Showing posts with label Melody. Show all posts

Play Piano By Ear

I found this very cool article online this morning written by Isaac Whitfield.
It's called Play Piano By Ear - Practice Is The Key. I couldn't agree more. I hope you find some interesting tips to help you bring your piano playing to the next level.

Practice is a big part of learning to play piano by ear, but another is natural ability and some musical background. If you have a family member who is a musician and seems to be able to play anything they want, that is natural ability. If not, then there are ways of learning, but it will take a lot of practice to achieve your goal.

Pitch
Those who are lucky to have been born with perfect pitch have no problem at all learning to play piano by ear. If not, more practice! Begin by sitting at your piano. Now close your eyes and strike a note. Without looking at what note you played, identify it. Were you close? Get it right on the money? Keep at it. This is a big part of playing by ear. Note: Make sure your piano is tuned!

Listen And Listen Some More
Play a favorite song on your CD player, and just as the first drill, try to identify what notes are being played. Listen to just the melody. Play it again and listen to the bass line. Play it again and try to identify any other instruments being played. Learn everything about the song. Choose a song that has some easy piano parts in it.

Play The Melody
Now that you have studied this song with your ears, try to play the melody, one note at a time from memory. Play the first few bars over and over. Turn your CD back on and play the first few bars or whatever you can remember. Keep at it until you have learned the basic melody.

Association
A big part to learning to play piano by ear is to associate what you hear with the notes on your keyboard. By mastering the first drill of playing a note and identifying it with your eyes closed, this association will hit you like a ton of bricks someday and you will yell-I got it!

Take It Slow
Learn the melody first, then begin putting some bass lines into it. If you know basic chords and scales this process will be easier. Hop online and check out some video tutorials. There are audio lessons available as well, created specifically for ear training.
By following these tips learning to play piano by ear can be achieved, but the big word here is practice!

How Notes Move on The Staff

Image via Wikipedia

Notes move on the staff in three ways: Step
Skip
Repeat

Notes on or above the middle line have down stems.

Notes below the middle line have up stems.

Measuring Intervals
The distance between two notes is called an interval. Another way to say it; the distance from the pitch of one note to the pitch of another.

2nd Interval:
On the keys a 2nd is like a step: from one key to the next key.
On the staff a 2nd is like a step: from line to space or space to line.

3rd Interval:
On the keys a 3rd is like a skip: from line to line or space to space. One skipped key is a 3rd.

4th Interval:
Two skipped keys is a 4th. On the staff a 4th is either line to space or space to line. On the keys a 4th is a larger skip.

5th Interval:
Three skipped keys is a 5th. On the staff a 5th is either line to line or space to space.

Melodic and Harmonic Intervals:

A melodic interval has single notes, like notes in a melody that are played one at a time. If you sing a note and then another then this is a melodic interval.

A harmonic interval has two notes played together to make harmony in music. If two people each sing a different note at the same time then this is called a harmonic interval.

Now that you know what intervals are why do you suppose we need to learn them?

Learning to recognize intervals, whether by sound, on paper, or an instrument, is extremely helpful for many reasons. Among them are chord building, improvisation, sight singing, composition, understanding and remembering keys and their related accidentals, and figure out music by ear. If you’re trying to play a melody that is in your head or on the radio, knowing your intervals eliminates most of the time spent searching for the right notes.

One of the coolest ways to add feeling and expression while playing those piano notes is to observe road map signs or what musician’s call Dynamics or dynamic markings.
Basically there are symbols that indicate varying degrees of volume. So we have degrees of loudness or softness.

Music has loud and soft signs called dynamics.

mf means medium loud.
Its Italian name is Mezzo Forte.

f means loud.
Its Italian name is forte.

ff means very loud
Its Italian name is Fortissimo.

fff means very, very loud.
Its Italian name is Fortississimo.

ppp means very, very soft.
Its Italian name is Pianississimo.

pp means very soft.
Its Italian name is Pianissimo.

