Video by Angelo Nottoli
Text by Samuel Barsi

When a student is learning music for the first time its very important for them to learn how the notes work in music. What does a scale sound like? What does it not sound like?  To develop musical intuition we should have a keen sense of this. 

Although simple, this keyboard exercise teaches the piano students the first five notes of the major scale, then it teaches them the notes that are contained in this scales major triad chord, and then it has the student play the chord. Basically this is an introduction to chords. Practice this and find it in every key. For instance, can you figure out how to do this exercise if you start on B instead of C? What about if you start on A? 

We know this is simple and there is much more to know about piano playing and chords. During our piano lessons and keyboard classes we will be sure to give you a balanced curriculum of helpful exercises, songs, and other customized projects to help you reach you musical goals. 

By Sam Barsi
Video by Angelo Nottoli
Whether you want to strum songs on an acoustic by the camp fire, play finger-style folk music with nylon strings, play some shredding solos over the Chicago blues, solo like the guitar gods of classic rock, or play jazz and improvise on the fly, this warm up is for you! 

Finger dexterity is one of the most important skills that will help you as a guitarist. This guitar warm up will help you work on your finger control on the fretboard with your left hand while coordinating your picking hand (right hand) at the same time. A good guitar instructor knows this warm up and a BUNCH of other ones that will help you reach your guitar goals faster. 

Warm ups like this should be done consistently. You would be surprised how much better you will get if you did this warm up 5 times a week over the course of 2 months. As you can probably imagine, your speed and control would be off the charts! 

During our guitar lessons and guitar classes we will give you a balanced lesson plan of warm ups, songs, chords, riffs and scales. If you want to focus on a specific area of your guitar playing, we can do that as well. We want to help you achieve your goals. Happy practicing!