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Start piano at home with your child

Start with numbers, then read music

 
     
     
 
PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY
 
     
 
Take a tour for younger kids. Take a tour for older kids and adults.
 
     
 
PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY includes a 112 page illustrated book and removable stickers. You can buy it as an individual book or as part of a BOOK PACKAGE. A BOOK PACKAGE also includes a free DVD and copy of I CAN READ MUSIC.

If you're trying to play popular sheet music and learn to play piano, you need to know what all those chord symbols mean. 

Cm, Cm7, Cm7-5, Cdim, C+, C9, C11, C13, C7#5, C7 sus4, etc, etc?

Finally, a no-nonsense book that deciphers the mysteries of the chord symbols found in popular sheet music and delivers much more to the dedicated beginner trying to learn to play piano.

There's a strategy to playing popular sheet music, and if you've heard of a book like PLAY PIANO IN A FLASH, you'll have heard of BASIC LEAD SHEET STYLE.

To play BASIC LEAD SHEET STYLE, you put the chords in the left hand, and play the melody in the right hand, quickly allowing you to learn to play almost any popular piano sheet music.

 

But there's a catch: you'll have to learn to play piano chords, and most volumes have hard-to-understand regimes and complicated chord diagrams that allow you to find, at length, EVERY chord. But you don't need EVERY chord to learn to play beginner pop piano.

Now, with the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY, you need no special knowledge of sheet music to learn even the most complex piano chord. Plus, we give you acceptable subsitues for complex chords that will allow you to play difficult chords with ease, and not slow down your performance of the song.

All you have to do is put the numbered and lettered stickers on your keyboard, and you're ready to start playing the chords from popular sheet music. It's a great way to learn to play piano!

Presented in easy-to-find book format, our dictionary will lie flat on your piano music stand, so you can have it right alongside the sheet music you are trying to play. Try that with those bulky "chord charts" and other volumes.

PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY is specially designed for beginning pop pianists who want to learn piano and get started playing the chords from popular sheet music, and need to learn which simpler piano chords to properly substitute for the more complex chords that usually are too difficult for beginners to play fluently.

Plus, we give you a strategy for learning BASIC LEAD SHEET STYLE: first you learn the piano chords in what is called "root" position, so that you have a firm foundation for going further into the complex world of popular sheet music chords when you have gained solid experience with the basic knowledge of "root" position. 

Put simply, "root" position is an arrangement of notes in which the name of the chord, say C, is the lowest, or furthest to the left, note in the chord.

CHORD SUBSTITUTION

In addition, we give you exhaustive references for chord substitution: suppose you see a symbol for a complex chord that is unplayable for the beginner? Perhaps not unplayable, but so complex that it will slow down your performance and enjoyment of that song to the point that you have to stop and lose the thread of the music altogether. The reason you want to learn to play piano is to enjoy the music, not spend your time deciphering chords.  

In most methods, you have to follow impossible directions or omit that chord completely! 

But not with the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY! 

We give you exact, acceptable substitutions for all complex chords that will allow you to play the song you want in a satisfying way without going beyond the skills you need as a beginner.

For example, suppose you see a symbols that requires C11, or C13? These are complex six and seven note chords that require difficult explanations and notations to explain properly. 

But did you know that each of these chords is easily substituted for with the simple C7 chord, a perfectly acceptable substitute to use until you have learned BASIC LEAD SHEET STYLE and have a firm enough foundation to proceed further into the world of chords beyond the seventh chord (C7, for example.)

The biggest mistake made by beginning players attempting to play popular sheet music is to try to play every chord, no matter how complex the chord is and no matter how much it slows down the song.  

WRONG! Learn to play piano with simple chords, then, when you have more confidence, move on to more complex chords.

Learn the basics, that is, root position of all chords up through the seventh chord (C7) for example, and when you have mastered that, THEN set out a program to learn more complex chords.

Walk before you run, and you'll have success playing the chords of popular sheet music!

 

See below for a sample entry from the dictionary. If you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, you can click here for a more detailed sample page. If you need Adober reader, click the link below and download it free: Click here to download Adobe Reader free.

 

SAMPLE ENTRY FROM PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY

 

Sample entry from PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY. See also the more detailed PDF file viewable on this page.

 

The example above shows the basic elements of an entry in the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY. 

The chord symbol, Cm7-5, (said as "C minor seven, flat five") is clearly indicated in the large type at the top of the page. The keyboard is shown with the stickers provided already installed. 

The arrows indicate which keys to play for the chord indicated, with Middle C given as a reference point.

The actual PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY includes lots of other valuable information that will help you learn to play piano, such as suggested right hand placement, and acceptable chord substitutions for more complex chords. All the terminology that you will encounter in popular music chord symbols is explained in simple terms that anyone can understand, and see in the diagrams such as the one above.

For example, beginners should know that chords marked with a "9," such as C9, are best played in a simpler form until facility has been gained in playing more complex chords, such as "9th" chords. Thus a beginner is well advised to play the symbol C9 as C7. 

This substitution will not affect the sound of the song, and in fact builds skills that the player will eventually need in forming more complex chords. The reason for this is that C9 is based on C7: thus you should learn the simpler form first. 

The rule is, don't play a 9th chord (C9) until you can play 7th chords (C7) with ease. 

Found at the beginning of the volume, the CHORD FINDER lists exhaustively every chord you are likely to encounter in modern fake books and popular sheet music, such as the catalogue of HAL LEONARD, directing you to either the body of the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY, or, in the case of chord substitutions, to the APPENDIX.

Also included are chord substitution charts, intended for beginners, in the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY. There are 12 such lists, one for each of the 12 chords. Now you will have an acceptable beginner's substitute for even the most complex chord for in popular sheet music.

READ ARTICLES ABOUT CHILDREN AND PIANO LESSONS

PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY includes a 112 page illustrated book and removable stickers. You can buy it as an individual book or as part of a BOOK PACKAGE. A BOOK PACKAGE also includes a free DVD and copy of I CAN READ MUSIC.

PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY #WCS 035DVD

2 BOOKS and DVD 

Trying to play a Cm6 chord in that pop song? Get started today learning about all those chords in popular music!

Learn basic LEAD SHEET STYLE from this encyclopaedic guide. Starting with the simplest "root" position, you'll learn all the chords!

The 56 minute DVD is included FREE with every book package order! Every order of the PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY Book Package includes a copy of I CAN READ MUSIC plus a FREE copy of the 56 minute DVD video from TEACH YOURSELF PIANO  
I CAN READ MUSIC is a 50 page illustrated piano activity book that makes reading music easy for children.
2 BOOKS and DVD  

PIANO CHORD DICTIONARY BOOK PACKAGE $39.95

You can also purchase individual books

You can also download a printable ebook version

 

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