Plz give me advice on how to play blue moon.
there is something wrong with my playing. it seems like i play with no feeling when playing this. like a robot. i suck at dynamics. what should i do? does the grand piano on my korg sound bad?
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what are you talking about, you play it nicely. you could easily be doing gigs at society parties, cocktail lounges, receptions and weddings. it's that darn keyboard that sounds clangy and mechanical not your playing. if i were you i would save up for a roland fp4 or fp7 they sound a lot more organic than that keyboard you are playing.
wow, jazz+, that might be the nicest thing i've ever heard you say about someone else's playing ;)
lr, you definitely have a good feel for the piece, great time, nice and relaxed. i agree with your assessment that the dynamic range is lacking. i think of dynamics like having a conversation, when people speak they naturally raise and lower their voice to emphasize their main points and keep the listener interested, they do it without thinking about it.
are you playing the piece from sheet music? didn't see you turning any pages, but if so i'd suggest memorizing it, force yourself to play it without the sheet music, learn it so well that you don't have to think about the notes and can just focus on expression. if you already have it memorized, i would suggest practicing it completely rubato, take as much time as you need with every phrase and really focus on some nice crescendos, decrescendos.
always remember to listen as you play. i find that to be one of the hardest things to do, but it's probably the most important thing a musician learns how to do. when i'm playing i try to listen to my own playing almost as if i'm listening to someone else play, not in a critical way, just listening, enjoying, i start to dig it, and the whole energy changes. it's what kenny werner talks about when he writes about getting over fear-based playing, playing is just playing, it should be fun.
anyway, just a couple cents.
lr, you definitely have a good feel for the piece, great time, nice and relaxed. i agree with your assessment that the dynamic range is lacking. i think of dynamics like having a conversation, when people speak they naturally raise and lower their voice to emphasize their main points and keep the listener interested, they do it without thinking about it.
are you playing the piece from sheet music? didn't see you turning any pages, but if so i'd suggest memorizing it, force yourself to play it without the sheet music, learn it so well that you don't have to think about the notes and can just focus on expression. if you already have it memorized, i would suggest practicing it completely rubato, take as much time as you need with every phrase and really focus on some nice crescendos, decrescendos.
always remember to listen as you play. i find that to be one of the hardest things to do, but it's probably the most important thing a musician learns how to do. when i'm playing i try to listen to my own playing almost as if i'm listening to someone else play, not in a critical way, just listening, enjoying, i start to dig it, and the whole energy changes. it's what kenny werner talks about when he writes about getting over fear-based playing, playing is just playing, it should be fun.
anyway, just a couple cents.
littlerascal--a little experimentation is often all you need. i was playing around with this number after watching your video, and was making it far more bluesy than the arrangement you were following--and i was just naturally adding quick higher register blues phrases here and there, and when doing so a whole world opened up inasfar as just naturally adding dynamics. as jwv76 mentioned, memorize the song, then play around with expression--and listen to youreslf play.
that sheet you have is just one persons interpretation of the song, and when you play it, it sounds that way. as is often the case, the arranger has a few good ideas, but in the end they always tend to need a bit of spice in the end.
one thing i also did occaisionally was instead of going to the relative minor chord ( cm )i'll go to a c13-9, f#13-9, a13-9 or even a eb13-9. how these are voiced is to play the root and the 7th above it with the left hand, and then play with the right hand, the vi major triad over it with the third on top ie for a c13-9 play a c-bb with the left hand an e-a-c#(vi major chord of c, which a major)on top of it. this configuration also works well when substituing the v7 chord--in this case bb7--and it can be substituted with e13-9, g13-9, and c#13-9 ( roots a minor third apart ).
some other personal and very subjective observations: for some reason, the song sounds better in the key of c--
and that little gm7-f#m7-fm7 "blue velvet" sequence in there.....
..ohhhh gag me, please! it sounds more like "look what i can do" than something that really fits the song.
but, if you like it in there..what can i say?
cheers
that sheet you have is just one persons interpretation of the song, and when you play it, it sounds that way. as is often the case, the arranger has a few good ideas, but in the end they always tend to need a bit of spice in the end.
one thing i also did occaisionally was instead of going to the relative minor chord ( cm )i'll go to a c13-9, f#13-9, a13-9 or even a eb13-9. how these are voiced is to play the root and the 7th above it with the left hand, and then play with the right hand, the vi major triad over it with the third on top ie for a c13-9 play a c-bb with the left hand an e-a-c#(vi major chord of c, which a major)on top of it. this configuration also works well when substituing the v7 chord--in this case bb7--and it can be substituted with e13-9, g13-9, and c#13-9 ( roots a minor third apart ).
some other personal and very subjective observations: for some reason, the song sounds better in the key of c--
and that little gm7-f#m7-fm7 "blue velvet" sequence in there.....
