Learn Scales and Chords (Piano, Guitar, or any Instrument)

Scales are the seven most common notes you will use at a given time. Learning the scale you are playing in will allow you the freedom to express your music in a much easier way. 

The circle of fifths is a common way to learn and understand the scales. It is very mathematical but also has an easy pattern or picture for those who understand better with pictures.

Counting out the steps is a very precise way to understand the scales. It's the most mathematical way to understand the scales.

If you have the sharps and flats memorized then you just have to know how many sharps or flats are in the scale and you already know how to play it.

See and hear an example of the difference between major and minor songs

Chords are the harmony notes that go along with any melody. Learning chords allows you to know what notes to play when playing arrangements or improvising in a song. 

If you know the notes in the scale then I can show you an easy way to learn all the chords that are in that scale.

Just like scales you can figure out the chords by counting out the steps. This is a more mathematical way to learn chords but is very affective.

An inversion is something that is flipped upside down. When we do chord inversions we take the notes in the chord and re-arrange them. This can be really beneficial for a few reasons. It give you more options and ways to play a chord. It changes the sound slightly and might give you the effect that you want. It also might make a better change from one chord to the next.

In this lecture we will show you some practice exercises to make sure you learn the scale completely.

All the chords are based on our basic triad but we often see some strange chords in our playing. This section will address those chords.

Chord charts are a very common tool. You can find them often for free online(even if they say it's for guitar.) In this lecture we will go over how to read and play off of them.

Lead Sheets are a good compromise between full sheet music and chord charts. They give musicians enough information to play informed music but also give enough room for creative expression at the same time. 

A lot of improvising is based on they key of your playing in. In this lecture we will show you how to improvise in songs using your scales.

Transposing is moving the song higher or lower in pitch. We will show you two different ways to transpose based on your scale.

Let's take a look at this song and see what we can understand about it from a chord and scale's perspective.