Tips
How to approach the lesson videos
At a glance
TIP 1: FIND THE LEVEL THAT SUITS YOU
In each video I play the song to three different standards. I have named these ‘Starting Out’, ‘Able’ and ‘Pro’. Have a listen to all three and it should become clear to you which one you should begin with. Feel free to mix and match from different levels.
TIP 2: START WITH THE MELODY
It’s the important part of the song and no matter how good your left hand is, the song won’t sound right if you don’t have the melody correct.
TIP 3: PRINT OUT THE CHORD CHART
So if you know the melody, and then print the chord chart out, you become independent of the videos, and only have to refer to them when needed.
How do you figure out what key a song is in?
At a glance
If your instinct doesn't tell you, here are 3 methods.
- What is the last chord of the song? It's likely to be the home chord of the key.
- Where else does the song feel at rest? Work out what the chord is at this point and again it's likely to be the home chord of the key.
- Figure out the notes in the melody. From what scale do they come?
What are the most likely chords to be used in a song?
At a glance
1, 4, 5 Chords - Usually major
2, 3, 6 Chords - Usually minor
Once you know what key the song is in, write out these chords and assign letters to them. These are by far the most likely songs that will appear in this song.