharp minor)
- C sharp major (A sharp minor)
Second line:
- C flat major (A flat minor)
- G flat major (E flat minor)
- D flat major (B flat minor)
- A flat major (F minor)
- E flat major (C minor)
- B flat major (G minor)
- F major (D minor)
- C major (A minor) (no sharps or flats)
It’s worth noting that, although there are only 12 distinct major and 12 distinct minor scales, in order to allow every key signature to be used (one to seven sharps, one to seven flats, plus C major (A minor) which has no sharps or flats) there are in fact 15 key signatures: C sharp major (A sharp minor) and D flat major (B flat minor) are effectively the same, as are F sharp major (D sharp minor) and G flat major (E flat minor).
If a piece of music needs to change key signatures part of the way through, then a new key signature is placed at that point on the stave, and takes effect from then on.
An interesting point about changing keys is that you have to “undo” any sharps or flats from previous key signatures before you can use the new one. Look at the diagram and you’ll see on the second line there are “natural” symbols (the squarish symbols with two beams) before the flats, This effectively says to cancel out that particular flat from before.
So, going from C flat major to G flat major (bar one to two on the second line), the F flat has to be cancelled out with the natural.
Ledger Lines and Octave Marks
With 88 notes on a standard piano keyboard, it’s clear that the grand stave doesn’t have enough lines and spaces to accommodate them all, even though the extremities of a piano keyboard are less often played.
To handle this. we have ledger lines and octave marks.
Ledger lines are lines above and below the main staff that allow for higher or lower notes to be represented. You’ve already seen this with “Middle C”, which sits on its own ‘ledger line’ either below the treble clef or above the bass clef. The notes are continuously named both up and down. See the diagram below for a scale from the C three octaves beneath middle C to the C three octaves above it.
Just so you get the idea, the bass clef continues its notes to the E above middle C, before the treble clef takes over from the F above middle C. This just shows that middle C isn’t necessarily a barrier between the two written clefs. It’s often used to make it easier to see which hand should play which notes, or to help avoid a cluttered layout.
It’s not always convenient to have large numbers of notes on ledger lines, because it can be hard to work out what notes to play and it uses up a lot of vertical space. To this end, we also have “octave marks” that tell the player to shift a range of notes up or down one or two octaves from the position in which they’re written.
Here’s the above example written using these octave marks instead.
- The 15mb mark means to play the notes two octaves lower than written, for the duration of the line.
- The 8vb mark means to play the notes one octave lower than written.
- The 8va mark means to play the notes one octave higher than written.
- The 15ma mark means to play the notes two octaves higher than written.
Note Modifiers
There are a number of symbols placed on or around the standard notes that tell the player to do something different before, during or after playing that note.
Sharps, Flats and Naturals
As we’ve seen, the key signature tells the player which notes should be sharpened or flattened throughout a piece of music.
However, sometimes we want to ‘override’ the key signature. Say we have a piece of music in D major but we want an unsharpened C. The key signature tells us to play C sharp, so we put a ‘natural’ symbol in front of the C note. This takes priority over the key signature just for that bar. (Just to be awkward, we could have avoided this by writing a D flat instead.)
Say we want to play a G sharp. The key signature doesn’t have a G sharp in it, so usually whenever we come across a G note, we play the white note. Putting a sharp in front of a G tells the player to sharpen that note.
The same is true if we want to flatten a note.
These are called ‘accidentals’ and are very useful.
Ties and slurs
Ties are used to join two or more notes of the same pitch together, creating a single note of longer duration.
Slurs are used to join two or more notes of different pitches together, requesting that they be played as smoothly as possible (i.e. without any noticeable gaps between them)
They both look similar. A curved line is drawn between the affected notes. See the diagram.
In the first bar above, the first three notes should be played smoothly, and the last four notes should also be played smoothly.
In the second to fourth bars, two dotted minims and a minim are joined, making one single tied note that lasts for eight beats. The G sharp is played once in bar 2 and then held until the rest at the end of bar 4.
Staccato Dots
A dot just above or below a note’s head (where it is depends on which way the note’s stem is facing) means to play the note ‘staccato’. In other words, depress and release the note on the keyboard quickly, rather than holding it for the duration of the note, then wait for the rest of the note’s duration before playing the next note.
In the diagram above, all seven notes are played quickly and sharply.
Accents
A little > sign above or below a note’s head denotes an accent. This means to play the note just a bit stronger (louder) than the surrounding notes. This is partly up to the player’s discretion.
