Alicia's Keys To Keyboards

Week 9 - Lovely Track, Getting Ready For Scales and Final

2010-03-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

We're on the home stretch!

Coming up on the end of the quarter, we are going to:

Explore keyboard sounds!

Play along with the Lovely track - listen/download here -

Lovely Track

Work on your scales for our Week 10 Scale Test

F#, Db, Bb - download here.

Work on your song/s for the Final on Week 11 (Same time same place - Wed, 1pm #240).

You and your partner need to be ready to accompany each other Week 11, and REMEMBER TO HAVE YOUR CHART FOR ME! It needs to be written by hand or by notation program by YOU. It will be one letter grade of your final.

Your Final will be graded on:

Preparedness
Level of difficulty (you will get a better grade for challenging yourself)
Accompanist skills - paying attention to your singer.
YOUR CHART - written by you. If you need to, you may use a commercial chart but you must copy the changes yourself onto a separate paper, either by hand or using a notation program (Sibelius, Finale)

Your Final will NOT be graded on singing.

Don't play it safe - reach!

Week 8 - Isn't She Lovely

2010-02-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

For Week 8, we will be working on "Isn't She Lovely" and practicing scales for Week 10, and practicing for the final on Week 11.

You can download the chart here:

Isn't She Lovely chart

Today we will concentrate on playing the rhythm between two hands, and using the concept of the backbeat to keep us in the groove and in tempo.

Next week we will explore keyboard sounds - how to access them on a Triton or Motif, and how the right sound can influence the total feel of a song.

Welcome to Winter 2010! Week 2

2010-01-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hi y'all! Welcome to VP Key III, Part Deux. I'm going to put the handout for this quarter here. Right-click (PC) or control-click (Mac) to download.

This quarter will find us focusing on chord chart reading, learning how to do takedowns by ear, and expanding on the voicings and techniques we learned last quarter. This includes the concept of "Less Is More" - that you can actually sound better by playing fewer notes - it's all a matter of the notes you pick.

We'll continue to work on strengthening our rhythm and time - by practicing with a metronome, by playing with a track, and finally by playing for another person, which will be our Final Project.

We will continue to work on our finger coordination and independence with our scales and exercises.

We will touch on the role that different keyboard sounds play in achieving your musical objectives, and learn how to get around on a modern keyboard - how to find and use different patches on a pro keyboard such as a Triton or Motif or similar.

And we will continue to familiarize ourselves with the basic toolkit of voicings that will enable us to feel at home in any musical situation, and be able to write and accompany ourselves independently, without having to rely on other people to do this for us.

Knowledge is power!

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

2009-11-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

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"

2009-11-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-28T11:01:00.001-07:00

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"

2009-10-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all -

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

First 8 bars: Ignore repeat.
Second 8 bars: Ignore repeat and 1st ending, take 2nd ending to the bridge
Play bridge, take the D.S. to the beginning
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!

2009-10-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

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!

Week 6 - New Scales, New Song, Decide On Final Song

2009-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

This week, we are going to start on some new scales - we'll be doing Db, F# and Bb. The fingering is written out for you. You all did well on your scales last week! Now it's time to bump it up.

Our new song is 'Beautiful' by Christina Aguilera. The chart can be downloaded here. The song is on the sidebar.

For your exercises, I would like you to do the exercises you've been doing, but transpose them into 2 other keys.

You will also be deciding on the song you're doing for the final, and showing it to me for approval.

Week 3 - Finger Independence Exercises

2009-04-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today, we're going to play our song from last week, "When a Man Loves a Woman" to a GarageBand track.

Here is a new exercise page that I would like you to work on during your half-hour daily practice sessions:

This will help you play chords with finger independence rather than the forbidden Quarter-Note Clumps™. The first exercise is on a basic C chord, and the second is a 1-5-6-4 progression in the key of F. Yes, I know that in Music Theory they use Roman numerals, and that is the 'correct' usage, but I would like you to start thinking in terms of numbers. When I play by ear, I always think in terms of regular numbers, and I remember the sound characteristics of each number position.

And if you can count to 13, you can play anything in the world!

If you are ready for something more difficult, practice this for your daily exercise:

You can click on the images to either read them from the browser or download them.

