Aimee Nolte, Adam Neely, Rick Beato, David Bruce, 12tone, Sideways, 8-bit Music Theory, Nahre Sol constitute the best part of RUclips. So grateful to all of you for being the best mentors.
Honestly Aimee, in 12 years of playing, you're on of the few people I've run into that gives an honest, achievable road map towards playing with feeling. You don't mystify it or give obtuse answers like "just play from the heart." You actually show people HOW to play from the heart. To me that's honestly amazing.
Great video, I think this would be a useful philosophy for many in the classical world to take to heart too - we're even more removed from the 'child singing a melody' aspect of music, many classical players at conservatory level and beyond can't play ANYTHING unless it's written in front of them, which I've always found deeply troubling.
David that reminds me of my two favorite jokes... #1 How do you stop a guitar from playing? Put music in front of him. #2 How do you stop a classical pianist from playing? Take the music away. I feel this is an incitement of our music teaching in this country... Half ass-ed literate. Natch (%
Unless you are studying classical guitar most guitar players learn TAB and never learn to read sheet music. Asking a guitar player to read music is a good way to stop them from playing altogether... In the last 25 years about 90% of all the guitar students that have come to my school can't read music at all. So I spend about two weeks teaching them and then they can read fine. Many guitar teachers also don't read music so this problem just keeps on going on and on player after player. Natch (%
I love how brutally honest you are in this video. You don't sugar coat what you're trying to say and you don't try to be overly nice, you're just telling the truth, and that's what I love about this channel!
As a music producer studying and learning the piano everyday... this video almost made me cry... everything is so clear now as far as what I need to TRULY focus on 🙏🏾 God bless you 💪🏾
Hi. I'm 44 years old, from Brazil, living in Florida since 2018, self-student of a lot of things, including english, and last month I bought a keyboard. Mam, You are so important, so important! I wish I was 12 right here, right now, but I am not. But, screw that! I've been watching your videos and following your tips and lessons since I found you here. I could listen to you all day long, with all the respect. You're funny, a great teacher, beautiful, full of knowledge and feeling. Awesome. I'll get it, all that! Thanks for the inspiration, the time, and keep fucking doing what you've been doing because we need you around, all of us, around the world. Maybe you didn't know, but now you know. We appreciate you! 🌹🙏
This is such an important concept. I have not heard anybody express more clearly the importance of being able to hear a note in your head, heart and soul before you play it, and then know where to find it on the piano. The last part of this video where you hummed a melody and then just brought it to life, was beautiful and inspiring. I've been training and improvising from scales, chords and patterns. Watch out Happy Birthday. Thanks for Amiee.
I can't tell you how much I love this. I went the opposite way all my life; never had proper music education so I did everything by ear for decades. Three years ago I was lucky enough to play guitar in a hotel jazz band for all autumn season, barely knowing any scales AT ALL. I grabbed the chords quite rapidly, but as for soloing, I was terrified and my only chance was learning all 100 melodies of the songs in the repertoire, and try to embellish them as much as I could in my time of soloing (the other musicians were very experienced and always played great solos); when the season ended I had to move to another town so I left the band, thinking that I did a poor job. I started to study scales and jazz theory feeling ashamed of myself having played with musicians who had 10 times more academic knowledge than me. However, I recently spoke with the singer, and she told me that they somehow miss "my melodies", since I got to play them in quite a personal way. That was the only thing I could do in tunes like "All the things you are", "Green dolphin street", "Four", etc. but it seems I managed to do it in an entertaining and non boring way. With this video and the last with your former teacher, I feel enormously relieved; now I am sure I need to keep studying my scales and harmony, BUT I can play melodies with a lot of feeling BECAUSE that is all that worried me for many years; turns out THAT is the more important thing, and is for sure the main the reason I have been hired the 14 years I have worked as a musician now. I feel very happy no one made me swallow an awful lot of theory and scales when I was a kid; it probably would have ruined my musicality and have had a completely different (worse) life.
I loved this video, as a guitar player I sometimes think of this concept as "Singing with my Hand" meaning that I will try to do my best in playing what I hear in my mind as if I was singing with my instrument. Cheers from Argentina. Matías
I've said this for years. I saw a university music student who played a very complex classical piece perfectly. I asked my wife after what was missing. We both agreed that technically it was brilliant but it had no feel or emotion. A few weeks later I thought I'd introduce her (She's from the People's Republic of China) to Stevie Wonder Sir Duke thinking she'd be compelled and overwhelmed like I am on every listen. She turned to me and said with a flat look 'Oh that's pop music isn't it?'. I asked her if she had ever improvised. Nope. Do you fancy trying together? Erm, I don't know how. Do you ever play for pure enjoyment? Erm, what do you mean? It was positively the saddest conversation I've ever had with another musician. She had no concept whatsoever other than learning music technically and by rote. So Aimee, well done for flagging this huge issue in music and music education 👍
She's there to do a job. I'm sure if you trained her in improvisation she would be great. Where do you draw the line between music from the heart and music from the brain? Can't you accept that people's mentalities towards music are different? Hearing things in your mind and not being able to play them on your instrument - yes that's a problem. Not expressing yourself through music is not a problem. Not everyone is an artist.
+Sung Studios Sure it's a job and Im sure the girl is doing great at it. And any musician would accept that. But that doesn't still make it sad. It's in the same way that seeing a computer scientist sit behind a computer not enjoying himself would be sad. You should enjoy the work you do no matter what it is. The only way to enjoy is to treat it as an art form. I know a guy who designs body kits for cars. He loves it, because it's a way to express himself and in return allow others to express themselves. He doesn't just see it as having to mesh hunks of metal or plastic to other hunks of metal or plastic. However, another mechanic I know(one my dad had went to ever since I can remember) seemed to want to kill himself anytime I saw him.
When you say " i thought I'd introduce her" do you mean the student you heard, or your wife? Isn't it odd that you had a student who was the perfect example for this video? And a very unusual student too. " _She had no concept whatsoever other than learning music technically and by rote_ " That is very unusual. Very few musicians will actually have such an extreme view or attitude to music simply, I think, because it is such an unmusical way to be. There may be people a little more inclined that way than others but few fully have that extreme attitude. Most classical students and people who have, as many of us do, learnt to play by reading music and improving, aren't initially very good at improvising. It's normal. Actually it's hard to become a good improviser. but we have usually picked out a few simple tunes like 'happy birthday' etc but you have found the *perfect* example . Your student said all the 'right' things and had all the 'right' attitudes to be the perfect example for this video. isn't that a coincidence?
This is kind of my problem too. I went to music school and I was great at reading notes and I learned how to play classical pieces pretty fast. Although I knew how to put the emotion in what I'm playing, I'm having problems with making melodies. Every time I think of a melody and try to play it on my piano, I feel like it's not really how I wanted it to be. Then I try to add the left hand, make some chords and in the meantime I somehow forget what melody I played! In the end it all pisses me off and I give up on practicing with the feeling that I'll never be able to make any good melodies or songs... And I also don't have a perfect pitch so it's a problem for me to make a melody in my head and sing it out.
so grateful i found your page. i want to learn to improvise and I've loved jazz, but stopped vocal training in HS. I'm 31 now still trying to pursue music. Still learning how to play piano & guitar. Thanks for your work!
My of my old teachers (the inimitable Tom Rhea) would always say "A professional is somebody who can predict the future short term." This is what he was talking about.
This is instantly one of my favorite vids from you, Aimee. Something about your direct candor, and unshakeable confidence in this... something about the honest frustration and earnest effort to work through/around it... IDK. Something about this video is speaking to me more than others, and I can't exactly put my finger on it. Thank you for this.