..ohhhh gag me, please! it sounds more like "look what i can do" than something that really fits the song.
but, if you like it in there..what can i say?
cheers
sounds mechanical, but that's because you're reading. i suggest learning the tunes by listening instead of reading charts. you know the melody; figure out which chords sound best to you. then, you will have your own style. also, try losing most of the pedaling. i agree with everyone else's evaluation. you sound great!
i was playing from meomry except for the last page. i've been playing for 3 years now only from sheet music. i know my dynamics suck. i never focused on dynamics before i just concentrate on playing the right notes.
jazz+ thanks for the comments. i feel like your being extra nice to me so that i don't feel bad. i can take critisim. is that how you spell that?
agree with most of the prior comments. what i like about the song is the key change in the last verse and the nice ending. add an interesting into and you will have your signature on this one. i too tend to play this one more bluesy and less as a ballad.
are you playing an arrangement or your own arrangement from a lead sheet? can you play other tunes in that same style from a lead sheet or do you need somebodies arrangement? that digital piano looks like a korg and i think the piano sampling sounds awful, it sounds so hard hammered. i hear dynamics in your playing. i think the touch setting is probably on that korg is too light and not giving you enough dynamic range to get into the p range. it sounds too easy too play forte but it doesn't look like you are banging. try setting the touch to heavy and you may find its less clangy, less forte, all the time. i think it's the crappy keyboards fault and your playing is not a problem. can you record another ballad at the same tempo and style but from a lead sheet without somebody else's arrangement?
i bet if we could hear you play that same way on a good steinway grand we wouldn't think it sounded mechanical compared to that digital piano machine you used.
jazz+ i was playing someone else's arrangement. i don't really know how to play from lead sheets only sheet music. thats the only standard i know how to play. i can play a couple of r&b ballads.
you sounded like you were playing "2+2" voicings. you can play almost any tune from a lead sheet once you learn to use that style of chord voicing. system. it's taught in randy halberstadt's book, he calls it 2+2 voicings, and also shown on the website of phil degreg calls them chotral voicings:
"the “chorale” technique is a piano harmonization approach that i teach which helps develop inner moving voice movement and full lush harmonies. it works well with standards, when the melody is not too busy and without many large leaps. you keep the left hand playing either a r-7 or r-3 (or r-10) shape; the right hand thumb picks up the remaining 3rd or 7th, and the melody with the rest of the fingers. this creates a 4-voice “chorale” texture, where the melody operates completely independently of the three lower voices, which move as a unified block, changing with the harmony. you can then add other extensions to the chords on a chord by chord basis."
"the “chorale” technique is a piano harmonization approach that i teach which helps develop inner moving voice movement and full lush harmonies. it works well with standards, when the melody is not too busy and without many large leaps. you keep the left hand playing either a r-7 or r-3 (or r-10) shape; the right hand thumb picks up the remaining 3rd or 7th, and the melody with the rest of the fingers. this creates a 4-voice “chorale” texture, where the melody operates completely independently of the three lower voices, which move as a unified block, changing with the harmony. you can then add other extensions to the chords on a chord by chord basis."
it looks like your sitting too high. i would focus more on dynamics than just getting the notes right.
maybe that will give you some ideas =)
proace, that was nice, but i want to to play like this guy. how does he play those fill ins between chords?
hi lttlerascal your playing is fine. here's my take: you are reading the music and you aren't really feeling it or aware of what it is that you are doing. it's not about dynamics- dynamics aren't really a part of jazz. i think you are yearning to "know" what it is that you are playing. you need to learn how to read from a lead sheet and learn how to voice the chords that you are reading. i think that if you were able to create the perfromance that you played from scratch you would feel better about it. find a jazz teacher that can show you how to voice chords and play from lead sheet. also- listen to reccordings. this will help you develop more inflection. i have my students get a book of transcription and the accompanying recordings and listen to the recordings until you can memorize each tune then try to play the transcription. if you are up to it try to transcribe from recordings. an amazing piece of software is transcribe from seventhstring.com . it is a free download- you will never regret having bought this program. keep plugging away.
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jwv76 what does rubato mean again?
phil degreg writes:
"you keep the left hand playing either a r-7 or r-3 (or r-10) shape; the right hand thumb picks up the remaining 3rd or 7th, and the melody with the rest of the fingers. this creates a 4-voice “chorale” texture, where the melody operates completely independently of the three lower voices, which move as a unified block, changing with the harmony. you can then add other extensions to the chords on a chord by chord basis."
"you keep the left hand playing either a r-7 or r-3 (or r-10) shape; the right hand thumb picks up the remaining 3rd or 7th, and the melody with the rest of the fingers. this creates a 4-voice “chorale” texture, where the melody operates completely independently of the three lower voices, which move as a unified block, changing with the harmony. you can then add other extensions to the chords on a chord by chord basis."
"dynamics aren't really a part of jazz"
haha, that's just plain funny
haha, that's just plain funny
rubato means to play freely in time, as opposed to playing a strict metronomic tempo. good rubato playing still has a "pulse," but it fluctuates somewhat, it can be a very expressive way of playing. perhaps someone else here can suggest some recordings of rubato-style jazz piano? often times when you here a singer with a pianist the pianist will play a rubato introduction to the tune.
for example on the standard "always", i play the fmaj as a rubato arpeggio for a couple of bars to introduce the vocalist, and with "almost like being in love", i start that song on the bridge.
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