I didn’t start learning piano the traditional way of reading notes but learning chord patterns instead. years later when i took my piano learning more seriously and started sightreading, i developed a habit of identifying chords in every piece i play. i thought it was a weird habit and a bad one since it felt like i was cheating. but after seeing this i felt great knowing this is a good skill to have😂. I’m a church pianist these days and this skill allows me to quickly learn any song even though i’m sightreading them for the first time.
You're a fantastic teacher, if only for the "space" you allow to not get everything perfect on the first run. I LOVE the concept of trying to find two chords in a piece, and go from there, rather than stress about finding ALL the chords in a piece. This is terrific, and thank you.
100%. You're very clear and direct. I've played guitar for years and am just now learning piano. Having the vocabulary makes it easier for me, but you give what is necessary at the time and leave out long explanations and get the job done. You're a natural teacher.
A rare gem ! A superlatively trained, skilled instructor, who communicates with a simplicity, clarity , & genuineness- gifting the learner with amazing, celebratory “ A-ha” moments. ( ie “ Wow- I FINALLY UNDERSTAND! ) While many can instruct - not all can INSPIRE others to progress, develop and elevate skills in a rewarding manner. Many thanks to the instructor for both. And for the clear genuineness of desire in doing this .
Thanks Ashlee. This is great!!!! I too agree that Chord Analysis is super important!! This video gave me the inspiration to play Twinkle Twinkle with different chord progressions as well such as Tritone Substitutions and the Barry Harris 6th Diminished Progression!!!! Such fun!!!!!!
When I first studied music, I found it terminally conventional. My ears told me to get the hell out of here. What I heard in my head didn't correlate with what piano lessons provided. When I saw how much trouble Keith Jarrett had in a teaching modo and I felt the same way. Cordel concepts in beginning piano lessons is a deal braker. The chords in my head were different and so I focused on learn my chords and developed music of my own. My method eventually landed me a job as ballet composer to 6 dance companies in New York City.
Analyzing chords is really important. The best twinkle twinkle chord progressions can be found in Sonatine pour Yvette 3rd mov and Hayato's improvisations.
Thanks, Ashlee! This is really insightful and well structured advice as always. From personal experience as a 'beginning intermediate player' I'd add that there are two additional practical benefits to chord analyzation worth mentioning. First, it has allowed me to perform a piece of music that I might otherwise really struggle with in sections, by substituting easier-to-play chord and note patterns. Now I'm not advocating to do this in lieu of ever mastering a published score, but it has allowed me to complete the performance of a piece of music that I might otherwise not be able to achieve without stopping and starting, and as such serves as a source of inspiration to continue to work on the piece. Second - and very much related - chord analyzation also is the basis for improvisation, whether it's to do something as simple as substituting one chord inversion for another or something more advanced like chord substitution/reharmonization. I'm sure that I'm stating the obvious in mentioning these simple things, but I felt it was worth bringing up if merely to benefit others who are in the early stages of learning to play.
Yes! You are so correct! Very essential for both of the things you mentioned. Thank you for adding this - I know other commenters will find your comment helpful as well!
I never learned this in 10 years of piano lessons but 40 years later I took up the guitar and learned it immediately. Guitar players rarely play with music so they memorize the chord structure. Wish I had learned this from my piano teacher. Thanks for excellent lesson.
Excellent video … I absolutely agree and was taught to look for chord progression etc… makes complete sense … certainly helps me to better understand music composition which I’m turns helps me in reading music and my progress .. thank you for emphasizing the importance of chord analysis. Bravo thank you
Good info. If you learn quickly by ear, this process is much easier. I take this for granted because I am Royal Conservatory trained but also pick melodies up well y ear so this goes without saying but is very important
Wow! I had many, many, MANY years of piano lessons and was never taught about chords so obviously never about chord analysis either! I few years ago I decided to learn classical guitar and my guitar teacher said to me, you play piano so you recognise these chords! She was chord analysing and I had no idea 😢 I felt so embarrassed, I ended up stopping lessons. I would call myself an Intermediate piano player but lack so much knowledge! I have to be honest I’m ready to stop playing as I am now « stuck » and not progressing. Sadly all the years I spent on lessons were just learning to pass exams 😢 Thank you for making this video.
I guess this kind of stuff is taught in music theory classes, not in music lessons. The problem is that music theory might seem boring and useless to many, but it's very useful.
