Advanced Piano

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Advanced Piano

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ... 5

FLASHCARDS ... 6

THE LEARNING GAME ...6

OTHER KEYBOARDS ... 11

PIANO VARIANTS ...11

The Electrical Piano (Fender Rhodes) ... 11

Harpsichord (Cembalo) ... 12

Spinet ... 12

ORGANS ...13

The Electrical Organ (Hammond B-3) ... 13

Church Organ ... 14

SYNTHESIZERS ...15

The Moog Synthesizer (The First Synthesizers) ... 15

General Synthesizers ... 16 ACCORDION ...17 PERCUSSION KEYBOARDS ...18 Xylophone ... 18 Marimba ... 19 Vibraphone ... 19

MIDI ... 20

BASIC MIDI PRINCIPLES ...20

General MIDI Facts ... 20

Midi for Musical Notation ... 20

Conclusion on Brave New World ... 22

ADVANCED NOTATION ... 23

TIES ...23

DYNAMICS ...25

TRILLS ...26

ODD METERS ...27

Straight and Odd Meters ... 27

5- and 7-part Meters ... 27

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, General Introduction

SCALE C ...37

Common Chords in C ... 37

Chord Tablature for Piano ... 38

The Scales in C ... 39

SCALE C# AND DB ...42

Common Chords in C# and Db ... 42

C# Scales ... 43

The Scales in C# and Db ... 45

SCALE D ...48

Common Chords in D ... 48

D Scales ... 48

The Scales in D ... 50

SCALE EB AND D# ...53

Common Chords in Eb and D# ... 53

Eb Scales ... 54

The Scales in Eb and D# ... 56

SCALE E ...59

Common Chords in E ... 59

E Scales ... 59

The Scales in E ... 61

SCALE F ...64

Common Chords in F... 64

F Scales ... 64

The Scales in F ... 66

SCALE F# AND GB...69

Common Chords in F# and Gb ... 69

F# Scales ... 70

The Scales in F# ... 72

SCALE G ...75

Common Chords in G ... 75

G Scales ... 75

The Scales in G ... 77

SCALE AB AND G# ...80

Common Chords in Ab and G# ... 80

Ab Scales ... 81

The Scales in Ab ... 83

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The Scales in B ... 99

ADVANCED JAZZ SCALES ...102

MODAL SCALES IN ALL KEYS ...102

ARTIFICIAL MODES ...103

BASIC INTERVALS...104

ALTERED INTERVALS ...105

ADVANCED JAZZ CHORDS ...106

REHEARSING THE CHORDS ...106

ROCK AND JAZZ TERMINOLOGY ...106

FUNCTIONAL HARMONY / DIATONIC TRIADS ...107

SEVENTH CHORDS (4 PARTS) ...108

SIXTH CHORDS (4 / 5 PARTS)...109

SUS CHORDS ...109

CHORDS WITH ADDED NOTES ...110

CHORDS WITH BASS NOTE ...110

EXTENDED CHORDS ...111

NINTH CHORDS (5 PARTS) ...111

DOUBLE-ALTERED CHORDS ...112

ELEVENTH CHORDS (6 PARTS) ...112

THIRTEENTH CHORDS (7 PARTS) ...113

STACKED CHORDS ...113

POLYCHORDS ...113

HARMONIZING A TUNE ...114

FUNCTIONAL EXERCISES ...115

TRANSITIVE EXERCISES ...115

NON-FUNCTIONAL HARMONIES / FREE TONALITY ...115

THE HARMONY EXERCISES ...115

FUNCTIONAL EXERCISES ...116 TRANSITIVE EXERCISES ...118

REHEARSAL TIPS...123

1 HOUR A DAY ...123 2 HOURS A DAY ...123 4 HOURS A DAY ...124

PIANO CHARTS (SHEETS) ...124

Empty Piano Sheets? ... 124

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All Aspects of ROCK & JAZZ Volume 5 – Basic Piano

5 of 7 documents ISBN 9788791995002 1st Edition, 1st Issue

Winter 2006 Produced in Denmark

Digital Books™ is a trademark of

NORDISC Music & Text, Ryparken 6, 1. th., Copenhagen 2100 Kbh. Ø www.nordisc-music.com

Text, notes, musical examples, Illustrations, layout and concept © Copyright H.W. Gade 1984-2006

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General Introduction

The Advanced Piano chapter contains an introduction to

Other Keyboards

; electric

piano, harpsichords, organ, synthesizers, accordion and percussion keyboards.

There’s a free set of

Flash Cards

with chord quizzes, a section on

MIDI

and a large

section on

advanced notation

and

odd meters

. The practical highlight of the

Ad-vanced Piano chapter is the complete list of

chords and scales

with the main scales,

fingerings and chords. For the jazz players, there are sections on

advanced jazz scales and chords

. Finally a section on

Harmonizing a tune

, the ultimate test of your

harmonic knowledge.

The last chapter,

Rehearsal Tips

, contains examples of how to plan your daily

re-hearsal.

