Email woes have been fixed

09 Jun 2010
Sorry to those who have tried to email me or subscribe in recent weeks. read more...

More Videos Posted

05 Feb 2010
J Stearns, who recently subscribed asked, "I'm interested in learning how to be more creative with my playing. read more...

Attaching a Progression to a Melody

24 Feb 2010
Jay asked, "I really want to find an easy way, if there is one. The question - If I have a melody, then how do I come up with interesting chord progressions for it?" read more...

Major and Minor

16 Jan 2010
As musicians, we come across the terms 'major' and 'minor' everyday yet not many of us really know what they mean. read more...

How Much to Practise?

16 Jan 2010
Most of us lead busy lives. If you're a student, there are exams and assignments. As an adult, it's even tougher - work commitments, raising children, etc read more...

Demystifying Diminished Chords

16 Jan 2010
Basically, a diminished chord is a stack of minor 3rds. For those of you who have no idea what that means, you can work out a dim chord by starting at the root, counting up 3 semitones, playing that note, then count up another 3 semitones, and playing that note too. read more...

The Major 2nd Chord

16 Jan 2010
In short, major 2nd chords are major triads with the major 2nd added, so a C2, for example, should be thought of as C E G + D. There are 4 inversions of this chord read more...
The Piano Improv Forum

Whilst we wait for me to integrate a proper forum into this website, which could take some time, this will have to do. Please post your comments and questions here. Feel free to reply to other posts too.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

 

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Showing comments 1 to 10 of 13 | Next | Last
Anonymous
Posts: 7
Comment
Re:
Reply #13 on : Sun August 22, 2010, 23:32:48
Hi.

Quick question, when you find that there are several bars of one chord, what do you to to make it sound interesting? For instance, in Brenton Brown's Praise is Rising in the key of G, a lot of the verse is simply a G chord.

By the way, your manual is great and has helped me vastly improve. :-)
terence
Posts: 6
Comment
Subscribe Function not Working
Reply #12 on : Wed June 09, 2010, 08:33:44
The subscribe function on this forum isn't working and I can't figure out the problem so for now, the only way to see if I've replied to your post is to come back here often (which isn't such a bad thing!)

Terence
terence
Posts: 6
Comment
Response to "Improvising"
Reply #11 on : Wed June 09, 2010, 08:31:47
This is a reply to Anonymous 3 posts down and will also help Aly in her post below.

When playing a bunch of chords in a progression, it's often desirable to fill in the gaps between your chords voicings. This is an essential skill to have otherwise your playing will sound like somebody hammering nails.

The principle is quite easy - figure out what the top note of your next chord will be. So let's say you're currently playing a C chord in root position (C E G) and you're about to play an Am chord in 1st inversion (C E A). The top note of your "next" chord is therefore A. Now you need to insert some passing notes to get you to the A smoothly.

Start off with one or two notes leading up to the A, something like G A. So you'd end up playing your C chord say twice, squeeze in the two notes, G and A, and then followed by your next chord Am.

Just make sure your passing notes lead you to the top note of your next chord, so pick notes that are near, adjacent to, or the same as the top note.

Terence
terence
Posts: 6
Comment
Leading Worship
Reply #10 on : Wed June 09, 2010, 08:18:57
Hi Aly,

In the manual, there's a section on choosing the "melodic voicing" when deciding which inversion to play. In short, this means you choose the chord inversion which has the melody as the highest note. Think about it this way.. in a choir, you have sopranos, altos, tenors and bass. Generally, the sopranos sing the melody. Why? Well, because they have the highest voices and our ears can distinguish the highest note from a bunch of notes being sung at the same time.

On a piano, this means that the highest note in your RH chord will be heard over all the other notes in your chord. So if you want to communicate the melody, but still have the rhythm and strength of your chords, then make sure the melody note is at the top of your chord. For example, let's say you have a C chord and the melody note you are about to sing is E. You would then choose the inversion G C E to play with your RH because this inversion of C has E as its highest note.

Now you may not catch every single note in the melody line, but using this technique will convey enough of the melody so that the people in your group can follow along easily. All the best!

Terence
Aly
Posts: 7
Comment
Leading worship
Reply #9 on : Wed May 26, 2010, 11:07:55
Hi,

I've been learning to improvise from your manual for a few months and have learned a lot. It answered questions I didn't even know how to put into words.

I've started leading worship at small weekly meetings, just me on the piano and sometimes a flute player. When I play the melody, there isn't a fullness of sound and it seems hollow (if that makes sense. But if I play something more rhythmic (eg dotted quavers, etc) my voice isn't strong enough to lead the melody. What, or how, should I play to convey the melody enough to lead but also 'fill' the sound?

Thanks, Aly
Anonymous
Posts: 7
Comment
Improvising (2)
Reply #8 on : Thu April 15, 2010, 22:43:48
Sorry, the chords aren't above the right words ... but you know what I mean! :-)
Anonymous
Posts: 7
Comment
Improvising
Reply #7 on : Thu April 15, 2010, 22:42:03
Hi.
I need some help. I'm following chord sheets that are used in church. (e.g. something that looks like this:
C Am7 G F
Hungry, I come to you for I know you satisfy)

But, I'm only playing the chords, I can't seem to do any of the notes in between (if that makes sense!) I was wondering whether you had any advice?
jayagopi jagadeesan
Posts: 7
Comment
improvisation
Reply #6 on : Sun February 21, 2010, 22:09:56
Hi,

I enjoyed watching your video lessons. Short, enjoyable and very informative. Keep them coming :)
I have a simple and stupid question. I am sure this question has been asked a million times, but nevertheless, I really want to find an easy way, if there is one. The question :

If I have a melody, then how do I come up with interesting chord progressions for it ?
Also, how do I choose the different flavors or voicings, like should I use maj7, maj9, dim, etc etc ?

Your suggestions will be much appreciated.
cheers,
jay
terence
Posts: 6
Comment
Simple Jazz Improv
Reply #5 on : Sat February 06, 2010, 05:34:47
Hi Jane, you want simple jazz improv? haha. i don't think there's such a thing! ok i'll do my best. how about you pick a standard and the key so I can tailor this just for you. It'll take a little while though coz i've got a few other requests already lined up.
Jane
Posts: 7
Comment
Re:
Reply #4 on : Wed February 03, 2010, 20:29:32
I love the new vids!!!
I've seen other improv videos and yours seem so much simpler, clearer and with better quality audio/visual...
Could you do one on how to do a simple imrovisation over a jazz tune?
Showing comments 1 to 10 of 13 | Next | Last