If you are anything like me you love to hear people that play with rich, full, and colorful chords. Chords that are not muddy or thin but just right. Here are a few things that I do to create nice sounding chords.

The First thing that I do is to ask myself am I playing the chord that I am playing in the best place on the keyboard. Sometimes moving the chord up or down an octave can completely change the sound or effect of the chord. I like to call this the sweet spot for the chord. Try it different places on the keyboard and see what sounds the best.

 

The second thing that I do is to observe what I am doing with my left hand. What you do with your left hand will many times give you the body or meat of the chord. It can make your chord sound full or even muddy if too much and too low.

 

It is usually pretty safe to play a perfect 5th interval with your left hand. A Perfect 5th interval is the 1st and 5th note of the major scale of whatever the chord is.

For example say that you are playing a C major seven chord. Since the chord is some sort of C chord then you would use the C major scale to figure out the perfect 5th interval.

The C major scale would be CDEFGABC. The 1st and 5th notes are C and G. So a C and G played at the same time would be a perfect fifth.

This is common to do with your left hand on many chords. It won’t work as well on minor 7 b5 chords or altered dominants like G7#5.

 

The third thing is I sometimes add the ninth to the chord to add color to the chord.

The ninth of the chord is simply the second note of the major scale of that particualr chord or a whole step up from the root of the chord.

For example if you are playing a F minor chord the ninth would be the note G.

The F major scale is FGABbCDEF. The second note of this scale is G. Remember that the second and ninth note of a scale is exactly the same note.

So F minor is F Ab C. With the added ninth it will be FGAbC. This adds color to the chords or gives the chord a more jazzy sound.

Try adding the ninth to some of your chords.

The fourth thing I do is rearrange my chord. I rearrange the notes of my chord by moving the notes around.

For example if I am playing a Cmajor 7 chord like this.

C/CEGB

To make it sound better I will try all of the above techniques mentioned.

and move the notes around like something like this.

CG/BEG

CG/BDEG

CG/DEGB

CGE/DGB

Try these techniques and see if it helps to add flavor to your chords.

Kenny Hollins 

This is a big topic among musicians. Having a career in music is what many musicians would love to do. It’s just like being paid for something that you would probably do for free because you love it so much.

Many musicians feel they can’t do it because they don’t believe that they will make enough money to be sustained or they believe that they can do it but just don’t know how to do it.

I have been a professional musician for sometime now and I know that it is possible. First thing is you have to believe and know that it is possible for you to live very comfortably as a professional musician. By professional I mean music is how you make your income, not that you are musically perfect. (All things are possible to them that believe) 

Second thing you have to ask yourself (and be honest) is music something I really believe I am destined to do.

My personal conviction is that when you do the thing or things that God has gifted and destined you to do, then you will be the most successful in that than in any other thing.

So identify what your true gift or gifts are and develop them and really go after excellence in the area of your God given talents and gifts.

The problem is people see other people operating in their God given gift and see the success that they are having and try to copy them based on what they see. This is ok if your gift is in the same area as the person you are watching. You actually could learn from them if your gifts are in the same area. You don’t want to make the mistake of pursuing something that you really are not gifted to do.

For example when I was in Jr. High School I use to want to play pro ball because that is what all my friends wanted to do. I joined the team and just so you can know I AM NOT A GIFTED ATHLETE.

I remember playing in a game and I did so bad that the WHOLE GYM laughed at me! And after enough times of me embarassing myself I figured out that pro ball was not my calling. LOL. I decided to focus on what I was good at. I was good at music and I was gifted in music.

I also remember being asked by a teacher to play saxophone in a school program. I did it and when I got through the WHOLE GYM gave me a standing ovation.

Isn’t it interesting that the same people that laughed at me when I was doing what I was not gifted at were the same people that gave me a standing ovation when I was doing what I was gifted at. Your success is in doing what God has gifted you to do.

Let me clear this up. People sometimes don’t know what I mean when I use the term gift. From my understanding a gift is a God given talent, ability, know how, an edge, and anything that comes easier for you than most people.

This is the misconception. Just because you are gifted in a particular area does not mean you don’t have to work hard in that area.

Because you are gifted in something means you really should work harder at it.

