"Back to Basics"

It's good to remember where you came from.  I remember being a new church pianist and having the music director look at me and say, "What key are you in?"  I looked back and said "What?"  He said, "What KEY are you in? You know, how many flats or sharps at the beginning?"  I just counted and said "4 flats."  That was the extent of my knowledge of key signatures.  I remember watching someone play a V7 chord arpeggio as an introduction, then going home and practicing.  I knew it sounded good, but I didn't know what it was.
It's easy for me to assume that every piano student had a theory book.  Not only did they have a theory book, they did the lessons.  Not only did they do the lessons, they understood them.  Not only did they understand them, they remembered them.  Not only did they remember them, they applied them...NOT!
Sorry to be a little worldly there...Theory is like any other skill, you have to do it, use it, repeat it, etc...to remember it and learn it.
I recently had a church pianist ask me a question and I sent her the following as a starter lesson.  I wish someone would have sat me down, looked me in they eye, and explained things to me when I was just starting as a church pianist.

1.  Every key has seven tones - tone 1 = tonic, tone 4 = subdominant, tone 5 = dominant.  In English - C major scale, tone 1 is C, Tone 4 is F, Tone 5 is G.  The most predominant tone/chord in the key of C is the 1, which is C.  The second most predominant tone/chord in the key of C is the 5, which is G.  The third most predominant tone/chord in the key of C is the 4, which is F.
2.  If you notice while your playing hymns, you are basically only playing three chords for each hymn.  You are playing the 1, 4, and 5 chord.  That is why you can almost go into autopilot with your left hand because you will play mostly chord 1, then chord 5, then chord 4.
3.  Keys:  Most popular for church pianists...
Key of C - primary chords - C-F-G  (G7 to go into C)
Key of G - primary chords - G-C-D (D7 to go into G)
Key of D - primary chords - D-G-A (A7 to go into D)
Key of F - primary chords - F-Bb-C  (C7 to go into F)
Key of Bb - primary chords - Bb-Eb-F  (F7 to go into Bb)
Key of Eb - primary chords - Eb-Ab-Bb   (Bb7 to go into Eb)
Key of Ab - primary chords - Ab-Db-Eb  (Eb7 to go into Ab)

The last listed for each key above is the 5 chord.  We usually use Roman numerals, but it means the same thing.
3.  The modulating chord to get to a key is the 5, with a seventh added to it, just count up seven notes from the 5,  or count back one from the 5


Part 2 coming...