We will learn to improvise Music, right away.
Even if you are a total beginner.
This could be your very first piano lesson actually.
When having our first lesson I think it's very important to get right into the Music,
playing the piano, trying to express emotions and feelings.
The idea is that by playing Music from the very start we will have a lot of fun.
And fun leads to motivation.
And motivation is the most important thing when learning Music.
From the very beginning we need to build up a strong desire to learn even more Music.
So in this lesson we are going to feel how great it is to play Music.
So how can we just play Music right away when we are totally beginners?
Well we just need to play by a simple and easy rule.
We are only allowed to hit the black keys.
And now you may think: oh, that's just too simple and easy and silly,
we cannot make Music this way...
Well, in this lesson we will learn and realize that we can actually make the most beautiful Music...
with the most simple means...
I will show you how.
Excellent Music does not have to be advanced or complicated…
Actually simple Music is often the best Music.
Ok, let's try to explore all the great stuff we can do with the black keys only.
The main point is that anything goes actually.
That's why playing Music on the black keys is so fantastic.
Let's play a random bass note with the left hand.
What about this one…
then just press down several keys at once with the right hand…
and we have a chord…
You can combine all kinds of notes making chords, anything goes.
So what about this 3 note chord…
or this 5 note chord…
or this chord…
or this...
anything goes…
play around…
have fun…
listen carefully to every chord we play…
and enjoy the sound…
Right now the bass note is fixed, but we can also move the bass around.
Try for a start to keep the same chord in the right hand
and then just change the bass note randomly…
again, anything goes…
fantastic right?
We can also change both the chord and the bass note…
so now we actually play, pretty advanced, chord progressions…
But it's very easy…
play around with the chords…
use your creativity…
and invent all kinds of chord progressions…
this is really fun…
so enjoy your Music.
Now try out different dynamics.
Play something delicate and silent…
Now increase the loudness gradually…
shift between playing something softly…
and something more powerful…
play around, try out how it works when playing different levels of loudness…
again listen carefully to your Music…
try to play and express Music as you want it...
doing this exercise you will, without knowing it,
increase your musical skills enormously, that's for sure…
and the best thing: it's all fun work, right?
Now try to play small embellishments or motifs.
It could be very simple motifs using only two notes…
or three notes like this…
put on some bass notes…
or try to put on some left hand chords…
now try to mix everything we have learned so far:
play chords…
play motifs…
play bass notes...
play chords…
again, everything is possible so don't be afraid doing something wrong…
Just play and enjoy your Music…
Now try to play something in the high register,
how does this sound?
And play something in the middle register…
a new kind of sound, right?
Or play something in the low register...
we got some deep power down here, right?
Or we can play something in the very high register
and in the very low register at the same time…
try out different registers with both hands…
again, anything is possible…
just notice that if we play many notes together
they can become too muddy in the low register…
but if we constantly use our ears while playing
we will quickly realize issues like that…
and notice, maybe it is your intention to make muddy Music,
and that's totally alright, it's your Music, your decisions.
You can put your whole arm to the keys if that's what you want.
Nothing is forbidden, that's my point…
It's just important that you always listen and evaluate your sound…
some stuff you may like and some stuff you may not like…
develop your own approach, your own attitude, your own way of doing things…
Playing around like this, doing this exercise,
you will gradually develop your own style…
and that's what Music is all about...
Notice that I press down the sustain pedal almost all the time.
In this way we can really hear the timbre of the black keys…
If we play in the upper register we can, without problems, just keep the pedal down…
if we play something in the lower register things may become too muddy.
Then we just shortly release the pedal to dampen the sound, like this…
If I play bass notes I often release the pedal shortly
every time I hit a new bass note, like this…
release…
release…
release…
In this way our sound will stay clear and not muddy…
So try to play with the pedal down,
and try to experiment on when to release the pedal...
Ok, very soon we are going to compose our own little masterpiece
by making drawings on a piece of paper.
This will be a rather crazy experiment, and very entertaining,
but I'm sure it will also broaden and expand
our understanding of Music a great deal.
Ok, let's make some drawings on a piece of paper…
The idea is that we will play these drawings on the piano later on.
So we are going to make a storyboard, a little composition.
I think we should name the song "Naturally!"
So what about drawing some birds?
Well, we can draw anything, this is just an example.
I imagine that these birds are singing
very beautifully and peacefully a morning in the early springtime.
