Piano Chords & Progressions:: The Secret Backdoor to Exciting Piano Playing!

This man is a genius. I just received this book, but I can already see how unbelievably easy he makes it to learn, not just how to play a song, but how to learn every chord there is to learn, or more than you will ever need, in record time!Even though I have only just started on the first chord or two, I can see that just by the instructions - along with the pictures of exactly where to place your hands on the keyboard, plus how the notes appear on the music sheet, he very slyly teaches you how to actually read music - and the bass clef (which is the big bad problem about reading music in the first place) if you only will stick with it.And why wouldn't you? Most of us may not follow through completely and literally learn every chord there is to learn, but very few people will ever need to do that, or even want to.But just by repetition, and hammering into your brain over and over again exactly how to play any particular chord - how to place your fingers - and the relationship between chords within a given key (which I didn't have any concept of, whatsoever), but I can see how it all fits together, and will help us to get it all much more easily into our mind, and be much better able to understand it all.Inversions are a case in point: I only vaguely realized that you could make a chord that should sound the same if you had a note an octave lower (or higher) than normal, but he explains how each chord can be inverted three different ways, and it all adds up to making it easier to go from one chord to another, but that as long as you're playing the right notes, whether they're on the top or the bottom is of no consequence.I have bought many music books over the years, and I'm sure that if you applied yourself, you could actually learn from all of them, but let's face it: Learning to play music is extremely complicated, at best, and you must have a strong desire to succeed.Plus, it helps if you have an instructor who knows how to take the mystery away from the whole process, and actually simplify it to a point where you can absorb what you're trying to learn, and he has succeeded brilliantly in doing this.Of course, it's easy for me to say (not having done it yet) but there was once a time, back in the day, when I first bought a piano and started taking lessons, the method that the teacher started me on was very similar to the "three-fingered chord with the left hand, and single-note melody with the right hand" that the "Piano Guy" on TV advocates.At that time, I thought that I was being short-changed, or that she didn't make any attempt to actually teach me to read music correctly, and that what she was teaching me was a "short-cut" method - designed to produce relatively quick results, but would flatten out very quickly, and not enable me to actually learn to read music, and I would be stuck with only very simple tunes.But what I have discovered is that there now is virtually no limit to the songs you can learn; almost every song that has ever been written is now available in a "fake book," with both the lyrics and the music and chords written down.I have since learned that many former music students may have learned to read music very well, but that they had no idea whatsoever of how to actually play anything that wasn't on a sheet of music in front of them.Scott Houston, the "Piano Guy," says that almost all professional musicians (working musicians - like at clubs, etc - and not symphony orchestra musicians) use this "fake book" method, which means basically chords with the left hand, and improvise on the melody with the right hand, as well as using chords with the right hand, (once you learn how) and you can get to where you sound as if you know what you're doing.And let's face it; the sound is everything. That's what music is all about - very transitory - comes and goes in a flash, and if you sound good, you're a hero, but if you sound like a klutz, you don't impress anyone. At least favorably.So evidently, knowing how to read music is not necessarily a plus, because so many former piano students say the same thing; that if it's not written down on paper, they have no idea how to play it.But, as Scott says, you do have to know how to at least read and play the melody line, or the right hand, because the left hand is basically the chords, which we are learning in this book.It's usually a song I already know, so all I have to do is find the right key, and learn the chords for that key, and play the melody I'm already familiar with, and I should be home free.And what really excites me is that it's not just simple tunes, either: Any song, no matter how sophisticated or complex, if it's something you like and want to play, no matter how many chord changes there are, it's just a matter of learning all the chords and playing it.That's what turned me on so much: I didn't realize that they have progressed so far with the fake books, and that there are so many incredibly beautiful and professional sounding chords, to play some of the most beautiful music ever written, and that, once we actually learn the chords, and how to play them, and can identify them on sight, it is a fantastic thought to realize that virtually any piece of music that we have heard in our life, we can either find the words and music in a fake book or get it off of the internet, so that anything we want to play, we can learn it, and do it!And, as if that weren't enough - we can learn how to transpose it to our key, and be able to sing it without screeching and ruining your voice, but have it right in a comfortable key for us to sing.What is the world coming to!That's the point I want to get to - and I do believe that this book is going to be the vehicle that will enable me to finally do it.His methods seem pretty fool-proof to me; just learn how to make the chord, and then repeat it enough times until you actually know it and don't have to think about it, or wonder how you're supposed to make any chord, because you've done it so many times before.And that's where the work comes in. I don't think anybody really objects to working at trying to learn something, if they can see that what they are doing is actually accomplishing their objective.I think the reason that most people who attempt to learn to play music just drop out, is not because they've lost interest in music, but because they find it too hard to learn.And a big part of the problem is probably because they weren't being taught in a way that was actually understandable, and which showed any actual promise for future improvement.But the bottom line is that you still have to make the effort, and it's still going to take some time, and nothing happens overnight.You may have all kinds of music trapped inside your head, which you're just dying to be able to express, but we can't project our beautiful music creations through wishful thinking. We have to learn how to make it happen.BTW: Don't be discouraged by some of the reviews that state that there is something wrong with the quality of this book. It is just as good as any other book you might buy, and is certainly not "amateurish," or bush-league, at all.True, it isn't designed to lay flat on a music stand, and it isn't 8X10, but I copied the first two pages, with the book open, and it turned out fine, and I can stand that up on my music stand, and that's plenty enough for me to learn. Those two pages show the 12 major chords, and everything I need to know about how to play them is right there on those pages, and that will keep me occupied for quite a while, I'm sure, even though, after I've learned them, he says that we will be able to go through them all without stopping.And that means, not just 12 chords, but 144 chords! Which includes all of the major, minor, augmented, and diminished piano chords, plus each one inverted three different ways!When - and if - we ever get to that point, we will most assuredly know how to play anything and everything we will want to play on the piano, except for the fantastically complex classical pieces that the old masters wrote.But you just know that's going to take awhile.And, I didn't have to enlarge the print. It's perfectly large enough to read, even in the original page-sized print.