Excellent video Aimee, I'm 70 years old and I learned how to play piano and blues harp (harmonica) by ear..I can't read music but my love for music and the Blues made me work extra harder!!!...I remember buying a book on how to play chords on the piano, the funny thing is, I didn't even have a piano at home...lol...I made a layout of piano keys with paper and pen and would learn how to make the chords by placing my hands on the paper key board...Their were no computers back then, no tutorials , I used to go to this nursing home and wash their dining room floor for free just so I could play their piano...A lot of the nursing home folks would ask me to play certain songs for them and of course I couldn't but I would tell them to sing it to me or hum it , I would then pick out the notes on the piano and try to find a chord to go with it....The more I would hunt and peck out notes on the piano the better I got..The desire to play music has to be in your heart.. and yes, you do have to work at it!!!...Love your channel!!
I had a bunch of classical piano instructors as a kid and in five years of lessons I was never once asked to try to work out a melody. I learned so much more about music when I was teenager and just goofed off on a guitar.
I’m a guitarist but I started with a ukulele when I was seven. I would strum or arpeggiate basic chords and sing simple melodies like coming ‘round the mountain, aura Lee, greensleeves, camptown races etc. As a teenager I was given a guitar and at first I played simply, but a friend asked me to play Sunshine of my Love and subsequently I learned to play blues. I was stuck in Dorian and in major and minor pentatonic patterns for years and could no longer find melodies spontaneously. I learned jazz standards, Ellington, Charlie Parker, the same way, changes, scales, the head and patterns. Years later I met my wife, a fine jazz and musical theatre vocalist who had been taught by her mother, a well known Toronto jazz and r&b singer, to always begin with melody, and to learn it by singing it. My improvisation came alive! This changed everything and is what I still observe today in my writing and playing. I utterly endorse your message ms. Nolte.
I just wanted you to know how much this video meant to me, even though you probably didn't anticipate this... I have been playing piano and guitar by ear my entire life. I always felt like a failure for not being able to grasp chords and scales and theory on general... While only being able to play things from memory or what I listened to. I felt like I was never a fully realized musician. But this video actually made me feel like I have a gift I shouldn't waste, and that gives me more reason than ever to keep trying at music theory :) Thanks for this video, truly!
THANK YOU!! Pet peeve of mine: The shredder guitarist who can't play Three Blind Mice, etc. I think we need to be able to play any melody that we know. People (men, mostly?) think the basic melodies are beneath them, but they are fooling themselves. If they can't play a simple melody, they can't really improvise and their songwriting ability is severely impaired. Also, they can play a named chord, but can they name the chord you play? I don't think so. You are what people need today. You should have a million views on every video!
Strange phenomenon - I play guitar and almost never touch the piano. I took on your challenge and somehow played every note right on the first try, but slowly. No mistakes. I look at the keys and think "this one seems right". I can't explain that but I mustn't be the only one. I wasn't thinking about key or intervals at all. Just kind of guessing. I've noticed this before. The strange thing is that even after 40 years of guitar playing, I'm almost as good at picking out a melody on the piano as on the guitar. Maybe if I slowed down more on guitar I wouldn't make as many wrong guesses.
I've been complaining about this forever, but lack the tact to explain it kindly. Superbly done. Closest I came to being nice was a blues jam in a bar. "Stop that pentatonic puke!! Play from your guts." When I told the guy he's gotta hear it before he plays it, I lost him. Straight over his head.
Incredibly insightful video, Aimee. You presented such a simple, earthy, rooted approach to better ears and better improvising. A useful pushback against the onslaught of scales, modes, & patterns that get thrown at us. I've been playing drums for 40+ years (mostly jazz), and am now studying piano and some basic theory that I should've learned yrs ago; my goal is to better understand the magic of improvisation. Your marvelous video just "cracked open the sky" for me. I'm headed to the piano RIGHT NOW to start working on some point-and-sing melodic work. Btw, the A minor improv you sang/played at the end was gorgeous! Thank You!! :)
Aimee - so great to hear you stressing this. It encourages me to try even harder on the playing by ear goal I have. Because I want to play what's in my head. Thank you.
👍👍👍 I was playing Polkadots and Moonbeams rhythmically, hitting consonant notes , and then I listened to Bill Evans and figured out that I was being mechanical rather than human. I think that is what makes great jazz musicians great. They can exude “ humanness in their playing ... u are obviously one of the greats Aimee. Thanks !
wow only 3 minutes in an you have given me the key to playing the piano. I have tried for years. you are 100% CORRECT MELODY IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF ALL MUSIC will start practicing on a regular bases thank you my teacher
You are simply the best teacher. So important to realise that melodies are like stories. Musicians that play by knowledge and technique only, gets lost in the maze and won't really appeal much to me. I can really feel the music from a soulful approach no matter the skill level of the musician. Cheers 😊
You are so right! I had started off with melody when I first started playing. Then as I grew new skills, I abandoned melody for focusing on rhythm or "interesting" chord progressions, which really just meant that I was searching for chord progressions that contained or suggested a nice melody. Time to rethink how I sit down and play my instruments. I certainly had a lot more fun back when I was focused in on melody, and I'm glad you made this video to remind me/us! Thanks!
I figured this out on my own... only a week ago. I’ve started working through standards from the Real Book(s), but then I work (struggle at first, but less and less) on “grabbing” only the melody in a different key. It forces me to not read, I have to do it with my ears. And then, I start looking at the chord changes as I, IV, V, VI, II, V and so on, so I can think about the changes in any key. But I’ve found that recalling the melody intuitively, without thinking, brings the changes along with them, or at least makes finding them much easier, and finding substitutes. This is what music is all about. I love you Aimee!
Wow, this is me! Guilty as charged. I tried for many years to become a “jazzy” pianist - jazzy because I can’t commit to extensive practice routines. I learnt quite a bit in the past - licks, voicings, scales, progressions etc. But I was never able to actually make music, just sit down and play. All that theory and practice seemed to do nothing for me. Whatever songs I learnt from tutorials I ended up forgetting within days, or weeks at max. Since I started the piano I had this intuition that something essential was just not there but nobody could help me figure out what it is. Friends and teachers said just keep playing, have fun, don’t judge yourself. 5 years ago when my daughter was born I stopped. I said I will never open this chapter of my life again because emotionally the piano is not good for me any more. Something clicked with this video. Of course! I can’t play melodies. I am so eager to dust up the keyboard and start playing again but I am also scared of getting back into that old, destructive headspace. Maybe the answer is to learn to crawl and then walk again. Start right in the beginning. How do I do that? Maybe learning the melody of a song by ear every week is a good start? Maybe learn the melody of a simple standard every week but by ear first? What do you recommend? Anyways, thank you for what you do here. I’m really touched.
I started playing by ear in garage bands. Then after a long period of time I went to playing mostly written music. You reminded me of the importance of ear training.
When I was a kid my parents couldn't afford lessons for me, and though my dad was an accomplished jazz pianist - I couldn't learn a note from him. I taught myself to peck out top 40 songs from the radio. Fast forward, oh, say 30 years. I finally had time and the means and decided to take Jazz lessons, after 30 years of figuring things out myself. My teacher popped a bunch of sheet music in front of me, which I couldn't read, and I worked and worked at it, for years. When I finally could play the standards he was teaching me, I found I got nervous sitting at the piano without music in front of me. Literally, I had turned myself into a musical zombie. And I wonder if this is what you're talking about. Somehow the mechanics of reading and playing disconnected my ear from my hand. I know it's still there, just have to get it back.
Wow, my heart is full of joy when I see a teacher / musician who knows what it's *really* about! Being a musician myself for over a decade I can only agree. Keep up the great work and spread the word ;) Much love from Austria
Preach sister. I love that you’ve capitalised on your deserved popularity to go hard line on this. I agree this is obvious but it passes by most classical teachers and apparently jazzers too. Hope it has some effect. Pentatonic aural work (at least) should be on every kid’s syllabus alongside the alphabet, not just for musicians: the lack of music at school links to the lowest common denominator music we now get.