Welcome To Week 2 - Voice Leading

2009-04-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

This week we're going to jump on in and get started with our first song, "When a Man Loves a Woman". These changes are written out by note because I want to emphasize voice leading. There are, of course, as many different ways to play these changes as there are people who play them, but I have written out a basic set of voice-led chords to get you comfortable with making these transitions.

This song is an exercise, so I would like you to play this one with the exact notes that are written. Where I would like you to use your individuality is by the rhythmic choices you make. As outlined in the section called "The Next Level", there are many ways to play chords. Look at some of these, and use your own ideas.

Next week we will play this with a bass and drum track - be prepared to play!

New Downloads

2009-03-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

Here are the tracks to 'Don't Know Why' and 'Good Times'. There are 2 of each - one with a piano part on it, ands one with drums and bass only. On 'Good Times', I start with the simplest piano part, and add the extra notes later on.

Don't Know Why (w/ piano)
Don't Know Why (drums and bass only)

Good Times (w/ piano)
Good Times (drums and bass only)

I also have the chart for the piano part to "Good Times" in both a .pdf and a Finale file.

Good Times (pdf)
Good Times (Finale)

Assignments for Weeks 7-11

2009-02-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

Here are our scales for the last half of the quarter. Write in the fingerings using the V-W system.

Scales will be played Week 10.

You have your choice of two songs to work on for the rest of the quarter - "Don't Know Why" or "Isn't She Lovely". The songs and charts are on the sidebar.

Your final project is teaming up in pairs and one person plays while the other sings and vice versa. You will need a handwritten chart for your song.

This will be Week 11.

Week 5 - Scale Week! The "V-W" System

2009-01-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Next week, as you know, we'll be playing scales. 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.

Good Times (Rapper's Delight track)

2009-01-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Here are the tracks to 'Good Times'. There are 2 - one with a piano part on it, ands one with drums and bass only. On 'Good Times', I start with the simplest piano part, and add the extra notes later on.

Good Times (w/ piano)
Good Times (drums and bass only)

I also have the chart for the piano part to "Good Times" in both a .pdf and a Finale file.

Good Times (pdf)
Good Times (Finale)

Play-Along Tracks for "Isn't She Lovely"

2009-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some mp3 tracks I made in GarageBand to play along to. There is a full version, one with bass, drums and rhythm synth, and one with bass & drums only. There are slower and faster versions of each. You can download them here:

Lovely-All-150
Lovely-BD-syn-150
Lovely-BD-150

Lovely-All-125
Lovely-BD-syn-125
Lovely-BD-125

Get Into the Groove

2009-01-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about how to play rhythmical patterns between the right and left hands. It's one thing to learn a rhythm in your right hand, for instance, but the difficulty is putting it together with the left hand. The trick to this is to break it down into small steps so that you can connect your hands together and develop a muscle-memory group that involves both hands.

Here's an outline that breaks it down to its most basic elements.

Let's take this pattern from "Isn't She Lovely". What we are going to do is break it down rhythmically - before we even touch the keyboard! As always, get the metronome involved.

First, figure out the right-hand rhythm, and tap it out on a hard surface (table, wall, whatever's handy). Find a metronome tempo that you can tap this rhythm to, and just tap along with the click using your right hand. Do this until it's automatic.

Now, it's time to take it to the keyboard. Play the first chord (C#min9) in rhythm with your right hand, along with the metronome.

Next, take your left hand and rest it on the keyboard near the C# in the bass clef. At this point, your left hand is doing nothing but introducing itself into the mix. Even though your left hand is not tapping, it’s becoming part of the physical connection with your right hand, and getting your right hand to consider its presence. Continue to play the pattern with your right hand along with the click and keep your left hand still.

The next step is to add your left hand as a downbeat only. Play the low C# and the C#min9 together on the first beat, and the rest of the pattern with your right hand. When you’re comfortable doing that, add the C# at beat 3 in the left hand, so that you are hitting beats 1 and 3 with your left along with the syncopated pattern in your right. Add the eighth notes in between, and you have your pattern in both hands. Once you have the basic pattern, you can play the next measure much more easily. Practice the first and second measure together, and so on.

The trick, of course, is the constant repetition until it becomes muscle memory, and slowly adding components to it until they, too become woven into the process. Whenever you face a keyboard challenge, this is the way to approach it - break it down to its smallest component, and repeat that component until it goes into muscle memory, then add the next component. Befor you know it, you're grooving!