P means soft.
Its Italian name is Piano.

With this understanding of how notes move while playing quietly or loudly, you’ll enjoy hearing yourself play with more feeling in addition to technically playing the notes correctly. Have fun!

All the best,
LadyD

Comments are welcomed and encouraged! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your stay at Piano Diana.

Music Alphabet and Staff

Treble and Bass Clefs with note letters and nu...

Image via Wikipedia

THE MUSIC ALPHABET IS MADE OF SEVEN LETTERS.

These are letters used over and over on the keyboard to name the white keys. When you play the music alphabet forward, you go up the keyboard to the right:
A B C D E F G. So when you play the music alphabet backward, you go down the keyboard to the left:
G F E D C B A.

Practice Directions:

1. Play the music alphabet both forward and backward in different places on the keyboard, using the second finger of either hand. Say the letters aloud as you play.
2. Memorize the music alphabet forward and backward.

It’s easy to find the white keys and know their names when you look for the sets of 2 and 3 black keys.

A IS BETWEEN THE 2ND AND 3RD KEYS IN THE 3 BLACK SET.

B IS TO THE RIGHT OF THE 3 BLACK KEY SET.

C IS TO THE LEFT OF THE 2 BLACK KEY SET.

D IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 2 BLACK KEY SET.

E IS TO THE RIGHT OF THE 2 BLACK KEY SET.

F IS TO THE LEFT OF THE 3 BLACK KEY SET.

G IS BETWEEN THE 1ST AND 2ND KEYS IN THE 3 BLACK KEY SET.

Practice Directions:

1. Shut your eyes
2. Touch sets of 2 and 3 black-keys with one hand. With the other hand find and name nearby white keys.
3. Memorize a picture of the keyboard.

C POSITION:

L.H. PLAYS:
C D E F G - FINGERING IS 5-4-3-2-1

R.H. PLAYS:
C D E F G - FINGERING IS 1-2-3-4-5

Playing Legato

Legato means to play smoothly, connecting the tones. To play legato, one finger lifts when another finger plays the next note. A slur is a curved line over or under two or more different notes that are to be played legato (smooth, connected). The slur is used to show a musical thought called a phrase. Lift your hand gently at the end of a phrase.

Playing Staccato

Staccato means to play short, separating the tones. A dot over or under a note means staccato. To play staccato, let the key go immediately after playing. Another name that I like to call staccato is “hot potato!” Quickly let go of the note!

Tied Notes

A tie is a curved line that connects notes of the same pitch (notes on the same line or space.) Play the first note only and hold it for the value of both notes.

For example:
Half Note + Whole Note = 6 beats
2 beats + 4 beats = 6 Beats

Whole Note + Whole Note
4 Beats + 4 beats = 8 Beats

The Staff

The staff has lines and spaces. Notes are written on lines or in spaces. The staff has 5 lines and 4 spaces. So then notes are placed either on lines or spaces. Number the lines from the bottom to the top. And number the spaces from the bottom to the top.

Clef Signs
A clef sign is used at the beginning of each staff. There is a treble clef or G clef. It’s tail wraps around the 2nd line. High tones are written on a treble staff.

Bass clef or F clef on the 4th line with dots on either side of the 4th line. Low tones are written on a bass clef.

The Grand Staff

The bass and treble staffs are joined together by a brace to form the grand staff. I explain to my students that it is like the left hand shaking hands with the right hand. A short line is added between the staffs for middle C.

So when you are in a music store looking for a book to purchase, always look for the Grand Staff if you want to play the piano with both hands. Intermediate and advanced players look for Fake Books where they are given the right hand melody notes and chords for the left hand.

Whether you play smoothly or chunky, learning the music alphabet and applying where they are on the keyboard is fun. Once you learn to read notes you will have that gift for a lifetime and will be able to play any style of music with a bit of practice. Have fun reading and playing the notes. Eventually you’ll be jamming, not reading all the music notes and leaning more on listening for the progression... and that's another story.
All the best to you!

