“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the
humble reasoning of a single individual.” - Galileo

The following will deal with how music is taught, which is a science, as well as what music is, which is an art. Much of the information contained here is in consideration of how the conveying of music has been developed over the centuries and how it has been left unchanged from centuries ago, while technology and communications have far surpassed the evolution of music teaching. So often, music is taught "the way I was taught" without regard to possible advances and improvements that could have been made. It's Time For a Change is a must-read article on Bubblelife.com. This article explains more about why we need to step into the 21st century and how we can do it. Bubblelife is a neighborhood news page that you can join for free and keep in touch with things happening near you.

What Has Been

Imagine for a moment that your first encounter with language was not hearing it, but presented to you not only written on paper but written in shorthand. How much more difficult would it have been to learn? Most beginning piano students are given pieces to learn that they have never heard before the first time the teacher plays these pieces for the student. When they go home they may not remember how a piece sounded. Then add to that the fact that a half note is shorthand for two beats of sound, a dotted half note is shorthand for three beats of sound, etc. These shorthand techniques are taught very near the first lessons and need to be not only memorized, but understood by beginners who have never seen them before. Now, consider this. From http://en.allexperts.com/q/Clarinet-2214/B-flat.htm we have the following: Concert instruments are called C instruments, and include flute, oboe, etc. Bb instruments are pitched one full step below concert. The size of the instruments determines the pitch. Since a Bb clarinet is pitched one full step below concert, to play the same pitch, the instrument has to play one full step above concert. Therefore, concert C would be a Bb instrument's D; F would be G, etc Even more complicated is is alto sax - it's pitched in Eb, which means it's pitched six full steps below concert, so it has to play six full steps above concert. A concert 3rd space C would be a high A for alto sax. How confusing is that? Now picture a fifth grader being told this as part of one of his first lessons. Maybe they could have called a C a C and called an A an A on every instrument? What a concept. Then there would have been no transposing needed. Before going on, you should read a short essay by Mike Ellis called "A Teacher Speaks Out". It's a discussion on the importance of reading notes on the staff line.

Which Chords Do They Use? Now you may ask, "What are the chords in the key of C?" You can Google that question and you will find a great many sites that will tell you that the chords in the Key of C are C, D minor, E minor, F, G, A minor, B diminished, and C again. I also found a site that showed this on the treble clef. But there is a problem with this. The problem arises from the fact that in 757 AD, the Catholic Church adopted the Hydraulis as their instrument of choice. This was a water-driven pipe organ with only the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. American music came largely from European music. European music was greatly influenced by the Holy Roman Catholic Church and its music. How is that a problem? Until the middle of the 15th century, there were no black notes on the keyboard and so the treble clef had five lines, each followed by a space above. Look at the notes on the staff line. There are no places for the black notes (sharps and flats) to be shown. So from the first image, we can see that they used line, line, line and space, space, space, alternately, giving the chords shown above. How is this a problem? Where is the B flat chord? It sounds great in the key of C. Try it. How about C, B flat, C, E flat? Try it. They sound great together. But they are not listed on the majority of the websites. Why not? The chord theory they are using is THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OLD from a time when there were no black notes. Why? That's the way they were taught, so that's the right way, the way it should be taught. You are in the "What Has Been" section. If you want to know what chords are REALLY used in any key, scroll down to the "What Can Be" section. You will be glad you did.

What Can Be

Click HERE for your first installment of 21st Century Music Instruction, "Transcribing Music in Western Culture and the Introduction of N.U.M.E."

Which Chords Do They Really Use? Have you ever wondered which chords to use in a song, or tried to "pick out" a song by ear, or looked up the chords on the Internet, only to find out that they didn't really sound right? Now you can find out in a few pages what I learned over an eleven year period of picking out songs by ear. It will save you a lot of time and may even make a song writer out of you. Although the third and fourth pages are geared toward guitarists and bass guitarists, go ahead and read through them. The fourth page shows the results of my eleven year, real-world, experiences with chords and songs. Just follow this link.

The one thing most people don't realize is that when the singer sings a song, there are chords being played behind the vocals. There is nobody playing the singer's part on the songs you like best. The singer sings it. If you want to sound like the recording (.mp3 file, etc.), then you need to be playing the chords. If you don't get to where you can play along with the original artists, then you will be MISSING OUT ON:     the true magic of playing along with your favorite artists,     learning what they did, so that you can do your own songs,     bringing smiles to yourself and others. Another thing most people don't realize is how easy learning chords can be. Sure, if you start by reading "Hot Cross Buns" on the staff line, it will take a long time to get to playing chords, if ever. But the Beatles (most successful and influencial band of all time) weren't trained by reading notes, they toyed around with chords and made up songs. The Rolling Stones members can't read notes. If they could play their songs with no formal training, then so can you. You won't believe how easy it really is, for piano or guitar. The title of this section of this page is, "What Can Be" and it IS what can be for you. See the picture below to be find out where you can order the books shown.

Copyright Mike Ellis Music Instruction 2018