How To Play a C Major Scale for Two Octaves on Piano

I was supposed to do a post last friday about the "accidentals" on piano (the "black keys"), so I'll merge that post with this one. Then you can jump below to watch my video tutorial on how to do a two-octave C Major scale on piano with each hand, then both hands (if you dare). If you aren't familiar with the piano, check out my post here that will help...

Take a quick look at the photo below:

Each accidental has two names, and I'll explain why (technically, even the white keys have two names, but that's another post). Each key, from a white key to the black key next to it, or from white to white key in cases of E to F and B to C, are one "half step" apart. From C to D, for example, would be two "half steps" apart, or one "whole step" (because there's a black key in between them). A black key that is a half step higher than the original white key next to it would be given the same name of that white key, but with a added "sharp" (the thing that looks like a pound/hashtag symbol). So, the black key that is a half step higher than C would be called C Sharp (C#), as shown above. Also, the black key that is a half step lower than the original white key next to it would be given that white key's same name but with an added "flat" (the symbol that looks like a lower cased "b"). So, since C# is also a half step lower than D, it's also called "D flat"... Thus, the two names for the same note.

The same rule goes for the other black keys that come afterwards.

Now that that's out of the way, below is the video that demonstrates a two-octave scale for C Major on piano. If you want to see the tutorial for one octave, you can find it on my youtube channel. Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel to stay updated. Also check out my tabs above to learn more about who I am, private Skype piano lessons, etc :-)

Bruno Mars - Gorilla (Piano Cover)

Since I love this song so much, I decided I would do a cover on it! Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel to stay updated. Also check out my tabs above to learn more about who I am, private Skype piano lessons, etc :-)

Piano Cover: Katy Perry - Unconditionally

I finally got around to doing another cover. I'm not the biggest fan of Katy Perry but this song really does something to me! So I decided to use it as my next cover. Sorry for the minor slips. I also wanted to let you guys know that I'll probably be doing more piano covers than anything else, and I'll only be putting up cover tutorials upon request. Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel to stay updated. Also check out my tabs above to learn more about who I am, private Skype piano lessons, etc :-)

Piano 101: How to Play the C Major Scale

I meant to post this yesterday. Below is my first "Piano 101" Youtube tutorial on how to play the C major scale on the piano. If you're still unfamiliar about the structure of the piano, check out my previous Music Theory 101: The Structure Of The Piano post.

I forgot to mention in the video that this is a tutorial on how to play a scale for one octave - on the piano, the distance between one C and the another C, whether it be above or below it, is equivalent to one octave, because there's a distance of eight white notes between them, including both C's - So in another tutorial I'll show you eventually how to play a scale for two octaves. Feel free to subscribe to my youtube page to stay updated :-)

While you're checking out my video below, check out this great artist group named Pat Hart And The Fly Kicks, and like their facebook page Here.

Music Theory 101: Structure of the Piano

I'm not sure if I'll be posting Music Theory 101 weekly, so I'm still working out an official schedule of when I will be putting up posts... I will say to expect youtube videos every week, whether it be covers, tutorials, or lessons, so feel free to subscribe to my youtube page Here to stay updated on some good stuff! I have a couple videos up there already so definitely check them out :-) I'm still testing the waters on what days are best to share videos, but soon I'll have a consistent schedule on that as well.

Anyways, I want to start at the bare bottom for those who are pure beginners. Some of you may know some of this material, so feel free to wait on a Music Theory 101 post that will show you something new! By the way, these theory lessons are revolved around the piano lessons I'll be giving, so you'll see me use the piano a lot to explain theory.

Speaking of piano, we'll start with the structure of it. For those of you who do not know, the keys are identified by letters of the alphabet. If you can recite up to the letter "G", you can learn piano. Let's Check this guy out:

When you see an 88-key piano, you're really looking at 12 keys repeated over and over again. If you're looking at your piano or keyboard right now, the first thing I want you to notice is the pattern of the black keys. The black keys are separated into groups of two and three, with each group being separated by two white keys, as seen with the two/three black keys above. This was important for me because I used that pattern to navigate through the white keys. For example, since the first key/note you will learn is "C" (the sequence begins with C and goes D, E, F, G, A, and B, then C again, as shown above), you will find C as the white key that is always to the left of the set of two black keys... as shown above. That goes across the board (no pun intended). Now take a minute to try to find all the C's on your piano. If you go up the letters that come after C, you will discover that you will end up at the next C, which will also be right next to the next set of two black keys.

Piano gets about as simple as that. Now, if you want to do some exercises with key identification, there's a great website/app I use for my current students (yep.... I teach private piano lessons... Feel free to check out my tab above that talks about lessons over skype). The website is www.musictheory.net. The direct page for the exercise for key identification is http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/keyboard. Make sure you go to the "Customize" Bar, click on "keys" and uncheck the # and ♭ notes if you don't know what they are. Then you can go back and do the exercises. The guy who created the website was so gracious to create a mobile app called Tenuto, which you can download and use to work on those exercises offline. It's a bit expensive (like, $5 or so), but it's a one-time fee and it's worth it for someone like me who's serious about musicianship.

Until my next Music Theory 101 post and/or youtube video, here's a cover I did for Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are". My channel has a bird's eye view tutorial for my cover, along with the sheet music which is available for download (for my more advanced musicians). Enjoy!

Piano tutorial and cover: Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are"

Hey everyone,

As promised, I finally was able to work up two videos for this week's cong: My piano performance, which you've probably already seen, and my new video which is the tutorial for that cover. This week was Bruno Mars' Just The Way You Are. I know I planned on doing three tutorials (easy, medium, advanced), but just putting one tutorial together took entirely too long, so what I'll do is put up tutorials for the advanced one, then I'll make tutorials for the easier versions upon request. Below is the tutorial, AND the sheet music version for you sight readers out there. Unfortunately, the program I used to sell the sheet music wouldn't let me sell is for under $4, in case you're wondering why it's so expensive. I'll try to find a program where I can sell it for cheaper. In the meantime, enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel for updated tutorials, lessons, and covers!





Sheet Music:

Introducing Ayana Webb, the Music Teacher

So I got tired of Google telling me to post a blog already so here's my first one. Most of you may know me as the Co Founder of M Pire Magazine, but this is a completely separate blog. To summarize, I'm going to use this blog to express my musical side by posting my own youtube videos on tutorials on playing piano, applied music theory, and contemporary songs, as well as written blog posts teaching music theory.

I'll be posting my videos as soon as next week. I'm looking to do my first song tutorial on the famous Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are". My plan, for each song, is to post four videos: Three "Synthesia" videos in three different levels (easy, medium, advanced), and the fourth one of me actually performing the song on the advanced level. Synthesia, by the way, is a really cool app that shows you how to play a song in bird's eye view, and highlights keys as it plays through. It looks exactly like this:




Also, for each video, I will upload the exact sheet music version, which will be available for download for those who prefer to read music instead of the youtube video.

I really hope you guys will enjoy this blog and all it has to offer. Stay tuned for next week's post