Fast Piano Lessons Blog

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.
• These notes are borrowed from the blues scale.