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Flashcards

Flashcards

Flashcards are memory games used by students in disciplines as mathematics,

lan-guage and music. You have a set of cards covering a certain subject, in our case the

chords. The idea is to learn the chords by heart in order to help playing chords as

second nature.

THE LEARNING GAME

The Chord Quiz Game consists of 24 cards, each representing a chord. The cards are in-cluded in this section. Print out the front (question) and the results page (answer) and glue them together or laminate them, cutting out the 24 cards with a pair of scissors.

In the learning period, always keep the 24 cards in your pocket or bag. When you have a spare moment, e.g. riding in a bus or standing in a queue, produce a card. Look at the front and name the chord, for example “Cm7”. Finally, look at the back of the card to see if you have remem-bered the chord box and the note version correctly. This is important, as it helps automating the chords.

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 Front of Flashcard 1-12 (questions) All Aspects of

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 1

C

© Digital Books™

All Aspects of ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 2

Db7

Chord Quiz 3

Amaj7

Chord Quiz 4

B9

© Digital Books™ All Aspects of

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 5

Bbmaj7

Chord Quiz 6

Emaj7

Chord Quiz 7

F+

Chord Quiz 8

Eb9

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 9

Abm7

Chord Quiz 10

Bbm

Chord Quiz 11

D#m7

Chord Quiz 12

Asus4

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 Back of Flashcard 1-12 (answers)

Chord 4

B9

Chord 3

Amaj7

Chord 2

Db7

Chord 1

C

Chord 8

Eb9

Chord 7

F+

Chord 6

Emaj7

Chord 5

Bbmaj7

Chord 12

Asus4

Chord 11

D#m7

Chord 10

Bbm

Chord 9

Abm7

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 Front of Flashcard 13-24 (questions) All Aspects of

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 13

Fm7

Chord Quiz 14

C+

Chord Quiz 15

Dmaj7

Chord Quiz 16

Fdim

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 17

Gb+

Chord Quiz 18

F#m7

Chord Quiz 19

Edim

Chord Quiz 20

Ebsus4

ROCK & JAZZ

Chord Quiz 21

Bm

Chord Quiz 22

C#dim

Chord Quiz 23

E9

Chord Quiz 24

Abmaj7

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 Back of Flashcard 13-24 (answers)

Chord 16

Fdim

Chord 15

Dmaj7

Chord14

C+

Chord 13

Fm7

Chord 20

Ebsus4

Chord 19

Edim

Chord 18

F#m7

Chord 17

Gb+

Chord 24

Abmaj7

Chord 23

E9

Chord 22

C#dim

Chord 21

Bm

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Other Keyboards

Other Keyboards

A modern keyboard player must at least have a basic knowledge of synthesizers and

MIDI instruments. Knowledge of the organ, which used to be obligatory for pianists,

is still valid, if you play religious music. If you specialise in folk music, you might

need to play simple chords on an accordion. Here is a list of common keyboard

in-struments, with short descriptions of the keyboard and how to play it.

PIANO VARIANTS

The piano comes in many forms, as you already know. The modern acoustic and digital pianos have been described in chapter 1, Buying a Piano and chapter 2. Piano Technique. Now, let’s try to fill in the missing keyboard information :

The Electrical Piano (Fender Rhodes)

Introduction The Rhodes piano was not the first, but it was surely the most popular electric piano before the advent of digital pianos. Until the mid-1980-ies, the Fender Rhodes electrical piano was the most popular alternative to an acoustic piano. The author used to play the 88-version in the middle of the 1970-ies; it took two persons to carry the #¤&%! thing up and down the stage.

Technical Description The Fender Rhodes is a real piano with an action and mechanical keys, but the sound is produced by hitting a metal rod instead of a string. The electric piano used magnetic pickups like the guitar. The sound is metallic and crisp. Some of the Fender Rhodes pianos are equipped with a stereo sound effects system.

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Harpsichord (Cembalo)

Introduction A harpsichord or cembalo is an instrument developed from zither-like stringed instruments in the middle ages. It is associated with the Bach family and the 17th century, but modern soul music frequently uses the sound of a harpsichord.

Historical Harpsichord (18th century)

Technical Description The action of a harpsichord is based on a plectrum plucking the strings (similar to a guitar). The sound is crisp and as the harpsichord hammer does not re-bounds from the string after the stroke.

Note Most modern keyboard players use a harpsichord sound font played on a digital pi-ano, as a real harpsichord is very expensive – and fragile when it is moved.

Range 4-5 octaves. Often equipped with 2-3 keyboards on top of each other, sometimes with transposition functions.

Playing Method Played like a normal piano, except for the missing forte-piano (forceful – weak). Feels a little rubbery, when you strike the key. On real harpsichords, you have to play very distinct and not strike the keys as hard as on the piano. You are playing a guitar in dis-guise!

Spinet

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ORGANS

The Electrical Organ (Hammond B-3)

Introduction The most famous organ based rock song is beyond doubt “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum. But the electric organ was invented over 40 years earlier, and was used by jazz geniuses like Jimmy Smith and Fast Waller in the 1930’ies. The king of electric organs is the Hammond B3 (in the UK C3). The classic B3 model has been the standard electric organ since 1955 and is still cult.