Some of the most talented and gifted people I know are also some of the laziest people I know.

This is because they have only relied on their gift alone and have not mixed hard work with it.

It is like the story of the tortose and the hare. The hare was naturally much faster (gifted) but he was lazy and he believed his speed gave him a license to be lazy and he would still when the race. On the other hand the tortose wasn’t as fast so he had to really on the principle of hard work to get things accomplished.

We all know that the tortose won the race and the hare lost.  And the tortose won because he worked hard, did not give up, and kept pressing on until he finished the race. He Won.

That’s what we want to do. We want to WIN! And you can win if you do what God has gifted you to do and work HARD at it.

Be the best you possibly can be. You will reap the benefits from your hard work.

“Be not deceived for God is not mocked for whatsover a man soweth that shall he also reap.”

 

Getting to the point of thinking like this is really just half of it. The other half of it is the business part of it.

You have to look at it in terms of “Supply and Demand”. In other words what do I have, what can I do, and what do I know that other people want or need. This is your product.

Identify your supply and ask yourself is there a demand for it.

Do people want and need what I have to offer?

If the answer is yes then you need to figure out how to get it out to people.

Sit down and make a business plan.

Ask yourself:

1. what is my product

2. who will want to buy or pay for my product

3. how will I let people know about my product

4. how much will my poduct be sold for

5. how will I distribute my product to people.

I am using the word product loosely. Your product could be a service that you offer or something that you actually do your self or even a tangible thing that you sell.

 I learned this from piano master George Duke. You want to create as many streams of aggresive and passive income as possible. Meaning you want money flowing in to you from more than just one place.

Aggresive income is income you make from you physically doing something. (example) I played keyboard for a wedding reception and made $200 dollars. This is agressive income.

Passive income is income you make from not physically doing something. (example) You recorded a CD of music and people buy it over the internet. In other words you have done the work and now you are making income from something you have already done.

In a sense you are not having to use physical energy to make the income other than make the CD available to people. This is an example of passive income.

Examples of Aggressive Income for a musician:

Playing for a Band, Touring, Producing A recording project, Teaching Music Lessons, Playing for a church, music engineering just to name a few.

 

Examples of Passive Income For A Musician:

CD’s, DVD’s, Books, Digital Downloads, and videos just to name a few.

 

You have to set up a system to where you can be paid for your passive income products. The internet has made creating passive income much easier.

You also have to set up a system in which people know about your aggressive income products as well.

So in conclusion there are many ways a musician can have a solid career in music. You have to have a product that people want whether it is you playing the organ or having a CD that people want.

People only want to pay for quality. Your product has to be a quality product.

You have to set up a system for people to know about your product and a system where they can pay for your product.

Lastly, make sure you are doing the things that you are gifted to do and mix hard work with it.

(send me a shout and let me know if this helped anyone) 

Be Blessed,

Kenny Hollins

 

One of the easist ways to learn new songs that I know is by reading the chord symbols. By chord symbols I mean symbols like Cmaj7, D7, Ebmin, F#min7 etc.

Many musicians get turned off when they see these kind of symbols if they don’t understand them. Playing chord symbols is a very useful skill to have.

1. You don’t have to memorize the song

2. You don’t have to struggle to learn the song

3. You can communicate more effectively with other musicians

4. It is down right faster

I am going to show you some things that I have learned to make reading chord symbols easy.

FIRST you have to know all 12 major chords in root position. A major chord is simply the 1st, 3rd, and fifth notes of the major scale.

For example the C major scale is

CDEFGABC 

Therefore the 1st, 3rd, and 5th are the notes C,E,G

The notes to the C major chord are CEG

 

You can figure out all of the 12 major chords like this by playing the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the major scales.

In order to do this you have to start off playing your major chords in root position. Root position means you play the notes of the chords in order from left to right.

For example if your trying to play a Cmajor chord in root posistion you must play the C with your right hand furthest to the left the E in the middle and the G furthest to the right. This is C major in root position.  You have to play the chords in root position to do this and then you can change it up after you know which notes to play.

To get a diagram of how to do it.

Click Here

Here is a diagram of all 12 major chords.

Click Here

Our DVD Gospel Pianist Basics Deluxe goes through how to do this in great detail.

Till next time.

