Week 6 - Scales D, E, A - Blues - Start "Good Times"

This week, we will start our new scales - D, E and A. You can print this out to use. We will also finish playing our blues changes from last week.


Our assignment for next week will be the "Good Times" riff, which we will be playing along with the track. You can download or listen to the tracks here, and the original is on the sidebar.

Good Times track - with piano
Good Times track - drums and bass only

Week 5 - Scales; Start on "Good Times"

This week we will have our scale quiz and play our blues changes. Next week we will begin work on "Good Times". The original tune and the chart are on the sidebar. More to come...

Week 4 - The Blues

This week we will be working on the blues, using standard 12-bar changes. We will be using what's called a "quick change", where the second bar goes to the 4 and then right back to the 1, instead of having the first four bars stay on the 1 as in a basic 12-bar progression.

The first exercise uses the 3-7 shells for the left hand when playing with a bass player. You can start by just using your left hand to play with the track, then later on you can add your right hand to play more chord tones for comping (playing rhythm) or for playing solo lines. This is what your scales will help you out with.

The second exercise is a basic 2-handed shuffle pattern. Practice it straight, with a shuffle, or rocking your left hand (I will demonstrate).

The third exercise is a more complicated 2-handed voicing for comping. Those who are up to the challenge shoud try these.

The handout with the exercises and the track to practice with are on the sidebar.

You can play or download the track as an mp3 to put on your iPod or computer here.

Week 3 - New Arrangement for "When A Man Loves A Woman"

Hi y'all -

Here is the revised arrangement for playing "When A Man Loves A Woman" in class.

1. First 8 bars: Ignore repeat.
2. Second 8 bars: Ignore repeat and 1st ending, take 2nd ending to the bridge
3. Play bridge, take the D.S. to the beginning
4. On the D.S. play the repeat, and take the Coda on the second time through the repeat - in other words, jump from the 4th bar on the repeat to the Coda (3rd measure from the end.)

Be prepared to play this song in class with the track - that means use a metronome for practicing so you can stay with the track. I can change it to any tempo that works for you, so have an idea of what tempo you can comfortably play.

Advanced players - think about using chords in the left hand and melody or improvisation in the right - melody in octaves works well for this style.

Remember - bring me your practice log to sign at the beginning of the class!

See you Wednesday :-)

Welcome to Fall 09!

Hi y'all - welcome to Keyboard Accompaniment III. Your handout is available as a download here, if you didn't get one last week, or need another one.

Every week, before we get started, bring your Practice Log up for me to sign.

This week, we're working on When A Man Loves A Woman, available here - click on the image to open in another page to print:

Week 8 - New Exercises, Real-Life Voicings

The handouts this week are Real-Life Voicings and Chord Finger Exercises. Click on the links to download and print, or save the images and print from there.

Real-Life Voicings: These voicings are the voicings that a real piano player would use if they saw the chord symbols written on a chart. I have written these voicings in C - I would like you to try them in other keys. Try using some of these on the charts in the Key II book you're using to sight-read.



Chord Finger Exercises:

On Ex. 2, notice how the Fmin7 voicing is the same as the Ab in the right hand - that only the bass note changes. Same with the Gmin7 and Bb. This is something I'd like you to pay attention to - that the voicing for a minor 7th chord in the right hand is a major triad starting on the minor 3rd from your root. In other words, the voicing for a C minor 7th is an Eb triad; the voicing for a Gb minor 7th is an A triad, etc. You can invert it any way you like. That's the standard way to play a minor 7th, so when you look at a chart that calls for a minor 7th, until you have it automatically in your fingers, use that reminder to find your voicing.

Welcome Back!

Hi all - welcome back to Keys III, Part Deux! This week we're going to get started on our 2-octave scales, hands together.


Our scales for the first half of the quarter are Eb, Ab and B, 2 octaves. Since this is the first time we're doing 2 octaves, you don't need to play at the tempo you were at last quarter. Go as slow as you need to with your metronome to keep it clean.

The fingering rules for black-key scales are what we call the "V-W" system. This means that you will use your first two fingers (2 and 3 in piano numbering) to play Db and Eb - making a "V", sort of like the Nixon Victory sign.

For the group of 3 black keys (Gb, Ab and Bb) you will use your first 3 fingers (2, 3 and 4 in piano numbering) which will look like a "W". The only challenge here is getting used to making the switch from the first to the second octave. Once you get comfortable with that, you're home free. You can do as many scales in a row as you like.

We will also be working on chord chart reading this quarter. Next week I will give you some charts to read through during your practice.

The song we will start with is "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. The song and the chart are on the sidebar. We'll go over how to approach reading the chord changes.

As usual - scales and song, 30 minutes a day - fill in your pracice record, downloadable on the sidebar!