I hear you! I had a few years of classical training and did not learn chords. Recently I stepped up to play keyboard with my community rock band. Wow! Started using lead sheets with chords. Yep! It's a whole new musical world for me.
Oh gosh! Don't give up! That would be such a shame. You've identified gaps in your knowledge after many years and that's got to be frustrating, but as Ashlee says here, it's often not taught. There's so much material out there that will soon start to drop into place. You'll likely find that you always had some unanswered questions and will start to fill in the gaps. And your guitar teacher will understand if you just tell her of your experiences. She whizzed past stuff just because she presumed you'd know these things.
As always Ashlee, another banger of a video. Dumb question probably, would chord analyzation as you discuss help with something like reharmonization? Seems like an odd question, but I like to experiment a lot and figuring out the chords underneath the piece would give me a good idea of what other notes may work in that space no? I appreciate you and these lessons you offer. Thanks a bunch!
Oh, absolutely! It totally would. It would also expand your overall toolbox for harmonization not only with the piece you were currently trying to work on, but with future pieces as well. You are very welcome!
Bach's prelude is arguably a pretty challenging piece to play it ultra well. I've played both Fur Elise and Bach's prelude and I find the prelude to be more challenging... Great video as always...
I have tried to teach this way as well but students can sometimes be adverse to thinking when they sit at the piano and not willing to open up their minds. Also if one looks at all the beginner piano books , they are set up this way- I chords , then I and V and then add the IV. . If you do this with your playing, it will really help👍👍. I m so glad another teacher ageees with me.... but you have to take it slow and give students time to absorb what they are doing! And pick songs that they love! Good luck to all!
Barry Harris once commented on the fact that classical piano players have no idea what they're actually playing. He was talking about the changes. This sort of stuff should probably be taught to beginners. Thanks.😊
Hey Ashley, I just discovered your Channel, you've done a fantastic job. Do you have any videos on what program you're using to create your videos. I.e. split screen, pop up word and you score. I'd be so great full.
Thank you so much for your quick response. Wow CapCut has really come along way. You’re so lucky having a friend to do this for you. Best of luck with your daughter.
I think the key to understanding music theory and harmony is the concept of modes or scale degree is very difficult to teach, the musical examples you provide are always so thoughtful and relavent to the concepts you are explaining It takes time to get to know the modes and each has a different flavor my approach to learning modes is creative scale practice - play the scale, penatonic, arpeggio, triads one mode at a time and experiment with voicing chords in different ways, play the extentions like 9, 11, and 13 chords start with a major then a lydian then a dorian a aeolian a mixolydian a phyrigian do the same thing in the key of d its cool to hear you play bach, ive said before high speed polyphony is probably the most exciting thing for a virtuoso can play
I have a degree in Jazz Studies performance in Trumpet, and had to put my passion on the back burner in the 90’s. Now I am an empty nester and have a Steinway sitting in my dining room, and have set a goal to play and get my chops together.
It's not advanced but easy to recognize the Chords in Bach's prelude, because the whole piece consists only of chords. Pieces with a lot of enharmonic changes and melodies following other lines in the late romantic periode are advanced. Furthermore: classical music isn't always based on chord progressions, but on several melodies. Then you have room also room for several interpretations, what is going on in the piece.
As a beginner I find your technique too quick to follow. I can read notes but the chords and following the music technique is too fast for me. Obviously I need to improve somewhat before I come back to this. Glad you're helping others though, it's a good video. I'll be back lol, thanks 👍🏼
I did hear about this a few years ago but unfortunately I've played over forty years and just remembering note by note. I could obviously learn future pieces but no point now 😢. Yt is marvellous if people had access to it years ago. Unfortunately I live in a rural area. Started late at piano and have no decent teachers nearby (couldn't afford them anyway) only an upright average piano. Don't practice regularly because progression was too slow.. Nobody to play to. Ingrained mistakes both technically and interpretationally
Oh sorry I missed this one! You can do it here - Click the link and Enter your info in the form at the bottom of the page - the deets will be sent along! www.ashleejyoung.com/pianopracticelab
Hey Ashley I love music mostly from the eighties but I don't think I'm smart enough to translate it to my fingers from what I have to work with in my head 😢🙄just not smart enough.
My daughter is taking keyboard/piano lessons here in Fort Myers, FL. She is 12 years old. She’s been taking them for about 4 months now. Wish you were here in this area. She likes jazz and classical music.
I learned note reading and chords from my piano teacher. Glad she taught me that! Really helps!
