ComputerHunter.org |
|
|
|||
|
 |
How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano
What in the world is "naked music?" You know it when you hear it, but the words that describe it sound strange, don't they? We've all heard of popular music and rock music and gospel music and jazz music, but naked music? Naked music is simply the notes on a piece of sheet music. It's "naked" ? not dressed up or arranged at all. No fills, no slurs, none of the ingredients that make a song come to life. Not a single professional musician plays the music exactly as it appears on a piece of sheet music. Instead, they use the written music as a map, or an outline, and then proceed to do their own thing with it. They twist it, bend it, add to it, subtract from it, put fills in it, change the key, change the words, change some of the melody notes, and on and on. So when you hear your favorite artist perform a piece of music, if you look at the written sheet music while they are performing it, you will see it is MUCH different and MUCH better than the plain old "naked music!" So how can the average musician dress up naked music? There are many ways, but here are seven of my favorites: 1. Change the chords slightly by adding color tones. What are color tones? Color tones are notes added to the basic chord, usually expressed as 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, etc. For example, instead of playing just a straight C chord as it is written ? C, E, G ? try adding a color tone to it, such as a 6th (A) or a 7th (Bb) or a major 7th (B) or a 9th (D). In fact, try adding a couple together, like a 6th and a 9th. So instead of being a plain vanilla chord made up of C, E, and G, you've made it a tasty variation adding A and D to the equation. 2. During the pause between phrases, add a counter melody. How? Take the given melody notes and turn them upside down or inside out, or change the rhythm slightly so the tune is still recognizable, but different. 3. Add chord substitutions. Instead of always using the chords that are written, ask yourself this question: "Into what other chord will this melody note fit?" For example, if the melody is G and the chord is C, what other chords contain the note G in them? There are several answers to that question. G is not only in the C chord, but it is also in the Em chord, the Eb major chord, the G chord, the Gm chord, etc. Try one of those alternate chords until you like the sound combination, then use it instead of the C chord. It will add an originality and freshness to your playing almost immediately. 4. Add fills and runs between phrases. How do you do that? Simply break up the chord that is in force at the moment, and run it up the keyboard as a broken chord ? one note at a time. Or start at the top of the keyboard and come down. Or play with the chord a bit by playing 2 of the 3 notes instead of the entire 3 note chord. 5. Use melodic echos. After you have played the melody, echo it by playing it an octave higher, or two octaves higher, or an octave lower. 6. Use half-step slides. If the chord progression is from D7 to G7, instead of going to G7 directly, "slide into it" by playing the chord that is one-half step above ? namely, Ab7, then quickly sliding off Ab7 to G7. 7. Use "blue notes." Blue notes are created by sliding off a black key onto a white key quickly. For example, if the melody is E, slide off Eb to E quickly using the same finger. This is just a tiny sampling of what you can do to dress up your music. There are literally hundreds of other techniques, from pseudo-modulations to inside blues moves to deceptive cadences to tremelos to twangs to crunches to straddles to 3-1 breakups to walk-downs and walk-ups and on and on. By simply adding a few of these techniques to your playing you can easily double and triple the excitement created by your piano playing as you "dress up naked music!" Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books, CD's & DVD's including http://www.pianoplaying.com/ - "How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano!" He also is the editor of the free email newsletter http://www.playpiano.com/ - "Piano Lessons Online: Piano Chords & Progressions!" which has over 61,000 current subscribers worldwide.
Google News - Top Stories
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Music Practice Techniques for Learning Repertory These practice tips were written for fiddlers. I've used them in classical violin also. You will find they apply to any music learning goal you have set for yourself. 10 Top Reasons You Should Learn to Play Chord Piano There are roughly umpteen zillion reasons why you should learn enough chords to be able to "chord a song" at the piano. By "chord a song", I mean the ability to play 3 or 4 chords on the piano in some sort of rhythm while you or someone else sings the tune. To do this, you don't need to be a Van Cliburn; all you need to do is learn a few basic chords and be able to more back and forth between them in some organized rhythmic pattern. For example, did you realize that all of these songs (and hundreds more) can be sung or played with just 3 chords? Piano Lessons - Group or Private? Piano lessons are a great activity for children. They encourage creative thinking, develop math and reading skills, and improve students' overall educational progress, as well as building a fun life-long skill. As a result, over six million children in the United States take piano lessons! One of the choices that parents have when their child is beginning piano lessons is whether to enroll their son or daughter in a private or group lesson. Parents often have misperceptions, or at least several questions, in making this choice. Arpeggios and New Age Piano Playing Chopin used them extensively. So did Beethoven and Mozart. Arpeggios are beautiful and are perfect for the New Age piano style too! Green Day: Punk Rock Masters Taming Mainstream Radio Their Way Before they got together as Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool were merely three extraordinary hopefuls hoping and looking for their big