A Modern Hammond B3 Organ

Technical Description An electrical organ does not have pipes like a church organ. The sound is produced by a rotating tone wheel and a magnetic pickup. The famous rotating Leslie speaker and its valve-based amplifier is responsible for the final, unmistakeable Hammond B3 sound. The sounds are controlled by electronic drawbars similar to the mechanical church organ drawbars. The organ is very heavy to carry, so don’t play on the second floor without an eleva-tor.

Range Two keyboards with five octaves each. The bass pedal board has a range of 25-30 keys. Playing Method Playing an organ is very different than playing any pianos or synthesizers. First of all, there are no “hanging” notes as in a piano, where the notes overlap. On an organ, you play the key and play the next note; there are no overlap of tones, which makes slow arpeg-gios difficult to play without a chorus or echo effects. The generous piano pedal that saves the life of the untrained piano player is alarmingly missing, on an organ, so you will have to play the right notes all the time. By adjusting the sound drawbars, the two keyboards and the volume pedal, the organ player creates new exciting sounds and dramatic dynamic effects.

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Church Organ

Introduction The church organ was invented in ancient Rome. It is the oldest keyboard in-strument in the world. Rock and jazz musicians normally use an electric / digital organ. The av-erage study time to become a church organist is about 6-8 years, so a church organ is defini-tively outside the scope of this book.

Technical Description The organ sound is driven by wind in the organ pipes.

Range Two or three keyboards of 4-5 octaves each plus a bass pedal board with 32 notes. Playing Method The church organ keys are not touch-sensitive, so they function like on/off buttons without dynamics from the keyboards; the drawbars create the dynamic effects as with the Hammond B3 organ. Both the 1-3 keyboards and the pedals are very physically demanding to master.

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SYNTHESIZERS

The Moog Synthesizer (The First Synthesizers)

Introduction In the early decades of the last century, the first synthesizers were invented. The word synthesize means producing an artificial sound (or chemical substance etc.). The first successful synthesizer was the Theremin, which was used on a number of records in the 1960-ies, for example by Led Zeppelin. Robert Moog was originally a producer of theremins, but in 1964, Moog invented the first subtractive synthesizer controlled by a keyboard. The synthesizer was part of a module system, but in 1971, the Minimoog was introduced and immediately be-came a worldwide success. The Minimoog was a monophonic instrument (only on note at a time). The success of the Minimoog paved the way for all other synthesizer types.

The Famous Minimoog (Psychedelic Colours by the Author)

Technical Description The Minimoog is very easy to use and stays in tune most of the time. It was – and is – very expensive. The old synthesizer sounds are very hot at the moment (2006). Range 4 octaves.

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General Synthesizers

Introduction Modern synthesizers use a combination of analogue, electronic sounds, and computer controlled sound samples and editors. A keyboard with a number of advanced dis-plays makes it possible to select and edit sound. The synthesizer has become an electronic in-strument, a recording device and a network controller. We have come a far way from the mod-est beginning in 1971 with the Minimoog.

Modern Synthesizer from Alexis (on Top, the Author’s Psychedelic Keyboard Version)

Technical Description Both analogue and digitally sampled sounds must be optimised to a better resolution, similar to the improved photographs from the mobile phones. The synthesizer performs this mainly by reshaping the amplitude envelope. The user can edit the following pa-rameters and many other papa-rameters of the samples and input/output, including MIDI:

Attack Time Raising from 0 to 100% of the desired sound level. Decay time Falling from 100% to 0% of the desired sound level. Sustain level How long does a sound last when a key is pressed.

Release time How long does it take from the key is released till the sustain level reaches 0%. Range 4-5 octaves.

Playing Method The keyboard is often equipped with touch sensitive keys. Further Reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesizer

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ACCORDION

Technical Description The accordion is a member of the large reed instrument family in-vented in the 19th century. It consists of a treble keyboard or set of buttons and a bass section, normally consisting of buttons. The player compresses and expands the bellows to blow air over the reeds to produce the music.

1. Keys 2. Buttons

The keys and buttons of the various accordion types are extremely complicated. About half of the accordions are equipped with keys for the treble notes, but the other half has buttons for both the treble and bass notes. The place and function of the buttons depend on design, national traditions and the trends. The guitar or acoustic piano seem like toy instruments compared to the accordions. The following is only a few examples of buttons and principles; the rest is hard work and belongs to another instrumental universe than the piano.

Range Varies considerably. Many competing systems, some with buttons to transpose the key. Playing Method Depending on the design, the melody is played on piano keys or on buttons. Here is an example of treble buttons:

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The bass buttons can be one or a combination of three main types:

1. Bass Buttons each with groups of 2-3 notes, for example a major or minor chord or a tradi-tional bass.

2. The Stradella bass system is a complicated system of several rows of bass buttons.

3. The so-called Free Bass system makes it possible to use the accordion in classical music, as the main types 1 and 2 are severely restricted due to the fixed bass chords and patterns. With the free bass type, the musician can almost play normal piano scores.

