Along Book
Improvisation While Learning To Play Piano
You have to admit, it is enjoyable to put practice music to one side, and play any music you feel like. However, it’s not always so easy to get hold of the sheet music for your favorite songs. Well, there are a couple of techniques you can use to overcome this problem, and in some ways they are similar. The first idea is the use of a Fake Book, and the second is to learn how to improvise.
“Fake Books” are available in music stores, or can be ordered from the internet. You can also get a version of the same concept when you come across a simple notation of a song. Be aware that when using a Fake Book, it only contains two ways to help you. To start with, a melody line in the treble clef will be illustrated. Although this seems overly basic, it at least shows the song in a very simplified version.
The second thing you will get with this simple music is a letter above the staff. Having a letter above the staff shows which chord to play within the bass clef, and (if you have the skill) to add to the treble clef. There will be a letter above the staff each time the chord changes.
if you have thoroughly learnt the chords, you put yourself in good enough steed to easily use a Fake Book. Straight chords can be used, or simply invert them. You can play them as running chords where you play each note separately in succession. You can come up with any rhythm you choose for the bass clef.
The Fake Book may require that you put your creative skills to work. You have to use what you know to fill in the blanks that are left by an incomplete score. In that regard you are in charge of inventing the music. One good thing is that new, up-to-date Fake Books are produced regularly, and include many modern songs.
Yet, if you want to really come up with your own original song or instrumental piece, you can do it better by learning to improvise. It does sound difficult to learn the theory of improvisation, but it’s okay to begin with the knowledge you already possess. You need to know mainly about scales and chords.
Perhaps to make things easier to begin with, choose a C scale, for the main reason that it uses white keys only. Now all you have to do is choose the chords within the scale. For the C major scale, common chords to use are F major and G major. This is because they do not have any sharps or flats in them.
Make up a chord progression. A nice order would be C-F-G-C. Practice playing these chords with your left hand. Usually the chords are played lower than middle C, however this is not set in concrete. Play them wherever you see fit. Play them as simple triads or invert them. Play them in any sequence. Play until they come naturally.
After you’ve become comfortable with the progression of the chords, next step is the creation of the melody. Just play with your right hand, one note at a time to make a melody line. It may not seem like music at first, but if you keep trying you will eventually come up with an interesting melody line.
You can also improvise on a melody you know. Say you want to play Jingle Bells, but you do not have the music. You can quickly pick out the melody. after you have chosen the melody this way, chords can be fit to the melody, simply based on the melodies scale of key. So as you can see, even though you may not have the sheet music, there are ways you can still play the music without.
Learning to play the piano is easy, even for a beginner. One possible starting point is the no-obligation course at Learning To Play Piano Today. Check them out today, and enjoy your new found skill.
I Wanna Be Like You (Sing Along Songs)