Comments are welcomed and encouraged! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your stay at Piano Diana.

How To Play Blues Scale Licks

Image via Wikipedia

Visit www.hearandplayjazz.com for more... In Over 2 Hours, You'll Learn Exactly What It Takes To Become A Skilled Jazz Musician And Shave Years Off Your Learning Curve... Instantly accelerate your learning process by combining the 3 secret elements that the pros almost never share! Learn the secrets to picking out the melody of various jazz songs within seconds! Eliminate the need for hundreds of pages of sheet music by learning the famous hearandplay "Trust Your Ear" principle. Learn how to shift your "chordal" thinking from the right hand to the left. Learn full chords on the left and what to do on the right hand to accompany them. This is certainly a closely-guarded jazz secret that's going to be completely exposed. How to intertwine the right attitude along with perfect focus every time you start to play! You'll definitely need it when you start improvising!

Hear and Play Jazz 101: How To Play The "Blues Scale" Licks With Best Fingering

Jazz 101

Warmest Regards,
LadyD

Free Improvisation in D Major (Ionian Mode) -- piano solo

I just love this very beautiful song!

Free Improvisation in D Major (Ionian Mode) -- piano solo

Here's what 7noteman has to say:

"I may need to say a word about free improvisation, and what that term means to me. Free Improvisation could imply no rules and no forethought at all. That is probably the most common understanding.

This piece was spontaneously composed and played, however, there were some limitations (rules) imposed and some forethought involved. I restricted myself to playing only the 7 notes of the D ionian mode (D E F# G A B C#). This is the same as the D major scale. No other notes were played. I only use chords constructed from this modal scale. Setting restrictions actually helps in free improvisation because it narrows your options and makes choices more clear. I also think there is a lot of value in improvising on 7 note modes because it deepens the understanding of 12 note playing when using more complex voicings. In terms of forethought, I had two very short melodic motifs that I used as my base. These little pieces of melody set the structure of the piece and give me something to play off of."

So, let me know what you think... enjoy and have a great weekend! Oh, by the way, I hope you'll take one minute for this very short survey... thanks!
Click here to take survey

Warmest Regards,
LadyD
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JM5FFSN

How To Add the Ninth Chord

Figure 2: the common chord positions and their...

Image via Wikipedia

Chords in my opinion have one purpose, to support the melody line. Like in a painting, you don't paint the colors first then draw the lines of the image. In music there are so many chords to choose from that it makes it fun when you find the combination of chords that really brings out the melody line in any song.

Now where you place the 7th or 9th chord in relationship to the melody depends upon the song structure.

Let's say you are playing "Blessed Assurance" in C. The traditional chord structure would be:

blessed a - (E,D,C)
ssurance - (CEG)
Je-sus is - (ACF, BDG, CFA)
mine (G DE G)

Now if you add an inversion of a ninth chord you get:

blessed a - (E,D,C)
ssurance - (D E G)
Jesus is - (ACF, BbDbG, BDA)
mine (G DE G)

Just by changing the relationship of a couple of notes, the whole flavor of the melody changes. Try this out using a C and G bass. You should hear when the chord changes which bass note compliments the chord change.

Warmest Regards,
~ D.

Learn to Play the Flatted 6th on Piano

Image by New York Public Library via Flickr

Learn to Play the Piano Easy - Flatted 6th Example

http://learngosppelbyear.com
- Learn how to play the piano fast and easy. Learn to play the piano with professional techniques. Learn how to play the piano by ear. This is absolutely the fastest and easiest way to learn to play the piano today.

