Monday Music Quote: Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 Monday Music Quote

"It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous (extra) notes under the table. "

Left-Hand Parts

Composers write harmony parts in many different ways. Here are some of the most common left-handed harmony parts found in piano music.

Blocked Chords

All notes of the harmony are played together at once. Play G-B-D-G with your left hand. Then play, G-C-E-G.

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Broken Chords  

The left hand plays notes of a chord but not all at the same time. There are different ways of doing this.

 Oom-pah 

As shown above, a repeated pattern of a single note followed by a chord. For more information, visit wikipedia.

Here's an example to practice. First play C with the l.h., then grab E-G-C with the l.h. Go down to low G, then play E-G-C chord again.

 

Arpeggiated Chords  

As you can see from the above photo, notes of the chord are played one at a time, just like in an arpeggio. With the left hand, try practicing C-E-G-E (counting 1-e-&-a) then play, C-F-A-F.

Alberti Bass

The notes of each chord are played in this order: bottom note, top note, middle note, top note.

Example: C-G-E-G // C-G-E-G //

For more information, visit Alberti Bass

Waltz Bass

 

The first note of the chord is on the first beat, followed by the other notes on beats 2 and 3.

For example, play the C note then grab E-G-C and play the block chord 2 times. Play low G, then play D-G-B 2 xs.

 

Be sure and check out the 300pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course

It's a great theory resource book to have in your library.

Best wishes this new year!

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!

"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Related articles

• Practice Five-Finger Patterns
• What Makes Hand Coordination Better?
• Boogie Your Way To Dexterity
• Monday Mail: Chording with Right Hand
• The Art of Piano Chord Voicings
• Five Building Blocks of Music

Go Tell It On The Mountain- Bass Runs

This morning I wanted to share some bass runs to one of my favorite songs, Go Tell It On The Mountain. Whether you love hearing the song sung by James Taylor, Crystal Lewis or a Gospel Choir, you'll love playing this special song with an upbeat shouting tempo or slow blues gospel feel. Head on over to my other blog for chord charts in the Key of E, F and G. Am I a bit early posting a Christmas song? Yes, but this Grandma is on her way to the grocery store to prepare for a family Thanksgiving meal with this Go Tell It arrangement set aside for practice time. Let me know how those bass runs give your l.h. a work out!

Go Tell It On The Mountain


http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2009/11/go-tell-it-on-mountain.html

Jermaine Griggs over at HearandPlay.com offers a great Christmas Course.

This ChristmasKeysTM Series DVD course will teach you everything you need to know to get started playing Christmas songs by ear during this holiday season. I will show you, step-by-step, how to pick out the melodies of famous Christmas songs, how to choose the right chords to accompany the melodies, and how to spice up your chords and progressions to create full-sounding arrangements of your favorite holiday songs! If you've been searching for a course that'll take you by the hand and show you exactly what you need to know to play Christmas songs (...and other songs for that matter), then you've found the right place. Not only will you learn tons of Christmas songs, but you'll understand the theory behind these songs --- why the chords are played... alternative ways to play the same songs... why the melodies are constructed the way they are and much more. The learning never ends!

Warmest Regards,
~ D.