Q. I am finding it extremely difficult to do so for even the easiest songs. Do you have to have a sound knowledge of music theory (if so, how much? what grade in AMEB if you live in Australia?). How do you develop relative pitch, or even perfect pitch?
A. Hi.
From personal experience, here is how you do it.
I will use the popular "Happy Birthday" tune (Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you; happy birthday dear <whoever>, happy birthday to you ) for illustration.
For simplicity, we will use the Key of C Major for illustrations.
First and foremost, listen to the bass; the bass plays the root note upon which the chord is built.
Secondly, listen to the melody; as in, what note is the singer singing at that precise point ?
When you combine the two, you have the root note, and another note, which could be the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, major seventh, suspended fourth, etc.
Having got two notes, then, listening to the song as a whole, and having some rough idea of what the chord is (based on the root note) then you can figure out the rest of the notes in the chord.
Back to our song: " Happy Birthday" . At the basic level (without adding any jazz flavours, substitute chords etc, just the basic level) the bass notes (in brackets) would be,
(C)Happy Birthday to (G)youuuuu, Happy (G) biiiirthday to (C) youuuuuu
And the melody notes (in brackets), are
(G)Ha (G)ppy (A)Birth (G)day (C)to (B)you, (G)Ha (G)ppy (A)birth (G)day (D)to (C) you
Now, let's take the "Happy" part. We have the bass note of C and teh melody of G. On the Keyboard, C and G would be the root and fifth of the C major chord, so the other note must be an E. Thus, play the C major chord for the "Ha ppy" part.
Next, the "Birth day " part; you notice that the bass note of C stays sustained even on the "Birth day" part; however, the melody changes to an A. Hmm; What chord would have a C as the root, and an A played on the right hand (if you are playing the piano ) ? What chord has an A in it ? An F chord. Thus, you play, Right hand - F major, Left hand C major, for a brief period. You also realise that the other components of the Fmajor chord, the F and C, go in sync with the A that is the melody --- it sounds right.
Thus, so far, you have a Cmajor, F/C (brief) that resolves immediately to a C. (F/C means, right hand Fmajor chord, left hand C note ). The F/C is brief and resolves back to the C major chord, just in time for the melody, "day" in "Birth-day".
The "to" part is still a C major chord, inverted. Instead of playing C E G, you will play E G C. This is to bring out the melody, C. If you played it as CEG, it would be right but you would lose the melody; that would be significant if you are playing as the lead instrument; if you are simply backing, then it doesn't matter.
At the "You" part, you realise the bass changes to G. What's the melody ? The melody is at B. Hmmm; what chord, has a G and a B in it ? G major, = GBD.
And so on and so forth. With time and practice, you will be in a position to fathom other chords, such as suspendeds, minors dimisheds etc.
If you have more questions, feel free to email me, frankly747@yahoo.com
Good luck and good day.
Can someone give me the chord progression (piano) for the happy birthday song?
Q. I have the basic melody, I just need something to fill in the bottom, THANKS!
A. I have a simple version I play on the harp, but this is for piano or guitar.
C, G, C, F, C, G, C, G, C, F, C, G, C.
I don't know progressions, but those are the chords. (That's actually playing it through twice.)
Should I switch to the Suzuki method or stick with the Traditional way?
Q. I have been playing the piano by sight reading for almost 5 years now but I really want to learn how to play by ear. I heard that the suzuki method teaches how but i'm not sure if it is effective or not. I'm 14 but I believe that suzuki is better for young children? Should i switch to Suzuki or stay with the tradional way?
A. You can stick with the traditional way and still learn to play by ear. Like others have said, if you want to do more complex by-ear learning, you may want to seek training in jazz or other improvisation oriented disciplines as well. From what I understand, Suzuki method essentially exposes the student to the music so that it becomes internalized (the student knows the piece or at least how it sounds) before the student actually sees the sheet music for it.
Even still, you won't miss out if you don't pursue Suzuki, you can learn by ear independently.
I'd recommend starting by trying to figure out simple songs first (happy birthday, twinkle twinkle, Mary Had a Little Lamb, anything else that is very familiar to you).
Then try to find other pieces that have an easy to identify structure (the pattern of the song, is it an ABAB patternn, or AABB pattern? Eight measures each?), perhaps certain kinds of folk music. I would recommend Celtic reels and jigs, but there's so much music out there for you to choose from. Go to your library and borrow a stack of CDs with folk tunes or short pieces (even classical, pop, rock, or anything else you may be interested in) and if you hear a song you really like, sit down and try to figure out at least the chord progression or the melody. Eventually you can play the chords along with the melody if you've got some familiarity with your instrument or a good command of music theory.
This also helps if you want to improvise, as you learn to group your musical ideas within the structure of the piece, and you have a much better sense of the key/chord progressions.
It's only a matter of time before you either start to "hear" your own musical ideas, or can fill in appropriate sounding notes during the span of time that you would normally be playing the melody. A good improvising musician usually uses both skills, but to exercise the first (playing what you "hear" as your own musical ideas), it's very much the same as when you tried figuring out the song's melody.
Once you can do all of this (even if only a little bit at a time or in parts), you then can begin composing your own music! Not a bad perk eh?
Much like conventional practice, it's a matter of trial, error, and refinement of action to match what you want to hear. I'm primarily a violinist/fiddler, but these methods apply to any instrument. Ideally, you will have command of the music theory, an inner creative desire to play the music, as well as the technique and tactile familiarity (the "feel") with your instrument that allows you to express your music the way you want to. This is immensely beneficial in classical music as well, as it can cut down your sight reading times and just make learning and performing pieces a more interesting and engaging process.
Also, if you've got a friend who plays an instrument, consider having jam sessions and try playing or figuring out how to make music with him or her. Play a game where without looking, try to match the pitch or repeat a melody that your friend is playing and vice versa.
Good luck and have fun!
Powered by Yahoo! Answers