Here, the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh notes should all be played slightly more firmly/loudly than the third and fourth notes.
Pauses
A pause sign above or below a note’s head denotes a pause. This is a discretionary pause in the music, usually not for very long, before the player moves on to the next note.
Here, a discretionary pause is placed on the middle C in bar 2 and the high E in bar 4. The player would likely make each note last somewhat longer than 3 beats, which is how long a dotted minim (half note) would normally last.
Expression
Symbols denoting various types of expression are often placed in the space between the two staves on the grand staff.
Volume
Symbols such as ppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff and fff are used to tell the player how loud the music should be overall.
Here we have:
- ppp – Pianissimissimo – play extremely quietly so as almost inaudible
- pp – Pianissimo – play very quietly
- p – Piano – play softly
- mp – Mezzo piano – half as soft as ‘piano’
- mf – Mezzo forte – half as loud as ‘forte’
- f – Forte – play loudly
- ff – Fortissimo – play very loudly
- fff – Fortissimissimo – play extremely loudly
Getting louder and quieter
“Hairpin” marks < and > are used to show where passages of music need to get gradually louder (crescendo) or quieter (diminuendo). Volume marks are often used at the end of this gradual change to tell the pianist how loud the piece of music should end up.
Here we have a ‘crescendo’ (getting louder) for the first two bars followed by a ‘decrescendo’ or ‘diminuendo’ (getting quieter) for the final three bars. Often there will be loudness marks (ie pp, p, f, ff) at the start and end of these to give some idea of dynamic range).
Repeats
There are several pieces of musical notation used when one or more bars of music should be repeated.
Repeat Signs
The most common form, when a section should be repeated once more exactly as written, is the double-dot and double bar line notation.
Repeats are marked at the start and end of bars (represented by the downward line spanning the entire staff). Think of it as a form of bracket that surrounds the range of bars that should be repeated.
When you come across two dots at the end of a bar AND a double bar line (two vertical lines, one thicker than the other, as opposed to just a single thin vertical line) it means to return to either the beginning of the piece, or the previous double bar, or the previous beginning repeat marks, whichever is closest.
Look at the following diagram which shows that the last three bars should be repeated once. If the starting repeat marks in bar 3 weren’t present, the whole piece of music to that point would be repeated, right from bar 1.
Other types of repeat marks you may find are detailed below.
Simile Marks
You probably won’t see these a lot, but if you do they mean to repeat the previous one or two bars one more time.
Here, the first bar should be repeated, then continue with the rest of the piece.
Volta Brackets
These denote that the ending of a repeated passage should be played differently on the first and second time round.
On playing the first time through, play everything up to and including the bars spanned by the ’1st time’ bracket. On repeating the passage, play everything up to the beginning of the 1st time bracket and then jump to the beginning of the ’2nd time’ section, and play all of that.
In the example above, play bars 1, 2 and 3, then repeat back to the beginning and play bars 1, 2, 4 and 5, then finish.
D.C. and D.S.
Da capo: Marked as “D.C. al fine” or “D.C. al coda”.
D.C. al fine means to repeat the entire piece of music again but to stop whenever the “Fine” mark is seen.
D.C. al coda means to repeat the entire piece of music again until the Coda sign is reached, then jump to a final set of bars which mark the ending of the piece.
Da segno: Marked as “D.S. al fine” or “D.S. al coda”.
Very similar to the “D.C. al fine” and “D.C. al coda” except that the player returns to the last “Segno” mark rather than the beginning of the piece of music.
Above we see “D.C. al Fine”. In this case play bars 1-5 through once, then play bars 1-3 and stop at the “Fine” mark.
Above is “D.C. al Coda”. In this case play bars 1-5 through once, then play bars 1-3 again, then finally jump immediately to the bar marked with the Coda sign at the beginning, and continue playing.
“D.S. al Fine” and “D.S. al Coda” work in the same way, except the previous Segno mark is returned to rather than the beginning of the piece. The Segno mark looks like this:
Pedal Marks
Pedal marks are used to show where the composer or arranger would depress and raise the damper (sustain) or soft pedals. If the music omits these, you can still add pedal to your own taste (in fact, most types of music benefit from at least a little pedal work).
The damper (sustain) pedal markings are shown under the staff or grand staff. The “Ped” mark is used to denote depressing the sustain pedal. This may be followed by a solid line leading to a vertical line where the pedal should be lifted, or alternatively no line, but a * symbol when the pedal should be raised.
