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Welcome back to my two-part series on Diminished 7th Chords. Last week we talked about What a Diminished 7th Chord is and today we’re going to get a bit more in-depth about how and why the diminished 7th chord can be deceptive.

Last week we talked about how you can’t really invert a diminished 7thchord because it’s all minor thirds. There are however three ways to resolve these chords.

The first way to resolve a diminished 7th chord is to resolve it upward by a half step. So a B diminished 7th chord would resolve to C major or minor.

The next way to resolve diminished 7th chords is rather fascinating. If you lower any note in a diminished 7th chord by a half step and you will get a dominant 7th chord which can resolve in its usual manner from V7 to I. In C major, a G7 would resolve to a C major triad.

This might seem overwhelming but this is what makes the diminished 7thchord so deceptive yet so intriguing. It’s a wonderful chord and tool to use for improvisation and it’s one indicator of where a piece is going and the structure behind it.

The last way to resolve a diminished 7th chord is truly deceptive. You can take any note of a diminished 7th chord and make it the root of a major or minor triad. Try this out and you will be amazed a the unexpected sound!

This is a complex lesson and it would be a good idea to watch this video and try out the different resolutions so you can hear them. To recap: You can’t invert a diminished 7th chord because it’s all minor thirds even when inverting. There are three ways to resolve a diminished 7th chord. These chords are incredibly useful tools for many musical applications and it’s a great idea to get familiar with them and how they work. Once you understand the concepts behind them you will find it easier to understand them when you encounter them in your music.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask and I look forward to bringing you more of these videos.

Diminished 7th Chord – Part 2 – The Deceptive Diminished 7th

Welcome back to our series on technology and art. If you missed Part 1, we discussed technology’s impact on art throughout history and how it has affected musicians in modern times. Today we are going to talk about the influence of social media, the internet, and the connected world’s impact on music and art.

At the end of the 19th century, the Vorsetzer was invented. It was the first of its kind, a player-piano type of technology that could record performances with technical and musical accuracy recreating the original artists’ interpretation. No longer would you have to see a performance to hear it. Now you could sit and listen to the performer as if you were there – by having it re-created on a player system! Suddenly, the world of music became more connected and global.

When I was growing up and studying a piece of music, I would go to the store and buy a couple different recordings of the piece by different artists. I would get a good sense of how other pianists would approach the same piece but I was limited to what was available at the store. Today, things are much more accessible. All you have to do is open your internet browser and you’ll have access to dozens of different pianists playing the same piece!

What does this accessibility do to our music and art? You would think that it would be a great benefit, right? Not necessarily.

While music is much more accessible now, a somewhat vanilla approach has evolved. If you listen to recordings of performers from the 1930’s, you will hear a lot of differences in individual performances. The same piece played by Rachmaninoff is incredibly different from Hoffmann, Lhévinne, Horowitz or Rubinstein. The differences in each of their performances are drastic and very apparent. Today’s differences between artists don’t exhibit the same type of individuality in their performances. Why is this?

With the advent of technology and the availability of content and recording capabilities so accessible, we have experienced a deluge of content. With the quantity of content has come a homogenized approach to music – performances tend to sound more the same. This is because when there are countless examples of particular pieces, people will tend to emulate influences in their playing. Dramatically different interpretations may be considered “wrong” by some people accustomed to the norm created by the massive number of established performances.

On the other hand, music from other countries and cultures is more accessible and able to be heard by a global audience that has never been accessible before. Suddenly, we are able to experience music we have never heard before! This helps to develop musicians from different cultures with unique influences. Some of the most interesting new music being written today is a hybrid of different styles from around the world – much like culinary artists creating fusions of Asian, French, Spanish or other elements in their creations.

So the social reach and accessibility of music has both good and bad qualities. On one hand, everyone can hear new music and have access to new sounds and influences. On the other hand, we have somewhat of a simplification of style for musical performances as a new “normal” is established through recordings, and people tend to be somewhat fearful to stray from the established standard.

I’m very interested to hear your opinions on this topic and how it’s affected your own music and performances. Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos, if you have any questions or comments about this topic or any topic at all please contact us directly Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.

Has Technology Ruined Art? Part II: The Connected World

Welcome to the first in our three part series on technology’s impact on music. There are going to be people with very strong emotions on both sides of this discussion and I’m going to do my best to provide a neutral presentation. Today we are going to discuss the impact that technology has had on art and music.

It’s simple to point to current technologies and see how they have impacted musicians and music as a whole. Where there used to be live bands we now have DJs and sound systems – which in certain circumstances has put musicians out of work. Electronic music has been popular for decades and some people might not even consider some of it to be music in instances where there are no actual performances – just recordings. As we delve into the controversy between technology and music you can envision the arguments of each side start to form.

Let’s take a moment and put ourselves at the time before the piano existed and even before the harpsichord came to be. There was a point in time when these were considered new inventions and something that would change music – either for the better or for the worse depending on who you asked. We could go all the way back to the origins of music – the human voice – and probably find conflicting opinions as new instruments were slowly integrated into music; there was probably never a time without controversy.

Societies eventually move on and the technologies of each age will inevitably replace the technologies of old and it will have an impact on art. Take a look at the architecture of today and compare it to the architecture of a thousands years ago, or 100 years ago; the differences are striking. Some people will revere the older styles of art and architecture while others will embrace the new – but this phenomenon is timeless.

When it comes to art, it’s ultimately about the people making music, not just the technology utilized. The inventions and instruments are merely the tools employed by the artists – what they create is a product of their environment and the tools available to them. You might not personally enjoy the work that an artist creates with newer tools, but you shouldn’t discount the tools they use – they are merely vehicles of expression.