PERCUSSION KEYBOARDS

Xylophone

Introduction The xylophone is a very popular children’s instrument, but it is also an instru-ment for professional musicians. The original instruinstru-ment comes from Africa. Stone and metal xylophones are common too in Africa.

Technical Description The xylophone is made of chromatic wooden bars. Range 3 to 5 octaves. The instrument sounds one octave higher than written.

Playing Method The xylophone is stroke with two or more mallets. By combining 2 x 2 mal-lets, the xylophone can be used for simple chords.

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Marimba

Introduction The marimba is the xylophone’s big brother, sounding an octave lower that the xylophone.

Technical Description The marimba is equipped with a set of resonators metal tubes un-der the wooden bars. Each tube has a length consistent with the frequency produced by the in-dividual bar.

Range 3-4 octaves.

Playing Method The marimba is stroke with two or more soft mallets. By combining up to four mallets, the marimba can be used for simple chords. The gripping technique for the mallets is difficult and can take years to learn.

Vibraphone

Introduction The Vibraphone was invented in the USA 1921, and it is by far the most ad-vanced of the xylophone family. It is usually made of metal. It has been the most popular of the three “xylophones” among jazz musicians with Lionel Hamilton as the legendary star.

Technical Description Each metal bar has its own resonator like the marimba, but the vi-braphone is furthermore equipped with electro motors, that can be switched on to produce a powerful tremolo effect. The vibraphone has a sustain pedal like a piano.

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, MIDI

MIDI

One year after the first edition of our All Aspects of ROCK & JAZZ series in 1985, a

technical revolution took place in the production of music – MIDI. For over 20 years

now, MIDI has been turning many a traditional production method upside down,

es-pecially in the record studio and in the costly pre-production phases of musical

scores, including musical notation software. Finally, the new methods have been

tested, certified and accepted as the new standard of music productions. We have

come far.

BASIC MIDI PRINCIPLES

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry-standard protocol for connecting digital instruments and computers in real time. It was – and is – an extremely successful attempt to integrate all electrical instruments, from synthesisers to digital accordions and guitars. MIDI enables the instruments to exchange notes and melodies. And to store the finished melodies on a hard disk or in a file for later editing and manipulation of the music.

General MIDI Facts

All modern keyboard instruments from digital pianos to acoustic baby grands are equipped with MIDI connections and software. The MIDI standard allows the instruments to exchange data and control/share the MIDI contents. All computers today include MIDI connections and/or sound cards with a separate MIDI interface. Recently, USB and FireWire connections have been added to the MIDI connector collection.

The MIDI system itself, however, is neutral and has no built-in sounds. The MIDI data is not audio files but control events for the synthesizers and computers producing the final sound. The control events can be tempo, note, pitch, duration and controls for volume, intensity, change of instrument and many other musical parameters.

The formats are the official .MID files, the unauthorised .KAR format for Karaoke and the lat-est file format XMF for inclusion of instrument data and Microsoft, who of course, have their own format, .RMI.

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, MIDI

Recording notes live In the early days of MIDI, we all believed that the days of tedious note writing were over. We were perfectly right; the notes came floating from the MIDI cables, through the software and onto the screen. Sadly, we did not take human errors and butterfingers into account. The screen was cluttered with 16th and 32nd notes and pauses. It sounded great, but the notes were downright illegible. Nonetheless, you often receive “live notes” when you ask for a score these days (not in Jazz, they miraculously know how to write notes in hand or on the computer).

Plus: Sounds right, the way the player has interpreted the music. Minus: It’s unreadable.

Typing the notes in a music notation program Today most serious composer and ar-rangers use notation software. It takes some time to produce legible notes and an uncluttered print. But the time you would spend correcting live notes could easily take 2-3 hours more per score.

Plus: Readable, professional scores. Minus: Sounds stiff and often doesn’t work well as back-ground music in the recording studio, as the score is rhythmically dull.

The verdict: Use software for professional scores and live notes for MIDI music to be used live or on records. Live notes sounds human, and human eyes love software scores. Right?

Conclusion on Brave New World

I believe that the musicians and composers of future generations will have access to written music in a much easier way than the generations of the previous 500 years. The enormous workload of writing down and editing notes by hand has been responsible for delays or even the untimely death of many major works by the composers and arrangers of the old days (before 1986).

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Advanced Notation

Advanced Notation

In this section, we have collected a number of advanced musical issues. You will

eventually meet all of them in real life, so take a quick look at them even if you don’t

want to study them closely for now.

The “issues” are use of

ties

, accents, dynamic signs and, trills, which are relative

easy plus

odd meters

and

polyrhythms

, which are downright nasty.

TIES

The tie is one of the most ambiguous note symbols altogether. As you can see from the follow-ing pages, a tie can mean almost anythfollow-ing. In many cases a tie can be interpreted in more than one way. And just to make things easier to understand; even ties below the tie are common, each tie with a different meaning!

Cross Ties A cross tie connects small note values into larger ones or ties two notes across a bar-line.

1. Connects two or more notes.

2. Connects two notes across a barr-line.

Vocal Slurs Vocal notation often uses a special kind of ties called slurs.