Backbeat - the Key to Time and Groove

2009-01-24T19:37:00.000-08:00

How do you keep ‘in time’?

Staying in tempo can be a major challenge for many singers who play. One reason is that most of the time when you are just singing, you’re not required to be in charge of the tempo - the band is doing that for you. As a result, many singers never learn how to keep time within themselves.

As a player, though, whether you play by yourself or with other musicians, ‘time is of the essence’, as they say.

And the ‘essence of time’? It’s called the backbeat.

What is the backbeat and why does it matter?

As you know, a 4/4 bar of music has four beats to each measure, with a quarter note getting one beat. So when you count quarter notes, you count “one, two, three, four”. The first beat is called the downbeat. The second beat is the upbeat, also known as the backbeat.

When you count your tempo from the first beat, it does not give you any reference to tempo at all. You will not know the tempo until you hear that second beat, the backbeat. The backbeat is the determining factor in establishing consistent time. So if your time revolves around the downbeat instead of the backbeat - on 1 and 3 instead of 2 and 4 - your meter will not be as strong as it could be.

This is a basic kick/snare drum pattern.

When you count with your accents on 1 and 3, as in the first measure, there is not a balancing beat to define your tempo. When your accent is on 2 and 4, as in the second measure, that accent on the backbeat pulls the whole groove together, because it balances out the downbeat and gives a specific tempo to what you’re playing.

So, when you sing and/or play, feeling the backbeat is essential to your groove.

How can you strengthen your relationship to the backbeat?

Start by getting into the habit of counting in your head and with your body when you listen to music. Dance can help with that, or just moving your body to music, all the while emphasizing the backbeat, or 2 and 4. These are the beats that the snare drum usually occupies, so when you listen to music with drums, lock in to what the snare is doing. Then, when you sing or play, try to keep that same backbeat inside your head, and into your voice and hands. When you work with the metronome, also pay special attention to the backbeat.

Finding and locking into the backbeat is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your time and rhythm.

Shapes

2008-08-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

When you’re learning how to play chord changes, the idea of memorizing all of the different voicings and inversions in each key can be daunting. Of course, it’s important to know your keys and scales, but when it comes to actual playing, I have found that it helps to think in terms of shapes and lines. The reason is that while there are approximately 14 different types of chord for each of the 12 notes in the scale (not even talking about inversions!), one 'shape' can give you 4 or 5 different kinds of chords, depending on what you play in the bass. That gives you a lot more 'bang for your buck' when it comes to different voicings - if you learn a few basic shapes, you'll find you can apply them many different ways.

I think of chords by their shape and/or pattern - some are triangles pointing up, some are triangles pointing down, some have more notes on the left, some have more on the right, etc. I think of scales by visualizing them as lines or pathways that go up or down. When I play, I’m not so much thinking of how many sharps or flats are in the key, or what kind of scale I should be using, but I think about shapes and lines.

For instance, we talked last week about taking a major triad, second-inversion, and adding a bass note to change it into a minor 7 chord. If you can identify this chord by shape - that is, two notes close together on the right, and one note on the left:
you can see that it is a C major triad. If you play a C in the bass, that's what you'll get - a simple C major chord. But when you see this shape, you should know that you can change the quality of that chord simply by playing a different bass note. (This will work with any inversion of the major triad, BTW)

If you play a note in the bass one whole step up from the 5th of this triad (in this case, G is the 5th, and A is a whole step up from G), you will have an A min 7th chord. So, here's your formula:

Major triad to minor seventh - in the bass, play the note one whole step up from the fifth.

Try this with other 2nd-inversion triads and see what you come up with.

Now, let's try that same triad with a different bass note. If you play a bass note one whole step down from the 5th, (G is the 5th and F is a whole step down from G) you will get an entirely different chord - F Maj 9. This is a very nice-sounding voicing, with the 9 on the bottom of the chord and the major 7 on the top.

Next, play a bass note one whole step up from the tonic (in this case, the tonic is C and a whole step up would be D.) This gives you a D 11, which many people call C/D (C over D) and is a very popluar voicing. especially in contemporary R&B.

