Music Rhythm Worksheets

Do you know the correct way to count a musical piece that is in 6/8 format? Do you know the true meaning of the 6 and 8 in this type of piece?

Through my many years of piano teaching, I have had many students tell me that they do not know the difference between music that is in a 6/4 format verses a piece that is in 6/8. In fact, some of these students have been playing music for over 5 years.

Rhythm is the very pulse of all musical composition. If you do not know how to count and keep track of the rhythm, you are limiting yourself to very few musical pieces. Sometimes, a musical piece can have rhythm changes within the same piece.

A good way to improve on your rhythmic understanding is to study a music theory book and work on the exercises. I have reviewed and recommended the following music rhythm worksheets workbook to my private adult students. You should check it out as well.

Another good way to improve on your rhythm is to listen to different pieces and pay close attention to the meter of each piece. Once you are able to distinguish the meter of each piano piece that you hear, you will have developed a good ear and excellent rhythm.

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Correct Fingering For Playing The Piano

I often notice students using awkward fingering when playing piano.Over the past few years, I received many emails inquiring about correct fingering for playing the piano
There is no doubt in my mind this is a topic that interests many beginners and intermediate piano players.

Believe it or not, this is a rather controversial topic.

There are people who strongly believe in proper fingering for piano pieces. There are also those who are firm believers in free-style fingering.

Let me share with you my own perspective on this topic.
Though the length of fingers differ from person to person, we all have thumbs that are shorter than the rest of our fingers.

As a rule (or rule of thumb), the thumb is the strongest finger of all. Thumb, index finger (2nd), and long finger (3rd) are the most used fingers for piano playing. The fourth finger and fifth finger are weaker fingers.

Below are four fingering tips that I have worked up as general rules for your use and information:

1. Never use the thumb to play a black key. The exceptions are a) when you are playing a piece that has all black notes. b) when you are playing a group of keys where there are black and white keys. For example if your right hand is to play Bb, D, and F together in Bb major chord root position,your thumb will play Bb (black note) in this case.
Thumbs are not meant to be used for black key because of its length.The most used fingers for black notes are the 2nd and the 3rd fingers.If you are playing certain scales that start with a black key such as Bb major, Eb major, Ab major, etc. You will use 2nd or 3rd finger to play the first scale note instead of the thumb.

2. When playing melody with the right hand, if there are keys that are out of reach, you may move the hand to play the note. If the key is only a couple steps down from the thumb, you may use the thumb as an anchor and cross the second finger over to reach the note on the left side of the thumb. You do not need to move the hand. Only move the second finger over.
Once the second finger plays the key, the thumb will soon follow to cross over to play other note left of the key. Suggestion: practice the scale well to know what finger to follow.

3. Same rule applies to left hand.

4. Watch other experienced pianists whenever possible, look at their fingering and imitate their movements. I suggest you watch those players who are well trained classically as they have spent many years going through the structured repertoire and virtuoso training that help built a firm foundation.
One important point: The function of good fingering is to ensure smoothness of musical passages.
This is especially important in the piano work of Bach (prelude, fugues, and others) and many Classical composers. Very often, a slight change in piano fingering could cause a disruption of the whole phrasing. For improvisational and accompaniment pieces, strict piano fingering becomes less critical. In fact, every time I improvise I use different fingering combination. This is because my mood and rhythm change when I improvise, this also affects the combination of fingers I use.
If you pay attention to musical pieces edited by different editors, you will notice a change of fingering as well. I have noticed that the same "Sonatina" piece composed by Clementi have different fingering suggestions under different editors. Some editors use the 2nd finger more often, while others choose the 3rd finger.
In conclusion: if you are improvising, pay less attention to which finger you are using. As long as you abide by the above rules and ensure a smooth flow of musical passage, you are fine.
If you get too critical about fingering, it distracts your musical thoughts and flow. After all, it is music that you are conveying. Piano playing gets rather complicated when you are trying to balance both hands, keep a steady tempo (rhythm), make sure the pedals are going in at the right time, listening to the music,.....


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New Age Piano Scores

New Age Piano has recently become a very popular subject in the music world. People have increasingly been searching for sites that give out free New Age piano scores. Why has this type of music grown so much in popularity? Why is New Age music so popular today?

New Age is soft and peaceful music that promotes feelings of relaxation. This music is also known to enhance positive feelings. In this day and age, many people are looking for an escape – and New Age music is the perfect way to achieve it. This type is music is frequently used in stress management positions, such as Yoga, massage therapy, and meditation. It creates a tranquil environment, and often includes sounds of nature such as water flowing, birds chirping, or waves crashing. The melodies are often very repetitive to give a mesmerizing and soothing feeling. Songs that drag on for over half an hour are very common.