1. In case of changes in the number of syllables in a song, the composer adds 2 or more notes con-nected with a slur, to allow for easier reading of the verses without paging to the next verse in the middle of a song.

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Polyrhythmic "Ties" Polyrhythmic figures (see Rhythm) were previously write written with ties, but in modern notation (after the 60'ies), square bracket ties are used instead.

Accents A single note can be accentuated (see Rhythm) in several different ways. The following signs are standard signs:

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DYNAMICS

Opposite to rock and jazz music, classical scores employ a number of so-called "dynamic" signs. These sign indicates when to play the music powerfully or softly and whether the volume/power (the dynamic) is raising or falling. As rock music seldom has dynamics laid out in forehand, these signs are never seen in a rock score. The same applies to jazz, although the dynamic signs are some-times seen in big band scores.

Degree Symbol Name Function

Weak PPP Piano pianissimo Very, very weak

PP Pianissimo Very weak

P Piano Weak

MP Mezzo-piano Moderately weak

Decrease Decres. Dim. > Decrescendo Diminuendo Decreasing strength Increase Cres. <

Crescendo Increasing strength

Powerful MF Mezzo-forte Moderately powerful

F Forte Powerful

FF Fortissimo Very powerful

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TRILLS

In the period of Bach and before, trills and other musical ornamentation were an important mean of expression. This can hardly be said today, as timbre (the instrumental sound) and the technical de-velopment of instrument building in common have relieved the listeners of the poor sounds so typi-cal of the early "classitypi-cal" periods. A dull, dry sound can be compensated for, by fast groups of or-namental notes (arpeggio, tremolo, "harpsichord style" etc.), trills. The good sound we (some of us) have today render trills superfluous, but as they are still being employed in the special effects de-partment, a few samples follow:

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ODD METERS

Hard rock and Rock’n’roll players probably won’t read this section, as 4/4 is their King. For jazz musicians, odd meters are important, as odd meters (also called “compound meters”) are used a lot in modern jazz and in sophisticated funk. But odd meters do occur in “simple” rock, too: The Beatles and even Little Richard use odd meters like 7/4 (All You Need is Love), 5/4 (Good Morn-ing) and 6/4 (Good Golly Miss Molly) in their music, so odd meters are not that uncommon.

Straight and Odd Meters

Straight Meters

4/4, 3/4, 2/2, 6/8 and 12/8 are the normal meters in Western music of today. Odd Meters in General

Contrary to the even or triple number of beats in the straight meters, odd meters have odd num-bers of beats, 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13 etc. Meters with long numerators have an ambiguous accen-tuation (15/8 and above) and partly belong to the compound forms.

Each odd meter has different accentuations and types. As there are very few books written on the subject from a jazz or rock musician’s point of view, a lot of the terms will be new even to musicians with a degree from a conservatory.

5- and 7-part Meters

5-Part Meters

Note Value Meter Accentuation Name

5 4 Waltz 1 Waltz 2 Syncope 1 Syncope 2 Straight Semibreve 5 Fast waltz 1

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7-Part Meters

Note Value Meter Accentuation Name

7 4 Syncope 1 Syncope 2 Semibreve syncope 1 Semibreve syncope 1 Straight 1 Straight 2 Semibreve 1 Semibreve 2 7 8 Straight 1 Straight 2

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Basic types of compound meters

Type Accentuation

Type 1 The longest group first

Type 2 The shortest group first

Other subdivisions of compound meters

Type Accentuation

Waltz Uneven group dominates

Syncope Uneven group in double waltz (“6/8”)

Straight Even accentuation of all beats in the even

group(s). In 7-part meters and above the groups are automatically split in 4 + 3 or 3 +4 etc.

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Long Odd Meters

9-Part Meters

Note Value Meter Accentuation

9 4 Accentuated as: Type 1 = 5/4 + 4/4 Type 2 = 4/4 + 5/4 9 8 or 16

Type 1 or type 2 similar to 9/4 above

10-Part Meters

10 4 Accentuated as: Type 1 = 6/4 + 4/4 Type 2 = 4/4 + 6/4 Double 5-part = 5/4 + 5/4 10 8 or 16

Type 1, type 2 or double 5, similar to

10/4 above

11-Part Meters

11 8

Accentuated as:

Slow blues = 9/8 + 2/8 (curiously

common “odd” slow blues)

Straight = 8/8 + 3/8 (rather common in

jazz-rock and fusion styles) 11

16

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13-Part Meters

13 8

Accentuated as:

Slow blues = 9/8 + 4/8 (mind-boggling slow blues)

Straight = 8/8 + 5/8 (If you can’t walk straight, this is straight!)) 13

16

Similar to 13/8 above

14-, 17-Part Meters and Above

Compound numerator groups above 12 are not common in rock and jazz (they are, however, not unusual in modern "classical" music). They can be divided into 2 groups, according to their accentuation:

Name Accentuation

“Boogie” Uneven group(s) dominate

"Straight" Even group(s) dominate

Even and Uneven Meters Played as Compound Meters

Even and uneven meters as 15/8, 12/8, 4/4, etc. can be subdivided into a number of compound meters:

Example: 12/8 played as 5/8 + 7/8

The meter should be indicated in the notation, as follows: 1. Artificial compound meters (multiple meters)

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POLYRHYTHMS

Moving from odd meters into the strange world of Polyrhythms is like moving from simple math into full-blown integral calculus. There’s a long way to go, brothers and sisters. When taking the first step – literally – your hands and feet start moving in strange, irrational patterns, independent of each other. The listener feels the groove of another rhythmic world, but is not conscious of the com-plex quantum movements in the music and the flow of the rhythms. But you are!