E and G are already part of the C chord, but when you use them as bass notes, you can get a different flavor, especially as part of an ascending voice-leading set of changes. B in the bass is a passing tone that will walk you down from the major to its relative minor (the 6th). But you can see that there are a lot of different colors and voicings that you can get from just one chord shape.

What about a minor triad?

Here's our C minor triad, second inversion. If you play a bass note one half-step up from the 5th, you will get Ab Maj 7. Generally, when I see a minor triad shape in any inversion, I know that I can also use that as a major 7th. If you play a bass note one whole step down from the 5th, you will get a dominant 9 chord - in this case, F9.

Or, a diminished chord can be used as a dominant 7 (b9). The point is that you look at chords as shapes that can be used many different ways instead of separate chords that have only one function.

Try different types of triads or chords with diferent bass notes and see what you can come up with.

The 'Three Note Secret'

2008-08-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

When you are first learning music theory and how chords are put together, many people have the idea that you have to play all the notes in a chord. So, for instance, you might play a C7 like so:

in root position, playing all four notes. Then, you might ask yourself, how can I play a 9 or #11 or 13? I can’t play all of those notes at once!

That may be one reason why people can be intimidated by keyboards - they make it more difficult that it is!

The fact of the matter is, that it is just as easy to play good-sounding voicings as it is to play childish, basic voicings. Much easier, even; because when you use good voicings, they are designed to connect smoothly together and your hand does not jump all over the place as it would if you were playing basic root-position voicings.

The secret to good voicings? I call it the ‘Three Note Secret’ - you can play any basic (non-extension - 9, 11, 13) voicing using only three notes - one in the left hand and two in the right.
And they sound way better that using all of the notes in the chord.

In my curriculum we talk about 3-7 shells - that is, playing only the third and the seventh of a chord. This gives you all the information you need to know about a chord - whether it’s major or minor, and what the seventh quality is. The root and fifth you can leave out - the root because either the bass player will be playing it or you will be playing it in your left hand, and the fifth because it is ‘perfect’ - that is, it is stable and does not change when the quality of the chord changes.
or you can flip it and play
with the 7th on the bottom.

So, if you wanted to play that C7 that we talked about at the top of the article, instead of playing 1-3-5-7 (C, E, G, Bb) you would play the E and Bb only. Then you would play the root in the left hand, and that would give you 3 notes in total. With these 3 notes you can play an astonishing array of chord changes - and it’s so much easier than trying to play them the old way - all four notes with the root at the bottom! Plus, it sounds a million times better.

Here is an exercise that will help you get familiar with the ‘Three Note Secret’. It is a cycle of 2-5-1 changes which will take you around all of the keys.
(double-click on image for large printable)

Welcome to Key Acc III-B

2008-07-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all - welcome back! This is the quarter where we bump it up, and dig into the musicality of keyboard playing on a deeper level as well as the technic. To make sure everyone is challenged no matter what their playing level, I'm going to add a 'Fast Lane' to everything we work on.

Scales

This quarter we'll start with our 2-octave scales. Now that you're comfortable with one octave hands together in tempo, doing two octaves will be no big deal. From Week 1 to Week 5 we'll be working on D, A and E. You'll be tested Week 5.

Remember to keep track of your progress on your Keyboard Practice Log. Your goal is to be able to play the 2-octave scales at 100=8th note (Fast Lane is 100=16th note), but do not play at that speed until you can play it clean. Work up to it and remember that your brain can't tell a mistake from a correct note, and will repeat it every chance it gets. Download your scale chart by clicking on the image below.

Song

We're working on 'Isn't She Lovely' by Stevie Wonder. This song is all about the groove, so practice it with the rhythm pushing and pulling between the left and right hand. You can also practice this groove by tapping out the rhythm with your hands (without a keyboard.) The secret to groove is getting your two hands to act like percussion, puttint the emphasis on alternating hands.

Our Week 6 mid-term will be the same song you played for your final, so apply the groove that we're working on to your own song.

Week 10 - The Home Stretch!

2008-06-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

We're almost to the end of the quarter! The light is at the end of the tunnel.

On Thursday, we will be testing on scales, and everyone should be prepared to play Oh Darlin' if called upon.

Then, we'll have our final on Week 11 - same day, same time, same place.

