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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
I have enjoyed this thread so very much. Just read it for the third time over the past several months and thought I'd resurrect it.
Redhead
Hello, Redhead. I have been on board here now for less than a week so far, I have read every post in this discussion once already, and now I am going back again to read every one for a second time. I expect to be caught up with you in a short while.
I have been playing for a number of years. I know my theory, chord construction circle of 5ths and much more. I know how to add chord tones below the melody note. I play mostly using open chords or shell voicing. I use mostly 7ths and 9ths in my playing. At this point I can play directly from a fake book, but I can't seem to do much improvisation to the piece.
At this stage in my life at the young age of 72 (last time I checked my age it was 23 so i don't know how I got here) I want to be able to entertain others. However I am in quite a quandry on how to proceed. Each day I seem to embrace one method one day and the next day another.
I have tried to memorize pieces, and maybe I have not been approaching it properly but I can't seem to retain the music. When I was growing up I had a fantastic memory for music. I can still memorize tunes in my head.
I want to develop a repetoire so I can play in public, even if it is just in a nursing home.
Recently I was given a fake book in C. I have had a lot of fun playing the tunes since I can easily sight read and improvise on the fly when the music allows for it. A few years ago I went out to eat and there was a young lady playing the piano. When she took a break I spoke with her. She told me she only plays in the key of C. She said that originally she took a few piano lessons, didn't like them and learned on her own. Quite an interesting story. But I am getting sidetracked here.
My question for all is how to proceed at this stage.
1. Should I go back to playing pieces in the keys they were written in as found in the fake books or would I be losing something by only playing tunes in C.
2. What is the best approach to memorizing. Do you just play a piece until you get it. Do you memorize chord sequences first.
3. Should I be able to add improvisation into the piece and how do you go about it. As I said I can do some improv on the fly but not very well. Do you practice improv that you work out.
4. Keeping up the rhythem is a problem for me since many times I get lost in the piece. I read that you are supposed to just ignore the mistakes when playing so as not to lose the beat. Should I practice all pieces with a metronome.
These are my most perplexing questions. My one goal in life, at this stage besides family, is to be able to perform for others. If I could accomplish this I could depart this earth (which I hope won't be for a number of years still) as a very happy person. Time is passing by too fast. Sorry if I sound a little morbid I don't mean to.
My one goal in life, at this stage besides family, is to be able to perform for others.
You already have everything you need to do this, except the schedule So just call up a retirement home or a nursing home and offer to volunteer.
If what you can do is play fun tunes in the key of C from a lead sheet, well, that's what you do. When I first started I was playing Oh, Susannah and Scottish folk tunes that nobody knew. But that's what I knew how to play, so that's what they got. They loved it.
A half-hour set will take maybe a dozen tunes. So get a dozen ready to go, and I wouldn't worry about whether they were memorized, and just do it. There's no time like right now
I'm 66 myself. There are several piano players out there in my circle who are much better pianists than I am. A couple of them have certificates and degrees and stuff. But I'm the one that gigs, because I'm the one that just does it.
You can work in other stuff besides your initial set as you learn it - even if it's still in C, or you have one tune you can do in Bb, or whatever. It doesn't make any difference. The difference is who - just does it, and who just doesn't
So just schedule a gig in the next 2 weeks and go for it!
Cathy
Last edited by jotur; 03/03/1206:31 PM.
Cathy
Perhaps "more music" is always the answer, no matter what the question might be! - Qwerty53
What you gave us was a page of completely irrelevent questions regarding your piano technique.
You want to entertain. Good. Go where there's a piano and some people, sit down and play. Just one tune if you like. No need to announce a concert or to get people sitting in rows. WHen you finish the first tune, I'll be very surprised if at least a few people don't applaud! From then on, it's easy.
1. Should I go back to playing pieces in the keys they were written in as found in the fake books or would I be losing something by only playing tunes in C.