New Age style music is as much enjoyable to play on the piano as it is to listen to it. It will put you in a hypnotic state, even as you are focusing on playing it correctly. There are many sites dedicated to New Age Piano Scores, and below we have included a few sites that we find very beneficial for piano players interested in this subject.

When I play new age music does not mean I belong to the new age movement. In fact this type of music can also be referred to the contemporary classical music. They are very beautiful and relaxing to listen to.

You can download some of my new age piano scores.

Here is a relaxing new age piano music:

Piano Playing Techniques

I recently came across a video of a pianist who was improvising
on the Oprah Winfrey show. I think you should take a look at the
video.




What was interesting about this video was Oprah's comment -
she said, "Improvisation is a gift."

I don't know what you think about this comment, but I certainly do
not agree with it. I have realized, through my own piano playing
and teaching, that improvisation can be cultivated and developed
over a period of time. In fact, I receive emails from many of you
telling me how much your improvisational techniques have
improved after taking our piano course on improvisation.

Head over to watch this video now.


You will see that she improvised beautifully. It certainly took her
many years to develop the kinds of styles and techniques that
allow her to do so effortlessly, but, it was a skill she developed
through practice and not a gift she was born with.

The fact is you too can become a great improviser with practice
and the right learning tools - The Definitive Piano Improvisation
Home Study Course (http://www.playpianotips.com/DVD) is one of
those tools.


Remember--you must also practice, applying the knowledge you
acquire from the course is the secret to mastering your new
found skills.

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Where Do I Find Piano Tabs?

Piano Tabs And Where To Find Them

Tablature (also known as “tabs”) is a form of music notation. Instead of telling the player which pitch or note to play, tabs generally instructs the player as to where to place their fingers. Tablature is most commonly used for the guitar or other fretted stringed instruments. Since tabs are typically made for stringed instruments, it might be confusing when you are searching for piano tabs. When reading a piano tab, it often differs from guitar tabs because it will give you notes; not the position of the fingers. Notes that are paired together means that you play them as a chord. You should be able to recognize the keys of the piano, and you will do just fine. Another way piano tabs are written is through the names of the actual chords. Of course, it is necessary to have a basic comprehension of piano chords to use this type of tablature.

For a wide variety of popular hits, I would suggest http://www.pianotabs.net/. This site has instructions on how to read and write tabs, as well as an archive full of hits that date from the 80’s until today. These tabs give the name of the note played.

Another good site to go to is http://www.911tabs.com/piano_tabs/. This site also has a large archive of recent hits as well as older hits. It differs from the first site because it gives the lyrics as well as the chord names (as opposed to just the notes).

You can also go to my piano lesson's website and find out how to form piano chords.

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Apologize-Timberland Piano Tabs

Ok, here is a place where you can get the sheet music or piano tabs for Apologize One Republic or Apologize-Timberland.

Apologize One Republic Sheet Music

Make sure to type in the song's name.
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As a pianist and piano instructor, I often wonder why people use "piano tabs" when they are looking for piano chords? Could it be that most of these piano players are also guitar players and have been used to playing guitar tabs and thought the piano chords are also called piano tabs?

Here is another video on Apologize One Republic

Portland Or Piano Lessons

If you live in Portland (or anywhere else in the USA) and are looking for piano lessons - the best place is to look up on MTNA website. The Music Teacher National Association provides a list of certified music teachers in your area.
I personally do not recommend you just find a piano player in your neighborhood and ask for private piano lessons. A trained piano teacher is extremely important if you want to take your playing to the next level. A piano instructor that is interested in your growth and understand your needs is important.
If you are interested in piano lessons on dvd, we have a list of courses for you to choose from.
Piano sight reading
Piano Lessons - Piano Chords
Piano Accompaniment
Evangelistic Piano - Piano Hymn Arrangement
Play Jazz Piano

Free Piano Sheet Music Apologize One Republic

I guess this is one of the most popular music of the year.
Here is a video I uploaded from youtube - over 19 millions viewing, quite a record.




What do you think?

You think you can play this music without piano sheet music Apologize One Republic?

I will post the piano sheet music of Apologize One Republic in the next couple days.

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Piano Sales Overall Going Down

I recently talked to a piano store owner and noticed the same trends. Consumers are holding back on purchasing big ticket items such as acoustic piano or grand piano, instead, there are purchasing keyboard and digital piano. These items cost less and are more affordable.

What is sad about this - people are willing to spend thousands of dollars purchasing big screen tv and luxury items, yet there are not willling to invest time and money into music education overall. US overall music sight reading knowledge and classical music appreciation has gone downhill in the recent years.