I didn’t start learning piano the traditional way of reading notes but learning chord patterns instead. years later when i took my piano learning more seriously and started sightreading, i developed a habit of identifying chords in every piece i play. i thought it was a weird habit and a bad one since it felt like i was cheating. but after seeing this i felt great knowing this is a good skill to have😂. I’m a church pianist these days and this skill allows me to quickly learn any song even though i’m sightreading them for the first time.
You're a fantastic teacher, if only for the "space" you allow to not get everything perfect on the first run. I LOVE the concept of trying to find two chords in a piece, and go from there, rather than stress about finding ALL the chords in a piece. This is terrific, and thank you.
Aw thanks! And yes! Small consistent effort is what it takes. It doesn’t sound as glamorous, but it’s where the most results come from!
100%. You're very clear and direct. I've played guitar for years and am just now learning piano. Having the vocabulary makes it easier for me, but you give what is necessary at the time and leave out long explanations and get the job done. You're a natural teacher.
@@bstein9500 thank you so much!!
A rare gem ! A superlatively trained, skilled instructor, who communicates with a simplicity, clarity , & genuineness- gifting the learner with amazing, celebratory “ A-ha” moments. ( ie “ Wow- I FINALLY UNDERSTAND! ) While many can instruct - not all can INSPIRE others to
progress, develop and elevate skills in a rewarding manner. Many thanks to the instructor for both. And for the clear genuineness of desire in doing this .
Thank you very much for the kind words! I’m happy it’s making sense to you :)
Excellent advice to analyze the chords in a piece or song and the chord progression when starting to learn it. I will remember to do that. Thank you
You are very welcome!
Thanks Ashlee. This is great!!!! I too agree that Chord Analysis is super important!! This video gave me the inspiration to play Twinkle Twinkle with different chord progressions as well such as Tritone Substitutions and the Barry Harris 6th Diminished Progression!!!! Such fun!!!!!!
Love it!!
Helpful, energetic & encouraging. I would spell "base" note as bass @ minute 12
Ooos just an auto caption mistake!
When I first studied music, I found it terminally conventional. My ears told me to get the hell out of here. What I heard in my head didn't correlate with what piano lessons provided. When I saw how much trouble Keith Jarrett had in a teaching modo and I felt the same way. Cordel concepts in beginning piano lessons is a deal braker. The chords in my head were different and so I focused on learn my chords and developed music of my own. My method eventually
landed me a job as ballet composer to 6 dance companies in New York City.
I only heard 3 minutes of your lesson and already love the breakdown of. chords that you're doing. This is exactly what I need to learn.
Awesome, thanks for saying so!
Analyzing chords is really important. The best twinkle twinkle chord progressions can be found in Sonatine pour Yvette 3rd mov and Hayato's improvisations.
Your a great teacher and you play piano very gracefully.Thanks for your philosophy❤
Once again a great lesson! Thank you! You made my life easier!
Glad to hear it!
Will work on this right away. You remotivated me. Thank you
Thanks, Ashlee! This is really insightful and well structured advice as always. From personal experience as a 'beginning intermediate player' I'd add that there are two additional practical benefits to chord analyzation worth mentioning. First, it has allowed me to perform a piece of music that I might otherwise really struggle with in sections, by substituting easier-to-play chord and note patterns. Now I'm not advocating to do this in lieu of ever mastering a published score, but it has allowed me to complete the performance of a piece of music that I might otherwise not be able to achieve without stopping and starting, and as such serves as a source of inspiration to continue to work on the piece. Second - and very much related - chord analyzation also is the basis for improvisation, whether it's to do something as simple as substituting one chord inversion for another or something more advanced like chord substitution/reharmonization. I'm sure that I'm stating the obvious in mentioning these simple things, but I felt it was worth bringing up if merely to benefit others who are in the early stages of learning to play.
Yes! You are so correct! Very essential for both of the things you mentioned. Thank you for adding this - I know other commenters will find your comment helpful as well!
I never learned this in 10 years of piano lessons but 40 years later I took up the guitar and learned it immediately. Guitar players rarely play with music so they memorize the chord structure. Wish I had learned this from my piano teacher. Thanks for excellent lesson.
Excellent video … I absolutely agree and was taught to look for chord progression etc… makes complete sense … certainly helps me to better understand music composition which I’m turns helps me in reading music and my progress .. thank you for emphasizing the importance of chord analysis. Bravo thank you
Awesome to hear it and thanks for saying so!