It's important to play in all keys. Even if a tune is in C most of the time the bridge might go to a totally different key. For example, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes : if you're in C, the bridge is in the key of Ab. Etc, etc....
Originally Posted by JerryG
2. What is the best approach to memorizing. Do you just play a piece until you get it. Do you memorize chord sequences first.
First of all you memorize the sound. You have to be able to at least sing the melody. Then you look at the chord sequence, analyze it, recognize structures that are very common (ii-V-I, iii-VI-ii-I, etc) and recognize structures that are strange and make the tune unique.
Originally Posted by JerryG
3. Should I be able to add improvisation into the piece and how do you go about it. As I said I can do some improv on the fly but not very well. Do you practice improv that you work out.
Improv will come only after you master playing the basic chords and melody.
Originally Posted by JerryG
4. Keeping up the rhythem is a problem for me since many times I get lost in the piece. I read that you are supposed to just ignore the mistakes when playing so as not to lose the beat. Should I practice all pieces with a metronome.
I'm not sure what you're playing, but if it's the usual jazz standards the most important thing is to establish a beat and then keep it going no matter what. So yes, practice with a metronome, and ignore mistakes, and favor the beat!
1. Should I go back to playing pieces in the keys they were written in as found in the fake books or would I be losing something by only playing tunes in C.
Answer: Either way. If C works better for you do them all in C. I like playing in F and Eb the best. I also like G, Ab, C and Bb (the 5 common keys). I rarely play in the other keys
2. What is the best approach to memorizing. Do you just play a piece until you get it. Do you memorize chord sequences first.
Answer: I memorize chord changes first. Then melody BUT ONLY ONE PHRASE at a time. I find the slowest way to learn a tune is to play it all the way through until I get it.
3. Should I be able to add improvisation into the piece and how do you go about it. As I said I can do some improv on the fly but not very well. Do you practice improv that you work out.
Answer: You don't need to add improv, a good melody will carry a tune. You may want to add bits of filler such as chord arpeggios in the gaps (where there is a pause in the melody.) You can also paraphrase the melody. I suggest you go back and forth, keep your eyes on the melody, fill for a bar or two, back to the melody, fill some more, back to the melody. In other words don't stray from the melody for more than 4 bars (8 max).
4. Keeping up the rhythm is a problem for me since many times I get lost in the piece. I read that you are supposed to just ignore the mistakes when playing so as not to lose the beat. Should I practice all pieces with a metronome.
Answer: A metronome is a good idea. You are playing solo piano so you can be quite free with the tempos. On ballads I often start a tune freely, and go into tempo rather soon thereafter , and then go out of tempo on the B section and then back in tempo for the final A section. Then I repeat back to the B section (skipping the top) and then end with in tempo the final A section.
1. Should I go back to playing pieces in the keys they were written in as found in the fake books or would I be losing something by only playing tunes in C.
Take the time to learn them in different keys. 1. It will be easier to play with others. 2. Listeners will enjoy listening more if the keys alternate. Also, if you always play in C, then when a song modulates to another key, you will not be as fluent.
2. What is the best approach to memorizing. Do you just play a piece until you get it. Do you memorize chord sequences first.
Grandmasters can memorize a position from a chess match in seconds. They can do it because they recognize the patterns. So, try to understand the pattern. For example, "ii-V-I in C followed by ii-V-I in Eb." But also just play the piece many times -- at least a few times each day.
3. Should I be able to add improvisation into the piece and how do you go about it. As I said I can do some improv on the fly but not very well. Do you practice improv that you work out.
Usually, you'll play the tune ("head") then improvise for a few choruses (cycles of the song), then the head again. I'd practice this by improvising over a tune for hours.
I have a number of "licks" that I've worked out, and practice them so that they come out of my fingers without conscious thought.
4. Keeping up the rhythm is a problem for me since many times I get lost in the piece. I read that you are supposed to just ignore the mistakes when playing so as not to lose the beat. Should I practice all pieces with a metronome.
