10 Piano Exercises on ONE Chord (E7) — Dominant Seventh Chords Explained

[music] Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Hi everyone, this is Jason Zach from Nathaniel School of Music. In this lesson, we are going to do 10 gymlike workouts for the piano. And this is all going to be on one chord. Literally one chord. And I'm going to tell you the chord now. It's E7th. E [music] G sharp [singing] E D. So 10 very unique workouts that can work on not just E7th, pretty much any chord out there, even a more complex chord or even a simple triad. But I thought we'll start with a middle territory chord which is a seventh. And we have a couple of resources that I'll share at the end of the video on how you can practice this same sort of pattern or the same drill on any other chords of your choice and how you can also compare and contrast your chords for better practice. Okay. So there are 10 of them. So first off let's understand the E7th chord. It's what is a seventh chord? 1 3 flat 5 7 flat. 7 flat is basically a minor 7th which you can form via an octave minus2. It's good to plan it out in the in both your hands. So generally speaking the left hand will go pinky, [music] middle, index, thumb. Some people [music] might use the ring, but I I think this is better. Pinky, middle, index, thumb. While the right hand, thumb, index, middle, pinky. Almost a carbon copy. [music] Okay? And we also have to study the inversions. A good strategy when you're forming inversions is to take the chord, write it in a circle. You'll have E, G sharp, B, D in the circle. And if you move clockwise, you'll go first root position E G sharp [music] B D then the inversion G sharp B D E. And for this, [music] you might want to use your ring finger in the right hand. So 1 2 3 4. The the left hand continues with the same pattern, but your notes get a bit more [music] shorter or compressed. This is root position. First [music] inversion starts with the third. Then second inversion, I would use the index here. [music] You could also use your thumb at the upper note. Right hand, ring finger. I prefer not to use the pinky. But for the root, [music] yes, for this the ring. And then second inversion, [music] I'll use the ring finger. And then coming to the third inversion. A seventh [music] chord will have four inversions. One root and then the three inversions. First, second and third. So the third inversion basically will take the D and drop it down to the lower D. So [music] the first thing you want to do is get used to these shapes. [music] Do it by blocking them. If you're having a challenge with both hands doing it, you could just do the roots in your left hand [music] and then do the chords in the left hand, [music] take a break in the right hand, [music] or just hold E or whatever. Okay? And also if you'd like the notation for all these variations including the study guide of how to actually practice this and what to do exactly or or a great revision after this lesson is over. Do consider getting the study guide which will be available for all our members on Patreon. So it'll be great if you can become a Patreon member. That'll help support the channel. And don't forget to like, share, and subscribe if you like the lesson or maybe even now if you watched a few and you forgot to hit the button. You can hit it. It's right there. Okay, let's get cracking. So the first exercise is what I call as the inversion ladder. So you take [music] the chord in your right hand as an arpeggio and then keep progressing [music] with inversions and descend as well. down the [music] ladder, up the ladder, [music] inversion by inversion, and down the ladder. And as you can see, the [music] left hand is playing block chords while the right hand is doing arpeggios. So arpeggio is basically the notes of the chord one by one. So up again up [music] arpeggio in the right hand. You could argue that the right hand is playing maybe quavers 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and and the left hand is playing minims 2 [music] and descend descenda. [singing] [music] You could also swap the two hands. Left hand does arpeggio, right hand does blocks, [music] descend. That was exercise one. Start slow and then see how it goes from there. The next exercise I have for you is what I call the siren. So you take this E7th chord and you play it in a alternate set of notes way. So two notes and then you drop it. So you're inevitably playing in this case you're playing the third and the seventh flat and then playing the root and the fifth. [music] Okay. You could also, if you have a pitch bend, just for fun, [music] this is just going to be one chord, so you might as well just enjoy it. I guess [music] you could call this the siren or the ambulance version. There we go. [music] Once you get that going in the left hand, you could just hold down either the root and the fifth and toggle them. Okay. [music] So once you've got this toggle, try it with different inversions. So go to this shape and try the same siren technique. So alternate notes and then this inversion and do alternate. So that'll be this one and this one. [music] All through your left hand can go root and fifth. So lastly the third inversion and then do the descend inversion. Second inversion, first inversion, [music] root position almost sounds a bit out of tune already, [music] even though I think this piano, how will it go out of tune? It's a piano anyway. So that's the siren. So in the left hand if you want additional complexity you could hold down the chords as blocks and do the siren in the right hand. You could even [music] break the chords in the left hand. Don't forget to [music] descend as well as that was the siren. And very similar to the siren would be the piano jumping jacks. You know jumping jacks. So you do out [music] and in. Same old E7th chord. [music] So outer two notes E D together. and then inner two. You could put your arm your wrist a little down for this. And when you play G sharp B, you [music] could leave your wrist up. So [music] what I like to do with jumping jacks is also swinging them. [music] 3 and 4 and 1 2 3 4 [music] 1 2 Jumping jacks can get confusing. So use your wrist to kind of make your mind know the difference. 