Kenny Hollins

www.hmpi.net

We have to make sure we are registered to vote. By the way I am in favor of Obama but I thought this video was hilarious!

I believe creativity, wisdom, insight, and knowledge comes from God. Having these things will make us better musicians. If you don’t already do this pray and ask for these things in your music before you practice. Try it and see if it doesn’t make a difference. IT DOES! Now of course we have to do our parts and study and work hard but the ability to understand musical concepts and apply them comes from God. Let prayer become a regular part of your practice time and watch yourself over time go up levels.

Kenny Hollins

We all want to go to the next level. The next level for you could mean playing more skillful, more influence, a higher position, more money or whatever. We all want to go to the next level. There is no question about that.

The question is are you really willing to do what it takes to go to the next level. It is a price to pay in order to go to the next level that everyone is not willing to pay.

The principle is you reap what you sow. Don’t sow apples and then get mad when you start reaping apples. Likewise, it would be crazy to sow oranges and expect to get grapes. We all know it does not work like that.

So as a musician you have to ask yourself “what do I really want.” You then have to start sowing seeds that will produce the harvest for that.

For example if you want to play better you have to practice. You are probably thinking DUH everybody knows that. But is everyone practicing consistently; practicing when you don’t feel like it; practicing on the things that are really hard for you and are no fun; practicing diligently on a regular basis and constantly raising the bar for yourself. If you love what you are doing then it is not so bad but true practice is sacrifice and hard work!
My point that I am trying to make is that this is the price you have to pay if you really want to go to the next level in your playing. Are you willing to pay the price?
I run across musicians all the time that want to make more money! I think musicians should be paid very well when they have prepared themselves and do good jobs.

This is my view on this. Most guys say when I get paid the amount of money that I want then that is when I will give the type of service that they want. I think this is backwards. You have to sow the seed first and then you get the harvest.

Now let me be honest I use to think like that too. I would hold back if I wasn’t being paid what I wanted. But I didn’t fully understand the principle of seed time and harvest and I didn’t understand true service.

The is a blog for gospel musicians so I make references to things that gospel musicians can relate to but I think the principle applies to everything.

Say for example a musician that plays at church wants and feels like he deserves a raise. The question that this musician needs to ask himself is have I been faithful, have I been dependable, have I consistently prepared to do the job in excellence, have I been on time, have I had a good attitude.

If he can say yes to all of these things then he has sown the seeds for a raise. But on the flip side is the guy justified for getting a raise if he is late alot, never knows his music, is not dependable, doesn’t practice, isn’t improving, and has a bad attitude.

Would you give this guy a raise? Probably Not!

But alot of us approach what we do like the second guy and we are dissapointed when don’t get the results we want.

Hard work, sacrifice, discipline, diligence, character, integrity, and consistency will take you to the next level every time. Apply these principles to whatever you do. If you stick with it and don’t get tired I guarantee that it will work for you and propel you to the next and next and next level.

Kenny Hollins

Here is your chance to learn Let Go by Dewayne Woods. With this instant download you will receive a mp4 video, pdf fake chart, midi file, midi file software and more. You get an over the head view of detailed instruction of how to play the song. All the chords are spelled out so you can easily and quickly learn the song. This download is only $1.99

DOWNLOAD HERE

We have a new DVD and download that is available called the Gospel Pianist’s Toolkit. With this video you’ll learn progressions, songs, chords, and licks appropriate for playing in church services. You can really upgrade your playing with this video. You can download the video HERE for only $3.95.

Gospel Piano A-Z Super Course will be available on July 15th. This will be a complete DVD set for anyone who is serious about learning keyboard or piano as well as those who want to take there playing to the next level.  This course will surpass anything out on the market right now! For more info go to www.hmpi.net

One thing that we receive a lot of request for is for music that you can play while someone is talking. You need music that is appropriate for when someone is up speaking and you are providing music that compliments what they are saying. We have produced a Midi Set that has 3 really nice arrangements of talking music for piano or keyboard. It has various arrangements from basic changes to phat chords. The set contains midi files, fake charts, chord charts, mp3 demos, and midi file player software for your PC.  The whole entire set is only $2.95. You can download it HERE.

Musically Your,

Kenny Hollins