Thank you Aimee 😎. I have a 5 year old grandson who can sing melodies he hears on pitch with just a little miss here and there....your ideas for teaching him are spot on!
Lately I'm making another attempt to learn improvising. It makes me sad how I can't really break out from being "just a robot" that is able to play some rock covers... Just today I got really depressed about lack of progress and how crappy playing pentatonic fingerings for half an hour felt... But I stumbled on this video of yours and you reminded me about importance of transcribing by ear. I did it before, but ditched the idea. So I've picked guitar, thought about a song that I know and never played... And transcribed whole melody from KISS "Black Diamond" and to my surprise even the riff... It felt awesome. Thanks! You saved the day! :)
Great title and great video Aimee. So glad you called this out. There's a big difference between playing "acceptable" notes, and the "best" notes, and for me the great melodies are examples of people making daring and personal choices. I also took note of how Rick Beato, for example, pointed out that you had a massive repertory of songs that you had memorized, and really admired that. You're walking the walk before talking the talk! Now, I need to take myself a notch down and start practicing those melodies :)
That was an excellent video Aimee, thank you. I remember when I was a kid I was always trying to figure out melodies, but then I started to memorize things and patterns, even though it makes it easier, you sacrifice an important aspect of music, the notes should come from the inside. Thank you for reminding me that.
Good observation, Aimee. When I was 8 taking classical piano lessons, I was taught the notes (the "what"), but not the why. It took away much of the joy of playing, and it started feeling like a chore, sorry to say. When I got home, I turned on the radio and played just about every melody on the radio (the first was "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by the Shirelles). That was my epiphany. It was fun, and emotive, and the heck with the fingering. I'm 64 now and starting piano/theory lessons again...this time, JAZZ! :)
I paused the video to see if I could play happy bday melody on my guitar and I was able to. I know my basic scales but most importantly I am constantly learning guitar solos by ear so I already built the connection of playing what I hear. Even though I don't sing I try to learn the melodies for the lyrics of any song that I am learning and I came to the realization that some of the arrangements come straight from the main melody. That was a real eye opener for me just by learning by ear. I can build my own guitar solos based on the main melody, rather than trying to figure out what scale to use. I recommend SMPlayer for learning songs by ear . You can slow down songs. MP3, MP4 ,RUclips, etc. It has an EQ for removing or enhancing different frequencies.
6:06 This is so good for writing songs and for learning and improvisation. Being able to make the melodies in your head into reality is an amazing skill.
That's exactly how I learnt to play melodies when I got my first Casio 32-key keyboard as a birthday gift when I was in school. Love your videos, Aimee. Keep up the awesome work!
Great advice, and I'm really embarrassed that I can hardly pick out simple melodies like this. I'll work on it, because it's so fundamental. I watch a lot of guitar players (that being my instrument of choice), and I notice many of them singing their improvised lines as they play, so the melody they play is the melody they're hearing in their heads (piano players do the same - Keith Jarrett comes to mind). Those melodies come from knowing the sounds each note is going to have, and that knowledge comes from exactly this. Spot on.
Wow.........a mind blowing ending to the video, Aimee. I’ve watched it about five times over and over. You are just so talent. Thanks for a wonderful video.
I really love your channel.I first saw you with accent, that’s one of my favorites.I was so impressed, I said :”I need to fallow this lady’s RUclips channel.
you just described the way I learned guitar harmonica sax and piano - by just fumbling around till I got it. being a non-reader, but with a good grasp of theory, I generally got it quite quick So this has sort of validated my method of madness and expanded it a bit, and many heartfelt thanks for that
WoW you gave me as a beginner learning with utube a deep reality check. I got embarrassed 😳 and you were not even in my presence. I want to do this so bad now. Scary but I must try. Thank you 😊 You are an amazing teacher you get into the core of the person that is listening to you. I would love to learn jazz.
Not being a music teacher(but I love playing and singing), I can’t believe some “musicians” or students of music missed this essential 1st step required for playing more “complex” music. My teacher always said: the piano needs to feel like it is attached to the sounds you hear in your mind. As if your hands and arms don’t exist. I completely understand Aimee’s frustration.
Aimee, I just found you on RUclips and yes I am a total beginner, but listening to you talk and explain things is as important to me as watching and listening to you play. I wish I had your talent.
Aimee, I wholeheartedly agree that good music education starts with simply singing. From a more analytical point of view: when you sing there is nothing in between you and the music, you know how to get a certain tone and you can easily reproduce what is in your head. In other words, the voice gives the most direct connection between what you hear/feel and between the output of sound. On a piano you also have quite a direct connection between what is in your head and how to get it out of the instrument because all the notes are linearly organised from low to high (not on the guitar which has parallelism and makes it more difficult to get used to reproducing sounds in your head on the instrument) and because it is very easy to produce the note because no technique is required to get the sound (contrast this to for example a saxophone, a Oboe or a tuba). Having said that, I do think that theoretical education is essential too for music, it is a powerful tool once you have that foundation. Theoretical music education is severely neglected, certainly where I live. Just one country further theoretical education is obligated if you play an instrument (to the point of kicking a student out if he doesn't follow it), where I live they barely give any theoretical education, at the music schools they haven't done it for decades. Fortunately these days you can mostly learn it on your own. In music eduation you have to walk a fine line between having fun while you play and practicing and learning technique (etudes) and theory. Too much emphasis on the last too early and you might kill the joy and obstruct that kind of development which you referred to in this video, too little emphasis on that and you miss powerful tools.
my perception of what being a musician was like got completely destroyed after watching 2 of your videos. I see you speak and play and I see an ocean of experience and thoughts that to you feel like a basic part of who you are. I'm studying computer engineering and I'm not a musician, I've "toyed" with pianos since a kid (trying to play catchy tunes from my brain), but I don't really have any kind of training, or know how to translate a mental note onto a piano note. Watching this video reminded me of how narrowly I'd been looking at what it means to play music, and I'll now be stepping back and locking myself in fundamentals for a while. Thanks for being yourself, the world needs more of that
Last year my grandma wanted me to play "A Million Reasons" by Lady Gaga on piano. I had no sheet music, so i thought "Hey it sounds like it might be in the key of C major". So i sat at my piano and I tried it and succeeded! When you play melodies by ear you build a connection with that song.
Ur freaking amazing Aimee. You make so much sense. You opened up doors in my head. I'm always practicing scales and keys. I been wanting to find notes in a song without having to find the sheet music for it. By doing your exercises, this is coming more clear to me. Thank you so much.
I rarely leave comments in videos, but you connected so well with my frustations with an intrument, that i have to. Probably the most engaging and ispiring video i have seen i long while. Subscribed, liked and I asure you I will watch all of your videos!!
