Piano Cheats

Sus2 are usually used only on Chord I and Chord IV, so there is no need to learn Sus2 for other chords in a scale.

So if you play in the C scale, all the sus2 chords you need to know are only C2 and F2.

And this is how you can play C2 and F2 with the 3 basic chords, without having to learn C2 and F2 from scratch.

For C2, play C as your bass note with the left hand, accompanied by a G chord with your right hand. That resulting sound is very much like C2. (This combination is also referred to as G/C, read “G on C”)

Figure 1: C2

For F2, play F as your bass note with the left hand, accompanied by a C chord with your right hand. That resulting sound is very much like F2. (This combination is also referred to as C/F, read “C on F”)

Figure 2: F2

In general, in any key, you can do the same thing. That is, to implement Chord I2 (i.e., sus2 of Chord I), simply play note 1 (the “doe” note) as your bass and accompany it with Chord V on your right hand.

And to implement Chord IV2 (i.e., sus2 of chord IV), simply play note 4 (the “fa” note) as your bass and accompany it with Chord I on your right hand.

See? Most songs can be played using the 3 basic chords!

Tags: C/F, C2, cheat, chord, F2, G/C, improvise, piano, Sus2, suspension

I have talked about Sus4 and how to improvise it with the 3 basic chords earlier. Sus2 is another form of suspension that can also be improvised with the 3 basic chords.

Let’s take a C chord (C Major chord) as example. A C-Sus2 chord is usually written as C2.

For a C chord, we play the 1, 3 and 5 notes (i.e., C, E, G notes) simultaneously.

For a C4 chord, we play the 1, 4 and 5 notes (i.e., C, F and G notes) simultaneously.

For a C2 chord, we play the 1, 2 and 5 notes (i.e., C, D and G notes) simultaneously.

The Sus2 chords are use very often in place of the Chord I and Chord IV. That means, in the C scale, instead of playing C (Chord I), I often play C2 instead simply because it gives a more modern sound. The same goes for the
F chord in the C scale. That is, instead of playing an F (Chord IV), I often replace it with an F2.

Figure 1: C2

Figure 2: F2

I shall talk about the improvisation of Sus2 using the 3 basic chords on my next post.

Tags: C2, cheat, chords, F2, improvise, piano, Sus2, suspension

I just received this link through a mail. What a revival!

See for yourself…

Tags: 8 years old, 8-year-old, christians, indonesia, muslims, preacher, revival

On the flight back from Phnom Penh, I met a Cambodian lady who now stays in the US. Her mother and the children left Cambodia for US during the war. They thought they had lost their father in the war until more than 10 years later when they discovered him alive and had remarried. He is now a monk.

The lady visits Cambodia 2 to 4 times year, as she now owns some pieces of land, and grows some fruits in Cambodia, more as a hobby, than for a business, she said. How nice!

Based on her itinerary, I commented that she had just missed the Cambodian New Year in the middle of April. It was deliberate, though, according to her, because the celebration in the US is more interesting! Though their motherland has moved on, the Cambodian immigrants in the US are still holding on to the image of their country as they knew it when they left. They are also holding on to traditions that are probably no longer observed by those living in Cambodia. Therefore, the Cambodian New Year celebration, as it turns out, is actually more traditional and at the same time more modern (meaning parties! …being in the US) overseas among the Cambodian immigrant communities than in Cambodia itself.

Having talked so much about Cambodia, perhaps I should share a couple of video clips that I have taken.

This is a view of Bayong, one of the temples inside Angkor Thom City in Siem Reap.

This is a tut-tut passenger’s view of crossing a junction in Phnom Penh. Note the cars, tut-tuts and motorcycles criss-crossing. Drivers here are amazingly tolerant of one another!

Lastly, for the music fans, one of the most popular local singers currently in Cambodia is Sukon Nisa. She has a very sweet voice indeed. I am sure you can check out more about her on the Internet, and probably download some of her songs too! While typing this, I am actually listening to her album bought from the famous Russian Market in Phnom Penh.

Tags: angkor thom, angkor wat, bayong, cambodia, cambodian new year, celebration, central market, phnom penh, russian market, siem reap, sukon nisa

It has been more than a week since I last blogged!

I have been very busy with work, traveling to Kuala Lumpur (the capital of Malaysia) and Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) in the last 10 days. Will be back to Phnom Penh again tomorrow, and I am now in Seam Reap, the place famous for its Angkor Wat.

Actually, my work requires me to be in Phnom Penh tomorrow till next Tuesday. Since 01 May was Labour Day, I seized the opportunity to fly into Seam Reap and check out Angkor Wat before going to Phnom Penh.

I am putting up at a place called Molly Malone’s. It’s an Irish pub as well as a guesthouse (a kind-of 2-star hotel. Check out http://www.mollymalonescambodia.com/). It is very Irish indeed. My room is small but cozy. Molly Malone’s is situated right in the middle of night-life happenings! From my room, I can hear the music and people having a good time on the street. The street is full of pubs, restaurants, souvenir shops and internet cafe. It costs USD0.75 to get online for an hour.

Red Piano is a restaurant across the road, teeming with tourists. So, not wanting to miss out the fun, I sat at a table all by myself just for the experience, and ordered myself a cup of coffee and a chocolate pancake. This is what it looks like:

A group of Koreans had their eyes wide open seeing my pancake when they walked past my table. LOL. It’s about 1 foot in diameter. But honestly, it didn’t taste as good as it was described on the menu.
I will get back to the “suspension chords” when I am home. I can’t continue when I am oversea, since I need to capture photos of my hand on the piano to illustrate the chords.

To find out more about Red Piano, check out: http://www.redpianocambodia.com/

Tags: angkor wat, cambodia, chords, kuala lumpur, malaysia, molly malone's, pancake, phnom penh, piano, red piano, siem reap, suspension