Very tiresome writing style. The author spends way too much time and excess yak yak trying to be cute and fails. Nothing new or exciting in these "lessons," and difficult to read the tiny print, let alone practice at the piano, since the book is not bound in such a way that can be used in that manner. Waste of money.

The book provides no "backdoor" to piano playing and offers no useful instruction of any kind. The title would lead one to believe there are techniques to enhance one's playing, but there is no such information. There are no "secrets" or "exciting" chord progressions.If you've studied piano for any length of time, even weeks (as an adult), then you've probably already been exposed to chords. And sooner or later if you have a decent teacher, you'll cover the chords in this book in the same way they are presented here.The book is a collection of "all" of the piano chords one will typically play, along with their "usual" sequence. But this is no secret - chord progressions are often given in their typical progressions, such as blues, jazz, rock, gospel and so forth. Not to say this is how this book does it but I am saying this book does not do it any better.The worst part of the book is that it is in fact a book. It's 6 x 9 bound book - yes, 6 x 9 - when was the last time you put a paperback book on your piano and were able to play along.The font looks like it's ten point, which is small for a book, very small for a music book. The musical staffs are also small and there is not much chance you can clip this book open on your piano and follow along. It's just not made to be played as well as read.It's a book you'll have to read, then decide which chords you want to hear, then you'll have to go over just that page.I said the worst part of the book was the small size and binding, but I consider the language used in the book even more annoying than the binding. It reads like a high school pep rally.Every paragraph is Wow this or Amazing that and Way To Go and this and that is the Best and Most Useful and on and on. It's like something from the 1930's.I dislike the book's format, and the how the author presented the information. However, the information is accurate and would be useful in a format that was easier to digest and without all of the fluff and superfluous writing.

Great little book that covers everything a recreational pianist wants or needs to know. A few mistakes or omissions but they are easily spotted and corrected. Best read while at the keyboard. The repetition helps to bring all the necessary technical content to the forefront.

Written in easy to understand language great for someone who wants to learn the theory but in an informal way. I also bought this ebook as a normal book as well

Muito superficial. Há algumas dicas interessantes, mas não o suficiente para ser chamado de livro um de harmonia. Não recomendo.

Just started but looks promising.

An interesting and at time amusing anecdote from a professional musician. It also contains value in the simple presentation and logic of its presentation.