My Piano Riffs
tips & tricks for the rhythmically & harmonically-challenged
The Piano – An Animated Short by Aidan Gibbons
Apr 10th
I’m still trying to get back to posting my original articles. So, in the meantime, enjoy this animated short of an old man playing the piano (Yann Tiersen’s evocative and reflective “Comptine d’un autre été: l’après midi”) while reminiscing about his life…
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Piano Lessons – A Poignant Poem by American Poet Laureate Billy Collins
Mar 25th
I enjoy a good poem once a while. So I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon one that’s on piano lessons and then some — and what more penned by a renown poet!
It’s been said that a picture paints a thousand words. Well, sometimes words paint beautiful landscapes too! Hope you take the time to read and soak in the poignancy of the words like I did… 
And then enjoy the music clips (as mentioned in the poem) that I’ve included for your listening pleasure!
PIANO LESSONS by Billy Collins
1.
My teacher lies on the floor with a bad back
off to the side of the piano.
I sit up straight on the stool.
He begins by telling me that every key
is like a different room
and I am a blind man who must learn
to walk through all twelve of them
without hitting the furniture.
I feel myself reach for the first doorknob.
2.
He tells me that every scale has a shape
and I have to learn how to hold
each one in my hands.
At home I practice with my eyes closed.
C is an open book.
D is a vase with two handles.
G flat is a black boot.
E has the legs of a bird.
3.
He says the scale is the mother of the chords.
I can see her pacing the bedroom floor
waiting for her children to come home.
They are out at nightclubs shading and lighting
all the songs while couples dance slowly
or stare at one another across tables.
This is the way it must be. After all,
just the right chord can bring you to tears
but no one listens to the scales,
no one listens to their mother.
4.
I am doing my scales,
the familiar anthems of childhood.
My fingers climb the ladder of notes
and come back down without turning around.
Anyone walking under this open window
would picture a girl of about ten
sitting at the keyboard with perfect posture,
not me slumped over in my bathrobe, disheveled,
like a white Horace Silver.
5.
I am learning to play
“It Might As Well Be Spring”
but my left hand would rather be jingling
the change in the darkness of my pocket
or taking a nap on an armrest.
I have to drag him in to the music
like a difficult and neglected child.
This is the revenge of the one who never gets
to hold the pen or wave good-bye,
and now, who never gets to play the melody.
6.
Even when I am not playing, I think about the piano.
It is the largest, heaviest,
and most beautiful object in this house.
I pause in the doorway just to take it all in.
And late at night I picture it downstairs,
this hallucination standing on three legs,
this curious beast with its enormous moonlit smile.
[Original music clips used here solely to complement the poem.]
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Sight Reading – Is it Important For Pop And/Or Jazz Pianists?
Mar 21st
Sight reading is the ability of a musician to spontaneously play any piece of music put in front of him/her. Traditionally, to be able to read music, as in the actual standard music notation, is the only way to learn a musical instrument. In the case of piano lessons, every lesson is very much focused on building the reading skill of the student so much so that sometimes, when a wrong note is played, instead of asking the student, “Did you HEAR the wrong note that you just played?” the teacher reprimands the student by saying, “Can’t you SEE that you have played the wrong note?!”
If we acknowledge that music is essentially the art of listening, that is, we appreciate the sound of music via our auditory senses, then placing too much emphasis on reading music is not exactly the best way to motivate a student-musician, especially young children and adolescents. Young people nowadays are exposed to so much music blasting away from the shopping malls to the school bus, from the piped-in music in a tiny little washroom stall to your friendly convenience store down the road, and not to mention their iPods or iPhones or laptops, for that matter. Their ears are being musically stimulated every day!
In my opinion, a student who studies pop and/or jazz music should be taught sight reading in conjunction with ear training, not as a substitute (as in those “play by ear only” courses), or the kind of classical piano teacher who only teaches ear training for music exams. The type of sight reading advocated initially should be the ability to read chord symbols and rhythmic durations based on familiar songs. As all contemporary music can be broken down to chords and rhythms, the student will be able to “hear, see and play” the music they have heard countless times. They will be able to sing or hum along to the rhythms of the chord progression, taking away the early frustration of learning to read pitch notes and finding them on the keyboard!
Eventually, the student will be eager to learn how to play the melody to their favorite song, not just sing or hum it or have someone else, like the teacher, play it. This is when the slow introduction of pitch note reading will come in. I have found this to be a natural transition with my own young students – and also those young-at heart! In fact, teaching note-reading on the first lesson is a positive killjoy for many students nowadays. The sheer fact that they can start playing chords and making “sophisticated-sounding” rhythms on the piano to the likes of Jason Mraz’s catchy I’m Yours or Michael Buble’s latin-inspired Everything is a surefire way to keep them happily practicing and looking forward to their piano lessons. No more boring lessons or teary students that need to be dragged to the piano!
