Question:
Piano chords creating rhythm problem.Please be patient in reading. Its a little long?
Jordan
2009-03-09 04:06:00 UTC
I've been playing piano since I was 12 and I'm now 20. I can play songs like Liebestraum, Claire de Lune etc..My problem is that until now I don't know how to play properly using chords but I'm good at playing by piece. I'm just not used to playing by chords and creating own rhythm automatically and that's my problem.

I know the chords but I cant use and give the chords the rhythm to accompany someone who is singing or even myself. I just can't =(
I want to know if there are rhythm patterns for the rhythm or beating of how I play, to automatically fit any song????(I mean, like in guitar. we can easily play a certain song by just using a common strumming pattern.) In piano, are there also default or common way of playing the chords..Are there default or common order of playing the thirds, fifths and bass of a chord while playing with both right and left hands.

I feel so bad because I can only play pieced - songs and classical songs but I can't play songs using chords,( the fact that I know the chord positions of almost all common chords.)

=(( I always wanted to play songs in the "Song HITS"(those with only chords) I just can't make a rhythm pattern or beat pattern. I don't know how to accompany myself when singing in piano. I only want the piano to do the accompanying part only w/o the voice and Ill do the voice part (or singing).. but i don't know how

WHATS THE BEST THING I CAN DO TO LEARN PATTERNS ON HOW I SHOULD MOVE THE BASS,THIRDS AND FIFTHS WITH THE RIGHT HAND AND MAKE A CHORD FLOW IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF TIME SIGNATURES ???????

=((
Eight answers:
Edik
2009-03-09 06:32:31 UTC
I think I understand what you're asking. Let me see if I can rephrase this, to help others help you:



* You already are able to read music, and have been studying/playing classical piano for 8 years. (I only mention that because what you are asking is related to the frequent questions of "playing by ear" which usually meet with the response "go learn to read music" from many on this forum, including myself...)

* You want to be able to sit down with a fake book/lead sheet, where only the melody and chords are given and make each piece ("song" or otherwise) sound like real music rather than just a clump of notes on the piano and a sung melody.

* You seem to have two main concerns in this issue:

(1) "common order of playing the thirds, fifths, and bass of a chord," which is commonly referred to as chord voicing -- you know what notes should be played when the fake book says "Bbmaj7" (Bb,D,F,A), but you don't know what order to play them. Is Bb the lowest note? Should D be on top? Or A? F?

(2) What should you do rhythmically with your hands once you've figured out an appropriate voicing for each chord?



There are many, many ways you can approach question #1. I'm not an expert in jazz piano, by any means. I'd recommend you to two books:

Mark Levine's "The Jazz Piano Book"

Frank Mantooth's "Voicings for Jazz Keyboard"



But even without those books, it's important to know that there is rarely a single "correct" voicing for any chord -- you can make almost anything work. A good starting point might be to keep the root as the lowest note of the chord at all times (there are exceptions, but it's not worth getting into that just yet) and keep the melody note as the highest note in the chord. You don't necessarily have to play every single melody note -- maybe just play the melody note that happens when the chord changes. Let the rest of your fingers find the other notes of the chords (in between the root and melody) with what feels physically comfortable. When I do this kind of playing, I find it's more comfortable for me to play three notes in my left hand and two in my right hand, but that's just me. When you go to the next chord, rather than starting over, you should think about where your fingers already are -- and go to the nearest chord tones.

Example: Bbmaj7 - F7

Let's say you play your Bbmaj7 chord like this (from bottom to top): Bb-F-A-D. Then you can play your F7 chord like this: F-Eb-A-C.

D --> C

A --> A

F --> Eb

Bb -> F



Notice how, other than the lowest note, no chord member moves by anything bigger than a whole step. Nice!



There are many, many other ways to approach this. Google "piano chord voicings" and see what comes up.



As for question #2, this is much harder to describe in words. It's mostly a matter of knowing the style you're playing to know what rhythmic patterns will work the best. Part of the challenge is that, when you're playing from pop music books, you're often trying to cover the roles of drums, bass, guitar, and keyboard all on the piano -- it's impossible!

I'd start by keeping it really, really simple. Just play the chord on every beat while you sing the melody -- think of your piano as being a metronome. As you get comfortable with this approach, you can start highlighting important accents/syncopations in the melody. Or, maybe you want to have your left hand keep a steady metronome beat and let your right hand follow the rhythms of the melody. That's another option.



Anyway, I hope that my answer has helped you, but also I hope that it helps other people (who know way more about this than I do!) be able to understand your question a little more easily.



Good luck!
I. Jones
2009-03-09 09:59:47 UTC
Playing from chord sheets (I hate those things) is a different "skill" set than is required for playing from sheet music. At least with a lead sheet, you've got an idea of how the rhythm of the melody goes and where the chord changes are. On a chord sheet, unless you know the melody, you've got no real indication of where the changes happen.



The basic idea is to come up with a consistent rhythm that you will use throughout the piece and work the changes into where they fall within a measure. I can think of hundreds of pieces of music that have changes on the full or half measure, but I can also think of dozens that have a change on the last 1/16 of a measure and immediately on the first beat of the next or pieces in four that have changes on a pattern like "dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter" Again, a lead sheet would be much more helpful.



With time I think you become better at anticipating where the bass line is going to go and you can flesh out walking patterns that will get you there.
2016-12-20 20:53:12 UTC
1
dickison
2016-10-16 04:04:59 UTC
Piano Rhythmic Patterns
Tertium Quid
2009-03-09 11:27:43 UTC
One thing that helped me is to buy the sheet music of popular songs. If you don't know what I mean, just go to your local music store and ask where they have sheet music for popular music. Then examine the way the left hand plays the chords. Many decent rhythmic patterns, or beat patterns as you say, are given in this sheet music. You can then use these same patterns for many other songs. Practice the exact same pattern using various chords and progressions. The most basic 4/4 pattern is to play with the left hand: tonic ("C" note), chord (for example a "C" chord), then the dominant (in this case a "G" note), then the "C" chord again. Buy sheet music, and piano books of your favorite bands or artists. Also, study carefully the right hand. Ask yourself: how and when are single notes are played, and how and when are chords added in the right hand? As in all things, please start out simply, and then gradually you will develop the muscle memory and feeling to do more complex things. As you may know, popular sheet music is often available in beginner and more advanced versions. Look the music over before you buy it, to determine if the arrangement is too complicated for you. So, my suggestion is to memorize (maybe at first to write out the notes) of various beat/chord patterns of your favorite songs as you find them in sheet music. Pick pieces in a variety of tempos and styles and time-signatures. Some musicians also play along while listening to their mp3 or stereo, so you can play along with your favorite song. This may also help you to start to get the "feel" or groove, and help to ingrain these patterns into your head and hands. Good luck.
2009-03-09 04:44:56 UTC
I'm really trying to understand your question, but I can't. To me, you're asking one of three things:



A. You have trouble sight reading rhythms.

B. You have trouble understanding time signatures.

C. You can't get from chord to chord fast enough.



Would you mind adding some additional details? I'm really sorry.



*side note: I really don't care about this at all, but there are some super picky people on here who will rip you apart on here if you don't know: songs have words, pieces don't :)*
?
2016-03-01 01:37:34 UTC
Suppose if God create the world in one day or one minute or one second or fraction of second the Ur question changes to ' Why did God has taken so short time to create every thing. we really dint know how the creation was done and how it was created, only god knows . So, We are not able to remember the facts what has happen one week back. How can any person remember the bible creation. God created the world by his plan and said it was good. Any was God created the world
Raguel
2016-02-18 02:36:06 UTC
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