Yes. I'm listening to the recordings from a gig I played yesterday. I made some horrendous mistakes, but I always kept the beat going.
I had one of my very rare solo gigs yesterday, at a mixer for a local chamber of commerce. I was very lucky to be able to play on this wonderful 1930's vintage Steinway, which was recently tuned:
If you look just over the music stand, you can see my Zoom H2 which I used to record the performance. It worked very well.
I enjoyed the gig. It was very loud with all the talking in the echo-y room, and I realized as I was playing, that almost no one would notice the mistakes I made. I was just a nice background sound to most of the people.
Which was a good thing, because I made a lot of mistakes. I really want to reduce the frequency of these clunkers -- does anyone have any advice on this? I felt very well-prepared for this gig, and played many of the tunes until I was sick of them.
Also, this two-hour gig was more tiring than one of my trio gigs. I only waited a few seconds between pieces (didn't have to wait for the bass player to find the music for the next song), and there was no relaxing during bass solos.
I'm sure that when I am more used to solo playing, I can play with less effort.
Here's an excerpt of my playing of Misty. The mistakes I make here are typical.
Any suggestions concerning my playing would be appreciated.
And here are the tunes I played. The time estimates from my SetMaker application were very accurate.
***** SET 1 ***** Til There Was You Don't Get Around Much Anymore Blue Skies Someday My Prince Will Come St. Thomas Summertime Fly Me to the Moon Cast Your Fate to the Wind Misty Easter Parade On Green Dolphin Street Tenderly Take the A Train Sweet Lorraine Take Five Bewitched 1 Hr. 4 Min. 28 Sec.
***** SET 2 ***** If I Only Had a Brain Polka Dots and Moonbeams Lady Madonna My One and Only Love Linus and Lucy Pennies From Heaven Girl from Ipanema St. James Infirmary Afternoon in Paris Blue Monk Moon River Satin Doll Ain't She Sweet Have you Met Miss Jones All of Me 55 Min. 10 Sec.
Other than the clam in the melody at 0:27, I guarantee that your "mistakes" are not noticeable to the listeners. And even with that one, you did exactly the right thing and carried on, which makes it forgotten as quickly as it came.
If you're looking for comments, the thing I notice most is how elastic your tempo is... of course, you're playing exactly the kind of tune and exactly the kind of style where you can get away with that the most. IMO, though, it would benefit from a slightly stricter pulse.
I really like what I'm hearing at the beginning of the excerpt, which I presume is the end of your solo. I'd like to hear the whole thing. Extremely nice stylistically, and very melodic, mature-sounding ideas... I like it better than the head, to tell you the truth.
Otherwise, not a lot to say but good job. I'd like to hear a lot more tensions harmonically to make this more intriguing... but that's just a style choice, and your chosen style seems completely appropriate to the venue.
"Wide awake, I can make my most fantastic dreams come true..." - Lorenz Hart
I often play much of these slower tunes somewhat rubato, and try to tell myself that it's for stylistic reasons. Deep down, however, I know that I'm often adjusting the tempo so that I can remember the notes or get my fingers in position. For example, the pause 35 seconds in is caused by my not being able to remember how to start the drop-2 chords that I usually play (at 1:38 you can hear how it's supposed to sound), and having to punt. I'm going to work on eliminating those pauses.
On Misty your melodic phrasing is very straight, sounds like a classical player, I would suggest working on feeling both triplet and sixteenth note subdivisions of the beats and varying between them. Like Doug in this clip, also lots of "laid back" phrasing : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAoQjoJl8mI
Looking at the picture - there's no need to put on the full penguin suit for this sort of gig, but I find I'm taken more seriously if I make at least the effort to wear dress trousers and a tie.
Looking at the picture - there's no need to put on the full penguin suit for this sort of gig, but I find I'm taken more seriously if I make at least the effort to wear dress trousers and a tie.
