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How to practice all your
chords using cycle of fifths.
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You already used a version of
this progression in book one,
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in the broken chord ballad.
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If you remember it,
you used C family chords.
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C
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[MUSIC]
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F
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[MUSIC]
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B diminished
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[MUSIC]
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E minor.
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[MUSIC]
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A minor.
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[MUSIC]
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D minor.
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[MUSIC]
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G.
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[MUSIC]
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C.
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[MUSIC]
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And you can hear that the chords
want to resolve to one another.
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And that movement is what is known
as the cycle of fifths progression.
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Using this cycle is a great way to
practice your chords and progressions.
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Because it's one of the most common
occurrences in music, it's the movement
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of two or more chords whose root notes are
a fifth apart in a downwards direction.
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So, for example, one of the most
common progressions you'll hear,
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as chords a fifth apart C,
A minor, D minor, G.
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So we all know that progression.
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[MUSIC]
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And it's easier to see
this downward progression,
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let's say we start on the A minor of it.
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A minor [SOUND].
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Two three four, down to D minor.
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Two three four five.
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Down to the G, back to the C.
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[MUSIC].
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You can hear that each chord wants
to resolve back to the next chord.
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Now I realize this all might
sound a bit complicated.
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But for now all you need to do is memorize
basic cycle of fifths progression.
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Cuz it will help you practice changing
your chord shifts which is good practice
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for your fingers.
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And you will come across it in so
many tunes.
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So it will also get your musical ears
used to the movement between chords.
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So look at the circle on the page.
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You really do need to try and
memorize this sequence of letters.
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Be very important.
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So to help you, think of the word bead,
that occurs twice in the sequence.
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So, B-E-A-D, and
then you can just memorize G-C-F, and
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then it's back to the word bead again,
but this time they're all flats,
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so B flat, E flat, A flat,
D flat, and then add in F sharp.
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So try to get used to just
being able to rhyme of
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B E A D G C F B flat E flat
A flat D flat F sharp.
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B E A D G C F B flat E flat A flat D flat,
and you'll be able to start
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that anywhere in the sequence
once you get used to the words.
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So don't worry about the theory
of any of this for now.
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Just memorize, and later on,
you'll see how useful it can be.
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So let's try exercise one.
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We're going to start with a root position
cord, followed by a middle inversion,
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then a root position,
then a middle inversion, and so on.
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And we're going to start with
an E chord root to an A middle,
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then a D root, and a G middle, and so on.
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So find the E.
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[MUSIC]
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Then A middle, middle finger on the A.
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Find the other two notes of the chord
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[MUSIC]
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Put that one down there.
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So that's A middle.
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And down to D and G middle.
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Then C then F middle and
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B flat and E flat middle.
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Can you see how it works?
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So, E, you can see that your hands stay
in one position, quite close together.
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You're getting to change chords,
you're going through the progression.
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So E, A middle, D, G middle, C,
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F middle, B flat, E flat middle, A flat,
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D flat middle, F sharp, B middle.
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[SOUND] Okay, you can also go
through this sequence again but
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change every chord to a minor chord.
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And that’ll get you used to
your minor chord changes.
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So E minor root.
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[SOUND] A minor middle.
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So middle finger on the A,
find the notes of the A minor chord.
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[MUSIC]
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A minor middle.
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[MUSIC]
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D minor, root.
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[MUSIC]
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Up to G minor middle.
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[MUSIC]
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G minor.
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[MUSIC]
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And then C minor.
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So that's C, that's C minor.
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F minor middle.
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[MUSIC]
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And so on.
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Chord practice number two.
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And you're going to use
different inversions this time,
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because in exercise one, only half
the chords used a middle inversion.
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So you'll want to practice
all inversions so
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it's important to do different exercises
with the same cycle of fifths.
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So this time we'll start with an E
backwards inversion to a root position A.
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So it's kinda reversed.
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So let's find the E backwards.
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So.
[MUSIC]
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That's an E chord.
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Play it backwards you're going to
put your small finger on the E and
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find the other two notes, G sharp and B.
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But because we want to move in a downward
direction, we'll go to far down the piano.
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So we'll start the E higher up.
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So E, [SOUND] A flat, B.
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[SOUND] So
that's E backwards from the start there.
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Then to an A root.
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[SOUND] Then D backwards, so
there's D [SOUND] up here.
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F sharp, A, [SOUND] you want to play
it backwards, so D, [SOUND] F sharp,
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[SOUND] A.
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[SOUND]
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[MUSIC]
And a G rich
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[MUSIC]
And a C backwards.
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[MUSIC]
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And an F rich.
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And a B flat backwards.
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[MUSIC]
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Then E flat rich.
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[MUSIC]
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And A flat backwards.
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[MUSIC]
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And D flat.
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[MUSIC]
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And F sharp.
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[MUSIC]
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Backwards.
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And a B.
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[MUSIC]
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Okay.
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And then again,
you can play the above again, but
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you change each chord to a minor.
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So there's your E minor.
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Play it backwards.
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E minor backwards to A minor.
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[SOUND] D minor backwards to G minor.
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[SOUND] C minor backwards to F minor.
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[SOUND] That'll get you used to all
the chords and every inversion.
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So, chord practice number three.
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This time we're gonna start with a middle
inversion to backwards inversion.
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So, this means that over
the three exercises,
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you've covered both types of
inversions for every chord.
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So let's find E middle, and again we're
going to start higher up the piano this
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time, because we're going to move in a
downwards direction, so that would be E up
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there, E middle would be put you're middle
finger on the E find the other two notes.
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[MUSIC]
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Okay?
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So that's E middle,
A backwards, right beside it A.
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[MUSIC]
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A backwards.
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Okay?
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D middle.
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[MUSIC]
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G backwards.
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[MUSIC]
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C middle.
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[MUSIC]
Middle finger on the C.
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F backwards.
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Okay.
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B flat middle.
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[MUSIC]
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E flat backwards.
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A flat middle.
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[MUSIC]
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All right.
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D flat backwards.
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[MUSIC]
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F sharp middle.
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[MUSIC]
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B backwards.
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[MUSIC]