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Illustrated Bass Piano Chords

Bass staff piano chords.

Many new pianists want to ignore the low octaves for as long as possible. Instead, push through to the next playing-level by mastering them! Exercise your bass staff sight-reading & build strength in your left hand by practicing with the new chord diagrams. Image: Darren Hopes/Getty

More on Chords:
Piano Spotlight10

Everyday Piano Cleaning

Wednesday May 22, 2013

When it comes to pianos, cleaning and polishing are two different actions -- polishing should be kept to a bare minimum.

But, a regular cleaning is a good thing, and can help to prevent dust and oil (a dangerous combo for pianos) from building up in between keys or deeper inside the piano body. Learn good habits for cleaning your piano, and keep it looking its best:

 

How to Invert Chords & Identify Them

Wednesday May 22, 2013

Chord inversions and root notes.You won't always be able to identify a chord by looking at its lowest note. Take the C major chord: C - E - G. Suppose you change just one of those note-letters (for example, let's use the notes C - E - A) -- could this still be a C major chord? The answer is no.*

Or, let's jumble up the notes of the real C major chord. Do the notes G - C - E still make a C major chord? Yes!

A triad chord has three building blocks: a root, a third, and a fifth; and the name of the chord itself does not change if its notes are merely ordered differently (continue reading)


* (The notes C - E - A create the 1st inversion of the A minor chord).

Image © Brandy Kraemer

Avoid A Rip-Off on the Piano Sales Floor

Wednesday May 22, 2013

Sales tactics are used in every trade, but the piano's cost and complexity allows some people to take advantage of those not "in-the-know." Don't fall victim:

How to Sit at the Piano

Tuesday May 21, 2013

Piano postureIf you've been to live shows, you've probably noticed a few pianists taking their merry time adjusting their piano benches ...some quite meticulously. This is perfectly acceptable, so don't feel self-conscious if you find yourself having to do so at your piano recital -- you want to be comfortable, flexible, and stable:

Image: Getty Images/Thinkstock

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