Fast Piano Lessons Blog

This is the second piano lesson in a 3 part series with examples for how to play a ballad similar to the style that Elton John uses on songs like “Tiny Dancer”. In fact, the first pattern I play in the video is very similar to the piano introduction to Tiny Dancer.

Use these patterns as guidelines though. To make them your own, you’ll have to add a few different notes and rhythms here and there. Not even Elton John plays his piano parts the same way twice.

The chords are C major and F major.

OUTLINE:
:03 - Tiny Dancer example
:09 - Variations on the first example slowed down
:50 - Country lick slowed down

Practice Tips: Please realize that I’ve only shown you two examples on the C and F chords. Transpose them to another key to get the most benefit from them. For example, try to play these patterns on D & G, or E & A.

Here is a link to Lesson 1: Make Your Piano Ballads Sound Better

This is the first piano lesson in a 3 part series with examples for how to play a ballad similar to the style that Elton John uses on songs like “Your Song” or “Tiny Dancer”. In this lesson we start of with some very simple patterns for the C major and F major chords. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to be comfortable with your inversions of chords and arpeggios. Don’t practice for perfection here.

Use these patterns as guidelines, making sure to change a few of the notes here and there each time you play them.

OUTLINE:

:10 - Example #1: The Easy Version: Rolling the chord Up

:25 - Example #2: Rolling the chord up & down.

:37 - Experiment with different rhythms and patterns for endless possibilities. Its up to you to be creative!

1:03 - Explanation of Chord Tones: Chord tones are the notes in the chord. Cmajor is made up of the chord tones “C E G”. Non-chord tones are all the other notes not in the chord (D, F, A, B,).

Practice Tip: Using Chord Tones and Non-Chord Tones

Use only the chord tones at first and then try to add non-chord tones as you get more comfortable with how they sound. Non-chord tones don’t always sound good with a chord so use caution. For example if you play the note F in your right hand, with the chord C major in your left hand, the E&F notes will clash. This clashing doesn’t sound good if you hold on the F for a long time. If you play the F note only for a short duration as just a passing note, then the clashing will not be that noticeable.