Transcribed the A Dorian melody, but had to think for a few seconds :-). Great lesson. I think the classical approach is excellent for developing technique, but may be culpable in producing perfunctory automatons, that generally struggle in improvisation, beyond their repertoire e.g. Blues, Jazz, Latin Jazz, Funk, Gospel, etc.. Creativity and ear training are different skill-sets. Ear training can be learnt, if the student has a 'musical' ear. Not everyone has that creative instinct and it is practically impossible to teach a student creativity. Suggesting ideas to a student on how to be creative is meaningless, if they are devoid of creativity. Not meaning to be harsh, but it's a case of 'either they have it or they don't'. Music is a multi-faceted mood generator, but 'feeling' the music i.e. melodically, harmonically (i.e. voicings), rhythmically, dynamically, etc, is at the 'heart' of everything, whatever genre being played. Similarly to creativity, a pianist either has 'feeling' in their playing, or they don't. There are no grey areas IMHO.
great post as always Aimee, Had a friend when I was in hs who was in Berklee, and remember his saying all these players he knows that want to be great at soloing but they couldn't play Mary had a little Lamb
You basically just hit on an eternal spiritual truth of music. Although, I do think everyone should be interested in discovering "their own sound" and simply play what really resonates with them. Sometimes as a byproduct of following what you're passionate about, this means reading straight off of a score or fake book chart. And maybe as a result of this, people also become more capable of and attuned to playing simple melodies by ear and eventually playing exactly what they preconceive in the midst of improvising anyway. But just starting out playing by ear probably speeds up the learning process for improvisation considerably too. I don't know; this sounds like a chicken or egg first situation. Maybe I'd like it to be both lol
Dear Aimee, you're the greatest inspiration that I could imagine! I'm so lucky to watch your videos, after them I go singing for hours and hours being so happy about my success and about my new "understanding" of the improvisational process... Thanks again!! You're the best!!
I'm glad I'm not alone in these frustrations. (context: I'm coming from a classical teaching side) my students are terrified to play without music and to improvise. It's partially my fault for teaching them like this, but it's also because of my past teachers who taught me to be a person who could play pieces of written music rather than a musician. Idk, this is a ramble, but I'm glad this is becoming a discussion in music education.
I totally agree. I don't play piano but even I could play Happy Birthday or Rudolph. I can't imagine someone who knows chords and scales not being able to do that.
One more point: Is the connection you're talking about why many players practice by transcribing solos (I'm a JotW listener)? Is playing Happy Birthday by ear an elementary form of transcribing, in a way? Just curious.
Thank you so much. This was very awesome and instructive. And I really loved your demo at the end. So beautiful and heartfelt. That is what I really came here to say. A melody from the heart is worth a thousand words.
I couldn't respect your approach more! Please keep doing what you do, you're the best. If I one day decide to learn some theory instead of doing everything by heart, I will learn from your channel. So... I might not understand much, but this is something that really resonates with me.
Dear Aimee! You are so right about the fundamental melodic aspect of music and the basics of connecting soul, brains and body. There is a rhythmic aspect to add, I think. The ability to feel the beat patterns and to move on it: dancing! Drumming! Poetry! Could you please consider that extension to your great teaching capability? I admire and love the way you move me to improve me every time when another new video shows up, thank you so much. I'm still learning since I learned to connect on my tin tomtom, my uncle's piano and my dad's harmonica, sixtyplus years ago.......... Henk (1949, piano, Eindhoven NL) ps How about the natural order of rhythm, sound and melody?
I have a couple of videos about rhythm. One takes songs from the musical, Hamilton and i talk about how to write rhythms. And another one, I challenge you to find your inner drummer. They shouldn’t be too hard to find. Thanks for watching!
Dear Aimee, thank you for your reply and your tips on rhythm, adding to the skills of monotonous poetry (rap) or melodic blues, which I prefer. From here it is the art to find your inner soul when you rock (cradle), walk (straight march), run, stumble (swing) or ride (train beat). To feel it, I mean. Next step is to move, rock and dance with your body. Anyway: I wish you happy singing and dancing!
Aimee, that's great! I've always struggled with making what I consider to be interesting but groovy rhythms, mostly beat-wise, so I'll certainly study your videos on that topic.
@@AimeeNolte ah not this video specifically, your "real books" video is the one he actually recommended. I just meant his recommendation generally speaking :)
I love how you an articulate this concept so well. As a guitar player its so easy to get caught in patterns (finger exercises) and there are times when I know a scale should work over a chord but it just doesn't speak to me and I have to use notes outside the scale. Before I record any soloes or melodies on my songs I love to record the basic riff or chords with some drums and get in my car and drive and let my mind wander and sure enough a melody will happen in my head - and from years of learning melodies by ear I can play that melody that I came up with without the instrument.
You're over thinking it. Nobody's saying jazz is worthless. A return to more melodic thinking would benefit all styles of music in today's computer music age. Including jazz.
Corley Kinnane my point is that melody has been dropping in emphasis across many genres, be it hip hop, rock, reggae, jazz, country, or what. Lack of this lesson seems a significant portion of the reason why. I'm not talking about the relative merits of jazz.
bob wilson I get that and I agree about melody, jazz is a little different though because melody in this genre is not necessarily defined yet. It is the improvisational search that feels natural that defines melody. One could argue that playing a tune the same way as someone else is not improvisation. Paradoxically, if the melody was born from improvisation, then if it is a very natural melody, it can be rediscovered through improvisation too just by starting with the same seed. That's why the best melodies write themselves.
Corley Kinnane let me give you the whole quote: "I got no kick against modern jazz Unless they try to play it too darn fast They lose the beauty of the melody Until it sounds just like a symphony." Chuck Berry Rock and Roll Music Mind you, I LOVE bebop, cool and modern jazz. But the emphasis on greater and greater technical prowess caused jazz to lose sway to rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. Same thing happened to rock when it lost its danceability and country began to take over in the 80s and 90s. My point stands. Lack of discernable melody, at least to the untrained ear, is what has killed jazz as a POPULAR form. Only musicians listen to jazz anymore, and really, I stopped listening to jazz in the 80s. Not completely, but I used to eat and sleep with Trane or Miles or Chick or whoever on the stereo. Not for 30 years.
BRUH! Great lesson!
Hello Adam.
Adam Neely j
Adam Neely's BASE lessons lol gotem
wow he might not recover, dude
Do you even bass, bruh?
i cant believe this content is free
Aimee Nolte, Adam Neely, Rick Beato, David Bruce, 12tone, Sideways, 8-bit Music Theory, Nahre Sol constitute the best part of RUclips. So grateful to all of you for being the best mentors.
jazz duets
fretjam, Music with Myles and Signals Music Studios are great too!
Marty Schwartz heereee
Who is David Bruce?
@@MusicTeacherGuyNorristown David Bruce! You should know him! His videos on classical pieces are really informative.
Honestly Aimee, in 12 years of playing, you're on of the few people I've run into that gives an honest, achievable road map towards playing with feeling. You don't mystify it or give obtuse answers like "just play from the heart." You actually show people HOW to play from the heart. To me that's honestly amazing.
It ought not to be "amaaaazing"- it should be THE NORM! -- Honestly.
Thank you both so much
Great video, I think this would be a useful philosophy for many in the classical world to take to heart too - we're even more removed from the 'child singing a melody' aspect of music, many classical players at conservatory level and beyond can't play ANYTHING unless it's written in front of them, which I've always found deeply troubling.
I love your thoughts on this
David that reminds me of my two favorite jokes... #1 How do you stop a guitar from playing? Put music in front of him. #2 How do you stop a classical pianist from playing? Take the music away. I feel this is an incitement of our music teaching in this country... Half ass-ed literate. Natch (%
Mr Natural Can you explain the #1 part?
Unless you are studying classical guitar most guitar players learn TAB and never learn to read sheet music. Asking a guitar player to read music is a good way to stop them from playing altogether...
In the last 25 years about 90% of all the guitar students that have come to my school can't read music at all. So I spend about two weeks teaching them and then they can read fine. Many guitar teachers also don't read music so this problem just keeps on going on and on player after player. Natch (%
ohok, that makes sense, thanks!
wow. I felt so called-out during the video. It's so frustrating.
Instant subscription.
I love how brutally honest you are in this video. You don't sugar coat what you're trying to say and you don't try to be overly nice, you're just telling the truth, and that's what I love about this channel!
That's why it hit so close to home with me. And honestly, that's probably a good thing.