The soft pedal is not marked to be used very often, but if it is to be used, it is marked in the music as “una corda” when the pedal should be depressed, and “tre corda” when it is to be released.
Tempo
If a general or specific tempo (speed) is required, it is often written at the top-left of the music.
If it’s general, it could say something like “Slowly” or “Quickly” or “Waltz Time”.
If specific, it will likely have a single note followed by an equals sign (=) and then a number. This is the beats per minute (BPM), and could be set using a metronome. It’s generally only a guide to how fast or slow a piece of music should be played.
Conclusion
This guide covered the most common elements of musical notation. The best way to familiarise yourself with these concepts is to find simple printed music for pieces you already know and study their structure. Then move on to gradually more complicated pieces.
There are a great many other symbols and words that can occur on printed music, particularly more complicated classical and other formal scores, but for the most part this primer will see you through a large portion of printed music available, and even if you don’t fully understand every symbol, you will still be able to read and play the notes with basic expression. For your own enjoyment, that’s probably enough.
If you are looking for a book that simply explains musical notation, but includes some of the more advanced symbols and concepts, I highly recommend How to Read Music by Roger Evans
Popularity: 8% [?]
Amazing Grace: Mastering on the piano keyboard
June 8, 2010
Following our popular Christmas carol piano tutorials we’re now taking a look at some other classic pieces of music that will sound great on the piano or keyboard, regardless of your skill level.
So, dive in and learn how to play Amazing Grace.
Introduction
Amazing Grace is an iconic hymn that nearly everyone knows. It’s not particularly difficult to play, and the wonderful thing is that it’s open to a lot of interpretation and creativity once you get the basic chord structure right.
We’ll look at:
- the main melody line
- a version with a very simple bass line
- the basic chord structure (and a variation)
- a few styles to whet your appetite at the creative possibilities
Main Melody
All of our examples are played in the key of F major [find out about major and minor chords]. This means one flat — B flat — to watch out for.
Here’s the melody written out in the treble clef in standard musical notation:
Click the image for the full size version, or download a printable PDF version
Here’s how it sounds. (Your browser should play these MP3 files directly, or possibly software such as iTunes or Windows Media Player may handle it instead.)
Simple Bass Line
To add very basic harmony without making the piece much more complicated, we add a single bass note — one per bar — to be played with the left hand.
Here’s how it looks:
Here’s how it sounds: Amazing-Grace-single-bass.mp3
Right Hand Chords
Playing chords instead of melody (or possibly with other fill-in notes) is useful if you are singing or accompanying the melody, because it is less common to play a melody line that one or more vocalists are singing.
I’ve used fairly simple chords, and also ones that don’t require a great deal of movement in the right hand. It’s worth noting that this version includes a G major chord in first inversion (bar 7). This means a B natural note.
Here’s what it sounds like: Amazing-Grace-right-hand-chords.mp3
Alternative Chords
Well, in fact just one alternative chord that gives a slightly different feel thanks to a new harmony. It’s that chord in bar 11. It’s changed from a repeated F major chord to an A diminished chord.
Amazing-Grace-alt-right-hand-chords.mp3
Style Alternatives
OK, here’s where we have some fun. That chord structure and the simple melody is ripe for improvisation and playing around.
Here are three examples that I’ve put together. They’re not technically wonderful, and I’m sure you can do better, but they give you an idea of some things you can do.
Amazing Grace Variation 1
Amazing-Grace-variation-1-audio.mp3
Amazing Grace Variation 2
Amazing-Grace-variation-2-audio.mp3
Amazing Grace Variation 3
Amazing-Grace-variation-3-audio.mp3
Conclusion
There you go. A very basic introduction to playing Amazing Grace. Play it, learn it by heart, transpose it, play it the way you want to.
Most importantly, enjoy it.
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Music Basics: Major and minor chords
April 30, 2010
There are many different chords, but the basic major and minor are probably the most frequently used, and also form the basis of many other chords.
Here are all 24 major and minor chords, each shown in their three inversions.
They are displayed on the treble clef staff, with keyboard diagrams to show how to play them, and in chord notation, as well as coming with audio files so you can hear what they should sound like.
In the keyboard diagrams below, the red dots show the three notes you should use to play the chord in root position. The green dots show first inversion, and the blue dots show second inversion.
