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Author Archives: Francesco L'Erario

Piano, the thumb passage technique (part 2) and music reading in bass clef 2

The first exercise to learn the thum passage

In the last lesson we learned in-depth how to use the thumb passage technique.
Today we will concentrate on the ‘return of the third’ and in particular how to use the third finger passing over the first.

Moreover, all the phases of the passage technique will be seen through lateral images in order for you to see how this must be done.

Perhaps, the most important aspect of the lesson is made up of the exercise shown in the video which allows you to put into practice all that you have learnt.

At the end of the lesson you will find some music reading lessons in bass clef.

N.B The introductive video with explanation of music reading exercise in bass cleff. Please see link below:

Introduction of music reading in bass clef

Learning material of this lesson

6 videos	19 mins
1. How to study correctly the thumb passage technique	4m 14s
2. How to carry out the passage of third finger	3m 31s
3. Lateral shot n.1	1m 28s
4. Lateral shot n.2	1m 42s
5. Thumb passage exercise for right hand	3m 41s
6. Thumb passage exercise for left and hands together.	4m 25s
+ 1 pdf file
+ 6 audio files

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Strong beat and weak beat, downbeat and upbeat: let’s define these concepts clearly

Strong beat and weak beat

Rhythm is an essential element of music.
For this reason it is necessary to understand how it is really structured and how it gives music the feature of movement.

Today we will go more in-depth into this concept and introduce some fundamental concepts including:

what are downbeat and upbeat
what are rhythmic accents
what distinguishes strong beat from weak beat
why strong beat is so important in melody and harmony

Learning material of this lesson

5 videos	20 mins
1. Why music is motion	2m 54s
2. What are downbeat and upbeat	1m 51s
3. Binary, ternary and quaternary rhythmn	3m 21s
4. Rhythmic accents: strong beat and weak beat	4m 28s
5. Two considerations about the importance of strong beat	7m 27s

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How to build the harmonic structure of a piece (part 8)

Building chord progrssions in the extended key

In the last lesson we learned the fundamental lesson which allows to build chord progressions with chords of the natural minor scale.
Today, we will put this into practice through several examples on the piano.

In particular we will learn:

to use the chords of the extended key according to their function
to build chord progressions using extended key chords
which are the most effective inversions in this key
use the lowered sixth degree also in the extended key

After this lesson you will be able to move around the world of minor keys with ease and compose music pieces with effective harmony.

Learning material of this lesson

4 videos	26 mins
1. A simple and rapid way to pass from natural minor scale to the extended key and find all the chords.	4m 59s
2. Examples of chord progressions in the extended key	8m 08s
3. How to use inversions in the extended key	5m 49s
4. We learn to use the lowered sixth degree also in the extended key	6m 49s

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Piano, the thumb passage technique (part 1) and music reading in bass clef 1

How to play a succession of more than 5 notes

Today, we will start a very important subject – the thumb passage technique.

This is a fundamental piano technique which will allow you to carry out succession of more than 5 notes. It makes up the basis to learning scales!

However this technique must be learned immediately and in the correct way.
Very often, people who start learning the piano on their own do not go through this passage correctly.
This causes a series of problems which are difficult to resolve, so today we will see in-depth how to carry out the thumb passage technique correctly.

Furthermore, we will start music reading in bass clef through specific exercises which can be printed out along with the audio files.
Have a good lesson!

Learning material of this lesson

6 videos	18 mins
1. How to play a succession of more than 5 notes	3m 01s
2. The thumb passage technique and how not to carry it out	3m 38s
3. First two phases of the technique	3m 17s
4. Third phase of the technique	1m 55s
5. Return of the third finger	1m 19s
6. Introduction of music reading exercises in bass clef	5m 05s
+ 1 pdf file
+ 6 audio files

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How to build the harmonic structure of a piece (part 7)

The extended key

The harmonic progressions built using chords of the natural minor scale have a great charm and allow to obtain very effective harmonic results.

The fascination of this scale is the lack of the leading tone.

Moreover the sequence of chords of this type allows to obtain a very strong sense of ambiguity which has in fact been used by thousands of composers in the past and present.

Today we will see how to learn and build the harmonic structure of a piece using the chords of the natural minor scale.

As you will see, it is not easy to understand the logic of working in this harmonic scope.

Do not worry!

Together, step by step we will see a little trick that allows us to apply all the knowledge we have acquired up to now including the natural minor scale.
This trick consists in the introduction of the extended key.

It is thanks to the extended key that we will be able to build music pieces with vague and fascinating harmonies. This will be done using the chords of the natural minor scale with logic and coherence.

Have a good lesson!

Learning material of this lesson

5 videos	29 mins
1. How we can find the harmonic progressions using the natural minor scale.	4m 08s
2. What is the extended key	7m 43s
3. The harmonic groups of the extended key: the tonic and dominant group	8m 42sec
4. The harmonic groups of the extended key: the subdominant group	4m 32s
5. Some considerations about the extended key	3m 26s
+ 1 pdf files

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The diminished seventh chord: a big harmonic resource

The diminished seventh chord

What is it that makes the diminished seventh chord unique?
Its enormous harmonic flexibility.