Jamal speaks quickly through this scale but your ear picks up this cool mysterious sound that I love, especially being Greek! lol Anyways, he's pulling the D to Eb. Jamal
plays with broken, arpeggiated chords in the l.h. and reaches for those octaves. here are some of the chords that I hear him play:

C/G Ab Ab

C G/Ab C D Ab

C G C/G E

C G/Ab C D Bb

/G E

/Ab C D G

/F Ab C G (F minor)

C/G Ab C Eb

C/G Ab C Eb Bb

G C/G D E

G/Ab D F

The melodic minor second (m2), which is formed by playing two notes one step apart on the piano, is the smallest interval that can be played with two different notes. It represents the smallest possible amount singers are usually asked to slide their voices while singing. This interval has the connotation of something slipping or sliding when it's played slowly. It can sound mysterious, sad or strange.

The melodic minor sixth (m6) is formed by playing notes that are eight steps apart on the piano. This interval is quite dissonant and is very active sounding. This is a very wide interval and is used infrequently in melodies.

http://www.songtrellis.com/concepts/interval

* A whole step up from C is D -- the 2nd tone of the C major scale.
* A whole step up from D is E -- the 3rd tone of the C major scale.
* A half step up from E is F -- the 4th tone of the C major scale.
* A whole step up from F is G -- the 5th tone of the C major scale.
* A whole step up from G is A -- the 6th tone of the C major scale.
* A whole step up from A is B -- the 7th tone of the C major scale.
* A half step up from B is C -- the 8th tone of the C major scale.

So the C major scale consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C -- no sharps or flats!

There are seven different tones in the major scale. The 1st and 8th tones are called the root, tonic, or key note. They are the same note but are an octave apart.

http://www.ezfolk.com/guitar/Tutroials/Music_Theory/Major_Scale/major_scale.html

Have fun practicing with the flatted sixth and let me know how it goes for you.

Warmest Regards,
~ D.

How To Comp Chords- Comping Chords on the Piano

In my opinion, one of the best piano teachers online is Willie Myette. I have subscribed to his lessons and am pleased that he shares his musician tips on jazz and gospel piano. You might want to visit the link that I've posted for this article to see the piano note illustrations Willie had provided. I found this article to be so informative that I wanted to share its entirety with you.

How to comp chords - comping chords on the piano

"This is definitely one of the more complicated aspects of playing the piano. It is relatively “easy” to play a chord in the left hand, hold it down, and improvise with the right hand. However, as soon as you try adding any type of rhythm to that left hand chord, the time seems to fall apart. So, let’s go through some ideas that will help loosen up your left hand.

First, keep control of where you are in the measure. For this example, let’s say that we are in 4/4 time…four beats per measure. It is extremely important that while comping, you do not add or remove beats from the measure. This is where a metronome or play-along track is helpful. I’ve heard students rush the time or drag because they were overly focused on comping. The lesson…the time comes first!

Second, keep your chords simple to start. Try starting with only the root and seventh of the chord, a R7 chord. Or, just the root and third, a R3 chord. So, for C7, this would be C–Bb or C–E. Simple chords allow you to focus on what is important…the time.

Now is a good point to pause and discuss “concept breakdown”. You do not have to go far to find difficult-to-understand concepts in jazz piano. Comping is a perfect example. It seems easy, but it is not. Worst yet, it is the “seems easy” concepts that make it frustrating to learn and often cause students to throw their arms up in disgust. But, there is a solution!

Concept Breakdown is just that, a breakdown of difficult concepts in to easy to handle and easier to understand parts. To break down the concept of comping, I would consider its parts:

- Chord voicing - the notes of the chord and how they are arranged

- Number of chords per measure

- Tempo of the song

- Interaction with the right hand / soloist

- Rhythmic spontaneity

So, if we were to focus on each of these sections of the larger concept, we can more easily practice them. Here we go…

Chord voicing - as I said earlier, create simpler versions of your chord voicings for now. After you become more comfortable with the chords and comping, you can more easily add tensions and notes to your chord.