I considered that, and would have even worn my tuxedo, but, trust me, what I wore is considered really dressed up for this rural area.
P.S. How did you get your tune list together? Just curious.. such a nice variety.
Which is your favorite key? I mostly play in C/Am and Eb.
Sometimes I think that my best skill as a jazz player is choosing good tunes. There's a pianist around here that is a much better player than I am, but he chooses esoteric, cerebral stuff that's good, but boring.
I try to choose tunes that people will recognize. Somewhere, I got the list below of the top 100 favorite songs, and have chosen jazz tunes from that.
As for keys, I am most comfortable in C, Bb, and Eb, and I like Ab.
Top 100 Favorite Songs Title Top Request? O Sole Mio (It's Now or Never) Alexander's Ragtime Band yes Always yes Amazing Grace yes As Time Goes By yes Autumn Leaves yes Bye Bye Blackbird yes Danny Boy yes Dark Town Strutters' Ball yes Deep Purple yes Edelweiss yes Five Foot Two yes Georgia On My Mind yes Goodnight Irene yes Hawaiian Wedding Song yes Hello Dolly yes It Had To Be You yes Lara's Theme yes Let Me Call You Sweetheart yes Me and My Shadow yes Memories (from "Cats") yes My Blue Heaven yes My Melancholy Baby yes New York, New York yes Over The Rainbow yes Peg O' My Heart yes Que Sera Sera yes Red River Valley yes Sentimental Journey yes Spanish Eyes yes St. Louis Woman yes Stardust yes Summertime yes Sweet Georgia Brown yes The Tennessee Waltz yes When the Saints Go Marchin' In yes You Are My Sunshine yes Ain't Misbehavin' Ain't She Sweet All Of Me Am I Blue An Irish Lullaby (Toora-loora-loora) Anniversary Waltz Blue Skies Blueberry Hill Cabaret Cheek to Cheek Crazy Did You Ever See A Dream Walking Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me Don't Fence Me In Don't Get Around Much Anymore Dream A Little Dream For Me East Side West Side Embraceable You Fascination For Me and My Gal For The Good Times Goody Goody Heart Of My Heart I Can't Give You Anything But Love I Could Have Danced All Night I Don't Know Why I Got Rhythm I'll Be Seeing You I'm Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself A Letter I've Got a Crush On You It's A Sin To Tell A Lie It's Only a Paper Moon Ma, He's Makin Eyes At Me Margie Moon River Music, Music, Music Oh, What A Beautiful Morning Oklahoma On the Street Where You Live On the Sunny Side of the Street Our Love Is Here To Stay Ramona Shine on Harvest Moon Show Me The Way To Go Home Side By Side Skaters' Waltz Sunrise Sunset Swanee Sweet Sue Unforgettable When Irish Eyes Are Smiling When The Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin Along When You're Smiling Yes Sir, That's My Baby You'll Never Know Your Cheatin' Heart
I know Robin (Piano Girl) recommends memorizing everything, but my brain can't hold that much informatin at once. Every time I add something to it, something else gets pushed out :-)
Kathy and I took a short cruise last week, I noticed both piano players had looseleaf books of music. They didn't always need the book, but the young lady playing the easy listening music seemed to use hers quite a bit.
I was happy to find a piano on the 13th deck that they allow guests to play, a nice little Yamaha grand. And it was actully in tune! It kept me from going into complete withdrawal, and I even got some compliments from a few passengers in the lounge.
I'd like to do more playing out (and get Kathy to sing), but I need to expand my play list. I'm making a copy of yours now Al :-)
My Keyboards: Estonia L-190, Roland RD88, Yamaha P-80, Bilhorn Telescope Organ c 1880, Antique Pump Organ, 1850 concertina, 3 other digital pianos ------------------------- My original piece on BandCamp: https://frankbaxtermrpianoworld.bandcamp.com/releases
Me banging out some tunes in the Estonia piano booth at the NAMM show...