And I know, I'm NOT very good at drawing,
but don't worry, we will get back to the Music very soon.
Next we could draw the sunrise.
This is going to be a nice and warm sunny day I'm sure.
So here we also have the sun on a nice clear sky.
Nothing dramatic happens, yet.
But suddenly some thunder clouds are approaching, threatening the peace.
A warning.
Something dramatic is going to happen very soon…
And here comes the thunderstorm.
BANG!
This is the culmination, the peak, the crisis…
and also the turning-point because the thunderstorm goes away…
and then it only rains…
A quiet and meditative moment with raindrops falling from the skies.
Then the weather is clearing up and the sun shines again…
And then we have the sunset…
and finally we hear the beautiful singing from the birds...
So now we have designed a little composition.
Our song has the very traditional A-B-A form.
We start and end with the birds and the sun, the A sections...
and in the middle we have the B-section with all the dramatic stuff.
Now it will all become really exciting and fun.
We will try to perform this storyline on the piano using only the black keys.
This exercise will for sure challenge our musical skills.
For some of us it will be a very natural thing to do.
For others it may be harder.
But I'm sure we will all succeed.
The thing is that I believe that we all have the ability to express Music.
We are all born with Music.
Think about it, when we are newborn our very first cry is Music actually.
This crying of a newborn baby has all the same qualities as Music:
it's immediate, without any restrictions
and it comes directly from the heart
and it can trigger a lot of affects and emotions, right?
The problem is that later on in life we build up a lot of cultural restrictions and barriers
and it seems that we forget how to express Music, how to cry, so to speak.
That's why we must do this exercise.
In this exercise we use a simple technique, black keys only,
so now, finally, we have the chance to pay our fully attention to the most important thing:
to express emotions and feelings.
So the idea is that, very soon, we will discover Music once more.
Well, in our composition we will not do any baby crying.
Instead we will imitate the singing birds.
But the principle is the same, baby or birds.
We must try to express a deep deep feeling that we have inside.
Well let's try to play small motifs, as the birds do…
random…
intertwined…
You may close your eyes…
Try to create the calmness and the pleasantness of the singing birds…
This composition is not about making exact imitations of the birds,
it's more about expressing what we feel when we think about the birds singing.
This is our interpretation of the birds...
Now here comes the sun, let's play some chords in the middle register.
So the chords could be the rising sun.
Maybe we still hear the birds higher up in the register making small motifs…
The sun and the birds sing together like chords and melodies…
Now we have only the sun and the birds are gone…
Now the sun is higher on the sky
so the chords have more strength containing more notes…
Look, we can play huge chords by using both hands…
anything goes...
we can combine any of the black notes to make these huge chords…
But now we hear some distant thundering.
Let's play some bass notes once and a while…
So now we play bass and chords…
The thunderstorm gets closer...
and closer…
Now let's play up and down the keys with the right hand
imitating the storm and the wind…
Some of the thunderclaps we give an extra punch
making double bass notes in octaves…
and maybe we support this with a chord in the right hand also, like this…
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Now the thunderstorm gradually goes away and here comes the rain.
Look, now I choose to make a fixed position for my right hand…
We could call it a chord but I play this chord arpeggio, one note at a time…
Still we have some distant thunder in the bass but it gradually disappears…
Now we have only the rain left…
Listen, we create a kind of meditative rainy mood with this arpeggio chord…
Maybe we will have some small thin raindrops in the very high register,
I just crossover with my left hand to do these drops…
And here comes the sun, the chords…
And we have the sunset and the chords thin out…
and finally we hear the birds singing…
Ok, you are of course very much welcome to try out this specific composition.
But you should also try to make your own drawing, your own composition.
Creating and composing Music like this is really fun.
And the song doesn't have to be about the weather and the birds.
It could be anything:
A walk in the forest, a love story, something sad or something happy.
It's all up to you.
You can also decide to play just a single mood or emotion.
For example we can sit here for hours and just do the rain
and just dwell deep deep into this rain emotion…
This is a great way to locate and discover your inner Music…
By the way, if you feel for it
you are very welcome to donate a small amount at Patreon or PayPal.
In this way I can cut down the hours at my regular job
and in return make more NewJazz lessons.
But important, don't feel obligated to do donate anything.
All my lessons are free and for everybody - money or no money.
Just by watching the videos and maybe give me a like I got all the support I need.
So this is it for now, see you very soon.
The best and warm regards from Oliver Prehn
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