So, in short, yes, sight reading is important for pop/jazz pianists, but start off by teaching them to read chord symbols and rhythmic notations. Then slowly and surely introduce the students to pitch notations and marry all the musical elements together!
I have been teaching piano for more than 20 years. Although classically-trained, I have always loved contemporary music. I grew up in a household filled with all types of music, from classical to jazz, Pavarotti to Sinatra, Goldberg to Grusin, pop, rock, etc. Currently residing in Singapore, I conduct private piano lessons in pop and jazz music to students of all ages, ranging from music enthusiasts, piano teachers to professional musicians. I also write a blog especially for pianists who find themselves rhythmically and harmonically challenged, and also on other interesting music and piano-related stuff.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicole_H._E._Lee
http://EzineArticles.com/?Sight-Reading—Is-it-Important-For-Pop-And-Or-Jazz-Pianists?&id=3950750
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Harmonic Rhythm – The Natural Flow of Chord Changes
Mar 18th
Hmm…the blog post title sounds like a mashup of my two favorite musical elements! Well, it is…but leaning more towards the rhythmic aspects of when and where chords move. In other words, harmonic rhythm refers to the rate of chord change or how often one chord progresses to another.
Most songs or compositions are written in a form in which the total number of bars is divisible by two. Hence, we naturally tend to hear and feel music in 2-bar phrases. For example, a standard 32-bar song form can be thought of as a structure of four sections with eight bars each. Refer to the lead sheet of “Autumn Leaves below”:
This torch song has a classic A-A-B-C form, where each letter represents an 8-bar phrase. Within this 8-bar phrase, we can further subdivide it into a 4-bar phrase and then a 2-bar unit. The odd-numbered bars within each 8-bar phrase, i.e. Bars 1, 3, 5 & 7, are considered strong bars while the even-numbered ones, i.e. Bars 2, 4, 6 & 8, are considered weak bars, hence, forming a “Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak, Strong-Weak” dichotomy within the 8-bar musical phrase. This means that a chord on a weak bar will always have a natural pull back to a strong bar, or a tendency to move towards or resolve into a chord in the strong bar.
This is why it is common to see II-V-I progressions that fall on a 4-bar “Strong-Weak-Strong-Weak” phrase. Chords I and II are commonly found on odd-numbered or strong bars, while the V7 chord with its natural need to resolve is usually found on the weak bars.
Examples from “Autumn Leaves” are the following progressions: Ami7/// D7/// Gma7/// //// and F#mi7(b5)/// B7/// Emi/// ////. You will also notice the duration of each chord before it changes, i.e. Chords II and V have the exact same number of beats (4 beats each) while Chord I usually has twice as many (8 beats).
This principle also holds true when the phrase breaks down to a basic 2-bar unit. A II-V-I progression within a 2-bar phrase usually sees Chords II and V getting two beats each while Chord I lasts for four beats. Within a 2-bar phrase, Beats 1 and 5 are the strong beats, while Beats 3 and 7 are the weak beats. Refer to the lead sheet of “Blue Moon” above.
Two-bar phrase examples from “Blue Moon” are the following progressions: Fmi7/ Bb7/ Eb/// in Line 5 and Abmi7/Db7/ Gb/// in Line 6. You will also notice the duration of each chord before it changes, i.e. Chords II and V have the exact same number of beats (2 beats each) while Chord I usually has twice as many (4 beats).
This applies to all contemporary music. It is common for chords to change every two beats within a 4/4 bar or measure, or sometimes a chord may last for a whole bar or two. Refer to Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” below:
The 2-bar phrase with its harmonic rhythm is consistent with the “Strong-Weak” concept that we have been discussing, i.e., Eb5/Absus2/ Bbsus///, the chords on Beats 1 & 3 last for two beats each, while on Beats 5, the chord duration is twice as long, four beats.
For music in 3/4 time, it is very common to see a chord lasting for a whole bar, or if there are two chords, they will always be placed on Beat 1 and Beat 3. Refer to Miles Davis’ version of’ “Someday My Prince Will Come” above:
The whole piece has only chord changes on every first beat of the bar, except for one. Look at the last line: the first chord Cmi7 on F bass lasts for two beats and changes to F7 on Beat 3. Also check out this classic A-B-A-C form in terms of its harmonic rhythm. The “Strong-Weak” principle is strictly adhered to.
Occasionally, you will come across some pieces that break this “Strong-Weak” rule of harmonic rhythm. However, this does not happen consistently and eventually “rights” itself along the way. For example, take a look at the very popular “Fly Me to the Moon” below:
The progressions: Ami7/// Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/ C7/ and Fma7///Bmi7(5)///E7///Ami7/A7/. The G7 and E7 chords in both these 4-bar phrases are definitely prominently on the strong bars while the resolution chords Cma7 and Ami7, respectively, are on the weak bars. Furthermore, both dominant 7th chords occupy four beats to their counterparts’ two – truly a reverse of what we have learned. These are occasional exceptions to the rule.
