Learning chords & all that.

[Yoozer]

Alright, to get back on topic again (talking 'chops' albeit that it's a good thing I never got any digits chopped).

 

I have had 1 year of 'formal' lessons on a 2-clavier electronic organ. During that time I learned pretty much 3 simple chords; C-E-G, F-G-B and F-A-C with their respective pedal combinations (you can guess which ones).

 

Because I have a fairly decent grasp of pitch and a similar memory, I started skipping on reading notes; just memorizing the songs (which were utterly dull and boring) in my head, and playing 'm from there. I also played other stuff that wasn't in the book by ear.

 

Then, a long time of 'pretty much nothing' in regard to lessons came by; except for the practical stuff at the school orchestra and their various performances. Suddenly I learned a whole bunch of extra chords; but I had to rescue myself with the Key Transpose button quite a number of times. I still do this; a habit which I regret a lot, because it lets me play everything in the 'easy' key of C which I'm familiar with.

 

After that, I got to follow a jazz improvisation course which expanded on what I picked up from the school orchestra; while I did learn a lot of nice extra tricks (including to cut the habit of using the left hand for bass all the time) but more in the sense of "just try to add some notes and experiment how they sound" instead of solid numbers like 6, 9, 11, or 13.

 

In other words, I've learned it probably all wrong - upside down and quick hacks instead of a decent grasp which might make things easier for me. I am aware of the whole diagram of fourths and fifths, but when I dial up a Rhodes patch some chords seem... almost just beyond my grasp. I don't like it; it cuts off an interesting road, and when I try i t and go wrong it spoils the flow I had.

 

Is there any way to sort of learn this - are there maybe pieces of software that divine what chord you're actually playing (or close to that) and display it on screen, big size? The site of The Piano Room has helped me figure out most stuff, but I want to be more familiar with the 'optional' notes and things like that. However, I want to teach this myself, and while I realize that maybe the best option is to write a tome with notes about this is the best idea, I want to learn how to learn .

 

At the risk of sounding terribly naive or lazy - can it be done without learning how to read notes?

 

Since there are a lot of people here who also make music with not necessarily a lot of (or at all) formal training - how did you teach yourself? Is it not that important, is it a "just sit down and play, you silly oaf", or have you come up with an elaborate private notation system (also something I've done; I jot down quick riffs like Medieval neumen (Gregorian-like notation)?

 

While this might actually belong in the composition thread, I feel that it deserves its own place; the risk of having several hundreds of posts and people going "um, what's new?" and not clicking subsequently is a bit too big.

[Pilot]

I originally learnt to play by the dots on the piano but it was when I started playing clarinet in a jazz band that I learnt about chords. It was a case of having to. If the audience in the jazz club didn't like what you were playing they started throwing beer bottles (didn't have beer cans back then). Chords aren't that difficult. Learn them all in C and then transpose them accordingly. Helps if you can play all the scales in every key. There's something to be said for the old tried and trusted methods.

 

Bryan