Rhythmical Grouping

The forming of rhythmical groups is a purely psychological phenomenon. All the elements, pulse, meter, rhythm, metrical form, accent and stress, are perceived by the ear as individual elements, but the brain interprets the elements as groups. Only the elements clearly differing from an otherwise coherent context will be perceived as accents.

A melody, where all elements move tightly without fluctuations, is perceived as a neutral pulse, not as rhythm. The more complex and diffuse the rhythm, meter and pulse are, the music be-comes flat and without distinct structure.

Accents in Rhythmical Subgroups (2-3 Bars together)

Type Accent

Metrical form The longest note ("agogic accent") Stress (only in larger subgroups) Dynamic changes (strong/weak beats)

Tonality Leading note

Higher pitch

Ornamentation and trills

Harmony Final cadence

Cadence ostinato

Instruments Instrumentation (Elaborate or simple)

Influence from other subgroups

Timbre Full sound/thin sound

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Basic Polyrhythms

Polyrhythms are two or more different rhythms, played simultaneously. We distinguish between polyrhythms in one meter and true polyrhythms.

Polyrhythms in One Meter

A polyrhythmic figure in one meter is a figure, breaking the basic pulse of the meter. For exam-ple by playing 3 equally long beats in a 4/4-bar, consequently 3 against 4. The desired number of beats is played, exactly fitting the length of the total span of the piece (for example half a bar). All numbers are theoretically possible as polyrhythmic values, but in practice only 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are used. Numbers equal to or higher than 7 are difficult to play, trying to fit the many notes into an often "hostile" basic rhythm (7 against 4 or 7 against 5, etc.).

They most common polyrhythmic figures in 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 5/4 and 7/4 are:

Name Number 4/4 3/4 2/4 5/4 7/4 Duplet - 2 - Triplet - 3 - Quartuplet - 4 - Quintuplet - 5 - Sextuplet - 6 - Septuplet - 7 - Octoplet - 8 - Noveplet - 9 - Deciplet - 10 -

The number of beats in a polyrhythmic figure may not exceed or equal the number of beats with half the length of the basic value, the polyrhythmic figure spans.

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(Polyrhythmic figures in one meter) Example

Clearly, the small values can be difficult to play, but in certain forms of modern music even the tiniest figures of 5, 7 and 10 are common.

Double Polyrhythmic Subdivision

A particularly sophisticated way of using a polyrhythmic figure in one meter is to create two or more polyrhythmic figures inside another polyrhythmic "frame" relating itself to the basic pulse. Tricky!

This kind of polyrhythms can be amazingly difficult to play, but they can be learned through hard training. And you heavily expand your rhythmical sense and the ability to play and listen in poly-dimensions by working with such extreme polyrhythms.

True Polyrhythms

Two or more different meters played simultaneously are the ultimate consequence of poly-rhythms. This method was rather common in the mid 70'ies, by advanced jazz-rock musicians as for example John McLaughlin or the group Weather Report. But you run a certain risk play-ing two or more meters at a time – you risk loosplay-ing the common pulse! If you choose closely re-lated meters – 3/4 and 6/8, for example – the bars will fit nicely together. But if you play 7/8 against 5/4 you have to be alert! In this case the largest common rhythm value are uses to "glue" the bars to produce at least some kind of pulse.

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Two or more different meters are played simultaneously by using the largest common rhythm value as the common pulse in the music

The meter with the smallest numerator decides the common pulse (in the above example, 1/8 beats for all three meters)

See also the Music Theory book of the All Aspect Series, chapter Rhythm, section Artificial Rhythms to check out even more complex rhythm patterns!

DRUM NOTATION

All band musicians ought to be able to read drum notation. This especially applies to bass play-ers, guitarists and piano players. There are some disagreements over how the drums should be written down. Drum notes used to be written in the bass clef, but in the later years, the com-puter programs for note writing have led to more frequent use of the Rhythm Clef. I must admit that I now find the Rhythm Clef easier to read once I got used to the funny symbols for the hi-hat and the cymbals!

Notation of the Drums and Cymbals

The drum clef is different to normal note writing, as it doesn’t have pitch indications. As the drums don’t have “scale pitches”, there is no need for pitch values Each part of the drum kit has its own line inside or outside the system, as follows:

Bass drum Snare drum Hi tom Middle tom Low tom Crash or ride cymbal Hi hat Note duration and symbols, are the same as in traditional traditional note writing

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts

Chord and Scale Charts

Here are the rest of the scales and piano chord boxes. The five scale types from the

Piano Technique chapter are used in all the keys. If you have become interested in

weird scales, checkout our Music Theory volume 1, which includes a complete list of

modal, chromatic, whole tone and many other scales. Not to mention transitive

har-monies.

