A song is defined by the interval between notes

Today we'll be looking at intervals and how you can easily play songs you like from memory with them.

As explained in this week's video, a song is not defined by its first note, but rather by the interval between notes.  An interval is the space between each key.  If you move to the left or to the right by one key, it is referred to as a semitone.

So what do I mean by "a song is not defined by its first note, but rather by the interval between notes"? Let me show you:

-Think of a song you like

-Sing it

-now remember how you started the song (i.e. the first note)

-play the official song while singing your version

Odds are that they sounded slightly different.  This is because you were singing in a different key.  The link on the word "key" and the theory behind it is a rabbit hole you do not want wish to follow yet, unless you're a curious Alice, and feel like getting a headache. All you need to know for now is that even though you were in a different key, you were able to sing the song because you were singing the right intervals between each note. 

What does this mean for you?  Think of a song you like and sit down at a piano.  Try playing with one hand the melody you hear in your head.  Although it might not be in the same key as the original, it's certainly the same song.

Take a break from boring music - Game of Thrones time!

In my past few blogs, we looked at the meaning of music and started learning some of the fundamentals.  My advice at this point is to not get bored.  If all you're doing are exercises, you'll get bored and leave music.  Don't do that.  Find a song you like and try to learn it.  If it becomes tiresome, move on to a new one.  I found that being excited about what I was playing was what kept me going this entire time.

That being said, this week I have something special to offer: Ever felt like learning the Game of Thrones opening theme?  If the answer is yes, then you're in luck.  Check out the video posted above and follow along (warning: an extreme urge to watch all four seasons may appear after watching this video).

If the answer is no, then I feel bad for you and you live a sad life.

As I explain in the video, there are ways to make songs easier and harder.  For instance, a lot of people have a hard time having each hand do a separate movement on the piano.  A potential solution to this is to move your hands at a similar tempo.  It may sound a little choppy and blockish, but at this point, it's better than nothing.

If multitasking is not an issue, then you implement different tempos on each hand to add a continuous flow of music.

Let me know in the comments section if you want more of these types of videos!

Starting to create your own music

This week we’re going to look at actually creating our own music.  A lot of people that I have talked to have thought that it must be a masterpiece with many fluid parts, such as having multiple rhythms on the go to be considered music.  Some of it is, but accompaniment alone is also essential, and particularly easy to play.  

For instance, check out Eminem’s classic “Lose Yourself”.  If possible, listen to the piano and bass notes, and hopefully you’ll come to understand that such a vital part of the song is simply a few notes repeated multiple times.

In my video posted above, the simple melody can be broken into two different parts.  Here is a quick break down:

Part 1 Right hand: Hit the two keys on the outside of the two black keys – specifically “C” and “E” over and over again at any desired tempo (they are both listed as #1 located in the middle of the piano in the video).

Part 2 Left hand: This is like your bass.  The cool part about this is that you can play it alone or in accompaniment with other melodies.  In this case, if you wish to mimic the video, match the tempo of your right hand or get creative and make a new one that harmonizes itself well with it.  The notes you’ll want to hit are “A” (#1 in the video), “C” (#2 in the video), and “G” (#3 in the video) on the left end of the key board.

This is a meant to be a quick demonstration that simplicity can lead to new levels of musical beauty, either in aiding other parts of the same song, or by standing out on its own.

Please leave a comment below if you have a hard time understanding or wish for some of the mechanics to be further explained.

There's no way it's that easy... is it?

Last week we asked ourselves what art truly was, if whether or not it needs to be complicated to be appreciated, and if anyone could be an artist. For those who didn't read the previous posts, the answers were: Anything, no, and yes.

This week I will try to reinforce the notion that composing/playing music is A LOT easier than it seems. That being said, this post will be full of videos demonstrating the similarity between songs, and the facility to write one's own music.

Take the "Axis of Awesome" for instance: They take four chords and demonstrate how many songs can be played with just those. Check out the video here.

Other perfect examples are the DJ Earworm mash-ups (and similar compilations from other artists), in which multiple songs are fused together to make up a single song. One comes to quickly realize that there are common themes in the music and that once its discovered, it is not difficult to follow suit. On the bright side, figuring out the formula to creating good music is actually rather simple and explained clearly by YouTube Brett Domino. Check it out.

Finally, check out Rob Paravonian's comedy sketch about Pachelbel' Canon, a classical masterpiece written in the 17th century, and how modern music follows with similar chords.

All of this goes to show that most of today's music is fairly simple and that (almost) anyone can compose/play something similar.

Next week we'll start writing our own song and we'll add both a creative spin and generic feature to it so that I can demonstrate music's simplicity.