Good info. If you learn quickly by ear, this process is much easier. I take this for granted because I am Royal Conservatory trained but also pick melodies up well y ear so this goes without saying but is very important
Wow brilliant idea, good job, thanks for sharing
Innovative approach to teaching music! Something that I felt but never realized. It is really important! This works and helps a lot. Thank you.
Thanks for saying so, and you’re welcome!
Thanks so much! You laid the concept out very nicely and this will be very helpful to this beginner!❤
Awesome thanks for saying so!
I signed up but my goodness Ashlee that's 4am four days in a row for me on the east coast of Australia! 🙃😧🎹🎹🇦🇺🦘
Replays are available with your registration! :)
Wow! I had many, many, MANY years of piano lessons and was never taught about chords so obviously never about chord analysis either! I few years ago I decided to learn classical guitar and my guitar teacher said to me, you play piano so you recognise these chords! She was chord analysing and I had no idea 😢 I felt so embarrassed, I ended up stopping lessons. I would call myself an Intermediate piano player but lack so much knowledge! I have to be honest I’m ready to stop playing as I am now « stuck » and not progressing. Sadly all the years I spent on lessons were just learning to pass exams 😢 Thank you for making this video.
I guess this kind of stuff is taught in music theory classes, not in music lessons. The problem is that music theory might seem boring and useless to many, but it's very useful.
I hear you! I had a few years of classical training and did not learn chords. Recently I stepped up to play keyboard with my community rock band. Wow! Started using lead sheets with chords. Yep! It's a whole new musical world for me.
One time my piano teacher said, learning from the conservatory books make people stupid. I am the one. 😢😢
Oh gosh! Don't give up! That would be such a shame.
You've identified gaps in your knowledge after many years and that's got to be frustrating, but as Ashlee says here, it's often not taught. There's so much material out there that will soon start to drop into place. You'll likely find that you always had some unanswered questions and will start to fill in the gaps.
And your guitar teacher will understand if you just tell her of your experiences. She whizzed past stuff just because she presumed you'd know these things.
Thanks; love your style, excellent lesson, great ideas..
とても分かりやすいです。発想の転換が出来ました。有り難うございました❣️
Yay!!! So glad!
Excellent instructions. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. Excellent!
It has taken me years to work out that I need to do this!
As always Ashlee, another banger of a video. Dumb question probably, would chord analyzation as you discuss help with something like reharmonization? Seems like an odd question, but I like to experiment a lot and figuring out the chords underneath the piece would give me a good idea of what other notes may work in that space no? I appreciate you and these lessons you offer. Thanks a bunch!
Oh, absolutely! It totally would. It would also expand your overall toolbox for harmonization not only with the piece you were currently trying to work on, but with future pieces as well. You are very welcome!
Bach's prelude is arguably a pretty challenging piece to play it ultra well. I've played both Fur Elise and Bach's prelude and I find the prelude to be more challenging... Great video as always...
Thanks! And agreed!
What you say and teach is so true
Thanks!
I have tried to teach this way as well but students can sometimes be adverse to thinking when they sit at the piano and not willing to open up their minds. Also if one looks at all the beginner piano books , they are set up this way- I chords , then I and V and then add the IV. . If you do this with your playing, it will really help👍👍. I m so glad another teacher ageees with me.... but you have to take it slow and give students time to absorb what they are doing! And pick songs that they love! Good luck to all!
Definitely!’n
Is there a difference between analyzation and analysis?
No
Barry Harris once commented on the fact that classical piano players have no idea what they're actually playing. He was talking about the changes. This sort of stuff should probably be taught to beginners. Thanks.😊
Hahaha so true and yes it should for sure!
Hey Ashley, I just discovered your Channel, you've done a fantastic job. Do you have any videos on what program you're using to create your videos. I.e. split screen, pop up word and you score. I'd be so great full.
Thank you! At this point, my assistant edits the videos and she uses CapCut :-)
Thank you so much for your quick response. Wow CapCut has really come along way. You’re so lucky having a friend to do this for you.
Best of luck with your daughter.
@@jeannieniokos5661 thanks!
