Countdown

Next week, this time I might have reached my destination.Getting a brand new start is everybody's dream.Things are going to change big time.All I can do is prepare for the worst and expect the best for my upcoming venture.
The biggest change in my life.Moving off from home for a Job.

SHERLOCK

My latest work on Keyboard:
Arranged the Title Sequence of Sherlock via a DAW and some VSTi plugins

https://soundcloud.com/krishnanunni_hm/sherlock

post

Malice.

23 February 2015, 7:24am

Witnessed a wonderful performance by Jonita Gandhi yesterday, at Nishagandhi Auditorium.Auditorium. Tickets costed Rs.50, and so I climbed on top of a pavilion to listen to the concert for free. The band performance as a whole was average, and if it weren't for Jonita's amazing voice and the sound systems provided by Tennyson sounds, program wouldn't have been as much of a success.Enjoying the afterglow of Jonita's  sugary voice.

February 20th 2015

Blogging about everyday life is not my style.Felt like jotting down something today.Winning second prize at the seminar competition conducted by KSEB Employees Association was a total surprise. Hilarious part was when the engineers present there asked me and my partner questions such as "Which core company did you get placed in?? Bosch?".

Had to wait for the results till 3:50 followed by which I had to rush to a friends house to attend a funeral ceremony.Blinding Happiness followed by suffocating Sadness; separated from each other by merely a few minutes.minutes. Jonita Gandhi performing at nishagandhi as part of Cult A Way 2015.Looking forward to go for that.

PLAYING BY EAR- Part III

CHORDS-Part I

A chord is something you get when you play more than one notes at the same time.Rhythmically Shifting Chords are known as chord progressions,These can be used to create multitude of emotions in music.So before getting into chords try pressing these combination of keys.I am hoping that you are familiar with scales by now.so instead of referring to the actual note, I will be using the note position to refer to any note in the scale.


eg;
 C D E F G A B C
 1  2  3  4 5 6  7  8

Let us start with C major scale.

1. 1 and 8 - C and highest C
2. 1 and 5 - C and G
3. 1 and 4 - C and F
4. 1 and 3 - C and E

That is a  how harmony sounds like.Chords are used to give colour and feel to the otherwise monotonous melody of the song.

Here I list for you Four basic chord types that are used in Pop music.

1. Major Chord-Has a happy tone.Google for  chord charts to get chord shapes for Piano or guitar.Any major chord contains the First the third and fifth notes of the major scale.
2. Minor Chord-Has a Sad tone.Minor chords contain the First Third and Fifth notes of the minor scale.
3. The Suspended 4th Chord: denoted by sus4 in Chord notation.This chord is a transition chord. It can be played by pressing the first fourth and fifth notes of a scale.In popular music, this chord is followed by the corresponding major.
   ie, Gsus4 is followed by G. Asus4 is followed by A.The name suspended is derived from this tendency of the chord to resolve to the major chord in a chord progression.
4. The Dominant Seventh Chord:A major chord to which the diminished 7th note of a scale is added is called a dominant seventh chord.Represented usually as C7 ,D7 G7 etc.

What you have to Do:Take one of your favorite songs,Get the chords from the internet and try playing alongside.If you find difficulty in doing that,try playing alongside the songs.songs.I started out with simple songs like "Waving Flag" byK'Naan ,"My Love" by West life,"Nenjukkul Peididum Mamazhai" from Vaaranam Aayiram. Initially, you will have to play Block chords(ie pressing all the notes of the chord at once).artists use arpeggios of chords(Notes of the chord played in succession in rhythm)so as to add a rhythmic effect to the music.That can be attained with practice.

KEEP IN MIND ...

Every song can be played with more than one chord progression.The chords of the song  are chosen in such a way so as to convey a particular feeling to the listener.So in order to get the exact feeling of the song  you would need to play the exact chord progressions played by the artist. a lot of people I know depend on websites like Ultimate Guitar.Com for getting the chords of their favorite song.However there is no guarantee that it may be accurate. The two best alternatives is to Download premium score sheets and learn the chords, Use your ear to figure out the chords of the song.

