Why is it that there are only 12 notes used in music? Why not 13 or 14? It comes from the circle of fifths. Much of Western music is built on the relationship between the tonic and the dominant. If we are to work out the dominant of each dominant […]
In this lesson, we discuss a few ways to make playing chords simpler and smoother. First of all, we look at keeping the correct fingers in place to minimise the finger movement. Then we look at how to smoothly transition between different chords, especially when we have difficult chords or […]
The pentatonic scale is often the first scale that beginner guitar students learn. This doesn’t always happen with other instruments and also these scales aren’t necessarily more important than major scales or minor scales. In this video, we look at what makes the pentatonic scale unique, and how it is […]
What do all the letters, numbers, and symbols in chord symbols mean? How do we work out which notes to play? How are chords structured? What are chord symbols? If you’re a beginner guitarist, understanding complex chords can be quite challenging, but all chords are very simple when looked at […]
Why is that even after you’ve learned all the notes to a piece of music, it still doesn’t sound like you want it to? Music is made up of many different elements such as rhythm, dynamics, phrasing and tempo, but most of the time we only focus on one of […]
Why do musicians worry so much about playing wrong notes? Many musicians, especially those who begin improvising with jazz, worry about playing wrong notes. However, there’s no need to worry about playing wrong notes in music. In this video, I use the example of playing the guitar to show how […]
Is it possible to create a perfect piece of music? Is it possible for a performance to be perfect? Perfection is a problem for many musicians, especially those learning an instrument. In this short video, I explore some ideas which relate to perfectionism for musicians. As well as exploring what […]
