Are you practising the previous chords on your piano or keyboard and getting to know the sound?

This is the secret to success if you know these sounds well.

In this lesson, we’re going to look at the 9 and Minor 9 chords.

This directly builds on your knowledge now of the 7 and min7 chords.

Why?

They are these chords with an added note!

The 9 chord is made up of the dominant 7 chord (also known as the 7 chord) plus the 9th note added.

The minor 9 chord is made up of the minor 7 chord (also known as the min7 chord) plus the 9th note added.

It’s easier to think of the ninth note as the second note, an octave above.

In the next lesson we’ll look at the chords where the 7th note is a major 7th, however for now, just remember that in these chords, the 7th note is a minor 7th interval in relation to the tonic.

For example, C9 i:

C E G Bb D (where Bb is a minor 7th above C)

And Cmin9 is:

C Eb G Bb D (where Bb is a minor 7th above C)

So here’s what these chords are:

9 Chord

Notation: C9

This chord is made up of:

Root

Major 3rd

Fifth

Minor 7th

Major 9th

Here are some 9 chords in various keys, starting with C major:

Remember, the 7th is a minor 7th interval.

In other words, a C9 is a C7… with the 9th added

Minor 9 Chord

Notation: Cmin9

This chord is made up of:

Root

Minor 3rd

Fifth

Minor 7th

Major 9th

Here are some Minor 9 chords in various keys, starting with C major:

In other words, a Cmin9 is a Cmin7… with the 9th added

Remember, the 7th is a minor 7th interval

What to do:

So practice these chords on the piano, and you will easily recognise them, as they are commonly used.

The chords do create a lot of tension and color as many notes are used (5) and not just 3.

They can be played in their root position, or ‘opened up’ where the left hand plays some of the notes and the right plays the others, to create a more open sound.

You will recognise these in moments of classical, jazz, pop music where there is a seeming clash of sound, that demands a resolution and relaxation of that tension afterwards.

This digital piano is the lower priced and lighter of the YDP 141, 161 and 181.

What about it’s sound performance as an Arius digital piano?

Here’s a Yamaha YDP 141 Review by video versus a Roland, note the Yamaha 141 comes second in order:

See the Yamaha YDP 141 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

The digital piano is designed like an upright where you have the 3 pedals, soft, sustenuto and sustain pedals.

There are headphone jacks if you need to practice in private or quietly.

There is the sliding cover as there is with the 161 and 181 to protect the keyboard from dust and grease over time.

See the Yamaha YDP 141 here at a special price at Amazon

The Yamaha YDP 141 features:

Same size in terms of width, depth and height as the 161.

Lighter in weight 37kg instead of 42kg.

Has 3 pedals: Damper, Sostenuto, Soft

Has adjustable keyboard touch sensitivity: Hard/Medium/Soft/Fixed

Graded Hammer Standard keyboard

AWM Dynamic Stereo Sampling, 3 levels per sample

64 max polyphony vs the 128 with the YDP 161

4 types of reverb

845KB internal memory, same as 161

Has 2 headphone jacks, MIDI in/out, however no USB to device jack as in the YDP 181

Remember, listen to the sound, and here’s another review and demo of Yamaha YDP 141:

See the Yamaha YDP 141 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

Want the entry level Yamaha Arius series of digital pianos, that mainly focuseson the piano sound? Then see the Yamaha YDP 141 Digital Piano.

In this lesson, we’re going to look at the 6 and Minor 6 chords.

These are quite simple chords, and they are simply the major or minor chord together with the major 6th of the scale.

So here’s what these chords are:

6 Chord

Notation: C6

This chord is made up of:

Root

Major 3rd

Fifth

Major 6th

So its a major chord with an added major 6th.

Here are some 6 chords in various keys, starting with C major:

Minor 6 Chord

Notation: Cmin6

This chord is made up of:

Root

Minor 3rd

Fifth

Major 6th

So its a minor chord with an added major 6th.

Here are some Minor 6 chords in various keys, starting with C major:

What to do:

So practice these chords on the piano, and you will easily recognise them, as they are commonly used.

The chords are used during a piece to provide more color than a simple major or minor chord.

You will frequently see this in jazz and pop music.

The minor 6 chord, you will even recognise in classical music, full of suspense and drama…

If your main focus is on the piano sound, then you may not need the YDP V240.

However, if you enjoy using other sounds in music making, then the Yamaha YDP-V240 has a heap more sounds, in addition to the grand piano sound.

Here’s a Yamaha YDP V240 Review by video demo firstly of the grand piano sound:

As always, a realistic, full bodied piano sound from Yamaha in the YDP or Arius series…

Some say it is their favorite piano sound as it’s natural.

And it is natural in that it sounds like an acoustic, the bass is rich, the treble and midrange very natural which is typical of the Yamahas.

And the bass sounds nice when soft or loud which is important, to make the digital piano more than capable of just a one dimensional keyboard kind of sound.

And you can do a heap of music making on this.

