How to Improve your Piano Accompaniments - Music Performance
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- How to improve your piano accompaniments. This music performance lesson explores how to bring piano accompaniments to life when you simply have a set of chords to read. When piano and other keyboard players read a melody from a lead sheet that is supplied with chords, the temptation is to play the melody in the right hand and to put down block chords in the left hand. The result is something that sounds accurate but is not very expressive or musically satisfying. In this video we explore how to use the given chords as the basis for figuration, arpeggiation etc, and how to spread notes effectively across the texture so there is not a huge gap between the melody and the chords, avoiding a thick clunky sound in the left hand. This video will provide ideas to explore and to develop a personal style that works for you.
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🕘 Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction to improving your piano accompaniments
0:38 - The most common mistake people make
3:40 - Creating a better texture
5:17 - Incorporating some figuration
8:23 - Adapting some of the chords
8:48 - Accompanying a singer or another instrument
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Often times, there is nothing more embarrassing than having a teacher explain something to you that you already know BUT DON"T KNOW that you already know...even when OR MAYBE especially when you're alone. It's possible (I suppose) that I discovered the techniques (you've demonstrated here) through trial and error over the course of the last 45 - 50 years. It is more likely, though, that I had a professor (or two) explain those techniques in one or two of my composition courses at university 40+ years ago. At any rate, thank you for reminding me of accompaniment techniques that I've often forgotten to employ (of late).
Glad it’s a helpful reminder.
As always well explained, I don't even really play piano, I'm more of a guitarist, but I like to try to broaden my horizons. Thanks Gareth
That’s most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
It’s amazing how much variety you can get from a small group of notes & still imply progression . Thanks again !
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
So true. A very important lesson. Great video, as always, Gareth!
That’s great. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Clear and helpful like the most of your explanations! :)
That’s most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
“Do your own thing with the chords”.....so well put....so well explained!
😀
You're an awesome teacher. God bless you sir!
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
I am teaching children how to play song tunes on guitar, by ear. For example they can play “ Deck the Halls” on the B string, using their middle finger. Your video Gareth encourages me to try to teach them arpeggiated chords that could be used together with the melody. One child could play the melody line and another child a second part derived from the chords. Thank you Gareth. I have learned a lot from you. Alan.
That’s a great plan. Your most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
I am still working up to get the basics right before taking up the MM harmonics / accompaniment course.....however, this video explains brilliantly a very confusing issue for those students trying to advance from just thumping out triad accompaniment!! Very important help here on an area that is not usually explained early enough elsewhere. Thanks Gareth.
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Thank you so much, Gareth, for this informative and well taught lesson. I really do enjoy your videos. Yours in Gratitude
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Many thanks Gareth for another interesting and informative video - my take away from this is an accompaniment can be independent of melody and yet harmonically coherent but not tied to solely to chord tones.
A pleasure. Glad it’s helpful.
Great explanation - Thank you !
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
We love your videos. They are so useful because the way you explain a concept and demonstrate the skill is so straight forward. Thank you for your hard work! We highly recommend your content to our community. Best, Maria
That’s fabulous. Thank you. Keep spreading the word.
Thanks, things that I know but they are not always easy to put into practice properly. Very clear explanation.
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here ruclips.net/channel/UC8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.
Thanks gareth that was very helpful
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Brilliant! I'll try the 3+1 suggestion on my next piece. I had usually written it as 1+3 and wondered why it sounded blah.
That’s great. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
W😍nderful video.. Very anticipated one. Thanks for uploading. Please upload more about accompanyments and chord technics.
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here ruclips.net/channel/UC8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.
Great video. Thanks.
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Very useful thank you
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Your explanation of the muddled sound you can get with left-hand chords and how you should put the cords in the right hand just totally turned on the light bulb as to why sheet music for most pop songs has the chords in the right hand with the melody and just a single bass note in the left-hand, I always thought the left hand seemed sparse but now it actually makes more sense, thank you
Fabulous
Excellent advice. 👍
😀
I've always felt that distance between the super highs and super lows in Beethoven's sonatas, like no. 32 op. 111, haha. Eitherway, great video!
😀Certainly Beethoven likes those wide textures.
Excellent videos. This one is of particular interest to me. Could you do more like this, perhaps from Lead Sheets of well known songs?
That’s great. We will bear that in mind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
As a church pianist and organist this is very helpful
Thank you so much
That’s most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Thank you so much!! I just found what I needed. I really really want to be able to play hymns in church, to play accompaniaments but I didn't figure it out how. By the way I play oboe..but I really really want to play piano better and better. Thank you again!
may God Bless You!
It’s a pleasure. I’m glad the video is useful. You may be interested in our courses at www.mmcourses.co.uk
God bless.
Thank you
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Good tips. I can apply this to the song I am working on now. The awkward aspect is jazz chords, C6 for example. Playing any voicing of this 'jazzy' chord or it's substitutions like CMaj9 just sounds off to me even though it is called for on the chart. Normally a C6 would be a sus chord which quickly resolves but in jazz the sus does not suspend to anything.
Jazz makes much use of extended chords and sus chords so resolution becomes slightly different but whatever your musical style be guided by what sounds best.
