newbie question
Bill Webster
I tried this pattern piano thingy on www.playpianotoday.com by David Sprunger.
It teaches different patterns for chords, while you sing the melody.
I finished what he taught from the first part of the course and learned alot.
However, when I try to apply some of his chord patterns to
music I like ( Cole Porter...etc ) it sounds too "country" and "tingy".
So, I started coming up with my own patterns until I figured cool
jazzy patterns certainly have been done before.
Can someone push me in the right direction?
( I'm obviously a little lost )...
Thanks,
Bill
Bonnie Granat
"Bill Webster" <bi...@dal.asp.ti.com> wrote in
message news:3E6FB546...@hotmail.com...
What did you learn?
--
___________________________________
Bonnie Granat
Granat Editorial Services
http://www.editors-writers.info
Bill Webster
He taught "patterns" based on the "tetrachord".
A little hard to explain in an email, but he'd
teach a pattern like : With the right hand, hit
the fifth note of the tetrachord along with the
third note of the tetrachord, and alternate this
with the first note of the tetrachord. Then with
your left hand hit the 5th note with the 1st note
of the tetrachord for the full measure. This is a
"pattern" in which I can use any chord, whether
its a C or Gminor.
I probably learned about 10 to 20 patterns, and
then tried to apply some of them to the song
"Summerwind". I can figure out how to apply them
ok, ( I've gotten to understand 7ths, and augments,
6ths, etc...), but the patterns don't fit the song worth
a hoot.
So, I started coming up with my own patterns, to
see what sounds ok with the chords ( I have the sheet
music with the chords written above the song - So
all I pay attention to is what chord I should be playing
and trying to fit a pattern to that chord ).
I really can't read music, nor do I practice scales
or anything like that.
So, maybe I'm getting the cart before the horse,
but I was looking for more patterns that sound
more like the music I listen to ( Cole Porter for instance)
rather than the patterns this course taught me
( more country ).
Recall, I want to sing the melody , and play cool background
chord patterns to my singing. This is my goal, and I feel
like I'm kind of feeling around in the dark...
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Bill
Bonnie Granat wrote:
> "Bill Webster" <billj...@hotmail.com wrote in
Bonnie Granat
I think you *are* getting the cart before the
horse, and there's really no reason to do that.
You must already have some skills in playing, or
you wouldn't be asking the question you asked, so
I am going to tell you what I really think:
My first suggestion is to learn how to read music,
although you may not want to hear that. You then
will have the ability to play all the things you
want to play. Don't be frightened by "the
unknown". Reading music is rather easy; I am
always amazed that the likes of Paul McCartney
cannot read music.
It is very EASY to learn how to read music. There
is no reason in the world why you cannot learn how
to read music quickly! I could teach you through
e-mail, in fact, but there are ample resources at
your local music store and on the Internet.
The very best way to do this is to get a teacher,
of course, but you can also learn it on your own.
If you WANT to learn to read music, you can do so
in under a week. Practice will make you as good at
reading music as you are in reading English.
It takes concentration and desire, primarily, but
it is the only way to go if you want to play piano
and have the entire world of music at your
fingertips.
E.J.
I have a free pamphlet that will teach you how to read music. It's on
my website.
Regards,
E.J.
The Music Factory
http://www.everygoodboydoesfine.com
musicfa...@comcast.net
Piano for Everyday Mortals
Top Spin
wrote:
>I have a free pamphlet that will teach you how to read music. It's on
>my website.
>
>Regards,
>
>E.J.
>The Music Factory
>http://www.everygoodboydoesfine.com
>musicfa...@comcast.net
>Piano for Everyday Mortals
When I click on either of the links under Resources, I get "Page not
found".
--
Spam sink email address, sorry
Radu Focshaner
"Top Spin" <Topp...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ak997vsh67svvjuio...@4ax.com...
> >I have a free pamphlet that will teach you how to read music. It's on
> >my website.
> >
> >Regards,
> found".
Still... it is free...
Bill Webster
Thanks for your responses,
I know it wouldn't take much to get "reading
music" down. All Good Boys Do Fine....or something
like that....... I'm sure it'd help it many ways, but
I still think I'm going to want to come up with
patterns that sound good to me. Much of the
music I want to sing to, was originally arranged
with full orchestras, so how one would play the
chords on a single piano will be a matter of taste.
I want patterns, that I can plug the chords into
and see what they sound like. For instance , someone
recently pointed me to the "Real Book". Ok, now
I've got a billion songs with the chords written out,
but alas - no patterns....
I can't seem to get an answer to what I thought would
be an easy question. I appreciate the advise, and I'm
sure I'll be looking into reading music, but can someone at least
tell me where there is a "book of patterns"?
Thanks much,
Bill
Top Spin
groan
Nigel
http://the-guitar-and-keyboard-chords-encyclopedia.com/
http://www.apassion4jazz.net/keys.html
"Bill Webster" <bi...@dal.asp.ti.com> wrote in message
news:3E6FB546...@hotmail.com...
Bill Webster
I think these sites are "chords" not "patterns". Please
read my correspondence with Bonnie. I apologize
if I'm mistaken , but my perusal of these sites looks
like they're simply chords. Thanks, though...these
are cool sites...
I've tries the last one, www.apassion4.... before
thinking it'd have my answers, but it doesn't seem to
work...
Again, I'm looking for chord patterns. Its difficult
for me to explain, but I wrote a long email in the thread
with Bonnie explaining this.
Thanks,
Bill
Bonnie Granat
Possibly, you are talking about what makes a
particular style of music unique. You are possibly
talking about what makes jazz sound like jazz, and
what makes a rock ballad sound the way it sounds.