3 4 Don't forget the inversions. >> [music] >> Descend, [music] out in. [music] And as always, you can play the blocks in the left hand. [music] >> [music] >> Don't forget to descend. Okay, that was the third one, jumping jacks. Moving on, the next one is what I call the horn throw. In this exercise, you divide or you distribute the notes between the two hands. So the right hand will be playing the third and the seventh degree while the left hand will be playing the one and the fifth degree. So what is that? In the E chord, E7th chord, the [music] third is G sharp and the seventh in this case seventh flat is D. So in the right hand you need to be prepared for alternating between 37 and 7 flat 3 in this case and alternating means you have to go one by one [music] like this and they are tritones they are inversions of each other [music] you could either play this way where I'm just turning my wrist [music] or you could use different fingers [music] like this. Just jump your hand like this. Okay, I think this is a bit easier. In the left hand, it's going to be 1 five, but [snorts and music] 1 five with a twist. You'll have to do, [music] let's say, your right hand could be playing this in eighth notes [music] or maybe quicker ones. Up to you. So, double and then eighth notes. Left hand, [music] here's the challenge. you play E5, which is EB, and then jump [music] again to another E5, an octave above. So, this really helps with your memory of the notes, I think. [music] There we go. And to make this even more interesting, you could probably do a gesture with your hand in the gap that it's taking you to jump your left hand. So maybe [music] just lift your hand [music] and do that in time. So 1 2 [music] 3 4 or maybe a gesture 4 1 and Okay, now this is tough to do because now doing the gesture will imply you'll have to be in control over the right hand. So your right hand might play when you do something with your hand, right? So you have to figure this out. So what is your favorite gesture? Let me know in the comments. This is a thumbs up. Or do you have anyone in the house, brother, sister who you'd like to high-five or something like that in that beat? Will they be patient enough to allow you to do that? I don't know. You have to ask them. Send me a video. That'll be a cool thing to post on our social media. So, it'll be something like lift your hand first. Now, a gesture. [music] 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and so on and so forth. So that's the horn throw. The right hand plays the third and the seventh and then the seventh and the third. It alternates. The left hand plays the fifth then leaves the keyboard entirely then does the gesture or the horn if you want and then lands on the next fifth up. No gaps in the music. You don't want to have any gaps while playing this. Follow the rhythm, follow the music. We're just trying to keep challenging ourselves. Let's move on to the next one. What I call as the dead hang. So if you take E7th in the right hand, you would hold down the entire chord. Okay? And just lift finger by finger. First lift the thumb and groove with just the thumb. So in the left hand, what you could do is also hold down the chord [music] and whack only your thumbs. >> [music] >> There we go. Now indexes, middles. [music] What are the other fingers doing? They're happily sleeping. [music] This can be a little bit of a physical workout. You don't h you can't lift anything, right? Sounds quite nice come to think of [music] it. And then you can groove a little bit with those free fingers [music] and so on and so forth. Then you can also do patterns like maybe pinky and index in the left hand and then follow that in the right hand [music] or maybe whack them together. And then you could do the other set of two fingers which is this. The thumb [music] thumb and middle. It's very confusing to look at this actually. [music] It's better if you just feel it. So, [music] okay. So, moving on. So, the next thing which I have is a kind of a speed challenge which we are calling the speed bag. You basically go. You start with maybe eighth note speed. Then do triplets and semiquavers. While in the left do the pulse, these are eighth notes. Triple it, triple it, triple it, triple [music] it, triple it. Then we do semiquaver, semiquaver, [music] semiquaver. There we go. Now the challenge with the speed drill is the wrist. If you want if you want to reduce your pain, you have to [music] you have to bounce your wrist also musically. And it [music] actually sounds better. And don't forget the inversions. [music] And if you see the left hand, [music] I am toggling between the extreme notes of the inversion. [music] Moving on, the next is what we call as the rope climb. So you start from the very bottom. In this case, I'll demonstrate it from the middle. And then see you just go [music] up and just keep going up and then down. What is down? This will [music] help you coordinate your hands better. So another thing you do is expand [music] and kind of cover the entire piano. Another thing could be to just cross your hands over each other. Then you get [music] good control. You can even add on more if you wish. But anyway, that was a rope climb. Okay, I have a couple more before we pack up and then a stretching exercise with the same old chord. I hope you're not bored of E7th by now. Anyway, the next one is a pyramid set as we call it. So, in this case, you we're going to add an extra note which is nothing but the same E [music] repeated on top. I'm starting in the root position, but you get the idea. When you play this naturally, it follows a regular 4x4 system, right? E G sharp B D E D [music] B G. So, what you want to do with a pyramid workout is first practice