Use the “Chord and Scale Charts” chapter as a very, very useful reference, when you

get lost in a Db flat scale with 4 chords in each bar. Most of the chords should be

there.

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SCALE C

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Chord Tablature for Piano

C Cm

Cm7 C7

C9 Cmaj7

C+ Csus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in C C Major Scale C D E F G A B C Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 C Parallel Minor Scale

A B C D E F G A

Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts C Dorian Scale C D Eb F G A Bb C Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 C Mixolydian Scale C D E F G A Bb C Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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C Blues Scale

C Eb F G Bb C

Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3

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SCALE C# AND DB

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C# Scales

Major Minor Dorian Mixolydian

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C# C#m

C#m7 C#7

C#9 C#maj7

C#+ C#sus4

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The Scales in C# and Db

C# Major Scale

C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#

Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 C# Parallel Minor Scale

A# B# C# D# E F# G# A#

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts C# Dorian Scale C# D# E F# G# A# B C# Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 C# Mixolydian Scale C# D# E# F# G# A# B C# Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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C# Blues Scale

C# E F# G# A# B C#

Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 1

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SCALE D

Common Chords in D

D Scales

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D Dm

Dm7 D7

D9 Dmaj7

D+ Dsus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in D D Major Scale D E F# G A B C# D Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 D Parallel Minor Scale

B C# D E F# G A B

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts D Dorian Scale D E F G A B C D Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 D Mixolydian Scale D E F# G A B C D Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2

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D Blues Scale

D F G A C D

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SCALE Eb AND D#

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Eb Scales

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Eb Ebm

Ebm7 Eb7

Eb9 Ebmaj7

Eb+ Ebsus4

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The Scales in Eb and D#

Eb Major Scale

Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb

Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 Eb Parallel Minor Scale

C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts Eb Dorian Scale Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db Eb Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 Eb Mixolydian Scale Eb F G Ab Bb C Db Eb Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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Eb Blues Scale

Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb

Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3

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SCALE E

Common Chords in E

E Scales

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E Em

Em7 E7

E9 Emaj7

E+ Esus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in E E Major Scale E F# G# A B C# D# E Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

E Parallel Minor Scale

C# D# E F# G# A B C#

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts E Dorian Scale E F# G A B C# D E Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 E Mixolydian Scale E F# G# A B C# D E Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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E Blues Scale

E G A B D E

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SCALE F

Common Chords in F

F Scales

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F Fm

Fm7 F7

F9 Fmaj7

F+ Fsus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in F F Major Scale F G A Bb C D E F Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2

F Parallel Minor Scale

D E F G A Bb C D

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts F Dorian Scale F G Ab Bb C D E F Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 F Mixolydian Scale F G A B C D Eb F Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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F Blues Scale

F Ab Bb C Eb F

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SCALE F# AND Gb

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F# Scales

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F# F#m

F#m7 F#7

F#9 F#maj7

F#+ F#sus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in F# F# Major Scale F# G# A# B C# D# E# F# Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

F# Parallel Minor Scale

D#m E# F# G# A# B C# D#

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts F# Dorian Scale F# G# A B C# D# E F# Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 F# Mixolydian Scale F# G# A# B C# D# E F# Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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F# Blues Scale

F# A B C# E F#

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SCALE G

Common Chords in G

G Scales

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G Gm

Gm7 G7

G9 Gmaj7

G+ Gsus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in G G Major Scale G A B C D E F# G Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

G Parallel Minor Scale

G A Bb C D Eb F G

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts G Dorian Scale G A Bb C D E F G Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 G Mixolydian Scale G A B C D E F G Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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G Blues Scale

G Bb C D F G

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SCALE Ab AND G#

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Ab Scales

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Ab Abm

Abm7 Ab7

Ab9 Abmaj7

Ab+ Absus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in Ab Ab Major Scale Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

Ab Parallel Minor Scale

F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts Ab Dorian Scale Ab Bb B Db Eb F G Ab Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2 Ab Mixolydian Scale Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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Ab Blues Scale

Ab B Db Eb Gb Ab

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SCALE A

Common Chords in A

A Scales

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A Am

Am7 A7

A9 Amaj7

A+ Asus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in A A Major Scale A B C# D E F# G# A Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

A Parallel Minor Scale

F# G# A B C# D E F#

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts A Dorian Scale A B C D E F# G A Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 A Mixolydian Scale A B C# D E F# G A Right Hand 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Left Hand 5 4 3 2 5 4 3 2

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A Blues Scale

A C D E G A

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SCALE Bb AND A#

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Bb Scales

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Bb Bbm

Bbm7 Bb7

Bb9 Bbmaj7

Bb+ Bbsus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in Bb Bb Major Scale Bb C Db Eb F G A Bb Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