You'll be singing and playing a song of your choice, and don't forget to have a hand-written chart for me - it's 10 points (a full letter) of your Final grade.

I'm putting up "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder for those who want to work on it. You can play it for extra credit Week 11 if you like. This is a great song and a lot of fun to play. It's also a good way to learn a funk pattern between your two hands. The chart is here and the audio is on the sidebar (Song of the Week).

See you Thursday!

Week 7 - New Scales, New Song

2008-05-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

It's Week 7, and the new scales are online here - we're working on Db, F# and Bb. These require special attention to fingering, but once you get that down everything else is a lot easier. You all did great on the last set of scales. Be sure to play them as written - don't stop at the top and repeat the tonic before descending.

We'll be working on "Oh Darlin" and the left-hand bass pattern. A good way to approach a busy left hand is like this:

Learn the left hand and right hand separately.
Play the left hand by itself until you are comfortable with it.
Then, put your right hand on the keyboard (but do not play!) while you play the bass pattern.
Next, play the chord as a whole note while you play the left hand.
When you're comfortable with that, then try it with the triplets.
Remember to do this at a slow enough speed at first to where you don't make mistakes (once you learn the part; don't bring in the metronome until you're completely sure of the notes you're playing.)
Once you can play it slowly and correctly, bump up your tempo.

That's all there is to it!

See you in class! And be sure to e-mail me if you have questions and I'm not around.

Week 6 - Mid-Term Scale Exams, New Song "Oh Darling"

2008-05-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

This week, we are going to have our mid-term scale exam. We will be doing C. F and G, one octave, hands together, with metronome. I expect you all will do pretty well with this.

We will also begin working on our new song "Oh Darling". The chart can be downloaded here. This will involve using the left hand to play a bass pattern and the right hand to play chords.

Also, make sure you have all gotten your song for the final approved by me. As you saw last week, it's not very hard to get me to approve a song; the only criteria is that it not be too easy for your level of playing or a song you have already learned.

My Open Counselings are on Tuesday from 5-6 in Room 270, and Thursday from 3-4 in Room 246 (right across from our class. Please stop by anytime!

See you Thursday!

Welcome, My Spring 08 Chickens!

2008-04-17T09:51:00.001-07:00

This is where I'll be putting up the material used for Keyboard Accompaniment III.

The curriculum can be downloaded here.

The song we're working on this week, "When a Man Loves a Woman", is on the sidebar.

Here is the chart for our next song, "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera

Any other questions - please feel free to ask in comments. I check every night.

Chart for 'Don't Know Why'

2006-08-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

To download the chart, click here. If you have any questions, you can ask them here and I can answer them right away.

Virtual Piano Chords

2006-07-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

Virtual Piano Chords is a very cool page that you might enjoy. Dolmetsch Online is a site that sells recorders (the old-fashioned clarinet-looking kind with holes), but they have a whole music theory section that has everything you could possibly want to know about music theory and chord structure.

Here's some more info on chords. You can learn a lot by exploring this site.

Download This!

2006-07-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here are the tracks we played over in class - the 'Mr. Magic' groove. I've included 2 versions - one with just bass and drums, so you can play the piano part along with it, and one with piano, bass and drums so you can solo over the track.

Note - the scale you play over the changes (Cmin9, F13) is a Bb scale (C dorian)!

Mr. Magic
Mr. Magic (d&b only)

Welcome to Keyboard Accompaniment Online!

2006-07-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hi guys -

Welcome to the blog. In the coming weeks I'll be putting up information about what we're doing this quarter, when our tests are and what they will involve. I'll also put up anything I find that I think may be helpful to you - it may be articles, music, tracks, or anything else that comes to mind.

This is also a place where you can comment or ask questions during the week. If there's anything you're not sure or confused about, anything that didn't make sense in class, or anything you're interested in that we haven't covered, please feel free to comment or ask questions. I hope to make this into a really comprehensive learning tool for you all (and for me!)

I'll start with a few PDFs I found that may be of interest to you for voicings. These are not required - just something interesting if you want to check out some more information about voicings.

Click on the links below:

Easy Rootless Voicings
Rootless Piano Voicings
Two-Hand Jazz Voicings
Berklee Modal Harmony Jazz
Left-Hand Jazz Piano Voicings

cheers, Alicia