it with accents. What's happening there? Accents of two, right? You [music] could probably reinforce that with the left hand. What about sets of three? >> [music] >> It'll take you a good amount of time for it to recycle, right? [music] Ta. [music] Change the inversion [music] and then the inversion. And finally, all the inversions [music] are very important. [music] 4. Okay. [music] Once you're done with sets of three, you could do sets of four, which similar to sets of two. >> [music] >> also jump [music] and then also do the descend which I also have to practice cuz you have to get into those shapes and the new shape [music] and starting on the G sharp up and because your fingers are rather trapped. It's just one way or the highway. [music] Anyway, so that's the ascend and descend with the pyramid set. And yeah, the beauty of it is you can do multiple accent sets. So if you if you'd like to accent in fives, [music] that's how it lands or resolves. Then if you do sets of seven perhaps. So 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5 6 [music] 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 over. Takes a long time for the seven to resolve. Right? Can do whatever you want. It just goes forward and forward. And yeah, the last one which I found the most challenging which is why I've called it by the exercise that I find most challenging in life to do the crunch. So what happens you're bringing your body together in this case your two hands with the E7th chord starting with extremes. So it doesn't sound very great when I plon it down but you get the idea. So you play the root position here. You play the root position here, but instead of going ascending both, you do one descending. Obviously, you get you're observing what would descend. The right hand would descend since it needs to meet the left hand and the left hand will ascend since it needs to meet the right hand. So, very slowly, let's do this with inversions. [music] G sharp B [music] going on. I [music] guess that's about it. Can't do more. They've met together. So that's the crunch. So this is tricky. Try this on other seventh chords as well. And a wind up for this would be the stretch or the cool down. Basically, just go [music] naturally from one shape to the next shape and make it as smooth as possible. Make sure there's no jump. Make sure you're also perhaps trying it with your eyes closed, very relaxed manner, okay? And just [music] toggle between inversions. Just an inversion toggle if you will. And then this inversion, that inversion, this inversion. No great rhythm. [music] However, you can make it musical like have some fun with it. Maybe basically the inversions just toggle. [music] There you go. [music] >> [music] >> Yeah, that's the stretch or just the conclusion. And finally, you can also kind of, you know, move forward by obviously taking other chords, doing it blindfolded or you're just not looking, just going purely by feel. Doing it on different chords. You can follow the, you know, the the set which is the 145. doing different tempos, experimenting uh with yeah different speeds, doubling it up, double speed, single speed versus triple speed versus four times the speed. And also adding things like dynamics into the equation, making it more musical. And uh, of course, the ultimate goal would be to do this around something like the circle of fifths, where you eventually get all 12. Which brings me to my last point which is our very own circle of fifths app. We have an app where you basically get to visualize the circle of fifths in every possible mode. You can see the keys, the scales, the key signatures, the triads, the intervals, the modes. You can also train your ear with our app using concepts of the circle. You can also visualize rather advanced concepts of music like chord substitution and uh modulations moving from one scale to the other. You can also practice your instruments using that. This is by no means a piano app. Circle of fifths is arguably the most important or most powerful music concept. And we also have a cool quiz section to help challenge yourself. So do check it out and we'll leave you the link in the description as well as the comment section. One mode of the circle which I think will help in this regard would be go to uh foundations and then go to piano mode and filter it by chord where you can choose the seventh chord or the dominant 7th. And what will happen is you have these neat piano shapes to show you the white white or white to black note combo of each of these chords. For example, if I take all the sevenths in root position, C7th [music] is very similar to F7th. It's white, white, white, black. And similarly the chord we learned E7th is very similar to D7th [music] which is very similar to A7th in the sense I'm actually playing it without looking. [music] Same fingers so you trust it. Same with inversions. See [music] first inversion. So you even have you can even toggle by inversions. And if it's a four note chord, you'll have root position, first inversion, second and third inversions. And it also comes with playback. So you can listen to it and practice along. And uh yeah, this is one of the many apps we have. Do visit our uh apps landing page or go to nathanielschool.com. And whatever you see in these lessons which interests you, you could consider just going to the website and using it. And this is what we do a lot in our classes. We try to use the technology to to [clears throat] improve improvisation and general practice. So if you'd like to learn a course at Nathaniel School, something more structured over a long-term period like 6 months to one year, do consider a semester at our school. And also the study guide for this entire lesson including the notations will be waiting for you on our Patreon channel. Do consider heading over there and supporting the channel. Thanks a ton for watching the lesson and I will catch you in the next one. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.