(Music playing)
I am going to begin by showing you something that is easy, fun, and hopefully, inspiring to play. Music teachers may cringe at this exercise, but I doubt many music teachers bought this DVD. I suspect you brought it primarily to have fun. We will begin digging a little deeper into the more technical mysteries of the keyboard in a few minutes. I am going to show you how to do this exercise now, but you can of course play around with it anytime the mood takes you.
Place a little finger of your left hand over the D note below middle C. This is middle C here; this is the D note below middle C. Now, play the D note with your little finger—also known in piano music, fingering—as the fifth finger. Now, play it again but this time at the F note with your third finger (Demonstration) That is the F note. Now, add the A note with your second finger. Play all the three notes together at the same time you have a triad, it is the minimum notes required to make a chord. (Demonstration)
We will also be playing the moody and happy-sad chord of D minor. (Demonstration) Just listen to those tunes. (Demonstration) You can also play the sustained pedal during this exercise if you like, but do not get into the habit of using it all the time. If you do use it, lift your right foot off the pedal every few notes, so it does not turn into a ringing, noisy mess, unless that sounds good to you, of course. (Demonstration) Practice playing this simple D minor chord with your left hand for a minute or two. Let the tone sound out and listen to the beautiful mood they create. (Demonstration)
Now add the thumb—also called the first finger, as I have said before—of your left hand, and play the octave D. That is eight notes up in the scale. From the low D, you are playing with your little finger. (Demonstration) The extra note makes a richer sounding D chord, four notes playing. (Demonstration)
Now, move your thumb down a whole step to the next white note, which happens to be a C, and play it with the other notes. (Demonstration) This is a regular D minor, and this is C. (Demonstration) This makes a D minor 7 chord.
You can make any seventh chord in any key you happen to be in, simply by counting up seven notes in the scale. (Demonstration) You are in C, seventh note up. (Demonstration)
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