Number of chords per measure - if the section has more than two chords per measure, try only hitting the chords on beats 1 and 3. Now, this doesn’t always work, but depending on the tempo and complexity of the chord progression, it might just get you through the section till you have more time to practice it and get it right.

Tempo of the song - this should be obvious, but…slow down! I’m always amazed when I ask a student to slow down and they play at exactly the same tempo. A good way to slow yourself down is to pay attention to a clock ticking or your heart beat for a moment. then, try to mimic that tempo. It should be around 60-80 beats per minute.

Interaction with the right hand / soloist - this is the heart of comping. Comping is ALL about supporting the melodic line. This is usually either a soloist or a melody instrument (like a vocalist, trumpet or your right hand, etc.) Good comping ADDS to the piece. It ADDS to what the soloist is playing. It ADDS to melody, and so on. So when practicing comping, it is essential to listen. Listen for “holes” in the line. Take a look at the example below. Notice that the line has places in which there is space. These are prime areas to fill with some tasty comping.

You might be asking yourself “Where are these spaces?” Well, look for rests and notes tied into one another. Also remember, that you can play each new chord toward the beginning of the measure. So, there are four chords, and at least four opportunities to play a chord in the left hand. There are also spaces in the line where you have long notes and rests. But, comping does not have to only fill in the “cracks”. You can play a chord simultaneously with a melody note in the right hand.

Let’s go through six comping variations on this line and you’ll see how to put this into practice.

1) Chords on beat one. In this example you see that we are simply playing each new chord on the first beat of the measure. This is a good place to start learning how to “comp” because if you can not do this exercise in time, you will not be able to do the rest! So, make sure that you are comfortable with this exercise before moving on.

**NOTE** If you are learning this line for the first time, you might notice that you miss the chord on the first beat. If it is difficult to play chords on beat one while improvising in the right hand, this is a good indication that you need to become more comfortable with your right hand soloing before trying any fancier comping rhythms. Moral here, stick to a simple whole-note rhythm until this becomes fluid for you.

2) Short “stabs” on beats 1 and 3. The next step is to change those whole-note chords into short stabs. A “stab” is just a short rhythm applied to a chord. It is often used with horns. For example, “The horn stabs happen behind the soloist.” This exercise is important because it will help you change between long chords and short chords. Long chords are those held for a quarter note or longer and short chords are those held shorter than a quarter note (this is my definition).

3) Short “stabs” on beats 1 and the “+” of 3. The “+” of beat three is the upbeat. This exercise will help you begin feeling off-the-beat rhythms. This also adds syncopation to your line. I cover syncopation in my lesson Mastering Rhythms Volumes 1 and 2.

4) Look for opportunities to anticipate. Do you see the last eighth note in measure one, tied into measure two? This is an anticipation. The melody is anticipating the strong beat resolution of beat one. Guess what? We can also anticipate the chord in the left hand. However, watch out that you don’t drop beats. It is easy to get confused and rush the measure when anticipating chords. So, make sure you feel where the beat is! If you can’t feel it just yet, stick with step 3 for a few more practice sessions.

5) Look for opportunities to support the melody. In the last measure we can “highlight” the notes of the solo/melody by comping chords along with them. As your solo gains in intensity, this is a great way to accent your solo notes.

6) Use both long and short chord rhythms. If you play all of your chords short or long, your comping will sound predictable. Be sure to vary your comping rhythms between short/long rhythms…and…rhythms that fall on/off the beat.

Lastly, we come to Rhythmic Spontaneity. The goal of comping chords is to be able to create interesting chordal rhythms on-the-spot. Now, the only way to do this is to start with easy rhythms and then gradually build them up. Basically, you want to create a vocabulary of rhythms that you can apply to your chords. This means you need to be comfortable with one- and two-handed rhythms."

http://www.jazzpianolessons.com/2009/10/29/how-to-comp-chords-comping-chords-on-the-piano

Warm Regards,
D.