This chord built on a minor scale grade by superposing thirds, can be used in many other situations.
It is a wildcard in the world of harmony

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this chord is that it allows us to put into practice everything about enharmonic relation.
As we shall understand in this lesson, the diminished seventh chord is the key to modulate easily, in particular with cases in which this would be very difficult.

In order to understand how all of this is possible and to learn all the characteristics of this chord in-depth, you only have to follow this lesson.

If you have not already done so, I suggest you watch:

Learning material of this lesson

7 videos	40 mins
1. Leading tone seventh chord and half-diminshed seventh chord	4m 12s
2. The diminished seventh chord	9m 26s
3. Why the diminished seventh chord has such a strong tension	4m 42s
4. Extended use of the chord	5m 30s
5. The case of third minors: any part we look at it, the chord is exactly the same	5m 32s
6. How enharmonic relation allows the change of the chord	5m 30s
7. The diminished seventh chord: not only one, but… four different chords	5m 34s

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How to build the harmonic structure of a piece (part 6)

The bass motion

From the start of these lessons, we have stressed how the secret of obtaining a good chord progression is to use all the chord features with the right mix of balance and variety.

Naturally to do this is not simple especially if we do not know the things seen in the previous lessons.

Today we will speak about another very important feature of the chords and try to understant how to use it in the right way.

The most important thing to note is that this feature allows us to introduce a very fascinating topic:

The emotional impact of chords.

Moreover, the moment we are aware of this feature we can decide to use either certain chords or a chord progression in order to convey to the listener emotional impact.

However, this is not the only thing which you will learn in the lesson of today.

Through several examples on the piano, we will learn in detail the bass motion ( intending the general bass note which may be an electric bass or a double bass) in a way to obtain the best possible result.

In order to learn all of this, you only need to follow the videolesson!

Learning material of this lesson

5 videos	33 mins
1. The new features of the chords which we can vary	3m 24s
2. How to alternate ‘different type’ of chords	8m 25s
3. How to create different harmonic areas	9m 25s
4. The importance of the bass motion in the choice of harmony	7m 58s
5. Introduction of harmonic structure with the natural minor scale	4m 19s

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The 52 essential music reading exercises (part 6)

More complex exercises

Today we will conclude the lessons on the study of fundamental music reading exercises.

We will do this with some exercises which begin to be more complex. In fact we will put together everything that we have learned up to now:

Read notes of different pitch and duration
Carrry out disjunct motions to different extents
Mix different figures (minime, crotchet, quaver, semi quaver)
Read groups of semiquavers with disjunct motions

Without realizing you have progressively learned to read music using basic rhythmic figures.

You can immediately apply all this in order to read music and play it on your instrument

Now you are ready to take a new step: to learn new and more complex rhythmic figures.

Learning material of this lesson

Video Introduction to exercises
+ 1 pdf file
+ 7 audio files

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The leading tone seventh chord: here is the chord that allows your music to have a magical atmosphere

How to use the leading tone seventh chord

Among the seventh chords, the leading tone seventh chord is maybe the most fascinating.
It is in fact a chord with a very particular atmosphere and difficult to define just as it is usually difficult to define music.

Today we will get to know in-depth the leading seventh chord in order for you to use it correctly in your composition.
Here are some of the things you will learn in this lesson:

How to resolve the leading seventh chord

How to get the most out of inversions

Should we use the passing seventh?

The direct and indirect resolution

Before introducing the leading seventh chord, we will conclude dominant seventh by looking at when it is best to use it and in which musical situation it gives the best results.

Learning material of this lesson

5 videos	31 mins
1. When to use dominant seventh chord and why it has a strong tension	4m 45s
2. Seventh chords on the seventh degree	4m 13s
3. The leading tone seventh chord and how to play it at the piano	4m 41s
4. Resolutions of leading tone seventh chord	7m 51s
5. Inversions of leading tone seventh chord	10m 04s

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How to build the harmonic structure of a piece (part 5)

The harmonic structure of a piece in minor key

In the lesson today we are going to look at an extremely important aspect:

How to build the harmony of a music piece with chords on the harmonic minor scale.

One of the main faults of people when starting to put into practice the concepts of harmony is to concentrate principally on major keys, leaving out other possibilites offered by the world of minor harmonic scale.

In this lesson you will learn how to move around in this new world. We will speak of various things:

– How to use functional harmony on harmonic minor scale
– Build harmonic progressions obtaining balance and harmony
– Which inversions should be used more frequently on harmonic scale?
– How to obtain very interesting musical results using harmonic patterns

Learning material of this lesson

5 videos	37 mins
1. We build harmonic progressions using a harmonic minor scale	10m 16s
2. How to use effectively harmonic patterns	8m 10s
3. The seventh degree chord (minor harmonic scale)	6m 29s
4. Other ways of using inversions in harmonic minor scale	8m 59s
5. Which other chord characteristics can be varied?	3m 35s

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