Key of D Major - Sunrise Blues

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Instructor

Jonny May

Course Type

Course

Skill Level

Beginner

Duration

02:02:40

When you play a song in D major, it helps to know which notes and chords belong to the key, and this course teaches you exactly that. You’ll start with the D major scale in each hand, learning the fingering, how to cross your fingers over and under smoothly, and practice strategies for playing it evenly and quickly. Then you’ll expand it across every octave, so by the end you can play the D major scale all the way up and down the keyboard with both hands.

Next, you’ll learn the chords that come from the D major scale and play them in both hands. Then you’ll learn four of the most common chord progressions (chord patterns), so when you start playing real songs, you’ll recognize them right away. To bring it all together, you’ll learn a fun bluesy tune that uses the notes and chords from the course, along with the shuffle, a bouncy rhythm that makes the blues feel great.

Once you’re comfortable, you’ll use inversions to make your chord changes sound smoother and apply them to the tune. Then you’ll play it along with a bass and drums backing track, so it feels like you’re jamming in a blues band. Finally, you’ll learn simple ways to play chords for someone else to sing or play along to.

Course Objectives

Play the D major scale in both hands across all octaves of the keyboard
Use effective fingering strategies for crossing over and under smoothly and quickly
Learn the diatonic chords in D major in both hands, plus four of the most common chord progressions
Play an original blues tune and learn the shuffle rhythm
Apply inversions, perform with a full backing track and accompany other musicians

Learning Focus

Chords
Groove
Lead Sheets
Scales
Songs

Featured Reviews

View PWJ member reviews of this course!

Steven Kaiser verified

Blue Moon Risin', I Got Dem Early "Sunrise Blues"

The Foundational Course just keep getting better from one key to the next! Thoroughly learned the Key of D and some great Blues Chops to with it! This Course was especially near and dear to my heart as I began my music journey playing Blues & Rock on the guitar many Blue Moons ago! To begin to be able to transfer my Blues skill set to the piano has been a special treat!! Most of my early Blues playing was by ear and so getting deeper into the theory was rewarding as well; learning the theory as to why I played what I heard. This has been a great course. I highly recommend it - especially to all you Blues Hungry Cats out there.....

jose santos verified

The best!

That is the best course ever!!!

Nancy Thomas verified

Loved the melody

This harder melody was easier for me. I think it was because it had enough variation that it stuck better in my brain😊

John Falconer verified

Mind Blown!

This was a great lesson! This is the second one of the beginning lessons the I've completed and I'm starting to see a lot of connections. I want to go through these following the "circle of fifths." I will have to work on the G Major lesson next, but I need to master these skills and post videos before I move on. Jonny and Yannick make the material very engaging and I really appreciate how they encourage improvisation and experimentation!

Chris Eijlders verified

thorough fundament

Fun bluesy tune in the key of D and extensive excersises in (blues) rhytm

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