Piano Guidance
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What is the scariest scale?

Four of the Phrygian mode's seven scale degrees—the second, third, sixth and seventh—are minor, or “flatted,” intervals, which is what gives Phrygian such a foreboding, “evil” sound, one that is perfectly suited to heavy metal music.

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Last month we investigated the dark sound of the Phrygian mode, which is spelled intervallically 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In the key of E, the notes would be E F G A B C D. Four of the Phrygian mode’s seven scale degrees—the second, third, sixth and seventh—are minor, or “flatted,” intervals, which is what gives Phrygian such a foreboding, “evil” sound, one that is perfectly suited to heavy metal music. Once you are well familiarized with the Phrygian mode, it’s fairly easy to learn its “evil sister,” the Phrygian-dominant mode. To morph from Phrygian to Phrygian-dominant, only one note needs to change: the minor, or flatted, third (G in the key of E) is raised one half step to a major third (G# in this case), resulting in the intervallic spelling 1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7. In the key of E, this translates to E F G# A B C D. FIGURE 1 illustrates E Phrygian-dominant played in first position, with open strings used wherever possible. The sequence of half and whole steps that comprise Phrygian dominant is derived from the harmonic minor scale, of which Phrygian dominant is the fifth mode. If one were to start on the fifth degree of the harmonic minor scale and think of that note as being the new “1,” or root (also known as the tonic), the resultant scale would be Phrygian dominant. FIGURE 2 depicts the A harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#), and, as shown in FIGURE 3, if we begin on the fifth note, or degree, of that scale, E, we get the E Phrygian-dominant mode (E F G# A B C D). Fretting the scale in this position, I begin with my middle finger on E (A string, seventh fret), switch to my ring finger for the F note one fret higher, and use my index finger for both the G# and the A notes on the D string. This lets me fret the remaining notes on the top four strings by staying “in position,” with each finger assigned to a different fret. The only exception is on the high E string, where I shift my index finger from the seventh to the eighth fret and slide my ring finger from the eighth fret to the 10th. FIGURE 4 is an improvised solo based mostly on E Phrygian dominant. In bars 1–4, I stick with melodies played in eighth and ninth positions and rely on many quick hammer-on and pull-off combinations between repeated notes to achieve a smooth, or legato, sound. I remain mostly in 12th position from bar 9 onward, again exploiting hammer-on/pull-off combinations as I transition from one phrase to the next.

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What is the most sold song in history?

White Christmas According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.

This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, newspapers, magazines, and books. According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.[1] The song, recognized as "the best-selling single of all time", was released before the pop/rock singles-chart era and "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later". Guinness World Records also states that double A-side charity single "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997) by Elton John (rewritten as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, rather than Marilyn Monroe in the original 1973 version), is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies". This makes it the second-best-selling physical single of all time.[1] Two best-selling singles lists are displayed here relating first to physical singles (mainly CD and vinyl singles) and second to digital singles (digitally downloaded tracks which first became available to purchase in the early 2000s).

Best-selling physical singles

15 million physical copies or more

10–14.9 million copies

Best-selling digital singles

15 million digital copies or more

10–14.99 million copies

See also

Notes

References

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Pianoforall is one of the most popular online piano courses online and has helped over 450,000 students around the world achieve their dream of playing beautiful piano for over a decade.

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