Category: Music

Hi folks,

In this post I’ll talk about Tonic Sol-fa.

Tonic sol-fa is a tool for teaching sight singing, invented boy Sarah Ann Glover.

It is based on movable do solfège.

You use it to learn the notes of the major scale, which is one of the most commonly used music scales, especially in Western music.

There are 7 notes in the major scale in the key of C. C major scale is the easiet scale to learn because it has all white keys.

The notes of the C major scale are C D E F G A and B.

The names we give to these keys in tonic sol-fa are:

do re mi fa sol la and ti

or in shorter form we call them:

d r m f s l t

To remember these you can use the song Do-Re-mi

It goes as follows:

Doe – a dear, a female dear (do)
Ray – a drop of golden sun (re)
Me – a name I call myself (mi)
Far – a long long way to run (fa)
Sew – a needle pulling thread (sol)
La – a note to follow so (la)
Tea – a drink with jam and bread (ti)
and that brings us back to to Doe.

See Do-Re-Mi video below:

The solfège syllables for all notes of the scale are shown below:

Major scale degree	Mova. do solfège syllable	# of half steps from Do	Trad. pron.
1	Do	0	/doʊ/
Raised 1	Di	1	/diː/
Lowered 2	Ra	1	/ɹɑː/
2	Re	2	/ɹeɪ/
Raised 2	Ri	3	/ɹiː/
Lowered 3	Me (& Ma)	3	/meɪ/ (/mɑː/)
3	Mi	4	/miː/
4	Fa	5	/fɑː/
Raised 4	Fi	6	/fiː/
Lowered 5	Se	6	/seɪ/
5	Sol	7	/soʊ/
Raised 5	Si	8	/siː/
Lowered 6	Le (& Lo)	8	/leɪ/ (/loʊ/)
6	La	9	/lɑː/
Raised 6	Li	10	/liː/
Lowered 7	Te (& Ta)	10	/teɪ/ (/tɑː/)
7	Ti	11	/tiː/

That’s all for now. Till next time, happy music learning.

References

Tonic sol-fa. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonic_sol-fa
Solfège. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solf%C3%A8ge

Hi folks,

In this article I go over how to record yourself playing a piano from overhead using a smartphone camera.

I got inspiration by watching this very useful video on YouTube:

The EASIEST Way to Record Piano OVERHEAD (with a PHONE!📱)

All I had to do was follow the instructions there and I could get mine set up.

The four components needed are

1. A smartphone with a camera
2. Tripod boom mic stand
3. Phone adapter
4. Ball head adapter

Setup Procedure

1. Set up the mic stand
2. Attach the ball head adapter to the mic stand
3. Attach the phone adapter to the ball head adapter
4. Mount your phone into the phone adapter.

Below are Amazon links to the last 3 components should you wish to purchase them.

GLEAM Microphone Stand – Tripod Boom Mic Stand with Carrying Bag (Tripod)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082285YXD?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

H&S Mobile Phone Tripod Mount Holder Adapter Bracket Smartphone Clamp for Ring Light iPhone Samsung 360° Rotation
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DZHXPL6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Neewer Video Camera Digital Recorder Adapter with Mini Ball Head-360 Degree Pan and 180 Degree Tilt Movement for Connecting 1/4-inch Thread Camera, Camcorder, Recorder with 5/8-inch Mic Stand or Boom
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07571NL5G?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

That’s all for now. Till next time, happy music production.

Hi Folks,

Here’s a quick interesting observation about circle of fourths and the number system in music.

If you move in fourth intervals in a given key, you will follow the pattern:

7 – 3 – 6 – 2 – 5 – 1 – 4 – ♭7 – ♭3 – ♭6 – ♭2 – ♭5

and then the circle repeats.

This means if you start at the 7th tone of the scale, e.g. B in the key of C, then move by a fourth interval, you will reach the 3rd tone of the scale, e.g. E in the key of C, etc.

Thus by memorizing this number pattern, you have a way of knowing where the next key falls on the scale when you move by a fourth.

