TABLE OF CONTENTS | The Pop Piano Book by Mark Harrison a” I 53 Creating & using triad-over-root chords 65 4-part chords - inversions and voiceleading 82 Creating & using 4-part-over-root chords 93 Triad resolutions using added 9ths 103 Triad resolutions using suspended 4ihs 119 Chord ‘shapes’ using fourth intervals 125 133 185 219 27 289 43 389 443 Glossary of terms used in this book a8 ‘Scale fingering guide (major & pentatonic scales) &Scales and chords - review Major scales ‘We wil first of all review some concepts relating to major scales. This is the scale most easly understood by the ear, and is the basis for much of today’s cantemporary pop music. When teaching hamony and theory dasses, | emphasise to students the importance of working with and memorizing the interval refationshins (.2. the whole-sieps and hel-steps) present in the major scale, as this approach most clasely parallels how the ear relales fa the scale. So don’t just rely on your hey signatures to figure out the nates in an A major scale (lar ‘example! If you know your intervals you can fiqure out any major scale - this is also the starting point to getting ‘the ‘coniour' of the scale under your fingers, an essential slep on the mad ta becoming a proficiont player in all keys (see discussion of diatonic relationships in Chapler 3). Of course knowing your key signatures is important for notation reasons (reading and writing) but daes not in my view represent the best way fo memorize the contants of a major scala! The following example shows us the C Major scale, also indicating the intervals (Whole steps and half-steps) present: i | tds ——_ = © = = (WS whole-step, HS = hall-stop). Of caurse the above interval relationships work for ali major scales, not just © Majort ‘Tho following examples are a summary of all the major scales, both with and without key signatures, It's very important that you leam the major scales and recognize their ‘contour’ on the keyboard - this isa vital ‘comerstone' of the appmach that we will be developing!