Bb Parallel Minor Scale

G A Bb C D Eb F G

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts Bb Dorian Scale Bb C Db Eb F G Ab Bb Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 Bb Mixolydian Scale Bb C D Eb F G Ab Bb Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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Bb Blues Scale

Bb Db Eb F Ab Bb

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SCALE B

Common Chords in B

B Scales

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B Bm

Bm7 B7

B9 Bmaj7

B+ Bsus4

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts The Scales in B B Major Scale B C# D# E F# G# A# B Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

B Parallel Minor Scale

G# A# B C# D# E F# G#

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Chord and Scale Charts B Dorian Scale B C# D E F# G# A B Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 B Mixolydian Scale B C# D# E F# G# A B Right Hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 Left Hand 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 1

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B Blues Scale

B D E F# A B

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Advanced Jazz Scales

Advanced Jazz Scales

In the chapter Basic Music Theory in this book and our complete music theory

vol-ume All Aspects of ROCK & JAZZ/1 Music Theory, you can find the theoretical basis

of scales. In this section, we will work with the advanced scales used in Jazz music.

NOTE To fully understand this section, you must have studied music theory for a year or more, especially modal scales and diminished scales.

MODAL SCALES IN ALL KEYS

The modes consist of a Base Key (major) and the 7 modes placed on the scale steps. The fol-lowing table shows how to find the modes in all the 12 major keys.

Key Ionian Dorian Phrycian Lydian Mixolydian Aolean Locrian

Base MAJOR MODAL MINOR MODAL

C C Dm Em F G Am Bdim Db Db Ebm Fm Gb Ab Bbm Cdim D D Em F#m G A Bm C#dim Eb Eb Fm Gm Ab Bb Cm Ddim E E F#m G#m A B C#m D#dim F F Gm Am Bb C Dm Edim F# F# G#m A#m B C# D#m E#dim G G Am Bm C D Em F#dim Ab Ab Bbm Cm Db Eb Fm Gdim A A Bm C#m D E F#m G#dim Bb Bb Cm Dm Eb F Gm Adim B B C#m D#m E F# G#m A#dim

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Chapter 5, Advanced Piano, Advanced Jazz Scales

ARTIFICIAL MODES

JAZZ

Although not really authentic Modes, the inventive jazz musicians have experimented with artificial “modes” based on for example a Melodic Minor Scale. Here is what the table for these artificial Church Modes looks like. The most common artificial church modes in jazz are marked with lime green.

Key Aolean Locrian

#2

Ionean Dorian Locrian,

Super

Lydian Aug.

Locrian, Super

Base Minor MODAL Major MODAL

Cm Cm Ddim Eb Fm Gdim A Bdim

C#m C#m D#dim E F#m G#dim A# Cdim

Dm Dm Edim F Gm Adim B C#dim

Ebm Ebm Fdim Gb Abm Bbdim B# Ddim

Em Em F#dim G Am Bdim C# D#dim

Fm Fm Gdim Ab Bbm Cdim D Edim

F#m F#m G#dim A Bm C#dim D# E#dim

Gm Gm Adim Bb Cm Ddim E F#dim

G#m G#m A#dim B C#m D#dim E# Gdim

Am Am Bdim C Dm Edim F# G#dim

Bbm Bbm Cdim Db Ebm Fdim G Adim

Advanced Piano

Advanced Piano

Table of Contents

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ... 5

FLASHCARDS ... 6

OTHER KEYBOARDS ... 11

MIDI ... 20

ADVANCED NOTATION ... 23

ADVANCED JAZZ SCALES ...102

ADVANCED JAZZ CHORDS ...106

HARMONIZING A TUNE ...114

REHEARSAL TIPS...123

General Introduction

The Advanced Piano chapter contains an introduction to

; electric

piano, harpsichords, organ, synthesizers, accordion and percussion keyboards.

There’s a free set of

with chord quizzes, a section on

and a large

section on

and

. The practical highlight of the

Ad-vanced Piano chapter is the complete list of

with the main scales,

fingerings and chords. For the jazz players, there are sections on

. Finally a section on

, the ultimate test of your

harmonic knowledge.

The last chapter,

, contains examples of how to plan your daily

re-hearsal.

Flashcards

Flashcards are memory games used by students in disciplines as mathematics,

lan-guage and music. You have a set of cards covering a certain subject, in our case the

chords. The idea is to learn the chords by heart in order to help playing chords as

second nature.

THE LEARNING GAME

Chord Quiz 1

C

Chord Quiz 2

Db7

Chord Quiz 3

Amaj7

Chord Quiz 4

B9

Chord Quiz 5

Bbmaj7

Chord Quiz 6

Emaj7

Chord Quiz 7

F+

Chord Quiz 8

Eb9

Chord Quiz 9

Abm7

Chord Quiz 10

Bbm

Chord Quiz 11

D#m7

Chord Quiz 12

Asus4

Chord 4

Chord 3

Chord 2

Chord 1

Chord 8

Chord 7

Chord 6

Chord 5

Chord 12

Chord 11

Chord 10

Chord 9

Chord Quiz 13

Fm7

Chord Quiz 14

C+

Chord Quiz 15

Dmaj7

Chord Quiz 16