As a music producer studying and learning the piano everyday... this video almost made me cry... everything is so clear now as far as what I need to TRULY focus on 🙏🏾 God bless you 💪🏾
The world needs to hear this. Melody is king. Period. Great video Aimee 👍
Jonny May harmony will also be king tbh
K Muman bro rhythm is king
Where the true masters are at!
harmonic progressions innately have rhythm. Harmony is king
@@kmuman1276
"Frequency"
how many times it hits within a given interval, the intervals between the hits.
Your brains counts beats to
Identify a note.
Hi. I'm 44 years old, from Brazil, living in Florida since 2018, self-student of a lot of things, including english, and last month I bought a keyboard. Mam, You are so important, so important! I wish I was 12 right here, right now, but I am not. But, screw that! I've been watching your videos and following your tips and lessons since I found you here. I could listen to you all day long, with all the respect. You're funny, a great teacher, beautiful, full of knowledge and feeling. Awesome. I'll get it, all that! Thanks for the inspiration, the time, and keep fucking doing what you've been doing because we need you around, all of us, around the world. Maybe you didn't know, but now you know. We appreciate you! 🌹🙏
This is such an important concept. I have not heard anybody express more clearly the importance of being able to hear a note in your head, heart and soul before you play it, and then know where to find it on the piano.
The last part of this video where you hummed a melody and then just brought it to life, was beautiful and inspiring. I've been training and improvising from scales, chords and patterns. Watch out Happy Birthday. Thanks for Amiee.
I can't tell you how much I love this. I went the opposite way all my life; never had proper music education so I did everything by ear for decades. Three years ago I was lucky enough to play guitar in a hotel jazz band for all autumn season, barely knowing any scales AT ALL. I grabbed the chords quite rapidly, but as for soloing, I was terrified and my only chance was learning all 100 melodies of the songs in the repertoire, and try to embellish them as much as I could in my time of soloing (the other musicians were very experienced and always played great solos); when the season ended I had to move to another town so I left the band, thinking that I did a poor job. I started to study scales and jazz theory feeling ashamed of myself having played with musicians who had 10 times more academic knowledge than me. However, I recently spoke with the singer, and she told me that they somehow miss "my melodies", since I got to play them in quite a personal way. That was the only thing I could do in tunes like "All the things you are", "Green dolphin street", "Four", etc. but it seems I managed to do it in an entertaining and non boring way. With this video and the last with your former teacher, I feel enormously relieved; now I am sure I need to keep studying my scales and harmony, BUT I can play melodies with a lot of feeling BECAUSE that is all that worried me for many years; turns out THAT is the more important thing, and is for sure the main the reason I have been hired the 14 years I have worked as a musician now. I feel very happy no one made me swallow an awful lot of theory and scales when I was a kid; it probably would have ruined my musicality and have had a completely different (worse) life.
Great story Dani!
I loved this video, as a guitar player I sometimes think of this concept as "Singing with my Hand" meaning that I will try to do my best in playing what I hear in my mind as if I was singing with my instrument. Cheers from Argentina. Matías
I've said this for years. I saw a university music student who played a very complex classical piece perfectly. I asked my wife after what was missing. We both agreed that technically it was brilliant but it had no feel or emotion.
A few weeks later I thought I'd introduce her (She's from the People's Republic of China) to Stevie Wonder Sir Duke thinking she'd be compelled and overwhelmed like I am on every listen. She turned to me and said with a flat look 'Oh that's pop music isn't it?'.
I asked her if she had ever improvised. Nope. Do you fancy trying together? Erm, I don't know how. Do you ever play for pure enjoyment? Erm, what do you mean?
It was positively the saddest conversation I've ever had with another musician. She had no concept whatsoever other than learning music technically and by rote.
So Aimee, well done for flagging this huge issue in music and music education 👍
She's there to do a job. I'm sure if you trained her in improvisation she would be great. Where do you draw the line between music from the heart and music from the brain? Can't you accept that people's mentalities towards music are different? Hearing things in your mind and not being able to play them on your instrument - yes that's a problem. Not expressing yourself through music is not a problem. Not everyone is an artist.
+Sung Studios Sure it's a job and Im sure the girl is doing great at it. And any musician would accept that. But that doesn't still make it sad. It's in the same way that seeing a computer scientist sit behind a computer not enjoying himself would be sad. You should enjoy the work you do no matter what it is. The only way to enjoy is to treat it as an art form. I know a guy who designs body kits for cars. He loves it, because it's a way to express himself and in return allow others to express themselves. He doesn't just see it as having to mesh hunks of metal or plastic to other hunks of metal or plastic. However, another mechanic I know(one my dad had went to ever since I can remember) seemed to want to kill himself anytime I saw him.
When you say " i thought I'd introduce her" do you mean the student you heard, or your wife? Isn't it odd that you had a student who was the perfect example for this video? And a very unusual student too.
" _She had no concept whatsoever other than learning music technically and by rote_ " That is very unusual. Very few musicians will actually have such an extreme view or attitude to music simply, I think, because it is such an unmusical way to be. There may be people a little more inclined that way than others but few fully have that extreme attitude.
Most classical students and people who have, as many of us do, learnt to play by reading music and improving, aren't initially very good at improvising. It's normal. Actually it's hard to become a good improviser. but we have usually picked out a few simple tunes like 'happy birthday' etc but you have found the *perfect* example . Your student said all the 'right' things and had all the 'right' attitudes to be the perfect example for this video. isn't that a coincidence?
This is kind of my problem too. I went to music school and I was great at reading notes and I learned how to play classical pieces pretty fast. Although I knew how to put the emotion in what I'm playing, I'm having problems with making melodies. Every time I think of a melody and try to play it on my piano, I feel like it's not really how I wanted it to be. Then I try to add the left hand, make some chords and in the meantime I somehow forget what melody I played! In the end it all pisses me off and I give up on practicing with the feeling that I'll never be able to make any good melodies or songs... And I also don't have a perfect pitch so it's a problem for me to make a melody in my head and sing it out.
The legacy of Chairman Mao.
Yes, I think this is truly the answer to understanding anything musical.
so grateful i found your page. i want to learn to improvise and I've loved jazz, but stopped vocal training in HS. I'm 31 now still trying to pursue music. Still learning how to play piano & guitar. Thanks for your work!
My of my old teachers (the inimitable Tom Rhea) would always say "A professional is somebody who can predict the future short term."
This is what he was talking about.
Great lesson. Thank you.
This is instantly one of my favorite vids from you, Aimee. Something about your direct candor, and unshakeable confidence in this... something about the honest frustration and earnest effort to work through/around it...
IDK. Something about this video is speaking to me more than others, and I can't exactly put my finger on it.
Thank you for this.
Excellent video Aimee, I'm 70 years old and I learned how to play piano and blues harp (harmonica) by ear..I can't read music but my love for music and the Blues made me work extra harder!!!...I remember buying a book on how to play chords on the piano, the funny thing is, I didn't even have a piano at home...lol...I made a layout of piano keys with paper and pen and would learn how to make the chords by placing my hands on the paper key board...Their were no computers back then, no tutorials , I used to go to this nursing home and wash their dining room floor for free just so I could play their piano...A lot of the nursing home folks would ask me to play certain songs for them and of course I couldn't but I would tell them to sing it to me or hum it , I would then pick out the notes on the piano and try to find a chord to go with it....The more I would hunt and peck out notes on the piano the better I got..The desire to play music has to be in your heart.. and yes, you do have to work at it!!!...Love your channel!!
I had a bunch of classical piano instructors as a kid and in five years of lessons I was never once asked to try to work out a melody. I learned so much more about music when I was teenager and just goofed off on a guitar.