Check out the natural flute sound, and you can really sound like a pro music producer. And the sax sound you wouldn’t believe could come out of a digital piano!:

Yes, there’s the electronic piano, which some people like to use, though I prefer the more acoustic instruments most of the time.

There’s also a large LCD display for navigation and to read music also.

What’s the difference between the Yamaha YDP V240 vs the YDP 181?

The Yamaha YDP V240 vs YDP 181 features and benefits include:

Number of voices on the V240: 131 + 361 XGlite + 12 Drum/SFXYDP Kits, compared to the 14 on the YDP 181.

For the V240 this include: 3 Live! Voices, 8 Sweet! Voices, 5 Cool! Voices

V240 has a heap more effects: 35 reverb types, 44 chorus types, 238 DSP types, 2 master EQ types

V240 has split function

V240 has 30 preset songs vs 14 in the YDP 181

V240 can record 6 tracks (5 melody plus chord) vs 2 in the YDP 181

V240 has Performance Assistant Technology (PAT)

Both have 2 headphone jacks

YDP has USB to device or host, and no MIDI

Both have BC-100 Standard benches

There are other details different also, but the main point is that if you need a music machine with all the voices then the V240 is the one.

See the Yamaha YDP V240 here at a special price at Amazon

The Yamaha Arius wood cabinet pianos not only look great but they have the typical realistic Yamaha sound, that many describe as natural.

Remember, listen to the sound, and here’s another review and demo of the Yamaha YDP-V240 with the full bodied piano sound but with its insane ability to accompany you with full orchestra or band!:

See the Yamaha YDP V 240 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

Looking for an attractive Yamaha digital piano that has a great sound and built with the 3 pedals, and need the variety of other sounds and accompaniment technology to make music on the spot, then look at the Yamaha YDP-V240.

If you have a wide repertoire of chords that you know, then you have a larger bag of tricks to draw from when composing or improvising, and you start to recognise chords in songs when you listen.

In this lesson, we’re going to look at the Sus 2 and Sus 4 chords.

These are quite simple chords, and they are simply the major 2nd or perfect 4th note of scale played instead of the third.

They are Sus or suspended chord as it comes from the idea from contrapuntal technique, that a note is carried over or suspended from a phrase, and will soon resolve to a major or minor third.

In modern use, it does not have to carry over, and does not neccessarily have to resolve. The original term is what gives it its name.

However, the 4th or 2nd note with the 5th or tonis, does give the chord dissonance and anticipation (a better word) of a resolution to perhaps follow.

The lack of a 4rd makes it an open sound, that is not minor or major.

It is used in a lot of popular music and all genres of music as it does create a sense of suspense.

So here’s what these chords are:

Sus 2 Chord

Notation: C7

This chord is made up of:

Root

Major 2nd

Fifth

Here are some Sus 2 chords in various keys, starting with C major (the final example is in a minor key):

Sus 4 Chord

Notation: Csus4

This chord is made up of:

Root

Fourth

Fifth

Here are some Sus 4 chords in various keys, starting with C major (the final example is in a minor key):

What to do:

So practice these chords on the piano, and you will easily recognise them, as they are commonly used.

The chords are great to resolve to the tonic, but also try other chords also as a surprise modulation.

An upgrade from the Yamaha Arius YDP 161, this wood cabinet digital piano the YDP-181 has a few more features than the 161.

Does it sound great?

Here’s a Yamaha YDP 181 Review by video demo:

See the Yamaha YDP 181 Digital Piano here at Amazon for a special price

What’s the difference between the Yamaha YDP 161 vs the YDP 181?

The Yamaha YDP 161 vs YDP 181 features and benefits can be summarized here:

The YDP 181 is slightly larger (depth 20 and 1/4″ instead of 16 and 5/8″, height 33 and 9/16″ instead of 32 and 1/16″, and width 53 and 11/16″ instead of 53-7/16″)

And slightly heavier also, 50 instead of 42 kg.

Both are graded hammer keyboards, with hard, medium, soft or fixed sensitivity (for organ playing).

There’s an LED display for the 181.

Both use AWM Dynamic Stereo Sampling – with 3 dynamic levels for sampling.

The 181 has 14 voices instead of the 10 of the 161.

The YDP 181 has more effects, ie reverb, chorus and brilliance, instead of only reverb on the YDP 161.

Both can record, with the YDP 181 having a larger capacity, ie 639KB external songs, and 3 x 100KB for user songs, instead of the 1 x 100KB for user songs for the YDP 161.

The YDP 181 has 7 scale types vs 1 on the 161.

Both have metronome.

Both have 2 headphone jacks.

Both have MIDI in and out.

The YDP 181 has a USB to device connectivity.

Both have 20W x 2 amplifiers.

The YDP 181 has the BC-100 Standard bench.

See the Yamaha YDP 181 here at a special price at Amazon

The Yamaha Arius wood cabinet pianos not only look great but they have the typical realistic Yamaha sound, that many describe as natural.