9:24 is played so beautifully🎵
That’s most kind of you
this is the type of music theory knowledge I was looking for
That’s most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
Great lesson, as always! One thing I wonder about is whether (or how) the "rules" involving parallel octaves or fifths, or doubling of the third of a major triad, apply to voice accompaniment. For example, it often sounds nice to my ears for the piano to double the voice part an octave above (or below) for a bit, or for the third of a major triad to be played in the accompaniment even though it's in the voice part. Any guidance about this, or related topics?
That’s a slightly different situation and you’re absolutely right about accompaniment. Often a melodic line (for instrument or voice) will mean the music is not in a rigid four part context so there is more flexibility. Doubling in octaves for example is regarded as a matter of texture in the situations you describe.
Awesome advice. Do you have videos that expand on figuration? I noticed you spread out the notes but couldn't follow what patterns you used. 1-5-3? Others? The last section on creating your own tapestry alongside the melody is well beyond my skill level. Can that be taught?
We could do videos on that.
Excellent video Gareth! Just one question please that I hope you are able to answer - When combing the chords/melody into the right hand 🤚 would it be good practice to ensure that the melody note is always the highest note of the chord? Many thanks 🙏
When you harmonise a melody it’s usually a good idea to keep the melody at the top but if the accompaniment is independent of a melody played or sung on a different instrument than one can be freer.
Wonderful lesson I must say, may I ask how would it be different for keyboard accompaniment
It really depends on your keyboard. Some have a full key range with sustaining pedal, in which case all of this applies. If you have a more modest keyboard you will have to simplify the approach accordingly.
@@MusicMattersGB Thank you Sir
😀
Hi Gareth,
I have a question about two-handed piano chords.
As a basis for four part harmony I start with the root and 5th in the left hand and 3rd and octave in the right hand i.e. C major = C + G in left and E + C in right. But what about inversions? Should I just move the root up an octave to give G + C in left and E + C in right? Or should I go back to the original triad, invert it and then add the octave? I.e. E + C in the left and G + E in the right?
I'm pretty sure both choices are 'correct' in that they contain the right notes but is there a convention about how to split inverted chords across two hands? And how would it work with 7th chords and other added tone chords?
Thanks
Steve
p.s. couldn't find a specific lesson about this but would be really useful to have one!
Your approaches are perfectly valid. There’s no set way of doing this. The bottom line is ‘if it sounds good go for it’. Generally, ensure you have the root and the 3rd sounding in the chord. The 5th is good to include but it’s optional. Try to avoid big spaces between the hands.
I should work on my accompaniments so much more. But I feel quite anxious and uncoordinated from 6:40 or further examples when I try those techniques as I am not a pianist but more a singer and saxophone player. I really would like to learn to play like in the last examples but it feels unreal it just doesnt fitnin my head ;(
Keep working at it and you’ll get there.
What melody is that you played? It sounds interesting.
The Music Matters theme is a piece I composed. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme.
How do you randomly come up with these melodies? If you told me to write a melody in Eb major I couldn't come up with it on the spot on that specific key.
It’s many years of doing it.
0:37 PLUNKING/CLONKING LEFT-HAND TRIADS
01:08 CLONK CLONK PLUNK
02:15 CHANGED THINKING ABOUT LEFT VS RIGHT HAND RESPONSIBILITIES
02:34 CLEAR VS MUDDY OCTAVES
03:25 MELODY DISLOCATED - HUGE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE
03:40 REVERSE LEFT-RIGHT HAND THINKING
04:26 REVERSED THINKING EXAMPLE
05:00 IMPROVEMENT 1: 3+1 rather than 1+3
05:16 IMPROVEMENT 2: FIGURATION
05:28 OOM-PAH-PAH
06:34 MORE FLOWING LH RHYTHM
08:19 SPRUCE UP CHORDS
08:48 DO NOT DUPLICATE MELODY LINE
😀
In the Creating a Better Texture example where you move the chords to the right hand, should you always aim to have the melody line as the top note in the chord? You don't mention this but this is exactly what you do in the demonstration.
You don’t have to present the melody as the top line of the chord. Often it’s better to be independent.
I find that when I put appergios on the chords (on the left hand accompaniment) some appegiated chords will form chords that are not triads with the melody especially if im doing pop music. E.g. appergio (left hand) will be on B, and melody on C. Which makes up a C,B chord or D,C etc...which they are not triads... is this allowed or would we argue that these are suspended chords or appogiatura chords or is there any allowance for it because the melody and accompaniment are independent? . I just feel like I'm no more following music theory concepts when that happens on my pieces...
If it sounds good go for it! If it sounds good it’s probably because those notes are part of an extended chord, a passing note, an auxiliary note, a suspension or an appoggiatura.
Can you share the chords you played ?
Which chords are you looking for.
@@MusicMattersGB thank you for your reply . At around 9: 06 of video , chords played while singer sings the melody line .
If you have a look at the video at that point you can see the chords I’m playing on the board. I didn’t write down what I played - it’s improvised figuration around the chords you can see. If you watch the keys lighting up on the screen you can see the exact notes I played.
@@MusicMattersGB yup wanted to ask you the pattern for the improvised figuration . The keys lights up too fast to catch . Notice that half way after F chord the playing does not seem to follow Bb . Would like to know more chord patterns 😃 thank you
The best thing is for you to slow down the video then you’ll see clearly what’s going on.