My friend Marcus and I created an ear training video on identifying chords. It’s available at EarPractice, on Youtube, or by using the player below.

In the video I play a series of chords on the piano and after each one, pause for the viewer to identify the kind of chord (such as Major, minor, dominant-seventh) and the key (such as C, A, etc), before revealing the answer. This is a useful exercise and is something you can do with a friend too, once you get the idea.

My talented globetrotting singer-songwriter friend, Angela Molineux, dropped by my place today for a visit, and we wrote and recorded a new song, called All I Want To Do.

We originally started working on this song 3 years ago when we were both living in Vancouver. Since then Angela has performed and lived in Italy, New York, and London, has studied opera at Julliard, and has had many other interesting musical adventures.

All I Want To Do is a seductive pop ballad that is full of emotion and desire. The simple, repetitive harmonic structures envelop the listener in a thick intoxicating cloud that can become almost trance-like. Most of the song is made up of the chord progression Ebm Gb Fm, and the second half of the chorus alternates between Ab and Gb.

Check back on this page for updates on when the song will go live on iTunes (expected date is the end of Feb. 2010).

Another practice tonight. I am all fired up about attending Phil Dwyer’s Academy of Musical and Culinary arts (PDAMCA) this summer in Qualicum Beach BC.

I worked some more on Ceora like I did the last few practices and then felt that I was playing the same sounds over and over again, and wanted to change things up a bit. So I thought I would investigate the melodic minor scale. The melodic minor scale is the same as the major scale except the third degree is “flatted” as in a minor scale. A piano friend Stephen Pong recommended to try playing the scale starting on the 7th degree, and playing the dominant seventh chord starting on this 7th note. I also tried playing fifths in the left hand and going up and around the melodic minor scale in some exploratory ways. This is a totally new sound for me, and I really am glad to finally be exploring this interesting scale.

Here is an excellent article with other chords to play with the melodic minor scale (click here).

I then brought out my vocal mic and tried playing Autumn Leaves in the key of Fminor (for a change!) while singing. I did a bit of scat soloing and stuff which I didn’t record but it was fun anyways. (Click here for Chick Corea and Bobby Mcferrin doing an amazing duo version of Autumn Leaves).

Feel free to click below to listen to my practice in Midi format:
ceora and autumn leaves.mid