Sharing Your Music With Others
So you've got a few New Age piano pieces under your belt and you want to share your music with others. Can you do it? Yes! Here's a working plan for you.Create 3 Pieces of MusicFor those of you who are just beginning to improvise, don't worry about this. But for those who are beginning to compose, you'll need to have 3 complete pieces to play. Why? Because this will come to around 10-15 minutes of music - the perfect amount of time for a mini-concert! If you're in the process of creating your 3 ...
How To Quickly Play Piano Using The Incredible Open Position Chord!
Imagine being able to sit down at the piano and create your own unique music without years of study. Now imagine being able to do it within 1 hour! It's possible when you learn how to play the open position piano chord!The OPC is a special way of forming chords at the piano. You use both hands right away to create a modern sounding chord that's perfect for today's contemporary styles. It's called open position because of the way the notes of the chord are spread out.The left hand plays the root,...
More RightHand Techniques For Piano Players
Most students new to piano playing really want to know what to do with the left hand. They think the left hand holds the secret to great improvisations and music. While it's true that the left hand has usually been the captain of the piano ship when it comes to setting arrangements, the right can also join in.Look, the right hand is where most of us create our melodies. It's considered easier than the workhorse part the left has to do with creating arpeggios, ostinatos and the like. But, we can ...
Stop Playing Piano The Hard Way!
Let's face it. Learning isn't usually fun. It's a big drag.Especially when it comes to learning a musical instrument. Scales, repetition, and monotonous exercises abound. Most people love the piano but won't go near it for fear of not being able to to play it. And most times, their fear is justified!A typical beginning piano student scenario may go like this: You walk into the teacher's studio. He or she asks you what you want to learn. You respond with any number of choices; classical, jazz, ne...
Breakthrough Chord Structure Makes Playing Piano A Breeze!
Do you know why playing guitar is so much easier than playing piano? It's because guitar players learn how to use chords first. Even before note reading!They usually learn how to play chords in the first position. Called open position chords, the beginning guitarist quickly learns how to finger this position and can immediately create music. That's why so many people love the guitar and want to learn it!They don't waste time learning the masters or anything like that at all. Nope. It's all conte...
Taking The Mystery Out Of Improvisation
A student recently asked me; Why is improvisation so mysterious. My response was that there is nothing mysterious about it at all.Of course, I'm saying this because I have years of experience under my belt, but truthfully, once you understand that all you need to improvise is chords, the mystery disappears and satisfaction takes it place.Most of the problems students have with improvising is their fear of trying it. They think they need to know college theory or advanced harmony first in order t...
Why Playing The Piano Can Be A Chore And What To Do About It
So, you're just not that into playing the piano lately? Not inspired? Feeling less than enthusiastic about putting fingers to keys?I understand. I've been there and still experience what is commonly called creative blocks. But you're not really blocked. You just don't want to play. Sounds weird I know but let me explain.Art, any art is essentially a play activity. Let me ask you something. What happens when children are forced to play? They end up rebelling and doing exactly the opposite of what...
Learning The Piano And Playing The Piano
Many piano students spend much time learning how to play the piano. Years upon years of study time devoted to perfecting technique, tone, dynamics, etc. All the while, many of these same students have never really played the piano. That is, they have spent their time practicing in preparation for the moment when they can perform for others.Wouldn't it be refreshing if instead of learning how to play other peoples music, we could feel confident enough to create our own? Why is it so daunting a ta...
It’s Easy To Create Melody!
Some consider melody the most important aspect of music making. Of course, there's harmony and rhythm, but melody is the one part that listeners hold to memory more than any other, and, it's also the easiest part to create!For example, in the lesson Oriental Sunrise, we have two chords. Now if we just play these chords, if we just fool around with them, we get textures and whiffs of sound that drift away and do not hold. But, as soon as we add in melody, the whole piece becomes alive and discern...
Compose Music The Easy Way!
There are basically two ways to compose music. One way is by starting from the bottom or the harmonic approach.A composer/arranger takes a few chords, a phrase to hang them on and arranges the harmony in some kind of pattern. An example of this is the loop you often hear in contemporary music. A loop is simply a harmonic background over which a melody (or not) is played.The second way to compose music is by starting with the melody. Composers may or may not have some idea of the finished idea (I...
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