She is 100 percent right! 😊
FINALLY!!! Thank you ❤🎉🎉🎉
I think the key to understanding music theory and harmony is the concept of modes or scale degree is very difficult to teach, the musical examples you provide are always so thoughtful and relavent to the concepts you are explaining
It takes time to get to know the modes and each has a different flavor
my approach to learning modes is creative scale practice - play the scale, penatonic, arpeggio, triads one mode at a time and experiment with voicing chords in different ways, play the extentions like 9, 11, and 13 chords
start with a major then a lydian then a dorian a aeolian a mixolydian a phyrigian
do the same thing in the key of d
its cool to hear you play bach, ive said before high speed polyphony is probably the most exciting thing for a virtuoso can play
Great stuff. Would you please analyze the arpeggio section of Clair d lune?
Great idea!
This is great stuff....really digging your content...scribed up....thanks
Awesome thanks and welcome!
thanks for the boost in motivation
You’re welcome!
I have a degree in Jazz Studies performance in Trumpet, and had to put my passion on the back burner in the 90’s. Now I am an empty nester and have a Steinway sitting in my dining room, and have set a goal to play and get my chops together.
Amazing! I love that!
You make my day ! I changed the playback speed to 50%
Thank you for this video!
You’re welcome!
It's not advanced but easy to recognize the Chords in Bach's prelude, because the whole piece consists only of chords. Pieces with a lot of enharmonic changes and melodies following other lines in the late romantic periode are advanced.
Furthermore: classical music isn't always based on chord progressions, but on several melodies. Then you have room also room for several interpretations, what is going on in the piece.
An video where the presenter says ' ....share this with adult learners...' is getting my sub.
As a beginner I find your technique too quick to follow. I can read notes but the chords and following the music technique is too fast for me. Obviously I need to improve somewhat before I come back to this. Glad you're helping others though, it's a good video. I'll be back lol, thanks 👍🏼
Tha Alfred "Scales chords and arpeggios" book is very good for helping to understand and learn this.
I always find chord analysis such a mind blowing with Debussy
Can you please do a chord analysis for Debussy’s Arabesque #1?
Great idea I’ll add it to the list!
@ thanks.
Bach is my favorite jazz artist. We only got what he wrote down, and not all of the improv stuff before and after breakfast.
Hahaha that’s great
Thank your Ashley!!!!!!!!!
I did hear about this a few years ago but unfortunately I've played over forty years and just remembering note by note. I could obviously learn future pieces but no point now 😢. Yt is marvellous if people had access to it years ago. Unfortunately I live in a rural area. Started late at piano and have no decent teachers nearby (couldn't afford them anyway) only an upright average piano. Don't practice regularly because progression was too slow.. Nobody to play to. Ingrained mistakes both technically and interpretationally
How do I sign up the January 2025 session that you mentioned in the video? I wasn’t able to find the link in order to register.
Oh sorry I missed this one! You can do it here - Click the link and Enter your info in the form at the bottom of the page - the deets will be sent along!
www.ashleejyoung.com/pianopracticelab
I will subscribe to your channel a million times
Ha! I love it - thanks for saying so!
i don’t get your analyses . How Twinkle Star song is I IV V chords? Bar 1 start with C chord I and Bar 2 with G note how could it be chord IV?
I was talking about measure 1 and 3.
Would this approach also be for young children? If not, what would you differently?
Absolutely! I’d start super simple and have them notice the easiest patterns but do it each week so they build the muscle as their skills build.
@ thank you.
Im still trying to understand how the staves represent one hand and the other and then reading simultaneously
Thank you very very much sister, Excellent teacher sister,God Bless you sister
❤ UR very talented and beautiful 😘
Learning long, fast nimble runs is the most important thing to learn. If you can’t do long runs then you will never progress.
Hey Ashley I love music mostly from the eighties but I don't think I'm smart enough to translate it to my fingers from what I have to work with in my head 😢🙄just not smart enough.
Psh! Don’t say that! You just don’t have the right tools yet :) growth mindset!
Excellent，
I like this video
Thanks!
Ash ❤😍😍😍
Love you mam❤❤❤❤❤
❤
Music is made of chords + rythm.
Not for composers. Brilliant for pianists
I always analyse the piece and teach my students the same...
I remember many hours spent with Czerny.....
so thats like simular to guitar for some reason
Aren’t those single notes, not chords?
Chords played as single notes…arpeggio?
My daughter is taking keyboard/piano lessons here in Fort Myers, FL. She is 12 years old. She’s been taking them
for about 4 months now. Wish you were here in this area. She likes jazz and classical music.
Yes - exactly.
I'm a beginner I'm sorry I did not understand nothing I need hands on I just started I don't understand I'm sorry
Great information ! I agree with richard135B7 ... Patterns are great! Thank you both ! Lee 19-14-24