I Wanna Play Like That!
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- dalematt
- Bellowbelle
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» dalematt - Suggestion
My personal experience is that you play "by ear" as much as you can, and you find sheet music that is representative of the style of music you'd like to be able to perform.When playing by ear, try a variety of things and see (a) what produces the sounds you like and (b) what fits within your capabilities as a pianist. Mess around with the melody, add a few chords, try a few simple accompaniments. Vary the notes in the chords here and there to see what works and what doesn't. As for accompaniments, master a few really basic ones, such as playing broken chords. See if you can play the melody an octave higher than usual with the accompaniment an octave low; play the melody on the left hand and fill in some chords on the right; try throwing the melody around between the hands. Keep your ears open and listen closely for what sounds interesting. There are a lot of "tricks of the trade" out there and it takes time to figure out how to produce them and how to fit them into your piano abilities.
As the original article suggested, head for the music store and get a good book by an artist you like. Make sure the book isn't just the melody and a few guitar chords; the book should have an authoritative looking accompaniment even if it might look too difficult for you to master at the moment. The tricks that the artist uses to get his or her sound will be on these pages; study them closely. Listening to the artist's CD as you read the music and identify passages that have the type of sound you're looking for. Take those passages back to the piano and see how the chords are written. Try the accordance without the melody. Again, keep your ears own for what works.
Good luck!
-- posted by dalematt
» Bellowbelle - Re: Suggestion
In response to message posted by dalematt:Great suggestions! I try switching parts on my (piano) accordion sometimes, left with right hand, buttons with keyboard. Especially with the left (bass buttons) hand, it can be...interesting. I've composed one piece with "reversible" counterpoint. (But, I need to practice more often!)
-- posted by Bellowbelle
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