Ask any pianist and you will know that digital piano and keyboards are completely different from acoustic piano - you can never get the same touch and tones from these keyboards.

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Piano Lessons - How To Play Greensleeves

Here are a couple piano lessons on playing Greensleeves using left hand arrangement techniques and tremolo. The secret to better piano playing is knowing how to harmonize the melody with different chord. Usually 1-4-5 chord will harmonize any song well. However, if you are thinking of creating spectacular arrangement, you will need to use chord substituition.


Piano Lesson 1





Piano Lesson 2

You can also download piano sheet music

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Chord Pano Lesson

Piano chords are vital part of piano playing; they are used in music to enhance the overall sound of a melody. Many piano players struggle with finding the right chords to play when it comes to complimenting a melody.

It is difficult to match which chords go with what melody, but this takes time and patience. It will be a trial and error effort when it comes to this type of improvisation on the piano. However, this talent will become easier and easier for anyone who practices on a consistent basis.

When I first began teaching myself improvisation techniques, I would start by learning a simple melody line. Once I knew the melody line with my right hand, I would experiment with my left hand to find the best sounding octave. An octave, in this case, are two of the same notes
played with the 1st and 5th fingers of the left hand (C and C, D and D, etc). Once I found the right octave progression, I would go back in and experiment more with each octave; I would change it from an octave to a chord by experimenting using different notes, keeping the base note of the octave the same.
This technique works, but it also takes a lot of time and practice.

Some of the most effective chords to use when harmonizing a melody is the I, IV or V piano chords. These piano chords seem to match up in every key you are playing in. Try experimenting using these three chords for any given melody. If one does not sound fitting, then try another. Let me know if this chord piano lesson work! This technique and chord piano lesson helps me a lot.
Experimentation is a key component when learning improvisation techniques!

A good basis of chord piano knowledge helps a lot when it comes to matching chords with melodies. It will help when it comes to choosing a primary chord (such as a major chord) or a color chord (such as Major and Minor 7th chords). When your hands can move quickly from one chord to another chord using primary and secondary (also known as color) chords, then you will find it easier to match any chord progression to a melody.

When playing chords in replacement for the melody line, the top note of the chord has to be the note of the melody. It is simple to do this by using chord inversions. For example, if you are playing a C major chord, then the chord will be CEG. But now let’s add the fact that the melody note that accompanies this chord is an E. To invert this chord so the E is at the top, all you have to do is take the top G and move it to the octave below. This will create an inverted C chord that looks like this: GCE.

So when it comes to chord and melody piano playing, the most important thing to remember is that most people won’t get the progressions right the first time. It takes experimentation and persistence. If you are serious about improvising in this fashion, it would be a great idea to
develop a solid knowledge of chord piano theory – it will make things so much easier.


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Free Chinese Piano Music Sheet

Below is a series of Free Chinese Piano Music Sheet that you can print off:

Seashore Collection II Piano Music Sheet

The Dream of Sakura Piano Music Sheet

Sunrise Flower Piano Sheet Music

Here is another good resource to locate Chinese piano music sheet

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Mastering Piano Playing

Music is a universal language.

We all know that in order to master a language, one needs to learn how to read and speak in that language fluently.

When I teach my piano students how to play music, I stress the importance of music reading and the music making processes. A piano player who is proficient in playing by ear but has limited abilities in reading music is considered "music illiterate." A pianist who is a strong sight reader but cannot improvise is also lacking the ability required to make beautiful music.

Most children learn how to speak and understand language before they learn how to read it. Toddlers learn how to talk by improvising a sentence as well as imitating others.

Very often, you may not even understand their "child talk." However, after a period of time, when they have acquired new skills and have practiced, you will notice children making huge progress on their language skills and you will be able to communicate with them in simple sentences.

I teach my younger children/beginners how to make music by simply playing notes on the keyboard without correcting the music they made. I also let them imitate what I am doing on the piano. The process of improvising is sometimes more important than the note reading process as it opens up the potential for creativity.

Some piano players struggle with the music making process initially. A great tool to aid the inexperienced improviser is to use rhythm accompaniment. Many modern keyboards come equipped with a rhythm accompaniment feature. One could select any style such as Latin, bossa-nova, or swing jazz before improvising. The rhythm accompaniment helps the player set a steady rhythm and provides a band-like playing environment. This tool is especially helpful for those who are weak in rhythm coordination.

If you have never experienced the joy of piano improvisation, now is the time to get started. Click the following to learn more about
Chord Piano improvisation and

Jazz Improvisation

If you are a beginner in piano sight reading, you will benefit from piano sight reading course

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