Q. My teacher is making us play chords in this sheet entitled Two-Five Progression by Louis Hall. Theres numbers next to each note and on the top of each of them it says DM9 and then G9b5 etc etc etc. So the first one right hand is Fb3, A5, E9. If the top saids DM9 then how do we play it? Hope it makes sense!
A. Forgive me but I have never studied Louis Hall.
Those notations are found in modern sheets (e.g. if I wanted to play Michael Jackson with the piano), then you would find the right hand (being the violin clef) and left hand playing those chords.
I think you are best asking your teacher. DM could be D Major, but 9? Seems more like a guitar chord/notation rather than a piano. I honestly don't know what it means. Proper piano sheets contain proper notes together.
Background Chords for Jazz Piano Solo?
Q. I have a solo that I need to come up with for Jazz Band. I listen to a recording with a solo in it of that specific song, but it is incredibly complicated and contains some fancy things I don't know how to do. Before I move on to learning those things however, I need to find out what scales I'm supposed to be soloing on. The chords are Eb9 for one measure, Ab9 for one measure, Eb9 for one measure, Bbmin7 for 1/2 a measure, Eb9 for 1/2 a measure, Ab9 for one measure, Ab9 for one measure, Eb9 for one measure, C7(B9) for one measure (wtfrick?), Fmin7 for one measure, Bb+7(b9) for one measure (holy crap, what the heck!?), Eb9 for 1/2 a measure, Gb9 for 1/2 a measure, F9 for 1/2 a measure, E9 for 3/8 a measure, and Eb9 for 1/8 of the last measure. I have no idea how to solo over something like this as my past songs simply said "Blues Scale" or "Dorian Scale." Now, what I imagine it is is that I need to just play an Eb SOMETHING throughout the whole thing, as while the chords changed on the other solos, I stayed on an F Dorian.
My second question is, is there something that will allow me to arrange these chords and play drums, chords, and a bass line in the background so I have something to practice to?
A. This is basically an Eb blues. So try the following
Eb blues scale
Eb mixolydian scale
Eb minor pentatonic
Just try these out and follow your ear.
F Dorian or any F minor scale is also a pretty good choice, as their relationship to Eb dominant and Ab dominant will work to help you pick notes that sound good.
BTW, if you know the name of the song, you might be able to find a Jamey Aebersold play-along track that you can use to practice your solo on. Band In A Box works well too. Or see if you can find a freebie MIDI track of the song on the internet. Or just play the chords into a tape recorder.
A difficult stringed instrument to play?
Q. I have been a self taught guitarist for 2 years now (which means there are many many things I don't know). Now I want to try something new that I can hopefully bring over to guitar. I played piano, saxophone, drums and all of them (besides piano) have made me a better player in some way. Now I am looking for a new challenge. I want to play another instrument that's different than the guitar (that is still a stringed instrument). As as guitarist I developed a legato and vibrato that is completely my own.If you can recommend an instrument where legato is approached differently or where other skills can be developed that would help me out a lot. I have thought about picking up a violin but I live in an apartment and that acoustic noise may be too loud.
A. Any stringed instrument can be muted. When I lived in an apartment, I stuffed a pillow into the back of my 5-string banjo to quiet it down. So there's one suggestion. Violin is a difficult instrument to learn...if that's what you're looking for, and you can buy practice mutes. The violin/fiddle is one of the most versatile instruments, but plan on dedicating a lot of time if you want to play it well.
Here's a different suggestion: Pedal steel guitar. Although stereotyped as a "country music" instrument, there's no limit to what can be played on it. It's been used commonly in rock, pop, jazz and swing. If you search youtube, you can find Bach being played on pedal steel.
The steel guitar fingerboard is laid out like a guitar, so it won't be totally foreign to you. The exciting thing is that the instrument is still evolving so there is a wide variety of tunings and setups. You could start with a 10-string single neck E9 tuning. The chord changes are made with foot pedals and knee levers which alter the pitch of individual strings. Three pedals and four levers is a standard basic setup. Yes, it takes 2 hands, 2 feet and 2 knees all working in sync to play pedal steel. Look around for a "Carter Starter". Being an electric instrument, pedal steel can be as silent as you want. Just keep the amp low, or use headphones.
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Title : I have a piano question?
Description : Q. My teacher is making us play chords in this sheet entitled Two-Five Progression by Louis Hall. Theres numbers next to each note and on t...