Piano Theory That Is *Actually* Useful 🎹🧠✨

Hello and welcome! In this lesson, we  are going to be doing something crazy:   We are diving into music theory! Now, I promise  you everything that you're about to learn is   going to help you to be the absolute best piano  player you can be... You're going to learn how to   play any major skill any minor scale, any major  or minor chord, and then how to put all of that   information together using rhythm to play songs  that you love! So what more could you ask for this   is gonna help you be the best you can be let's  dive in we're gonna begin by building our very   first scale and there is something called a scale  formula which is really simple to learn that will   let you build a skill anywhere on the piano so  you learn this you can play any skill ever it's   awesome but before we do that so it makes sense we  need to learn what is a whole step and what is a   half step so if i pick a note and you know let's  go with g a half step is simply the step that is   to the next possible note so from g to this guy  here this black key i went up a half step here   to here that's a half step from here to here is a  half step even though there's no black key because   it's the next possible note a whole step is simply  two halves together because two halves make a hole   so from here to here is a whole step  because we've got half step and a half step   from here to here is a whole step from here to  here is a whole step because we need that half   step in between so that's how those work now the  formula for creating any major scale is whole step   whole step half step whole step whole step whole  step half step so when we're playing a scale let's   begin on g we can know exactly what ingredients we  need to build this scale by using that formula so   from here to here is a whole step whole step  and then we have our half step right there   and now we've got a bunch more whole steps whole  step whole step we need another whole step that   brings us to this guy right here it's a black key  whole step and ends on a half step you just played   and built a g major scale which is so exciting  we're gonna just say the note names g a b c   d e this is f when you go to the black  key above a note it is called a sharp so f   sharp g that's how you build a g scale let's do  the same thing but this time let's begin on f so f   we're gonna go whole step whole step half steps  let's talk about that for just a quick second   f g a this white key would be called b but it's  the black key just below it so we call that b flat   so flats are the black keys that are referred  to below the notes sharps are the black keys   when you're going up so f g that's our whole step  whole step here's our b flat half step and then   here is another whole step whole step whole  step whole step half step f major scale that's how you play a major scale now  this is so exciting because scales   are the ingredients for all things  amazing at the piano once you learn   scales i'm just gonna give you a little  preview of what's coming you can play chords and then chord progressions and then  songs so that's where we're headed with all   of this theory so just bear with me so now you  have what you need to play a major scale on any   note on this piano using that formula and there  are two different main scale types major scales   which we just built they sound kind of happy  and then there are minor scales which sound   kind of sad so let's talk about minor scales for  a moment every major scale has a relative minor   they're related and what that means is  that they share the exact same notes   so this is what's exciting you don't actually  have to memorize the minor scale formula we'll   include it in the download below this lesson  but if you can just memorize that major scale   formula figure out the notes of the major scale  you can play the relative minor using the exact   same notes they just have different starting and  ending points so let's take a look at that let's   go back to our g scale for a moment we had g a b c  d e f sharp in g that's the major that's the happy   one the relative minor of any major can be found  by going down three half steps from the first   note of the major scale so the first note is g and  we're gonna go down three half steps one two three   boom the relative minor of g is e so now we're  going to take the exact same notes that we played   in our g scale which were all white keys  except for the f that one was a black key   and we're going to play a scale using those  ingredients so e we get right to f so we're   going to go to f sharp and the rest are going to  be white keys and now i'm playing an e minor scale   and it sounds so moody so good so now you can  build any major scale and it's relative minor   so whole step whole step half step whole step  whole step whole step half step is the formula for   the major go down three half steps from that major  note to find the relative minor and then use the   exact same ingredients that you used in the major  scale and you'll be able to play at that minor   scale it gives things just like a sad sound and  you've got it you've got your scale theory down   all right next up we have chords and  this is where things get so exciting   because the scales are going to give us the  ingredients we need to play the chords and   once we learn chords we can play chord  progressions and then we can play songs   yes okay so let's go back to our g scale for  just a moment you already know the ingredients   so in order to build a chord you're going to  use three notes i'm going to start with g and   i'm going to play my thumb and my middle finger  and my five finger and if you're new to the piano   this shape can feel really complicated at first  and your fingers might try to like smoosh down   the wrong way just give yourself time and patience  wrist up one three and five that's called a triad   you just make a little claw shape and then play  the chord like that so if we take this shape   and move it up the scale just one three five then  you move everybody perch one three five same thing   remember the ingredients though f sharp is  coming up so don't play this f play f sharp   and move it up you move it up some more and keep  going you're just building the shape on every note   you've just played all of the chords that belong  to the g major scale and they all sound good   together happy g i call happy g it's actually just  a g major chord so let's take a look at this chord   major chord has a formula two so let's talk about  it so the distance between the first two notes   one two three four half steps the distance between  the top two notes went to three half steps so the   formula is four and three and you've got yourself  a major chord and you can take that formula   with and practice it on any note on this entire  piano and you'll be able to build a major chord so   if i wanted to just for example pick a black key  i would go one two three four and one two three   now i've got an f sharp major chord it's so  awesome it's way easier than you think it is or   it would be but it is it's simple once you learn  the formula so let's get let's get back on track   lisa so here's our g major chord now you know the  major chord formula i'm gonna move up and go urch   here's the next chord that fits in my g major  scale you hear that that's this chord and   they sound different this one's kind of moody and  this one's kind of happy so just like with scales   chords have