That’s all for now. Till next time, happy music learning.

Hi folks,

In this post I share a new song I just composed. It’s been on my mind for a few days so I decided to record it once and for all and share.

It’s a song I created to reflect my gratitude to God for being so good to me so far.

Here’s the recording.

The lyrics of the song is:

My God is good
Every day
My God is good
Every day my God is good
My God is good

God is full of grace
Every day
He makes me to succeed
In what I lay my hands upon
God is full of grace

God is merciful
Every day
He forgives me of my sings
Every day he’s merciful
God is merciful

My God is good
Every day
My God is good
Every day my God is good
My God is good

Here’s how you play the song on the piano.

First, it’s in the key of A major.

On the left hand you essentially play 2 chords: Amajor7 and Gmajor7 both in root position, sometimes with a run up to the chord

Each bar has 4 beats

It’s played as

Amajor7 Amajor7 Amajor7 (2 beats)
Amajor7 Amajor7 Amajor7 (2 beats)
…

i.e. the third instance of the chord is played for 2 beats.

So in short you play a 1 major7 chord and ♭7 major7 chord

Verse 1

Voice	My	God is	good
RH	E C♯	B A	C♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice	E	ve ry	day
RH	C♯	E F♯	C♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice	My	God is	good
RH	F♯ C♯	B A	C♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice	E ve	ry day	my	God is good
RH	C♯ E	F♯ A	F♯	C♯ A B
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH			G A B A G E D
LH	Gmajor7	Gmajor7	Gmajor7

Voice			My God is good
RH	E		E C♯ B A C♯
LH	Gmajor7	Gmajor7	Gmajor7

Voice
RH			G♯ E F♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH			C♯ E
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Instrumental verse

Voice
RH	G♯ B	C♯ E	F♯ G♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH			F♯ E C♯ B A
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH	G♯ B	C♯ E	F♯ G♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH			G♯ E C♯ F♯
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH			E D
LH	Gmajor7	Gmajor7	Gmajor7

Voice
RH			E
LH	Gmajor7	Gmajor7	Gmajor7

Voice
RH
LH	Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

Voice
RH
LH	E F♯ Amajor7	Amajor7	Amajor7

The remaining verses have the same instrumental.

That’s all for now. Happy listening.

Hi folks,

In this post I share a new relaxing song I composed recently while practicing on the piano. It’s titled Oh My!

It is in G♭ pentatonic scale.

On the right hand I play just one single chord: G♭9 (add 6) – that is D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭

Each line comprises 4 beats. The right hand chord is played on every beat, except on the last verse where we play the chord once per line.

On the left hand I play the melody.

Here’s the recording of the song.

And here is the transcription of the melody.

E♭ E♭ E♭ E♭

D♭ D♭ D♭ D♭

B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭

E♭

E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ B♭

D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ A♭

B♭ D♭ E♭ G♭ G♭

E♭

E♭ B♭ A♭ G♭ E♭ E♭

D♭ A♭ G♭ E♭ D♭ D♭

B♭ G♭ E♭ D♭

E♭

E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ D♭ B♭

D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ B♭

B♭ D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ A♭

E♭

E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ A♭ G♭

D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ G♭ A♭

B♭ D♭ E♭ G♭ E♭ D♭

E♭

E♭ B♭ A♭ G♭ E♭ E♭

D♭ A♭ G♭ E♭ D♭ D♭

B♭ G♭ E♭ D♭ D♭

E♭

E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭

D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭

B♭ D♭ E♭ G♭

E♭

E♭

D♭

B♭

E♭

That’s all for now. Happy listening.

Hi folks,

In this post I share a children’s song I used to sing a long time ago when I was a little kid. It’s a folksong from Nigeria titled L’abe igi Orombo. This song is in Yoruba and means “Under the orange tree.” I just remembered this song while practicing on the piano and thought I would record myself singing and playing the song on the piano and share with you. So, first, here are the lyrics of the song in its original form, Yoruba:

L’abe igi orombo

L’abe igi orombo
N’ibe l’agbe nsere wa
Inu wa dun, ara wa ya
L’abe igi orombo

Here is the song translated in English

Under the Orange Tree

Under the orange tree
Where we play our games
We are happy, we are excited
Under the orange tree

Here is my recording of the song:

Finally, here are the notes that go with the song. Note: the song is in the key of Cmajor.