I’m a guitarist but I started with a ukulele when I was seven. I would strum or arpeggiate basic chords and sing simple melodies like coming ‘round the mountain, aura Lee, greensleeves, camptown races etc. As a teenager I was given a guitar and at first I played simply, but a friend asked me to play Sunshine of my Love and subsequently I learned to play blues. I was stuck in Dorian and in major and minor pentatonic patterns for years and could no longer find melodies spontaneously. I learned jazz standards, Ellington, Charlie Parker, the same way, changes, scales, the head and patterns. Years later I met my wife, a fine jazz and musical theatre vocalist who had been taught by her mother, a well known Toronto jazz and r&b singer, to always begin with melody, and to learn it by singing it. My improvisation came alive! This changed everything and is what I still observe today in my writing and playing. I utterly endorse your message ms. Nolte.
I just wanted you to know how much this video meant to me, even though you probably didn't anticipate this... I have been playing piano and guitar by ear my entire life. I always felt like a failure for not being able to grasp chords and scales and theory on general... While only being able to play things from memory or what I listened to. I felt like I was never a fully realized musician. But this video actually made me feel like I have a gift I shouldn't waste, and that gives me more reason than ever to keep trying at music theory :) Thanks for this video, truly!
This was one of your best lessons. Something so simple yet so profound.
Wow, unreal music lesson.
THANK YOU!! Pet peeve of mine: The shredder guitarist who can't play Three Blind Mice, etc. I think we need to be able to play any melody that we know. People (men, mostly?) think the basic melodies are beneath them, but they are fooling themselves. If they can't play a simple melody, they can't really improvise and their songwriting ability is severely impaired. Also, they can play a named chord, but can they name the chord you play? I don't think so. You are what people need today. You should have a million views on every video!
Strange phenomenon - I play guitar and almost never touch the piano. I took on your challenge and somehow played every note right on the first try, but slowly. No mistakes. I look at the keys and think "this one seems right". I can't explain that but I mustn't be the only one. I wasn't thinking about key or intervals at all. Just kind of guessing. I've noticed this before. The strange thing is that even after 40 years of guitar playing, I'm almost as good at picking out a melody on the piano as on the guitar. Maybe if I slowed down more on guitar I wouldn't make as many wrong guesses.
I've been complaining about this forever, but lack the tact to explain it kindly. Superbly done.
Closest I came to being nice was a blues jam in a bar. "Stop that pentatonic puke!! Play from your guts."
When I told the guy he's gotta hear it before he plays it, I lost him. Straight over his head.
Aimee oh I wish I had heard this years ago. Well I'm hearing it now. Great thoughts, great heart. And definitely a need to know bit of insight.
Incredibly insightful video, Aimee. You presented such a simple, earthy, rooted approach to better ears and better improvising. A useful pushback against the onslaught of scales, modes, & patterns that get thrown at us.
I've been playing drums for 40+ years (mostly jazz), and am now studying piano and some basic theory that I should've learned yrs ago; my goal is to better understand the magic of improvisation. Your marvelous video just "cracked open the sky" for me. I'm headed to the piano RIGHT NOW to start working on some point-and-sing melodic work. Btw, the A minor improv you sang/played at the end was gorgeous! Thank You!! :)
Aimee - so great to hear you stressing this. It encourages me to try even harder on the playing by ear goal I have. Because I want to play what's in my head. Thank you.
👍👍👍 I was playing Polkadots and Moonbeams rhythmically, hitting consonant notes , and then I listened to Bill Evans and figured out that I was being mechanical rather than human. I think that is what makes great jazz musicians great. They can exude “ humanness in their playing ... u are obviously one of the greats Aimee. Thanks !
You have just answered something thats bothered me for ages but i didn't know.
This is strangely musically profound. Thanks.
wow only 3 minutes in an you have given me the key to playing the piano. I have tried for years. you are 100% CORRECT MELODY IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF ALL MUSIC will start practicing on a regular bases thank you my teacher
You are simply the best teacher. So important to realise that melodies are like stories. Musicians that play by knowledge and technique only, gets lost in the maze and won't really appeal much to me. I can really feel the music from a soulful approach no matter the skill level of the musician. Cheers 😊
You are so right! I had started off with melody when I first started playing. Then as I grew new skills, I abandoned melody for focusing on rhythm or "interesting" chord progressions, which really just meant that I was searching for chord progressions that contained or suggested a nice melody. Time to rethink how I sit down and play my instruments. I certainly had a lot more fun back when I was focused in on melody, and I'm glad you made this video to remind me/us! Thanks!
I figured this out on my own... only a week ago.
I’ve started working through standards from the Real Book(s), but then I work (struggle at first, but less and less) on “grabbing” only the melody in a different key. It forces me to not read, I have to do it with my ears. And then, I start looking at the chord changes as I, IV, V, VI, II, V and so on, so I can think about the changes in any key. But I’ve found that recalling the melody intuitively, without thinking, brings the changes along with them, or at least makes finding them much easier, and finding substitutes. This is what music is all about.
I love you Aimee!
Wow, this is me! Guilty as charged. I tried for many years to become a “jazzy” pianist - jazzy because I can’t commit to extensive practice routines. I learnt quite a bit in the past - licks, voicings, scales, progressions etc. But I was never able to actually make music, just sit down and play. All that theory and practice seemed to do nothing for me. Whatever songs I learnt from tutorials I ended up forgetting within days, or weeks at max. Since I started the piano I had this intuition that something essential was just not there but nobody could help me figure out what it is. Friends and teachers said just keep playing, have fun, don’t judge yourself. 5 years ago when my daughter was born I stopped. I said I will never open this chapter of my life again because emotionally the piano is not good for me any more.
Something clicked with this video. Of course! I can’t play melodies. I am so eager to dust up the keyboard and start playing again but I am also scared of getting back into that old, destructive headspace. Maybe the answer is to learn to crawl and then walk again. Start right in the beginning. How do I do that? Maybe learning the melody of a song by ear every week is a good start? Maybe learn the melody of a simple standard every week but by ear first? What do you recommend? Anyways, thank you for what you do here. I’m really touched.
an exceptional musician and teacher
I needed this direction badly. My son is just starting piano as well and this is something for both of us to work on. Thank you!
I started playing by ear in garage bands. Then after a long period of time I went to playing mostly written music. You reminded me of the importance of ear training.
When I was a kid my parents couldn't afford lessons for me, and though my dad was an accomplished jazz pianist - I couldn't learn a note from him. I taught myself to peck out top 40 songs from the radio. Fast forward, oh, say 30 years. I finally had time and the means and decided to take Jazz lessons, after 30 years of figuring things out myself. My teacher popped a bunch of sheet music in front of me, which I couldn't read, and I worked and worked at it, for years. When I finally could play the standards he was teaching me, I found I got nervous sitting at the piano without music in front of me. Literally, I had turned myself into a musical zombie. And I wonder if this is what you're talking about. Somehow the mechanics of reading and playing disconnected my ear from my hand. I know it's still there, just have to get it back.
I think there’s a balance between playing through feel and playing through mechanical brain and muscle training (via sheet music).
Wow, my heart is full of joy when I see a teacher / musician who knows what it's *really* about! Being a musician myself for over a decade I can only agree.
Keep up the great work and spread the word ;) Much love from Austria
I totally agree! Amazing stuff Ma'am, I really enjoy your content🌹. Thank you, you've helped me a lot🤗
Needed this. Thanks
Preach sister. I love that you’ve capitalised on your deserved popularity to go hard line on this. I agree this is obvious but it passes by most classical teachers and apparently jazzers too. Hope it has some effect. Pentatonic aural work (at least) should be on every kid’s syllabus alongside the alphabet, not just for musicians: the lack of music at school links to the lowest common denominator music we now get.
Oh my, this is an amazing message and lesson. Stare down what you find hard and just start doing it.
