I've attached below my harmonic analysis of it. Hit me up with private questions or we can talk about this sort of thing in a one-on-one lesson.įirst step - what key are we in? Well, we are sort of shifting between B major and then the relative minor (a 6th up), G# minor. Don't worry so much if this is too complex, see what you can understand. So let's talk chord function for Stevie Wonder's "As." This one isn't so straight-forward, that's why I thought it might be a good one to talk down.
I started doing this way later in the game than I wish I had and I won't let you make the same mistake. This will help you in so many ways - with memorization, with transposing, with learning the way certain chord progressions sound by ear. Think of every chord in terms of its function. You have C major (the I chord), D minor (the ii chord), E minor (the iii chord), F (the IV chord) and so on. With any song you learn, whether it be R&B, jazz, pop, rock, whatever - I can't stress how important it is to know the FUNCTION (roman numerals) of each chord. That's another good one to have under your fingers. Also take note on how on some dominant 7 chords (i.e. It's a classic voicing that you'll see again and again. Once again, as I talked about my previous blog entry about "Let's Groove," many of these chord voicings are Root in the left hand and 7-3-5 in the right hand. When learning "As," here's two things to think about: Tell me what you think of this new split screen MIDI technology I'm experimenting with, so you can get a better idea of what notes I am playing. I start by playing the voicings with some rhythmic embellishment then simplify things by playing as written on the sheet music (below). She recently asked to learn Stevie Wonder's song "As." Needless to say, it didn't take much convincing for us to work on this one.Ĭheck out the video below of me playing the voicings.
NOTEA THAT MAKE UP 9TH AND 11TH CHORDS HOW TO
I am working with an online student where we almost exclusively learn how to play the chords of songs so she can sing along with them.
In fact, teaching my students how to play piano while they sing along is one of my favorite things to do because I know how much joy that can bring. Although you'll probably never hear me doing this in public, I also love to play the chords to his songs and sing along. I love learning to play Stevie songs as much as I love listening to them. From his killer piano/keyboard playing, to his soulful singing, to his unrivaled songwriting, he is a serious triple-threat. Stevie Wonder is without question one of my favorite artists of all-time. Check it out, I don't think you'll be disappointed. So we have a bunch of open sounding fifths and to contrast it we have the bite of the dissonant minor second. But here's where it gets juicy, when we put our hands together we get an interval between the top note of the left hand and the bottom note of the right hand - a super crunchy minor 2nd. Guess what? Two more stacked perfect fifths. In the right hand, we play the b3, b7, and the 11. This makes two stacked perfect fifths, a nice open sound.
In our left hand we play the Root, 5th, and 9th. Where it really starts to get interesting is the voicings, that is, the arrangement or order in which we play those notes. Notes are one thing, those are just the building blocks of the chord. So here are the notes that make up our minor 11 chord: Root b3, 5, b7, 9, & 11, OR in C - C, Eb, G, Bb, D, and F. (Note: Remember 9th, 11th and 13th are just a fancy way of saying the 2nd, 4th, 6th, but that's for another article) If we are still talking Cminor7 that would be a D and an F. This chord uses the 9th and 11th and leaves out the 13th. That covers the plain parts of the chord, but things start to get spicy when we add what are called chord tensions, typically the 9, 11, and 13. For a Cminor7 chord that would be C, Eb, G, Bb. So if we are thinking in terms of a major scale, the 4 notes of a plain old minor 7 chord are the root (1), b3, 5, b7. For those who don't want a fish but want to be taught how to fish, let's talk some theory.Īt it's basics a minor 11 chord contains the notes of a minor 7 chord with some tensions added on. But ever since I heard this voicing I can't get enough!įor those who can't wait to hear and see the specific chord I'm talking about and learn how to play it, check out the video below. Sure, ask me in a couple of years, I'll probably have moved on. It's the minor 11 voicing I'm about to teach you. I know it's a lot to declare something your absolute "favorite" but I must say if someone asked me right now what my favorite chord voicing on the piano is, I wouldn't hesitate.
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