majors and minors it's a different  it's a different energy it's a different mood so   let's look at what a minor chord is built up  one two three half steps followed by one two   three four half steps so this one's just  flipped three and four and now you can   build a minor chord anywhere on the piano so if  you take your hand and go back to your g scale   we've got our g chord it's named after the note  on the bottom of this little claw shape here   we move it up we've got our a minor chord  and i know that because it sounds sadder   and it has that slightly different formula of  three to four now we're going to move it up   again again it sounds moody and your ear will  develop over time to recognize the difference   use the formula if you're not sure it's three  and four here c major happy moving up again d   major also happy we've got the four and the three  we're back to minor town which also happens to be   one two three the relative minor of g scale we've  got this guy here don't worry about him for now   he kind of is like he he's the rebellious  distant cousin he sounds kind of crunchy   but it always resolves back to here where we come  to our major chord again exactly where we started   so you know your major skill and you know your  minor scale and you also know how to build   any major chord or minor chord using  that formula four and three or three   and four and you've also just played all  of the chords that belong to the key of g   which brings me to my next very  important theory piece for piano players   chord progressions most importantly the one five  six four progression because almost all popular   music uses this so let's go back to our scale for  a moment we're gonna count we're gonna give every   note in our g scale and number one two three four  five six seven and back to one because they're   the same note let's build a chord on the first  note of the g scale this is called a one chord   now let's build a note a note let's build a chord  on the fifth note of the g scale so we'll count   up one two three four five just to remember the  ingredients and make that little claw shape one   three because we have an f sharp and five  that's the five chord also known as d major   so one five we're going to go to six next so  we're already on five we're just gonna urge six   and then boom four right one two three four  and i'm just kind of following with my left   hand and playing the bottom note of the chord  so one five six four and back to one and now   basically you have the ingredients to play any  pop song ever written it's pretty exciting stuff   so let's let's play with that just a little bit uh  let's think of a song okay hold on i'm going under   and this time i fear there's no one to say me i  just felt like seeing some lewis capaldi we'll   talk about the rhythm in a moment it's smelling  nothing really got a way of driving me crazy   did you just see how theory helped us to play a  song which is so exciting so when you can find   a scale a major scale and build it anywhere you  like and then you can figure out what chords fit   into that major scale just using those skill  ingredients you can use your scale formula for   help if you'd like and then you can find the 1564  of that scale you're ready to play a song in that   key and you can play those in different orders  you could start on the six and then you could go   to the one and you could go to the five and then  the four now it sounds like a more sad pop song   right you have so many options so the final  thing i wanted to look at here with you   is rhythm and this is a really important theory  thing and i think especially as piano players   this can get a little bit overlooked and it  doesn't have to be complicated so think of uh   someone you left for a moment i'm going under and  this time i feel there's no one to save me so i'm   gonna count one two three four and it fits this  is all enough and really one two three four so   this is called four four time so we get four beats  per measure and that's how the music is felt one   two three four one two three four so what  i can do with my chord progression skills   is i could play a chord like this i'm playing four  chords per measure so it's gonna sound like this and then i'll move i forgot the words  three four one two and what i'm doing   here is i'm playing what's called quarter  notes so a quarter note gets one beat   per i can't sing and play at the same single play  so you can't even talk about talking about playing   and talking at the same time without getting  amused okay so a quarter note gets one beat in   four or four time so we were just filling these  little measures up with four beats each two three   four change two three four now we're going to  change two three four and change two three we're   playing quarter notes now i could play something  called a half note and a half note equals two   beats so now instead of playing one two three four  i'm gonna play and hold one two three four one two   three four one two three four one two three four  so i play and hold that chord for two beats and   it's a half note now we could also do whole notes  and a whole note equals four beats so we could do   this one two three four one two three four one two  three four one two three four and so we have all   of these choices now when we're playing our song  and this time i feel there's no one to save me   three four one two three four this all and  nothing really got a way of driving me crazy i need somebody to heal so you have choices  now so you know what a quarter note is it   equals one and four four times and a half  note equals two and uh whole note equals four   there are other note values which we have  lessons on we can link below here talking   about note values and music theory but i wanted to  just give you a little bit of an introduction into   rhythm as a part of this theory lesson because i  think it's really important to be able to count   i think at the end of the day that's the most  important thing is to develop language around   counting one two three four you can  hold notes for more than one beat   and that is what will give you the ability  to really express yourself as you're playing   so there you go that's some piano theory that's  really going to help you out everything we've   done here in the key of g can be done in any key  so use your skill formula picking out any note d   use your chord formula chord formula who's your  scale formula whole step whole step half step   whole step whole step whole step half step now  you got your ingredients white keys except for   these two guys f sharp and c sharp figure out  your chords find your one five six four playing   with different rhythms the sky is the limit  my friends so i hope that this lesson has been   helpful if you have any questions please don't  hesitate to comment below and happy practicing   so

Channel: Pianote

Views: 142,631

Keywords: pianote, lisa witt, how to play piano, beginner piano lesson, easy piano, piano tutorial, piano tutorial easy, how to play piano with both hands at the same time, beginner piano lessons on keyboard, easy piano lessons, piano theory, music theory, piano lessons, piano theory that is actually useful, most important theory for piano, play and understand the piano, understand the piano, piano lessons for adult beginners, piano theory is a nightmare, piano lessons for intermediate

Id: M6_aKXEmUF0

Length: 16min 6sec (966 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 11 2021