Thank you Aimee 😎. I have a 5 year old grandson who can sing melodies he hears on pitch with just a little miss here and there....your ideas for teaching him are spot on!
Lately I'm making another attempt to learn improvising. It makes me sad how I can't really break out from being "just a robot" that is able to play some rock covers... Just today I got really depressed about lack of progress and how crappy playing pentatonic fingerings for half an hour felt... But I stumbled on this video of yours and you reminded me about importance of transcribing by ear. I did it before, but ditched the idea. So I've picked guitar, thought about a song that I know and never played... And transcribed whole melody from KISS "Black Diamond" and to my surprise even the riff... It felt awesome. Thanks! You saved the day! :)
This is exactly how I teach all my beginners!! We start with up and down and ear training!
Great title and great video Aimee. So glad you called this out. There's a big difference between playing "acceptable" notes, and the "best" notes, and for me the great melodies are examples of people making daring and personal choices. I also took note of how Rick Beato, for example, pointed out that you had a massive repertory of songs that you had memorized, and really admired that. You're walking the walk before talking the talk! Now, I need to take myself a notch down and start practicing those melodies :)
That was an excellent video Aimee, thank you. I remember when I was a kid I was always trying to figure out melodies, but then I started to memorize things and patterns, even though it makes it easier, you sacrifice an important aspect of music, the notes should come from the inside. Thank you for reminding me that.
Good observation, Aimee. When I was 8 taking classical piano lessons, I was taught the notes (the "what"), but not the why. It took away much of the joy of playing, and it started feeling like a chore, sorry to say. When I got home, I turned on the radio and played just about every melody on the radio (the first was "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by the Shirelles). That was my epiphany. It was fun, and emotive, and the heck with the fingering. I'm 64 now and starting piano/theory lessons again...this time, JAZZ! :)
I paused the video
to see if I could play happy bday melody on my guitar and I was able to.
I know my basic scales but most importantly I am constantly learning guitar solos by ear so I already built the connection of playing what I hear.
Even though I don't sing
I try to learn the melodies for the lyrics of any song that I am learning and I came to the realization that some of the arrangements come straight from the main melody. That was a real eye opener for me just by learning by ear. I can build my own guitar solos based on the main melody, rather than trying to figure out what scale to use.
I recommend SMPlayer for learning songs by ear .
You can slow down songs.
MP3, MP4 ,RUclips, etc.
It has an EQ for removing or enhancing different frequencies.
So true. So well expressed. Your commitment shines.
6:06 This is so good for writing songs and for learning and improvisation. Being able to make the melodies in your head into reality is an amazing skill.
That's exactly how I learnt to play melodies when I got my first Casio 32-key keyboard as a birthday gift when I was in school. Love your videos, Aimee. Keep up the awesome work!
Great advice, and I'm really embarrassed that I can hardly pick out simple melodies like this. I'll work on it, because it's so fundamental. I watch a lot of guitar players (that being my instrument of choice), and I notice many of them singing their improvised lines as they play, so the melody they play is the melody they're hearing in their heads (piano players do the same - Keith Jarrett comes to mind). Those melodies come from knowing the sounds each note is going to have, and that knowledge comes from exactly this. Spot on.
Keith Jarrett has perfect pitch
This is the RUclips pedagogy I need! Taking this approach to my journey to lead guitarist from now on. Thanks Amy!!!
Wow.........a mind blowing ending to the video, Aimee. I’ve watched it about five times over and over. You are just so talent. Thanks for a wonderful video.
I really love your channel.I first saw you with accent, that’s one of my favorites.I was so impressed, I said :”I need to fallow this lady’s RUclips channel.
That's what I'm working on now. Wish I'd learned it when I started about 40 years ago. Great lesson.
you just described the way I learned guitar harmonica sax and piano - by just fumbling around till I got it.
being a non-reader, but with a good grasp of theory, I generally got it quite quick
So this has sort of validated my method of madness and expanded it a bit, and many heartfelt thanks for that
Kind of a "Can you play what you sing/(hear), can you sing what you play?" Thing.
Fabulous lesson, Aimee
Just what I was looking for. Thanks. I'll practice this everyday.
Love this vid Amy, it's me all over when I'm teaching, it's great to know I'm on the same wavelength as someone like yourself x
Omg, I’ve been listened. I’m actually in that process. It means so much to me. Thank you
Volver a ver la música como si fuese un niño, que concepto más hermoso. Gracias Aimee...
WoW you gave me as a beginner learning with utube a deep reality check. I got embarrassed 😳 and you were not even in my presence. I want to do this so bad now.
Scary but I must try.
Thank you 😊
You are an amazing teacher you get into the core of the person that is listening to you. I would love to learn jazz.
Not being a music teacher(but I love playing and singing), I can’t believe some “musicians” or students of music missed this essential 1st step required for playing more “complex” music.
My teacher always said: the piano needs to feel like it is attached to the sounds you hear in your mind.
As if your hands and arms don’t exist.
I completely understand Aimee’s frustration.
Best improv video on the internet. This is how music worked for thousands of years. It's not rocket science. Hear something, play it back.
I do fell like I am a robot, not just when i am playing an instrument. Challenge accepted tho :>
Aimee, I just found you on RUclips and yes I am a total beginner, but listening to you talk and explain things is as important to me as watching and listening to you play. I wish I had your talent.
Aimee, I wholeheartedly agree that good music education starts with simply singing. From a more analytical point of view: when you sing there is nothing in between you and the music, you know how to get a certain tone and you can easily reproduce what is in your head. In other words, the voice gives the most direct connection between what you hear/feel and between the output of sound. On a piano you also have quite a direct connection between what is in your head and how to get it out of the instrument because all the notes are linearly organised from low to high (not on the guitar which has parallelism and makes it more difficult to get used to reproducing sounds in your head on the instrument) and because it is very easy to produce the note because no technique is required to get the sound (contrast this to for example a saxophone, a Oboe or a tuba).
Having said that, I do think that theoretical education is essential too for music, it is a powerful tool once you have that foundation. Theoretical music education is severely neglected, certainly where I live. Just one country further theoretical education is obligated if you play an instrument (to the point of kicking a student out if he doesn't follow it), where I live they barely give any theoretical education, at the music schools they haven't done it for decades. Fortunately these days you can mostly learn it on your own.
In music eduation you have to walk a fine line between having fun while you play and practicing and learning technique (etudes) and theory. Too much emphasis on the last too early and you might kill the joy and obstruct that kind of development which you referred to in this video, too little emphasis on that and you miss powerful tools.
I concur.
my perception of what being a musician was like got completely destroyed after watching 2 of your videos. I see you speak and play and I see an ocean of experience and thoughts that to you feel like a basic part of who you are. I'm studying computer engineering and I'm not a musician, I've "toyed" with pianos since a kid (trying to play catchy tunes from my brain), but I don't really have any kind of training, or know how to translate a mental note onto a piano note. Watching this video reminded me of how narrowly I'd been looking at what it means to play music, and I'll now be stepping back and locking myself in fundamentals for a while. Thanks for being yourself, the world needs more of that
Last year my grandma wanted me to play "A Million Reasons" by Lady Gaga on piano. I had no sheet music, so i thought "Hey it sounds like it might be in the key of C major". So i sat at my piano and I tried it and succeeded! When you play melodies by ear you build a connection with that song.
Your grandma sounds awesome
Damn, wish I knew this 20 years ago. I was taught to hum/sing my solos, but I will be working on this. too. Love the channel, new here!
The melody to happy birthday was the first thing my jazz teacher had me play :) all keys, single bass note, single note melody & sing.
Awesome. You are lucky to have had such an insightful teacher.