If I am correct, and this is what you're meaning
by "patterns" (which is term foreign, as far as I
know, to music), then what you want is present in
written music. There is no shortcut, unless you
listen to what you like and can reproduce it at
will.
Bill Webster
Thanks so much for hanging in there with me on this.
I really want to know what you think. Perhaps I haven't
been clear in my emails.
If you'd spend about 5-10 minutes clicking through
the website www.playpianotoday.com, you'll quickly
understand what I mean by patterns. The website,
I think, is one of the best I've ever seen for clarity and
ease of use.
I'd love to hear what you think.
Thanks,
Bill
Bonnie Granat
| Bonnie,
|
| Thanks so much for hanging in there with me on
this.
| I really want to know what you think. Perhaps I
haven't
| been clear in my emails.
| If you'd spend about 5-10 minutes clicking
through
| the website www.playpianotoday.com, you'll
quickly
| understand what I mean by patterns. The
website,
| I think, is one of the best I've ever seen for
clarity and
| ease of use.
|
| I'd love to hear what you think.
|
| Thanks,
|
| Bill
|
I clicked through the site last week and again
just now:
- What I hear in his examples I suppose you could
call "rhythmic patterns".
- What I hear in his examples is chords expressed
in a particular "style".
Yes, that style and all the other styles can be
communicated to you. In any good jazz instruction
book you will find examples of boogie-woogie,
stride, ragtime, rock, and so forth.
The styles are communicated in a symbolic language
called *music notation*. Are you seeking a
*visual* representation of these patterns instead
of the symbolic one? If so, then you need a human
teacher, or perhaps you should take this fellow's
course and see if it's what you are looking for.
Am I getting warmer??? <g>
Bill Webster
Thanks Bonnie. Yes, you're much warmer.
I've already taken the course. Now when I try his
patterns with music I like , they don't sound right.
Another way to put it : when I plug the chords
to a song I want to play into his "templates", they
certainly are "correct" but I prefer a different
style, or a different template, or a different pattern...
heck , I don't know what to call it....
So , I want a book of whatever you want to call it:
"patterns"
"templates"
...just as described in his website. The course displayed
about 20 and he applied them to songs that he's chosen.
Well, I'm greedy. I want 100's or 1000's of patterns
that might not even show an application to a song.
One could make a book showing 6 different patterns
on one page, so that a 100 page book would show 600 patterns.
Then, I could tinker around with the 600 patterns (templates)
and plug in the chords from a given song, and see if
I like them. See what I mean now?
You might have refered to them as "rhythmic patterns"
but I'm refraining to use that terminology because it
might mean something in the music world which is
different than what I'm talking about.
Bonnie Granat
*He* calls them rhythmic patterns, Bill, not me,
and you didn't answer my question. Are these
things that are displayed pictures of the keyboard
with the order of notes somehow marked?
Bill Webster
Yes, I haven't looked at the website in
a long time. I see he calls them rhythmic
patterns. ( I can't even remember the term
much mentioned in the course - it comes with
an audio cd/and booklet ).
I just clicked through the entire site, thinking
there must be an example page from his
booklet, and sure enough there is not.
Very hard to explain in an email, but I'll
try. ( You got a fax number? that'd make
it real easy ).
Imagine hitting a c major for a full measure,
hitting a "c", an "e" , and a "g" with just
one hand ( just to make it simple ).
His "rhythmic pattern" for this would be writing
this chord with the little circular whole notes
stacked on top of each other ( similar to how it
would be written in music ) , but with the number
1 written next to one of the little circles, 3 to the next,
and 5 to the last.
What he has now done is shown which numbers of
the tetrachord to hit for this pattern. This notation
implies " Strike the first , third , and fifth note of
the tetrachord, and hold it for a full measure ".
Now I can use this pattern on any chord. All I have
to do is learn the pattern. If I "plug" an E minor into
this "pattern" , I see I need to strike the first, third,
and fifth note of the tetrachord for the E minor, which
is e, g, and b.
So, in answer to your question, there aren't "visual"
pictures of fingers on a keyboard, so you might think
" I could see this Bill guy using the wrong fingers for
a complex pattern without a teacher." ( I'm not
arguing that a teacher would not be good. Remember,
I'm just looking for a book of "rhythmic patterns" ..or
something similar to this). Well, on more complex patterns
he writes a little comment suggesting which fingers to use....
which is helpful.
Is that clear? Its hard for me to explain without drawing
a quick picture....
Bonnie Granat
Sounds like you're talking about an alternative
method of notation, and that you're talking about
block chords. 1-3-5 is pretty boring, all right.
Doesn't he teach you sevenths?
This also sounds like reinventing the wheel. It's
really not necessary. Read the music that has been
written. This guy's method seems like snake oil to
me. If I were you, I'd chalk it up to experience
and forget whatever you paid for his course. He
has nothing to teach you, evidently. Learn to read
music and you will have the ability to play
anything you want.
Top Spin
<bi...@dal.asp.ti.com> wrote:
>Bonnie,
>
> Thanks so much for hanging in there with me on this.
>I really want to know what you think. Perhaps I haven't
>been clear in my emails.
> If you'd spend about 5-10 minutes clicking through
>the website www.playpianotoday.com, you'll quickly
>understand what I mean by patterns. The website,
>I think, is one of the best I've ever seen for clarity and
>ease of use.
>
> I'd love to hear what you think.
I went to that page and waded through all of the demo pages. I don't
believe he ever mentioned "tetrachord" even once and he sure didn't
give an example of one.