break. The trio has no formal training and got their 'practice' from playing for free at punk clubs on Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. Out on the streets is where the 3 talented individuals got their big break ? they turned from punk rock's most unlikely success story to a remarkable band with a series of chart-topping hits. Together, they sold more than 10 million albums and won a Grammy Award in the process. It's been a long journey for the trio who started out singing out in the streets. Jealous Again - Jealousy Among Musicians Jealousy ? do you feel it? Do you sense it in others? Does it hinder your relationships with other musicians? Does it sap your confidence? Does it block your creativity? Here are some questions to help you get clearer about the jealousy in your life. Top 7 Donts for Successful Improvisation 1. Don't try and make something happen. Trying blocks the creative flow and will result in blocks. Name That Tune - Tips For When You Can?t Remember The Song Title Or Artist For years, you have been searching for a song lodged in your brain that is driving you nuts. Unfortunately, you have forgotten both the song title and the artist and all you remember are a few words. Don't you wish you could just name that tune once and for all so that you can get on with your life?? Musicians Injuries: OUCH, It Hurts When I Play (But Please Dont Tell Me To Stop!) This article takes a look at musicians' injuries. For an expert perspective, I interviewed Dr. Sarah Mickeler, B.Mus., D.C. Dr. Mickeler is a former professional musician and a chiropractor who concentrates on musicians' injuries in her practice. Just 3 Chords? No Way! A student wrote me an email about the lesson "Ocean Dreams." Here it is: Born to sing, Britney Spears is as big as ever today Britney Spears was born December 2 1981 as Britney Jean Spears in Kentwood, Louisiana, USA. Music Downloads: Free & Low Cost Ways For Musicians To Get Their Music Known All Over The World Music downloads are highly compressed audio files transferred onto a personal computer from an Internet website or P2P (peer to peer) program. From IPOD's to MP3 players galore, music downloading is seen as the fastest way for a musician to get his or her work out to the public. Many musicians have developed world-wide followings by adding downloadable music files to their web sites. Effective Band Rehearsal If your band is in rehearsals, either preparing for gigging, or practising new songs to add to your repertoire, the chances are you will have to hire a rehearsal room. The costs of hiring a room can soon mount up if you don't organise your time effectively. You could be wasting time and money going around in circles, with a growing frustration that your band doesn't seem to be making any progress. Dont Censor the Music and Artistic Expression Ann Powers said: Repetition is the Key to Learning Something Deeply Repetition is the key to learning something deeply. It works most effectively when you are isolating a small amount of material, because the object of your focus will be more specific. These MIDI Tools Are Music To My Ears Curious about MIDI? Want to find out what tools are out there and what they do? Here are a few pointers. Sheet Music ? Violin and Other String Instruments The violin is a bowed stringed instrument and is the highest pitched member of the violin family. It sits along side its cousins ? the other members of the violin family - the viola, cello, and double bass. The bow of the violin is a narrow, slightly incurved stick of Pernambuco about 75 cm long, with a band of horsehair stretched from end to end of the bowstick. The violin has four strings tuned a fifth apart, to the notes g, d', a', e'': On early violins the strings were of pure gut. Today they may be of gut, gut wound with aluminum or silver, steel, or perlon. Is the Record Album Dead? Not by a Long Shot In 1982, Sony and Philips introduced the compact disc, a digital music playback format that used a laser to read the disc. The compact disc was expected to quickly replace the long play record album (LP) that Columbia had introduced in 1949. The product took off quickly, even at a retail price that was nearly double that of a record album, and sales of record albums plummeted. The CD, as compact discs quickly became known, offered what audio magazines called "perfect sound forever" while offering immunity to the effects of the wear and tear that often left records noisy. The record companies reduced the price of manufacture through improved production methods, and the cost of manufacturing a CD soon fell below that of manufacturing a record. Even so, compact discs continued to sell well at the higher price, making the CD quite a profitable product, indeed. 50 Cent G Unit His lockjaw delivery makes him look as gangsta as Marlon "the Godfather" Brando, but 50 Cent is no actor, folks. In fact, his unique articulation has to do with a hole in his jaw, the result of having taken a bullet in the face (along with eight other shots taken to the rest of his body). He managed to defeat the odds by leaving the street hustle behind before it was too late, transforming his life of crime into a profession in rhyme. Whether rapping about the streets, the clubs, or even certain candy shops, 50 has quickly emerged as one of hip-hop's most dominant and talked about superstars to date. Story of 50 Cent G-Units 50 Cent , was born 6th of July 1976 is a New York State rapper that uprose to spectacular grandness inside the entertainment collective in 2003... Curtis Jackson incarcerated and much more. Quite easily, 50cent has become the greatest artist since Slim, as well 50 Cent's album also has Dr.Dre. 50 Cent and G-unit have a clothing company Gunit Clothing and 50 cents music producing, Curtis Jackson will be around for a long time. G-Units 50 Cent released his first major album Get Rich Or Die Tryin in december 2003; it sported the single PIMP. Naturally produced by Marshall Mathers and Dr. Dre. watch disco inferno 50 cent could not gain mainstream exposure till he was discovered by Slim.
|
|
|
|
|