You will notice that eventually at the close of the 4-bar phrase, the C7 (on the weak bar and beat) does resolve to the FMa7 on the strong bar, and so does the A7 to the Dmi7. The following next two four-bar phrases “right” themselves by employing the natural harmonic rhythms: Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/// Emi7/ A7/ and Dmi7/// G7/// Cma7/// Bmi7(b5)/ E7/.
So make the most of this knowledge that you have about harmonic rhythms and ensure that your chord changes fall on the correct places within the bar!
(All music sheets used here are only for educational purposes.)
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Brad Mehldau – Committed Improviser
Mar 17th
Pianist Brad Mehldau doesn’t so much stride between jazz, classical music and pop as swirl and eddy between them, absorbing traces as he goes. The American’s even-tempered independence reflects early classical training; his renowned interpretations of the jazz repertoire stem from a high school obsession. And he still loves pop and rock and roll. “I need to hear compressed, distorted guitars at least once a day,” he says. “It scratches an itch for me.”
Mehldau’s career takes in the top range of jazz – unlike many successful band leaders, he doesn’t shirk sideman duties and can list Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker and John Scofield as credits. Recent classical commissions include work with the opera singers Renée Fleming and Anne Sofie von Otter.
But he is best known for his groundbreaking piano trio, which released its first CD in 1994, and was the first successfully to add post-Beatles pop into the jazz repertoire without trivialising either. The trio’s 10 CDs are as likely to investigate the songs of Nick Drake as those of George Gershwin, and their interpretations of Radiohead and Thelonious Monk are equally acclaimed.
Mehldau is currently touring Europe as a solo pianist – he will play in London in June as part of his duties as curator of the Wigmore Hall’s jazz series. His new double album of orchestral jazz, Highway Rider, which combines his trio with a 28-piece orchestra and extra percussion and adds guest saxophonist Joshua Redman, will be released in the UK on Monday.
Mehldau’s scoring develops a two-part melody into a rainbow of textural subtleties, resolved tensions and melodic statements. Themed on the notion of a journey,Highway Rider probes the confluence of the arbitrary and non-arbitrary in music, of balancing what is committed to the page with improvisation. One of Mehldau’s solutions was to inject risk into the recording process itself by recording live.
The journey begins and ends at home, a cycle that correlates directly to Mehldau’s life as a touring musician, constantly having to leave behind his wife and children. It captures the emotional ambiguities of parting and solitude, of companionship and isolation. There is trenchant improvisation and orchestral wash, clicky percussion and the thunder of two drummers and the intimate interplay of piano-trio jazz.
Though Mehldau’s formal technique is much remarked on, he is not conservatory-trained. Born in Jackson, Florida, in 1970, while his father was serving in the navy, and raised in New York City and the eastern states, he was drawn early to the piano – there is none of the sense of torture that so many people have when looking back to childhood tuition. His earliest musical memories are of his mother teaching him nursery rhymes. Lessons soon followed – “mostly fun pop songs and study books”.
It was not until his family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, when Mehldau was 10, that he was introduced to the classical music literature. He clearly remembers his new Juilliard-trained piano teacher starting him off on Bach Inventions. She also ran a music camp close to Tanglewood, the summer resting point for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His summers “were spent getting exposed to Brahms and Beethoven, playing all this gorgeous chamber music”.
But by the time he was 14, records by Oscar Peterson and late-period John Coltrane whetted his appetite for jazz. He joined his high school’s prize-winning jazz band, which gave him peer group support and an interest in the jazz back catalogue. Classical music fell by the wayside. “I couldn’t do classical at the same time as jazz, and I was a teenager. I was in my little rebellion thing.”
He didn’t return to classical music until his early 20s, when he was already playing jazz gigs. “I returned for pleasure and a desire for edification,” he says. “It was a rediscovery which since then hasn’t stopped.”
Mehldau is a committed improviser, and non-jazz references surface because they have been absorbed into his unconscious. “By placing something in another context, taking this be-wigged thing and then putting it in, automatically something different happens … that’s what makes jazz improvisation fun. There are no rules.”
It is an approach that carries into his new album. Colleagues from his musical biography helped – saxophonist Redman “is ideal for a record where there is a narrative, [because he] is a storyteller in his solos. He refers back to an idea he’s just made earlier, and builds on that.”
And avant-pop producer Jon Brion’s grasp of engineering aesthetics – microphone placement and mixing – delivered the exact combination of lush 1950s sounds and 1980s clarity that Mehldau wanted.
The recording was still a nerve-wracking experience. “Handing out parts to people who had never seen them before and the clock is ticking because they are on the union … You have three hours to get two tunes,” Mehldau recalls.
Mehldau, with his trust in his own experience, came through in spades, pulling his musical influences into orchestrated coherence, and communicating the fun he had in doing it.
—————
Mike Hobart, The Financial Times Limited 2010
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