Articles By Duane Shinn

There's a logic behind every note written in music, & you can learn to understand that logic, and therefore understand music.

If you're anything like me, you would love to learn how to "fill up the empty spaces" in the songs you play with scale fragments, chords, broken chords, and so on. Learning how to "fill it up" with runs and fills would certainly take your piano playing to the next level.

An interesting experiment is to ask people how many chords there are in music. You'll be surprised to find out that most musicians don't do any better at answering that question than non-musicians.

Most of us who took piano lessons as kids are all too familiar with scales, and most of us hated practicing them with a passion. But understanding scales and what they do is critical to the process of improvisation as well as key orientation and just a general understanding of what's happening in the song we are playing.

Did you know that music is based on natural "laws" -- like gravity -- and by learning to understand how those natural laws work we can actually understand what we are doing when we play -- we don't have to be at the mercy of what someone else has written on a piece of music?

Notes are the musical notation representing a fixed pitch. While the word strictly refers to the physical notation of a pitch, it's more commonly used to refer to both the pitch and the notation.

Proper piano instruction is an element extremely vital to learning the instrument well. Often overlooked in the teaching curriculum, however, is music theory and chord structure.

How do transposition and modulation relate? Are they the same? Let's take a look at both of them and see what makes them tick.

Key signatures are a type of musical notation that indicate which key the song is to be played in. But key signatures, despite the name, are not the same thing as key.

Adding color tones to a chord is like adding colors to a black and white drawing; it adds depth and dimension and well as bringing it to life.

Many people get all confused when chords are turned upside down. They recognize them when they are in root position, but when you stand them on their head...well, it gets kind of fuzzy for folks.

Learning music online has revolutionized learning, since it is the first time in history that anyone with a computer can virtually find out anything they want to know about music -- and find out quick!

Augmented chords are to a piece of music like pepper is to a meal; you would never sit down to a meal of pepper alone, but you might sprinkle a little on your food to liven up the taste a bit. Use augmented chords judiciously and you will find they add real interest to your piano playing.

The piano has been vastly popular for about 300 years now, and despite the resurgent popularity of the guitar, piano sales and piano lessons continue to accelerate.

Major and minor chords are the meat & potatoes of a musical meal. To add saltiness to the meal, add a few diminished chords.

Minor chords create a sound which is somber or serious; some people even think of minor chords as "sad", as opposed to major chords which sound "normal", or "happy".

Did you know that there are literally thousands of songs you can play if you know just 3 chords? And some of them are Christmas Carols that you can learn to play this Christmas if you know, or are willing to learn, three simple chords.

Most people who took piano lessons as a kid, including me, grew up learning to read music exactly as it is written on the printed page. Being able to read music is a valuable skill, and I am delighted I learned that skill at an early age.