There can be a level of resentment from people who studied their whole lives to be skilled in particular instruments that are upstaged by people using newer technologies to replicate what they do in new ways.

The best thing we can do is simply create the music we want in the ways we are familiar with. There will always be audiences for great music – no matter what tools are used to create it. Reaching people and creating a sense of emotion is the goal of art and no particular method will limit you from doing this.

I would love to hear everyone’s opinions on this topic. Please contact us directly if you have any questions or comments about this subject or any musical subject at all: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Has Technology Ruined Art? Part I: Technology’s Impact

You’ve no doubt heard diminished 7th chords before. Anytime you hear spooky chords in an old horror movie or a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, works of Richard Wagner, as well as many other pieces of music, they are pervasive. They serve very important functions. But what are diminished 7th chords?

If you aren’t familiar with music theory or if you haven’t watched my past video: Explaining Musical Intervals – Whole Steps and Half Steps, I would suggest starting there. As a refresher, a half step is two keys together with no keys between and a whole step is two keys together with one key between. If this sounds confusing it would be a good idea to watch the video linked above.

A diminished 7th chord is built on minor thirds, so it’s one-half step bigger than a whole step (a step and a half, or 3 half-steps). Just as there is only one Chromatic scale and two Whole Tone scales, there are only three possible diminished 7th chords. After that, they are all just inversions – starting on different notes of the same chord.

When you build a diminished 7th chord you start with a note and count 3 half-steps to each successive note. After building 4 notes this way, if you build one more you will be back to your starting note! You will soon discover that unlike all other 7th chords, you can’t really invert a diminished 7th chord – it would still be a diminished 7th chord – all minor 3rds. So there are only three possible diminished 7th chords.

The great thing is that diminished 7th chords can go almost anywhere. They are incredibly useful in modulating to other keys and they can be used in improvisation as well. Next week we will be going much more in-depth with these chords and explaining practical uses for them.

Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com.

What is a Diminished 7th Chord? – Part 1

Today we are going to cover Double Sharps and Double Flats. You might think I made this up but it is an actual thing in music and it’s something that you should be aware of.

You’re probably familiar with sharps and flats and you might assume they are represented by the black keys on the piano. This, however, is not entirely true, sharps and flats are not just black keys on the piano.

Sharps and Flats simply raise or lower a note by a half step. A half step is represented by the closest interval. On a piano, this is a set of two keys next to each other with no keys between.

If you play C on a piano it is a white key. If you play a C sharp it is a black key. If you play a C flat it is a white key (the B key). The note that is sharp or flat is simply the next key to that note – whether it is white or black.

So what about double sharps and double flats?

Here is how you would see them in your musical scores:

So what does this mean and how do you interpret these notes. Well if a sharp or flat is simply a half step either higher or lower – then a double sharp or double flat is a whole step (or two half steps) higher or lower than the written note.

So let’s take the example of C again. If you had a C double flat, you would be playing the same key on the piano as B flat or A sharp. But why would someone write a double sharp or a double flat instead of just writing the simpler version of the note? This is because most Western music is organized diatonically – built on scales which have all the letter names in order – line to space, space to line. Sometimes it becomes necessary to use double sharps or double flats in order to notate the music logically adhering to the scale the piece is based upon. (for more information on this subject watch our video on E sharps and C flats).

I hope this was helpful for you and if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future videos please contact us directly: info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.

What are Double Sharps and Double Flats?

Today we are going to cover Double Sharps and Double Flats. You might think I made this up but it is an actual thing in music and it’s something that you should be aware of. You’re probably familiar with sharps and flats and you might assume they

This is a really interesting question. Sometimes you will see E sharps or C flats written in music and you might wonder why they just don’t write F or B instead – after all, an E sharp is an F and a C flat is a B on a piano. So why add this level of complexity?

Let’s start by exploring the foundations of Western Music. For most of us the music we are familiar with is founded upon the principles in Western Music. Everything from Rock to Pop to Symphonies utilizes the same aspects of being built upon scales.

What are scales exactly? Musical Scales are a series of whole steps and half steps that have all the notes (letter names) in order. For example, here is a C major scale:

When you see these string of notes together you should recognize that they are Diatonic, which means they are all built on the interval of a second. In other words, one letter to the next letter, line to space, space to line consecutively.

For more information on scales we have a series of in-depth videos on this topic:

What is a Major Scale?

How Many Musical Scales Are There?

What is a Relative Minor Scale?

What is a Chromatic Scale?

What are Pentatonic Scales?

What are Whole Tone Scales?

So let’s get back to the topic at hand. Why is it a good idea to sometimes have E sharp instead of F or C flat instead of B written in your music?

Let’s say for example you had a piece in C-sharp major:

As you can see, it has all the same letters as a C major scale and we happen to have an E# in there as well instead of F. It would look pretty weird on paper if the notes were C# D# F F# G# A# B# C# wouldn’t it? In cases like the one above it is much easier to decipher the notes if they are written diatonically.

Let’s examine this same topic when it comes to chords. Chords are built on the interval of 3rds (for more information you can see our video: What is a Chord?). To put it in simple terms, chords are built upon the interval of a 3rd which are two letters apart – all lines or all spaces. So for example, here is a C major chord:

So if you had a C# major chord it would look like this:

And the same principle applies as the one above. It’s much easier to comprehend the chord written with an E# rather than an F. It makes more sense and is more digestible on the page. It is instantly recognizable as a chord.

Hopefully this clarifies the concept of why E sharps and C flats are (and other accidentals which are white keys) are easier to read than their enharmonic equivalent spellings.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us directly: info@LivingPianos.com or (949) 244-3729.