C major
C minor
C# major (Db major)
C# minor (Db minor)
D major
D minor
D# major (Eb major)
D# minor (Eb minor)
E major
E minor
F major
F minor
F# major (Gb major)
F# minor (Gb minor)
G major
G minor
G# major (Ab major)
G# minor (Ab minor)
A major
A minor
Bb major (A# major)
Bb minor (A# minor)
B major
B minor
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Synth Basics: What is polyphony?
January 20, 2010
Whenever you buy a new digital piano, keyboard or synthesiser, one of its key specifications is the amount of polyphony.
But what exactly is polyphony?
In pure musical terms, polyphony is used to describe two or more independent melodic voices. This is in contrast to monophony (a single voice) or homophony (a single melody with chords).
However, when it comes to electronic musical instruments, we’re simply concerned with how many tones can be sounded at any one time.
These sounds don’t have to be melodic — in fact they don’t even necessarily have to be audible to the human ear!
Polyphony is the number of sounds an instrument can generate simultaneously.
That’s the theory, and in principle it’s pretty simple. In practice, however, things get a bit more complicated.
Let’s take a look at a digital piano. It may say that it has 64 note polyphony. That sounds rather a lot, right? After all, you only have ten fingers so you can’t play more than ten notes at any one time.
Correct — in part.
However, consider how most pianists play the piano, with judicious use of the sustain (damper) pedal.
Now consider that, in a digital piano (as opposed to an acoustic one, which effectively has unlimited polyphony) every single note counts towards the total polyphony from the moment it is first played, when a key is struck, to the moment its sound finally decays.
Long passages of music with heavy use of sustain could have tens or even hundreds of notes sounding at any one time, which is why a high polyphony count is generally considered a good thing.
If any instrument “runs out of sounds”, then generally new sounds take priority and currently playing sounds are abruptly cut off. This can produce an unnatural, clipped sound.
Now let’s look at a synthesiser instrument.
You may assume that every note you play is a single sound, but your selected sound might be a composite of several sounds. That eats into polyphony.
As a further complication, some manufacturers “bank” polyphony into two or more groups. So, an instrument that claims 128 notes of polyphony may in fact offer two distinct groups of 64 notes. Some sounds may be available in one group but not the other, so, depending on which sounds you select, you may not always get full polyphony.
Now consider the use of rhythm and other accompaniments on home keyboards.
Every auto-accompaniment you play could be using multiple sounds at any one time, reducing the amount of polyphony remaining for the sounds you wish to play over the top.
And finally, it’s fairly obvious that if you are using either an on-board sequencer, or one on your computer that uses the keyboard’s own sounds, then you’ll need more polyphony in order to play two or more tracks of sounds simultaneously.
So, when purchasing a keyboard instrument or synth unit, consider its polyphony and whether it will be sufficient for your needs.
Generally, the higher polyphony the better, though you will pay more for the privilege.
Image by Horla Varlen
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Quick Tip: Try a new voice and stir up your keyboard playing
December 11, 2009
I’ve got a Yamaha P140S digital piano at home, and for the most part I use the three main piano voices, depending upon what mood I’m in, but I tend not to use the other voices much.
Then the other day I decided to play around with the three electric piano voices, and in fact found that I loved them.
Not only did I love them, but it forced me to play in a different style.
Things that sound great on an acoustic piano don’t always work on an electric piano.
Similarly, things that a normal piano sound can’t give you (ringing echoes or shiny vibrato, for example) are natural on some electric piano sounds.
Of course, if you’ve got a synth you can choose pretty much any sound imaginable, but the beauty of picking other keyboard sounds is that the method of playing them is still natural.
That being said, there’s a big technique and performance difference between playing a piano, an EP, a harpsichord, or any other keyed instrument.
That’s not to say you can’t extend the concept and play a whole range of different sounds, but if you’ve got a digital piano with a few additional sounds, why not crack them open a bit more often than you usually do?
This is an especially good technique if you improvise a lot but have got stuck in a rut. Even if you end up playing the same chord structures, I bet you’ll find new ways of playing to suit the sound.
Experiment and have fun!
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Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard: We Wish You A Merry Christmas
November 11, 2009
Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Moving along on our series on mastering Christmas Carols on Piano and Keyboard, we come to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. Purists might say this isn’t a carol, but we won’t worry too much about that at the moment.
Introduction
Like Silent Night and Away in a Manger, We Wish You A Merry Christmas is in 3/4 (waltz time).
