It’s fun to add chords to a song. Because each one helps “fatten out” the melody and propel the music forward. But at some point, you may be wondering how we decide on which chords to use. In other words, do we just randomly throw chords into a song … or is there some logic

Have you ever been performing on stage when someone in the audience shouts out a special request? It can be a tense moment if you don’t know how to play a particular song. We can’t possibly learn every song on the planet, of course … but there is one song that’s always to good know.

Back in the day, I remember taking a sociology class in school. The professor’s name was Dr. Gallego and he was about four feet tall. As a kid, he grew up as a rough street gangster in Los Angeles. But then, as luck would have it, he randomly received an academic scholarship that changed his

Back in the day, I used to be a big fan of candy. If something had sugar in it, I ate it. We’re talking Skittles, Starbursts, M&Ms, gum drops, jelly beans … you name it. Lately, though, I’ve been sticking to my fruits and vegetables … although I still get my colored sweets through music.

Musicians are always creating cool, new sounds by using different chord patterns in a song. Together with scales and melodies, chords and progressions are like the nuts and bolts of music. All we have to do is combine these patterns, and we really start to see the payoff of everything we’ve learned so far. You see, it

A little while ago, I was driving past the local Masonic Temple. And I saw a really cool banner in front of the building. The Masons (which are a group of men who belong to a sort of mysterious society) announced that they were holding public tours of their “temple.” And of course, I jumped

Sometimes, I wish I was an archeologist. Because, you know … if you’ve ever seen any of the “Indiana Jones” movies, then you know what I mean. There’s just something mysterious and exciting about uncovering lost treasure. Especially when it’s been sitting there all along—right under your nose. At first glance, some layer of dirt

Is it just me, or does anyone else prefer a little peace and quiet while they eat? There might not be anything else in the world that’s more distracting than a restaurant crooner. You know who I’m talking about … lounge-type singers who serenade you while you’re stooped over a piping-hot plate of spaghetti. Maybe

The nice thing about seventh chords is that they have just four notes … which means they’re as easy to play as our old friends, the basic triads. And while you’ll sometimes see different types of seventh chords in music, the most common one is definitely the dominant seventh chord. For some reason, notes “1-3-5-b7” just sound good together.

Let’s face it, the world would be a pretty strange place without maps. Having a clear, bird’s-eye view of an area makes it possible to really get around. Otherwise, how would we know where we’re going? If we want to easily move from “point A” to “point B,” then we’ve got to get a lay