	L’a	be	i	gi	o	rom	bo
RH	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (G C E)	Cmaj (C E G)	Cmaj (G C E)	Dmin (F A D)	Cmaj (E G C)
LH	C					G	C

	Ni	be	l’a	gben	se	re	wa
RH	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (G C E)	Cmaj (C E G)	Fmaj (A C F)	Cmaj (G C E)	Dmin (F A D)
LH	C				F		G

	i	nu	wa	dun	a	ra	wa	ya
RH	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (E G C)	Cmaj (C E G)	Fmaj (C F A)	Fmaj (C F A)	Fmaj (C F A)	Cmaj (C E G)
LH	C			C D E (base run)	F			A

	L’a	be	i	gi	o	rom	bo
RH	Dmin7 (D F A C)	Dmin7 (D F A C)	Cmaj (G C E)	Cmaj (C E G	Cmaj (G C E)	Dmin (F A D)	Cmaj (E G C)
LH	D				G		C

Enjoy the music.

Till next time.

Hi folks,

In this post I touch briefly on Part E on praise music from my post. These are techniques you can master by following HearAndPlay’s Gospel Music 300 course. Part E can be thought as a vamp or rendition of Part A. You play what you feel here. Some songs just consist only of Part E throughout.

Bass run is based on 1 and 4 tone of the key, unlike Part A where we use 1 and 5.

The ascending bass run look like:

A_♭ B_♭ B C D_♭ F G_♭ G A_♭…

Descending bass run can look like

A_♭ G_♭ E_♭ D D_♭ F G_♭ G A_♭…

On right hand, you can play 1-4 chord pogression

A_{♭7 add13} (G_♭ C F / A_♭)

D_♭9 (F B E_♭ / D_♭)

A lick you can use on the right hand is to play

B_♭ B F, A_♭, F, A_♭. That is, 2 ♭3 6, 1, 6 1.

You repeat this in a rhythmic fashion.

An alternate way of playing part E is to play a 4-part progression.

You start with a slow bass run first on the left, hand then change to a fast bass run.

They are as follows:

E_{♭ min9} (G_♭ B_♭ D_♭ F / E_♭)

A_{♭9 add13} (G_♭ B_♭ C F / A_♭)

D_{♭ min9} (E A_♭ B E_♭ / D_♭)

G_{♭9 add13} (E A_♭ B_♭ E_♭ / G_♭)

E_{♭ min9} can be thought of as playing a major 7 of the 3rd tone of the E_♭ scale on top of E_{♭ min9}. i.e. playing G_{♭ maj7} / E_♭

When you switch from E_{♭ min9} to A_{♭13 add9}, all you do on the right hand is to lower the third note of the chord by a half step, i.e. from B_♭ to A.

When you want to end a song from Part E, just transition to Part D, i.e. a 6 2 5 1 progression.

Hi folks,

In this post I touch briefly on Part D on praise music from my post. These are techniques you can master by following HearAndPlay’s Gospel Music 300 course.

Part D is a 6 2 5 1 progression and follows Part C. When you end Part C, you will be on a 5 chord.

So, on the left hand you can walk up to the 6th tone in half steps. i.e. 5 ♭6 6.

13 chords

For the 6 2 5 1 in the key of A_♭, we can use all 13th chords:

F7 add13 (E_♭ A D / F)

B_♭ add13 (A_♭ D G / B)

E_♭ add13 (D_♭ G C / E)

A_♭ add13 (G_♭ C F / A_♭)

Another way to play it is:

F7 add13 (E_♭ A D / F)

B_♭ add13 (A_♭ D G / B)

E_♭7 ♯9 (G D_♭ G_♭ / E)

A_♭ add13 (G_♭ C F / A_♭)

Note that to play the E_♭7 chord, on the right hand you just move all the notes down a half step.