Remember, listen to the sound, and here’s another review and demo of the Yamaha YDP 181:

See the Yamaha YDP 181 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

Looking for an attractive wood cabinet Yamaha digital piano that has a great sound and built with the 3 pedals, and need the features of other sounds, connectivity, and good solid keyboard action, then see the Yamaha YDP 181.

In this lesson, we’re going to look at the Minor 7th and Minor Major 7th chords.

Ensure that you already know lesson one, where we learned about some major 7th chords.

With these two minor 7th chords, the difference is the 7th note is the minor 7th interval in one, and the major 7th interval in the other.

In both the minor triad is there, ie, tonic, minor third and fifth note.

The trick also is to remember the notation which is what you’ll see in music scores.

Here they are:

Minor 7th Chord

Notation: Cmin7 or Cm7

This chord is made up of:

Root

Minor 3rd

Fifth

Minor 7th

Here are some Minor 7th chords in various keys, starting with C major:

The chord is surprisingly versatile and you can play a series of them in a row instead of transitioning immediately to a dominant chord.

Incidentally, on a major scale, it occurs on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th degree. That is, if you build a 4 note chord, simply starting on that degree and using the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes, using the scale of the tonic…

For example, in C major, starting with:

D (2nd degree) you have D F A C

E (3rd degree) you have E G B D, and

A (6th degree) you have A C E G

which are all minor 7th chords.

Minor Major 7th Chord

Notation: CmM7

This chord is made up of:

Root

Minor 3rd

Fifth

Major 7th

Here are some Minor Major 7th chords in various keys, starting with C major:

Notice that the 7th note is the major 7th interval from the tonic, which gives the chord more dissonance compared to the minor 7th chords.

It can be used as a base where a melody is improvised with a harmonic minor scale.

It’s also used on the fourth scale degree in the major mode, for example, in a piece in C major, it can be done on F, ie, F Ab C E

What to do:

So practice these chords on the piano, and you will easily recognise them, as they are commonly used.

The Dominant 7th chord is commonly used before resolving to the root chord in all forms of music, as the most definitive resolution.

The Major 7th chord has a greater dissonance to it as the major 7th note clashes with the root note as it is only a semitone away from the root an octave above.

Step 1

The steps to all these skills is firstly to know a good repertoire of chords.

Yes, start with major and minor, and these are the basics.

Then get familiar with this list of piano chords:

Let’s take the example of C:

C major 7th

C minor 7th

C sus2

C sus4

C6

C minor 6

C9

C major 9

C minor 9

C9 sus

C11

C13

C dim

C dim 7

C aug

C7 diminished 5 (or flat 5)

C7 augmented 5 (or sharp 5)

C minor 7 diminished 5 (or flat 5)

C minor 7 augmented 5 (or sharp 5)

C 7 diminished 9 (or flat 9)

C 7 augmented 9 (or sharp 9)

Step 2

Practice the above with a few different keys.

Do the ones that feel simple to you eg D, F, G, Bb as well as more difficult keys that you usually play with whether it’s Gb or C# etc, just play around to create the right chord…

This is not just a brain exercise to get you used to creating the chords easily, you also get to know the sounds…

Step 3

Practice with different voicings

Not only with inversions, but also with “phat chords” or “phat voicing” as well which is popular in all kinds of music, from classical, to popular, to gospel to jazz, as this opens up the sound and creates more interest in the sound than simply the notes in successive order.

For example, with a C min 7, play the C and G in the left hand, and an octave above, play the Eb, D.
Step 4

Get to know some typical chord progressions in music and songs.

There are typical progressions, which we’ll talk about in another post.

They are not absolute rules, but they do cover the most common.

So start with the above steps, and go from there…

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This digital piano is sampled from the top of the line Yamaha grand concert grand the CFIIIS, which if you’ve played it, you know it’s a powerful grand with a solid, resonant sound.

Does it sound great?

Here’s a Yamaha YDP 161 Review by video demo:

See the Yamaha YDP 161 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

The digital piano is designed like an upright where you have the 3 pedals, soft, sustenuto and sustain pedals.

There are headphone jacks for those who need to practice without disturbing anyone.

In terms of connectivity there are MIDI outputs to record into your computer.

See the Yamaha YDP 161 here at a special price at Amazon

There are 10 sounds in total, including harpsichord, organ, strings, electric organ, etc and you can combine sounds such as piano and strings for example.

The keyboard is a weighted keyboard to feel like that of an acoustic, and this is important for proper playing as it means you can practice with proper feedback on your fingers.

Also, it means you can transition to an acoustic easily as the feel will be more similar.

Remember, listen to the sound, and here’s another review and demo, of a demo song that was in the Roland RG1F:

See the Yamaha YDP 161 Digital Piano here at a special price at Amazon

If you’re looking for a Yamaha digital piano that has a great sound and built with the 3 pedals, and want the features of other sounds, connectivity, and good solid keyboard action, then have a look at the Yamaha YDP 161.