Piano Key2

Piano Lesson-II-V-I Progressions In C Major


Let me give you some easy progressions that will help you in your improvisational piano playing!


What is a progression?


A progression is a set of chords played consecutively. Generally, successive chords in a chord progression share some notes, which provides harmonic and linear continuity to a passage.


What is a II-V-I progression?


Is is a chord progression with three chords built on the roots of the second, fifth and first note of a key.


The three roman numerals correspond to the digits 2, 5 and 1. In it’s most basic form the numbers indicate the root of a triad. For example, the roman number I in C-major means a triad built from the note C. This triad consists of the notes C, E and

Piano Lessons and the Importance of Learning Chords and Music Theory
...of study should be repetitive practicing of scales. Soon after, the piano student should start learning how to read music notation beginning with the very simplest notes, key signatures and time signatures before moving on to more advanced ideas.Piano teachers ...
G.



The Roman numeral II in the key of C-major tells you to play a triad built from the notes in the C-major scale beginning with the second note. The notes will be D, F and A.


The Roman numeral V indicates a triad built from the fifth step on the C-scale. The fifth note in the C-scale is G so the triad will include the notes G, B and D.


Piano tab notation


In order to demonstrate the chords I will use a notation suitable for articles sites. First we will look at the middle C. The note C on the middle of the piano keyboard, sometimes near the key hole of some pianos is called C4.


The number 4 indicates that it is

ABC's of the Music Industry
...CD-ROM and DVD), etc.Of course because of the Internet, the rules royalties are changing. Many people now buy their music via the Internet. Just think, no packaging required and no distribution to traditional retail stores needed. Some websites allow customers ...
the C on the fourth octave of the piano. Of course, there are piano keyboards with less keys and less octaves. In this case you have to think of C4 as middle C and nothing else.


Our first piano chord progression


We will start out by playing a progression with the triad chords built on the second, fifth and the first note of the C scale.


LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)


LH: G3 RH: G4 B4 D5 (G major)


LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)


As you might guess LH means left hand and in the Dm chord D3 indicates that you play the note D3 on your piano or keyboard with your left hand at the same time as you play

Left Hand Patterns for New Age Piano
...He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE ...
the right hand notes.


This II-V-I progression in C major is a little bit clumsy. You have to move your fingers a little to much in order to play the chords. We will adjust the G major chord a bit and play the progression in the following manner:


LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)


LH: G3 RH: B3 D4 G4 (G major)


LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)


To make smooth transitions between the piano chords in the II-V-I progression you can change the chords even more. Let’s change the Dm chord to Dm11 and G major to G7.


LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)


LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)


LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)


We might as well change

Piano Class Very Unsatisfactory
...lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a ...
the C major chord to Cmaj7 in order to make the changes smoother.


LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)


LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)


LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)


Finally we will introduce a substitute chord for G. Actually a so called tritone substitution.


This means that instead of a G chord we will use a chord with the root a tritone interval from G, that is three whole steps. Instead of G we will play Db+11.


LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)


LH: Db3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (Db+11)


LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)


This will make the chord changes even smoother, especially the bass notes, and maybe more interesting. You can use this formula, which in the key of

The Absolute Worst Way to Download Music on the Internet
...doing it right. Next thing you know you're cranking your mp3's on your computer you're playing them as loud as you can. Learn how to Download Music with Charles Cruz CEO of Download Music Online (http://www.systemmastery.com/DownloadMusicOnline.html) Educating people on how ...
C means to play Dm, G7 and C, to find many interesting variations on this theme.


It will be a great help for you in piano improvisation to have a working knowledge of the II-V-I progression with variations in different keys because this progression is used in a wide variety of music genres.


Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com




Comments are closed.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.