Tritones

If you have a bass player, you can play tritones based on the 3rd tone of the chord key you’re playing on (think of it as playing a 7th chord without the 5 note, i.e. 1st tone, 3rd tone and ♭tone).
So for A♭ major, you would use:

6 – A + E♭ / F
2 – A♭ + D / B♭
5 – G + D♭ / E♭
1 – G♭ + C / A♭

Note that as you go from one tritone to another you just lower each of the 2 fingers down by 1 half step.

Right hand lick

If you have a bass player playing base run, you can play tritones on left and the following lick on the right hand:

<F E D♭ D> <F A♭ B B_♭> <A_♭ F A_♭>

Chromatically dropping minor chords

On the right hand you can play chromatically dropping minor chords including the 3 minor chord, ♭3 minor chord, 2 minor chord. After these 3, you can wrap up with a 1 diminished chord, and finally a 1 chord: So

3 minor – ♭3 minor – 2 minor – 1 diminished – 1.

E.g. In key of A_♭, you can play

C minor – E_♭ G C
B minor – D F_♯ B
B_♭ minor – D_♭ F B_♭

A_♭ dim – B D F A_♭
A_♭ – C E_♭ A_♭

How to transition from part D back to A

You can do a walk up on the left hand from 3 to 5. 3 4 ♭5 5.

On the right hand you can play

B_♭ quartal chord / C (B_♭ E_♭ A_♭ / C)

D_♭9 (B E_♭ F A_♭ / D_♭)

D_dim (B D F A_♭ / D)

A_♭maj / E_♭ (C E_♭ A_♭ / E_♭)

E_{♭7 ♯9♯5} (G B D_♭ G_♭ / E_♭) – hold this connector chord for a moment.

 

 

Hi folks,

In this post I touch briefly on Part C on praise music from my post. These are techniques you can master by following HearAndPlay’s Gospel Music 300 course.

In Part C you play a 7 3 6 progression, followed by a walk up from 3 to 5 (in half steps) i.e.

For the 7 3 6 progression, you can use any of the chords from our Cool Chords for Gospel Music page.

For example you can use
2 minor chord / 7
3 chord (#9 #5)
6 _min9 chord

In the key of A_♭, that would be:

B♭min / G (F B_♭ D_♭ / G)
C₇ (#9 #5) (E G_# A_# D_# / C)
F_min9 (E_♭ G A_♭ C / F)

Then, for the 3 4 ♭5 5 progression,

one way to play the walk-up is as follows:

A♭maj add9 / C (E_♭ A_♭ B_♭ C / C)

D♭min6 (E A_♭ B_♭ D_♭ / D_♭)

D_dim (F A_♭ B D / D)

A_♭ / E_♭ (A_♭ C E_♭ / E_♭)

Hi folks,

This post touches lightly on Part B of praise music as taught in HearAndPlay’s Gospel Keys 300. The main post is here. Part B is just like part A except it is based on the 4th tone of the key of the song.
So, if your song is in he key of A♭, your bass run will be based on the fourth tone, which is D♭

On the right hand you can play 9 chord on the 4th tone of the scale. So, if playing in A_♭, that is a D_♭9 chord i.e.

D_♭9 (B E_♭ F A_♭ / D_♭)

You can also use licks like in part A.

To get the full details, go get Gospel Keys 300 from HearAndPlay.

How to transition from Part B back to Part A

Usually when you play Part B, you transition back to Part A. One way to do this is to use 3 chords

– ♭9 of the 4 chord
– dim7 of the ♭5 chord
– 1 major chord / 5

So in the key of A♭ that will be

D_♭9 (B E_♭ F A_♭ / D_♭)
Ddim7 (B D F A_♭ / D)
A_♭maj / E_♭ (C E_♭ A_♭ / E_♭)

Note: you play the first chord twice quickly, the second chord quickly and the third chord quickly. After these  3 chords, then you start playing your Part A progression.