For the lovers of Indian music, I must advice that about 90 percent of the chords I have come across in the internet are partially or fully accurate.accurate. Experience with listening to different genres of music long enough ,you will figure out that there are some commonly used chord progressions,and this knowledge will help you in figuring out chords for your favorite songs.

So Try playing Block Chords along side your favorite songs.If you want song recommendations or chords for songs, ping me in Facebook.

PLAYING BY EAR- Part II

Part-II Scales and Modes

Once you are familiar with the ideas I referred to in the first chapter of this article,You can move on to Scales and chord theory.Music Theory as a whole is a very extensive subject,but most people I have known are just familiar with the basics.These are some of the basic concepts that can help you.

THE MAJOR SCALE
This scale which consists of each white key from one C to the next higher C constitutes the Major scale.This is the western equivalent of the Karnatic Music Raagam "Shankarabharanam".This was the only bit of theory I knew when I bought my keyboard, back in 10th standard. Familiarizing with how the major scale sounds can be very helpful.Once you have tried the major scale, move on and try  the other major scales.They all sound the same.The difference is that,the pitch gets transposed.

Here is a picture showing which  notes are included in each major scale.You can use this to familiarize your fingers in them.The important part to realize is that every song in any major scale can be transposed to play in any other major scale.This technique was very helpful to me during the initially.For example, "My Heart will go on" by Celine Dion is originally played in the key of E flat.By Transposing the keyboard by +3, you can play the song in the C major(all white) scale, which is comparatively easier.

NOTE:C major scale  is easier to play,in the sense that it is easier to visualize while playing.There is no confusion of having to remember which notes are in the scale and which are not.

"The keys that include 2 or 3 black-key notes on the piano anatomically match up better with the human hand. The pianist can keep their shorter fingers (ie. thumb and pinky), on white keys and keep their longer fingers on black keys. It's a more natural position for the fingers than the key of C, which uses all white notes, and which forces you to contort the hand a little more. This explanation applies for the more advanced players. Rookie players need years to recognize the piano-friendliness of these keys. For them the piano-friendliness means that each basic chords have the same black-and-white key pattern."
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THE MINOR SCALE

The next important scale that can be  helpful to you is the Minor scale.The easiest example is the A minor scale,(Play all the white keys from A to the next A).The illustration shows the various minor

scales that can be played.Just as in the case of the Major scale,Familiarizing the minor scale can be very helpful.
Melody parts of most of the music from Indian Cinema and English Pop Music can be played once you are familiar with these 2 scales.The Right hand part or the melody part of the music can be followed on the keyboard with practice



MODES
You might have noticed that the C major scale when played from A to the next higher A,constitutes the A minor scale.Similarly, playing the scale starting at different note, and ending at the corresponding note in the higher octave gives a different combination of tones, called as Modes

Try playing the C major scale,each time starting from a different note; ie from D to the next D, E to the next E.. and so on.Each of these form a different mode,Fascinating enough, each mode  has a corresponding raga in Karnatic music.These have been listed below.


C D E F G A B C=Ionian-Shankarabharanam
D E F G A B C D=Dorian-kharaharapriya
E F G A B C D E=Phygrian-Thodi
F G A B C D E F=Lydian-Kalyani
G A B C D E F G=Mixolydian-Harikamboji
A B C D E F G A=Aeolian-Natabhairavi
B C D E F G A B=Locrian
Transposing any of these(Shifting every note left or right by the same number of keys) can the mode in each scale.

Try to listen to how each of these modes sound and how they feel.Next week,you get a brief glimpse into chord theory.
Suggested Viewing/Reading before the next chapter:

1. "How Music Works by Howard Goodall,Part one."
2. Mode(Music)-Wikipedia