Ur freaking amazing Aimee. You make so much sense. You opened up doors in my head. I'm always practicing scales and keys. I been wanting to find notes in a song without having to find the sheet music for it. By doing your exercises, this is coming more clear to me. Thank you so much.
Yes Aimee! Human! That is such a great concept. Thanks.
Your way of teaching is so calming, I had to pause 3/4 in just to comment and show my appreciation for this video. You're the best!
A beauty of lesson.
I rarely leave comments in videos, but you connected so well with my frustations with an intrument, that i have to. Probably the most engaging and ispiring video i have seen i long while. Subscribed, liked and I asure you I will watch all of your videos!!
Transcribed the A Dorian melody, but had to think for a few seconds :-). Great lesson. I think the classical approach is excellent for developing technique, but may be culpable in producing perfunctory automatons, that generally struggle in improvisation, beyond their repertoire e.g. Blues, Jazz, Latin Jazz, Funk, Gospel, etc.. Creativity and ear training are different skill-sets. Ear training can be learnt, if the student has a 'musical' ear. Not everyone has that creative instinct and it is practically impossible to teach a student creativity. Suggesting ideas to a student on how to be creative is meaningless, if they are devoid of creativity. Not meaning to be harsh, but it's a case of 'either they have it or they don't'. Music is a multi-faceted mood generator, but 'feeling' the music i.e. melodically, harmonically (i.e. voicings), rhythmically, dynamically, etc, is at the 'heart' of everything, whatever genre being played. Similarly to creativity, a pianist either has 'feeling' in their playing, or they don't. There are no grey areas IMHO.
great post as always Aimee, Had a friend when I was in hs who was in Berklee, and remember his saying all these players he knows that want to be great at soloing but they couldn't play Mary had a little Lamb
You basically just hit on an eternal spiritual truth of music. Although, I do think everyone should be interested in discovering "their own sound" and simply play what really resonates with them. Sometimes as a byproduct of following what you're passionate about, this means reading straight off of a score or fake book chart. And maybe as a result of this, people also become more capable of and attuned to playing simple melodies by ear and eventually playing exactly what they preconceive in the midst of improvising anyway. But just starting out playing by ear probably speeds up the learning process for improvisation considerably too. I don't know; this sounds like a chicken or egg first situation. Maybe I'd like it to be both lol
Dear Aimee, you're the greatest inspiration that I could imagine! I'm so lucky to watch your videos, after them I go singing for hours and hours being so happy about my success and about my new "understanding" of the improvisational process... Thanks again!! You're the best!!
I'm glad I'm not alone in these frustrations. (context: I'm coming from a classical teaching side) my students are terrified to play without music and to improvise. It's partially my fault for teaching them like this, but it's also because of my past teachers who taught me to be a person who could play pieces of written music rather than a musician. Idk, this is a ramble, but I'm glad this is becoming a discussion in music education.
Hi Amy, great vid! I’m hoping to learn a lot of things from your vids. I primarily play and learn by ear and this vid really got my attention.
I totally agree. I don't play piano but even I could play Happy Birthday or Rudolph. I can't imagine someone who knows chords and scales not being able to do that.
One more point: Is the connection you're talking about why many players practice by transcribing solos (I'm a JotW listener)? Is playing Happy Birthday by ear an elementary form of transcribing, in a way? Just curious.
You are simply and preciously the best. I love your enthusiastic teaching spirit. May the God of the universe continue blessing you. 🌹
Thank you so much. This was very awesome and instructive. And I really loved your demo at the end. So beautiful and heartfelt. That is what I really came here to say. A melody from the heart is worth a thousand words.
Someday, when someone creates the big book of all the steps you should take to learn to play an instrument, step 1 will be : go watch this video.
I couldn't respect your approach more! Please keep doing what you do, you're the best. If I one day decide to learn some theory instead of doing everything by heart, I will learn from your channel. So... I might not understand much, but this is something that really resonates with me.
I developed scales.
- Aquaman.
Just Excellent. Thanks Aimee.
Dear Aimee! You are so right about the fundamental melodic aspect of music and the basics of connecting soul, brains and body. There is a rhythmic aspect to add, I think. The ability to feel the beat patterns and to move on it: dancing! Drumming! Poetry! Could you please consider that extension to your great teaching capability? I admire and love the way you move me to improve me every time when another new video shows up, thank you so much. I'm still learning since I learned to connect on my tin tomtom, my uncle's piano and my dad's harmonica, sixtyplus years ago.......... Henk (1949, piano, Eindhoven NL) ps How about the natural order of rhythm, sound and melody?
I have a couple of videos about rhythm. One takes songs from the musical, Hamilton and i talk about how to write rhythms. And another one, I challenge you to find your inner drummer. They shouldn’t be too hard to find. Thanks for watching!
Dear Aimee, thank you for your reply and your tips on rhythm, adding to the skills of monotonous poetry (rap) or melodic blues, which I prefer. From here it is the art to find your inner soul when you rock (cradle), walk (straight march), run, stumble (swing) or ride (train beat). To feel it, I mean. Next step is to move, rock and dance with your body. Anyway: I wish you happy singing and dancing!
Aimee, that's great! I've always struggled with making what I consider to be interesting but groovy rhythms, mostly beat-wise, so I'll certainly study your videos on that topic.
Watch Henny Tha Buziness!! That cat got rhythm😎
Enjoying watching your videos, thanks Aimee, and thanks Adam for recommending!
Did Adam recommend this one? I forgot. Where did he mention it, Charlie?
@@AimeeNolte ah not this video specifically, your "real books" video is the one he actually recommended. I just meant his recommendation generally speaking :)
Bruh...................
Do you even Melody?
I love how you an articulate this concept so well. As a guitar player its so easy to get caught in patterns (finger exercises) and there are times when I know a scale should work over a chord but it just doesn't speak to me and I have to use notes outside the scale. Before I record any soloes or melodies on my songs I love to record the basic riff or chords with some drums and get in my car and drive and let my mind wander and sure enough a melody will happen in my head - and from years of learning melodies by ear I can play that melody that I came up with without the instrument.
I was just watching Rick Beato's video on why people hate jazz. THIS IS THE REASON.
"They lose the beauty of the melody"
Chuck Berry.
You're over thinking it. Nobody's saying jazz is worthless. A return to more melodic thinking would benefit all styles of music in today's computer music age. Including jazz.
Even the best avante guard jazz is searching for melody. Melody is the story, it is beyond patterns and yet slots into place naturally.
Corley Kinnane my point is that melody has been dropping in emphasis across many genres, be it hip hop, rock, reggae, jazz, country, or what. Lack of this lesson seems a significant portion of the reason why. I'm not talking about the relative merits of jazz.
bob wilson I get that and I agree about melody, jazz is a little different though because melody in this genre is not necessarily defined yet. It is the improvisational search that feels natural that defines melody. One could argue that playing a tune the same way as someone else is not improvisation. Paradoxically, if the melody was born from improvisation, then if it is a very natural melody, it can be rediscovered through improvisation too just by starting with the same seed. That's why the best melodies write themselves.
Corley Kinnane let me give you the whole quote:
"I got no kick against modern jazz
Unless they try to play it too darn fast
They lose the beauty of the melody
Until it sounds just like a symphony."
Chuck Berry
Rock and Roll Music
Mind you, I LOVE bebop, cool and modern jazz. But the emphasis on greater and greater technical prowess caused jazz to lose sway to rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. Same thing happened to rock when it lost its danceability and country began to take over in the 80s and 90s. My point stands. Lack of discernable melody, at least to the untrained ear, is what has killed jazz as a POPULAR form. Only musicians listen to jazz anymore, and really, I stopped listening to jazz in the 80s. Not completely, but I used to eat and sleep with Trane or Miles or Chick or whoever on the stereo. Not for 30 years.
Loving these lessons, Aimee.❤