Q. I need a quick fix, i play piano and my teacher wants me to compose a few lines of jazz when given a baseline. I'm not a fan of jazz, but my teacher wants me to branch out. I'm so lost on where to even start.
A. Pianojazzman has a POSSIBLE answer, but your teacher wants lines to go with a given bass sequence! What if the bass line is not a blues? If you knew enough about jazz, you could probably make the bass line into a blues, or altered blues, but that is probably not what your teacher wants. The basic idea of this exercise is just about ANYTHING goes!
Without hearing the bass line or knowing what "a few lines" means, we can give no specific answers, but here are some suggestions:
1) Does the bass sequence outline a chord or tonality? (e.g. C-E-G outlining a C-major chord) If so, any notes in the C-scale are fair game. The same with any other tonality: D-dorian movement of the bass signifies the D-dorian scale, and any notes in that modality would work. (Of course, if your teacher is working with something atonal, good luck!)
2) Does the bass sequence form a rhythm pattern. Is it staccato, or legato? Is it disjointed or free-flowing. Is it a "known" rhythm, say a bossa or a boogie?
3) Put 1 & 2 together to form a melody line. Virtually anything goes, but if you match it to the bass line, you have done what your teacher requires.
You could write something as simple as the notes of the scale as quarter notes. If the rhythm pattern is more energetic, eight notes or sixteenths are better. Listen to the bass line several times. If it really doesn't bring anything to mind, just start playing with the ascending scale tones then descending. Make rhythm patterns along the scale, such as eigth-eigth-quarter, dotted eights and quarters, or 4 sixteenth notes and a quarter note (in descending chromatic sequence, this is the Phantom of the Opera theme). Of course, to get a better melody line, you will want to use ascending, descending and mixed intervals. But something should come to your mind after playing around with it and listening to the bass line repeatedly!
At what age would Be appropriate to sign up my son for piano and guitar lessons?
Q. Ok so at what age would be ok, he would be a beginner in both. Should I sign him up to learn how to read music first? Or do they include that in piano and guitar lessons?
A. If you can make music fun for a preschooler, and if you can find a teacher who can make music fun for a preschooler, go for it.
If you keep shouting "listen" and "pay attention," the child will hate it and want to quit.
See if there is someone licensed in Kindermusik in your community.
That's a curriculum which makes music a fun and gregarious activity for preschoolers.
Here are some ideas which I have used with preschoolers:
â manipulating wooden cut-out notes
I start with quarter notes and eighth-note couplets only.
That's plenty enough for a preschool beginner.
â manipulating oversize notes
I start with so and mi.
In Lois Choksy's books, there is a compilation of songs using only these two notes.
That's plenty enough for a preschool beginner.
â melodic dictation
Hum "so mi so so" and ask the child to play it.
With only so and mi, this activity can last longer than you might expect.
If you limit the activity to 4/4 measures using only quarter notes, that gives you 16 possible rhythms.
If you add in eighth note couplets, that brings it up to 256.
Preschoolers sometimes like to reciprocate.
If the child wants to dictate measures to you, I hope you don't mind.
â measure search game
With the score for the song in front of you, play one measure from the song and ask the child to identify.
If the child wants to reverse roles, don't take it personally.
In fact, that's good, because the game lasts twice as long that way.
â rhythmic dictation
"Show me quart quart eighth-eighth quart."
Again, if the child wants to turn the tables, I hope you will be a good sport.
â transposing
Show the child where the two notes are for the two-note songs in all 12 keys.
This may bore the dickens out of an adult, but preschoolers love it.
â card games
Make a card deck consisting of 2 cards for each of the 16 possible 4/4 rhythms using quarter notes and eighth-note couplets. If that's too much to handle, use only a few cards out of the deck.
At first, a preschooler might not understand any card game except the memory game, but after a while, he or she can understand old maid and go fish.
â ostinatos
An ostinato can be very simple.
While you sing or play a bichordal song, such as Mary Had a Little Lamb or Skip to My Lou, the child can repeat the fifth note of the scale.
If the child enjoys it the first time, do it 11 more times in all the other keys.
There have been compositions written for exactly this purpose. Exploring the Piano by Alexander Tcherepnin is a good one.
Anything involving permutations is good.
I once worked with a 3-year-old using a set of bells and a chord organ.
While I played the bells and she played the chord organ, I chanted the child's name on all 12 major chords and all 12 minor chords.
Then she asked me to do the same thing on the words "Mommy" and "Daddy."
Then she asked me to trade instruments and we performed the whole ritual all over again.
If anyone ever tells you that "preschoolers have a 5-minute attention span," remind them that the number 5 can be multiplied.
If you have at least 12 different activities, the child can last for a whole hour.
I know because I've been there and done that.
What is the best Piano teaching software?
Q. Is there one that teaches chord proficiency like Mavis Bacon teaches typing? With the aid of a MIDI controller.
A. I loved the old Miracle Piano system. You got a MIDI-compatible keyboard and software that included games that were fingering exercises.
The company went under, though, and the company who bought up the rights hasn't continued it. When my kids got old enough to start learning, I started looking at the newer programs but I haven't found anything that even came close to Miracle's program. You might find an old version on eBay.
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Title : How to compose jazz on the piano?
Description : Q. I need a quick fix, i play piano and my teacher wants me to compose a few lines of jazz when given a baseline. I'm not a fan of jazz...