The version presented here is played in G Major. This is a fairly easy key to play in (one sharp – F# – though there are some occasional accidentals along the way) and, importantly, to sing in.
Main Melody
You’ll notice that the main “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” line is repeated three times, rising in pitch but with the same basic melodic shape.
For each phrase, the first and second notes are a perfect fourth apart (find out more about songs to help you learn note intervals).
The run of notes are fairly easy to play, but it’s worth noting that, in this key, the third phrase begins on the black note of F#.
Here’s the complete melody written out:
Those notes are:
D : G G A G F# : E C E : A A B A G :
F# D F# : B B C B A : G E D D : E A F# :
G D : G G G : F# F# : G F# E : D A :
B A A G G : D(high) D D D : E A F# : G
And here’s what it sounds like:
Single Note Bass Line
Below is a simple bass line for the carol using just one note. Most of the time, you only need to play one note (a dotted minim (half note)) per bar, except in four bars that have a minim (half note) followed by a crotchet (quarter note).
And here’s what it sounds like:
Adding harmony and fullness with additional notes
In the third version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas,, I’ve created some depth by adding some extra notes for the right hand to play, always with the melody note as the highest note. The bass line remains the same, and you never have to play more than three notes in total — one or two with the right hand and one with the bass — at any one time.
And here’s what is sounds like:
Alternative version: walking bass
This final version of We Wish You A Merry Christmas uses a walking bass style for the left hand, adding a little more movement.
Here’s how it sounds:
Chord Sheet
Finally, here’s a chord sheet and lyrics for those who prefer it.
That’s it for now. Happy playing!
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
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10 books to help your child learn to play piano and keyboard
June 27, 2009
Are you looking for a music keyboard for your child? Read our guide: Buying a child’s first electronic keyboard
Here are my recommendations for books that will help your child learn how to play the piano and keyboard, including identifying and playing notes and reading sheet music, plus some simple collections of children’s songs that you or your child can learn to play.
1. Usborne’s First Book of the Piano (with CD)
Featuring cute cartoons, large easy to use pages and diagrams, and plenty of well-known pieces of music to learn with, the Usborne First Book of the Piano is a great introduction to the piano for youngsters.
Buy The First Book of the Piano with CD
2. Usborne’s First Book of the Keyboard
Has similarities to the “First Book of the Piano” but is great if you’ve just bought a child’s first electronic keyboard because it also covers the basic features found on most music keyboards.
Buy First Book of the Keyboard
3. The Fantastic Big Book of Childrens Songs
A huge collection (67) of songs including some modern favourites: The Addams Family Theme, Blue’s Clues Theme, Bob the Builder, Linus and Lucy, SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, Thomas the Tank Engine and Welcome to the Blue House.
Buy The Fantastic Big Book of Childrens Songs
4. Really Big Book of Children’s Songs
Another “big book” from the same publisher as above.
Buy the Really Big Book of Children’s Songs
5. Very Easy Piano Tunes
A lovely book in the same style as Usborne’s First Book of the Piano, featuring a lot of easy to play traditional songs including Merrily We Roll Along, The Grand Old Duke of York, London Bridge is Falling Down, Home on the Range, Lavender’s Blue, Scarborough Fair and Auld Lang Syne.
6. Disney’s My First Songbook for Easy Piano: 1
The first in a series of books that will help you to play Disney favourites, including Cruella De Vil, A Whole New World, The Bear Necessities, Under the Sea, Beauty and the Beast and more.
Very simple arrangements and delightfully presented.
Buy Disney’s My First Song Book for Piano
7. The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Children’s Songs: 169 Classic Songs Arranged for Piano, Voice and Guitar
Also useful for those wanting to play the guitar, this is a huge collection of more traditional songs for you and your child to play and sing together.
Buy The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Children’s Songs
8. Kid Songs: Easy Play for All Keyboards
Book can be used with piano and keyboard instruments and comes complete with coloured stickers for labelling the notes. It’s also well illustrated.
Buy Kid Songs: Easy Play for All Keyboards
9. Progressive Electronic Keyboard for Young Beginners: Book 1 / CD Pack
The first in another series of electronic keyboard learning books. This one comes with an audio CD and features graded lessons using 20 well-known children’s songs as examples.
Buy Progressive Electronic Keyboard for Young Beginners: Book 1
10. The Music People
Quite an old book (1980) and one that I grew up with. Cute cartoon notes and rests explain basic musical theory and example using the piano among other instruments.
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