Tag: piano
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Problems with Digital Piano Reproduction Live
Recently I played a gig where, for space purposes, I plugged my keyboard into a small PA system, along with the vocalist. The venue was very small, and there was no need or room for large speakers, and the volume would be low. This…
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Why Improvisation Matters
If you don’t play jazz, blues, or some other type of music that involves spontaneous playing, you might wonder what purpose there is in learning to improvise. Sure, “jazzheads” can sit around listening to John Coltrane or some other historic figure, but how can…
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Symmetrical Scales – Geometry in Music
In the previous article, we examined seven-note scales, arguably the most “familiar” sounds in tonal music. Since 7 doesn’t divide evenly into 12, these scales can’t be symmetrical, meaning they don’t repeat an interval sequence. (except at the octave, of course) Today,…
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How Many Scales Are There, Really?
One thing my students often ask about is “scales” and which ones to learn. In an effort to clarify this, here are some permutational ways to look at this question. Keep in mind, I’m not really talking about which ones are…
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Music Production Story Time
In The Not-So-Distant Future (la la la) (In this play, Randy will be crustily portraying the role of Grandpa) Kids: “Grandpa, tell us again about the days before Auto-Tune!” Grandpa: “Well, I know it’s hard to imagine, but there were these people called singers who could stand in front of an audience or a microphone…
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10 Reasons Your Composition Gets Stalled
Probably the biggest issue composers face, especially when getting started is the problem of finishing pieces. Somewhere in the process, we get “stalled” and in many cases, we never get started again, leaving unfinished works. In this article, we will look at some of the ways we…
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Triads Over Bass Part II: Add 11
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In our last lesson, We discussed the use of major triads superimposed various intervals above a bass note. Adding tones to these triads can make these voicings even richer. One of many ways to enhance these triads is to add the 11th or perfect 4th to the triads. Not to be confused with sus4 chords,…
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The Myth of Difficulty
When confronting a task, it is common for people to describe it as “difficult,” or “hard.” While superficially valid, these labels do little to move us toward completion. In fact, they may lead us in the wrong direction. Let’s re-examine our concept of “difficulty.”
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Keyboard Harmony: Triads over Bass I
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In a previous video, we discussed learning the various major triads by playing them through the cycles of 4ths and 5ths. In this lesson, we will learn some ways to use these triads to build more complex chords.