Music Teacher Blog

Music Teacher Blog

Really Useful Tips for Learning Musical Instruments can be found on Andy Graham's Blog Site. Here are three examples of his blog posts. More recent posts can be found by selecting the option to browse more blog topics.

Featured Blog:

1. What Are Chords and How Do They Work?

A chord is a combination of notes all played together in harmony. A chord should have at least three notes in it, which, for a normal major chord, is the first, third and fifth note of the major scale. So, the chord of C major compromises the notes of C, E and G. The chord of C minor has an Eb (E flat) as the middle note, which is the third note of the C minor scale, sometimes called the minor third. So, to go from any major triad chord to the minor chord, just drop the middle note of the major chord down by a semitone. The illustration below shows the chord of C major, followed by the chord of C minor, for the piano or keyboard.

So, it is very easy to learn chords, even without knowing scales, as, for a major triad chord, you just need to play the root note of the chord you are looking for, count up four notes to get the middle note, and then a further three notes for the top note of the chord. As can be seen from the picture, for a minor triad chord, you go up three notes from the root note to find the middle note, and then a further four notes, to get the top note of the chord.

When it comes to the guitar, chords can be learnt quickly using guitar chord charts. This is an image of part of the fretboard, usually the end part (nearest the tuning pegs), as if the guitar was standing in front of you, vertically, and you are facing it. In other words, the vertical lines are the strings and the horizontal lines, the guitar frets. Don’t play/include in the strum the string with the ‘X’. The numbers correspond to the left hand fingers used. The illustration below shows the chord of A major, followed by A minor.

Guitar chord charts for all the chords have a universal format and are very easy to find on the Internet.

2. A Brief Introduction to Written Music.

Traditional written music, sometimes called ‘sheet music’ or a ‘music score’, is more complex to learn than chords. Essentially, it is a language that communicates to the reader every single note that makes up the piece of music, both in terms of pitch and timing.

The timing, or how long to hold a note down for before moving on to the next one, is demonstrated by the type of note symbol used. For example, if the note is the standard black dot with a stick on it, that note is held down for one beat. If the stick has a tail on it, it is only worth half a beat. If there is no stick at all and the note is just an empty circle, it is held down for four beats, and so on.

Regarding the pitch, or tone, this depends on what line that note is positioned on the musical stave. The musical stave is split between the treble clef and the bass clef. On the piano, or keyboard, the treble clef would be played using the right hand, and the bass clef, using the left hand. The picture below shows the musical stave and what note, in terms of pitch, corresponds to each line.

Written music uses the same symbols and format for any instrument. However, due to their nature, some instruments only require one of the two clefs. For example, unlike a piano, which covers both the treble and bass clefs, guitar music is only written in the treble clef, and the bass guitar only requires the bass clef.

3. Should Beginners Start with Chords or Written Music?

There are both advantages and limitations to either strategy. However, you need to ask yourself what kind of music you will be playing and for what purpose. Also, some instruments are more suited to chords than others. When it comes to contemporary music, most students start with chords on the guitar, but still with written music when it comes to the piano or keyboard. There are two main reasons for this.

First of all, a lot of people want to learn the guitar so that they can accompany themselves or others vocally, by singing over a chord accompaniment. However, a piano is more likely to be used to play whole songs, with the melody line, the bass line and the middle harmony notes all being included. As mentioned earlier, the piano covers both the treble and bass clef and so is very versatile. On the other hand, the guitar covers a much smaller tonal range and guitar music is written in the treble clef.

Secondly, due to the sequential way in which the notes on the piano keyboard are laid out, it is much easier to relate the notes on the musical stave to the notes on the piano than it is to relate them to the guitar fretboard.

Therefore, for all of the reasons given above, my view is that it is better to start with chords on the guitar and written music on the piano or keyboard. Chord theory is also important for bass guitar beginners, in terms of knowing where the chord root notes are on the bass fretboard, as well as the other notes in the chord, to feed into runs between the root notes. This approach is a great way to start playing the bass guitar quickly.