This is a great piano lick to learn and then take to other keys! We are actually putting two different licks together for one monster lick. Just make sure you can watch all videos in the player below… You can switch between videos by using the side arrow buttons in the youtube view.
Learn lick #1 in video 1.
Learn lick #2 in video 2.
Put them together in video 3.
These are also shown on the handout. If you’re a good reader, you’ll be able to learn this faster by reading the music and then watching video #3 just to make sure you’re on the right track! Video #1 & #2 break it down a little more step by step.
Then play through all 12 major chords in one hand. Time yourself!
Then work on all 12 minor chords in one hand. Time yourself again! Try to beat 30 seconds. I know you can do it! I’ve had a few 5 year old piano students of mine accomplish this!
This will help you become one of the fastest piano players in the west!!! …or the east if thats where you live. If you live in the south, sorry you’re out of luck.
You don’t have to be able to play all those chords in 30 seconds, but it does help when you try an learn a new song. When learning a new song, you don’t get stuck on how to play the chord among the 50 million other things you have to learn, your only worry is what chord comes next. So just time yourself and make sure that you can find each chord in both hands fairly quickly!
How long does this take to learn?
I remember that it took me quite a few weeks to practice this and see a lot of improvement. Some of my piano students who practiced a little bit everyday have accomplished this goal to be able to play all their major triads in under 30 seconds in one week though!
What order should I play all the chords in?
They usually play them in this order because its fast: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, F#. That’s useful, but eventually you’ll want to challenge yourself so you keep improving your reaction time and you’re not just practicing a routine. The circle of 5ths shown below is another pattern that you can play your chords in!
The Circle of Fifths:
The image below is the famous circle of fifths. It is a great way to make sure you get through all 12 keys when you’re practicing. Its called the circle of fifths because each chord is a 5th apart. Its a good challenge to find chords that leap so far apart.
There is a great technique that will add some cool new sounds to your playing and improvising. It plays with adding tension and then resolving it, taking a note that sounds really bad at first and then switching to a new note. Your ear forgets about how bad that first note sounded because the new is so refreshing!
Minor Chord to Major Chord:
We’ll get started by sliding from minor chords into major chords. The only note that changes is the 3rd, the middle one, so slide off with your middle finger. That might take some coordination practice so you can also use index finger at first if you need to…
The C Blues Scale:
The C blues scale has the notes C Eb F F# G Bb C. The Cminor chord fits perfectly over that scale. All of the notes in the blues scale sound great over the C minor chord.
To transpose this scale to another key, you should think of the scales structure rather than the note names. Rather than thinking C Eb F etc. try and remember [Root, b3rd, 4th, #4th, 5th, b7th, Octave].
Scales & Chords:
What scale to use on which chord is pretty easy to figure out for minor chords. On a C minor chord, use the Cminor scale. Lesson: Use the scale with the same name as the chord.
On major chords its a little different. On a C major chord, if I wanted to use a blues scale, my first choice would be A minor blues scale.
It has the notes A C D Eb E G A. You’ll notice that all the notes of a C chord are in the A blues scale and also that one black note we are sliding off of in the video, the Eb.
So the lesson for major chords is to remember, “If I play C minor, I want to go down the interval of a minor 3rd to find the correct scale, the A minor blues scale for improvising.” The structure is the same for all chords and scales, so think down a minor 3rd from the chord you’re in to find the appropriate blues scale.
PIANO LESSON REVIEW:
If you’re playing in a major chord or key, slide off the flat 3rd of the chord or key.
If its in a minor chord or key, slide of the #4/b5th of the chord or key.
This piano lesson is much easier to learn the song from.
I slowly walk through the whole song with a lot more clarity… The video also covers a different way to use your left hand on Great Balls of Fire. That left hand bass line is easier than in Great Balls of Fire: Part 1 and closer to what Jerry Lee Lewis actually does on his recordings.
Be sure and watch how my right hand embellishes the basic C, F and G chords in the bridge with a standard blues lick. (Although its very fast here, the lick is broken down on other videos on the blog).
Another key lesson is to thicken up any melody you play by doubling the notes in two hands, or even playing octaves in one or both hands.
*My health is doing much better, thank you all so much for all the great comments and get well soon messages! It really made my day! I have ulcerative colitis which can be very debilitating.
*This was made thanks to a a paid request!!! It received priority over the list of “suggested” requests for video lessons.
This is the first piano lesson in the chords 101 video component of the course.
In this video, we go over everything you need to know about half steps and whole steps.
This is one of the first theory concepts you should really learn on piano. Because then we will be able to count out chords and scales with whole and half steps on the piano.
Practice finding half steps and whole steps from every key like I do in the video.
Here are a few examples below:
C to D = whole step
C to C# (sharp) = half step
B to C = half step
