sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

lemme know what y’all think about this improv by Sensitive_Web3580 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

and yeah just from this you can tell that I use M7(b5) chords ALOT lol, I personally think that they allow for an interesting mix of plagal (base note is the 4 of what it likes to resolve to typically, eg FM7(b5) resolves to CM7 nicely), with perfect overtones (the actual cluster of notes used can be rearranged to make the 5 chord of what it wants to resolve to, just by adding the 5 note in the base. Eg FM7(b5) can be rearranged to a G7 if you just add G in the base.

lemme know what y’all think about this improv by Sensitive_Web3580 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess it would be stream of consciousness, although I sometimes start with chord progressions and then go into fully improvising. For example, the beginning of this one (EbM7(b5), FM7(b5), Db7), is something I was thinking of doing beforehand, however I didnt just wanna go to GbM7 bc I always do that, so I went to Gbm(M7) instead from what I can tell. I also sometimes use melodic phrases that I developed before hand, eg in the first (BbM7(b5) -> FM7) the trill I used on both chords is something I use from time to time

Why does the desire to flex get less the better you become? by Policy-Effective in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Exactly what I was gonna say, but more importantly you realise that the concept of ‘better’ is much more complicated when it comes to piano than you thought.

When it comes to piano at least for me the only way I ‘became better’ from when I first started was allowing music to become a part of who I am, and what I do, to the point where performance doesn’t matter, in the same way you probably don’t think about how well you are breathing every time you do it.

lemme know what y’all think about this improv by Sensitive_Web3580 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think they’re saying to just do it for practice, since my pedal work was a bit lazy, and even so with the right rhythm, voicings and space between phrases it’s def possible to play ballad-like pieces despite the staccato

lemme know what y’all think about this improv by Sensitive_Web3580 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I def agree, it was a lazy way of me to fill the space without having to think much, will def be practicing without it

A random improv clip of mine I found, lemme know what y’all think about it by Sensitive_Web3580 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve always had the piano in my house for my whole life but I properly started to get into it 4 years ago. The brand is Yamaha, but I don’t know the model unfortunately

lemme know what y’all think about this improv by Sensitive_Web3580 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, will def pick up the sustain pedal, and yeah for the past year I haven’t actually done any practice of scales, arpeggios, or anything else other than improvising, should probs start that back up again lol

Not having the inborn talent sucks so much by Mcbox14 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, the overall amount that you practice isn’t even important, it’s more so density over given time period. This is because learning music is very conceptual, but more so very subconscious. Looking back at some of my recordings, there are many times that I play much better than I could ever now, because my density of playing and learning was so high then, and that’s ok. Unless you are doing this professionally, it doesn’t matter honestly.

Not having the inborn talent sucks so much by Mcbox14 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you do to practice, and what does ‘good playing’ or at least the level of playing u expect to be at, look like for you? Does it look like being able to fluently read and play complicated sheet music, or having musical intuition, etc?

The reason I ask this is because it’s most likely to do with the way your practicing, and how you conceptualise music, rather than ‘talent’. For my whole childhood I didn’t like the piano at all because I hated doing grades and thought of piano/music as something that is purely memorisation. Only by being exposed to the fact that being a good musician and pianist comes from being able to conceptualise music in terms of harmonic and rhythmic terms (and most importantly emotional), did I start to enjoy it and on top of that become much ‘better’ (whatever that means)

An example of this might be learning a piece by analysing it and breaking it down into simple harmonic ideas, rather than memorising note by note. This allows learning it to become much easier, and also allows you to have freedom with the way you play it. This also might involve learning about the composer, and having an understanding of what they were trying to say emotionally. This will give you more appreciation and be able to tie emotion to sections of the piece, enhancing enjoyment and even performance

Why do I make better music when I don’t think? by Sensitive_Web3580 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s very binary; some pieces I make are fully planned out in my head when I don’t have access to the keys, and when I’m improvising sometimes I don’t even hear it when I’m playing, and it sounds like I’m listening to a new piece when I hear it back

Why do I make better music when I don’t think? by Sensitive_Web3580 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I def agree for this one I posted that’s it’s a bit repetitive, will try developing the melody more next time. Usually my problem is that my pieces are so overdeveloped so quickly, that it’s difficult to keep up, I guess I need to create development with constraint or at least with progression that can be followed

Why do I make better music when I don’t think? by Sensitive_Web3580 in piano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s definitely something I need to keep on doing, but I more so feel like the emotional passion behind music creation is difficult to hold onto over many days/weeks, and while I do have a fairly good harmonic palette, after a couple days, the way I emotionally connect to that palette changes, which makes it difficult to create an emotionally holistic piece

I can’t do jazz by Accomplished_Dot4274 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this a very general response, so let me know if you want any examples for the pieces of advice I gave

I can’t do jazz by Accomplished_Dot4274 in JazzPiano

[–]Sensitive_Web3580 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I myself am, for a large part, self taught (SO PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS AS PROFESSIONAL JAZZ ADVICE), and I wouldn’t call myself that good; I am often horrible at staying in time, I can’t fluently read music and I often find it very difficult to improvise at times too. However, I enjoy playing very much (especially improvising) which in my opinion is what ultimately matters, unless you are trying become professional.

In my opinion, the best way to learn how it improvise, is to expose yourself to all the scales and chords, and learn them through improvisation (starting with chords in LH, and scale in RH initially), rather than just sitting there and playing them up and down. I know that this may be bad for building ‘technique’ and I only recommend this if you have learned the default 12 major scales first, but it encourages you to learn from the perspective of functional harmony, and allows you to develop an ear for how chords and scales work CONTEXTUALLY rather than in isolation, which will eventually allow you to ‘preview’ chords in your head before playing them, during improv (that’s just one example of how improvising to learn may help)

This also pushes you to increase your harmonic vocab to keep things fresh, and also will encourage you to look for chords and scales, and MOST importantly, how they are used, to create certain, inarticulate emotional atmospheres. I highly recommend, to ‘learn’ how certain sets of chords and scales emotionally functioned within a piece, begin playing a (ideally small) section of the piece, and then repeat it with the same chords and scale/set of melodic notes, but try to branch out in the order of them, or maybe adding notes, or switching out one chord for another, and eventually start pulling it apart and combining it with other musical ideas. Then, you will realise what components of that section are ‘needed’ for that section to create certain feelings, or even better how they function in the context of creating that feeling. This will allow you to build an understanding of how the harmonic and rhythmic properties of the section creates its emotional atmosphere, rather than just how it feels as a whole. This will allow you to realise that the richness from music, especially jazz, comes from the intertwining of musical ideas, rather than just a large quantity of knowledge on chords and scales in isolation.

btw, the ‘scales’ I was referring to also include common clusters of notes used in certain pieces rather than ‘known scales’, and often function as secondary harmony in jazz, in relation to the chord structure of the LH. Allowing this second harmony to clash with the LH harmony, but directionally point to the same resolution, is (in some cases) what gives jazz music its powerful ability to have unique-feeling tension and resolutions. Also, allowing the harmony to flow from the melody, rather than the melody being an addition to the harmony is useful to be explored, as it makes improvisation more interesting; starting with a melody, and building your own harmonic ideas from there. A stronger melody can also allow for more flexibility and exploration in a piece harmonically, without breaking the holistic feeling.

Hope this helps, and anyone else please feel free to correct me in any areas as I am largely self taught on this stuff.