/kpg/ - Keys/Piano General

need to pick up piano again, anyone know of a pretty piece to play that's somewhere between the difficulty of Ravel's Pavane and Brahms's Op. 118 No. 2?
the more unabashedly Romantic the better

How does one start getting into playing piano? I've had a cheap electronic piano sitting around the house and it's a shame to let it collect dust. Should I just start tapping away at the board?

>>73310731
pick up a level 1 method book!

>>73310731
try and figure out the melody for a movie or TV show theme
related was the first thing I figured out on a keyboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tll8ioM4rY

>>73310564
How do I do improvisation? I have a couple of years of experience playing piano, but it is mostly "play a learn a piece, then learn another more difficult piece, then another..."

What do I need to be learning? I want to be able to compose and play with pieces with a deeper understanding of what is going on.

>>73310825
Theory and some ear training. Start with intervals, then major/minor scales and triads, then 7th chords and other scales, then key signatures, circle of 4ths, and Roman numeral analysis.

>he hasn't taught himself absolute pitch
explain yourself anon

>>73310825
extracurricular theory study/learning songs by ear/practice improvisation

you need to

1. understand music theory. how chords are built, how harmony works, scales, etc.

2. know the genre you want to improvise. start listening and analyzing the piano lines from songs you like. learn how licks in your genre generally go, where they are used, and what they accomplish in a song. for example: rock n roll piano often follows a 12 barre blues pattern, so most of the improvisation/lead licks will happen during the turnaround, and you have to complete a segue from the 5 chord to the 1 chord - this is often done by doing a descending line of two-note harmonies at a straight-eighth rhythm (classic jerry lee lewis style), usually inversions of the root/5th and root/third for the 5 chord and 4 chord, then ending on the 1 chord. etc etc for different genres

3. start learning songs by ear. improvisation is hearing something in your head and making it come alive on the instrument. to do that you need to learn to express what you hear by playing, which is done by learning songs by ear.

4. practice shadow-improv. ever hear of shadow boxing? this is the musical equivalent. you listen to a song, and without playing just imagine how you would improvise over the song. you can do this on the bus, in the car, walking down the street, whatever.

5. start improvising. keep it simple to begin with and work your way toward more difficult arrangements. you can play a chord pattern on the left and improvise on the right + vice versa, or you can branch chords and melodies across both hands.

6. play with others. playing with others will keep you on your toes and force you to stay fresh.


ALTERNATIVE METHOD:

Skip straight to step 3: learn songs by ear. memorize licks you hear in those songs and learn to play them across all the keys you regularly use. keep adding licks to your repertoire and it will always appear as if you're 'improvising'

>>73310825
just let your heart press the keys bro. do it for a while and your heart will form a strong connection to your hands. and then you will truly im-pro-vise

>>73310731
>>73310564
i've been playing piano for 13 years and i highly recommend the alfred piano library books, once you work through those either get the real book if you want to do jazz or the blue/red library of piano classics books.

>>73311264
also take lessons if you can afford it, they help a lot

you guys recommend any good resource for learning piano? i need a site that show exercises for hand and stuf. i'm learning theory with this site http://www.thejazzresource.com/, because i want to be able to play jazz. also watching lots of piano videos on yt, like aimee nolte, i love her channel.

>>73311323
Transcribe and learn to play the transcriptions. That's the best way to learn to play jazz.

>>73310564
Anyone have tips or suggestions for someone trying to learn blues? I'm working through Tim Richard's Improvising Blues Piano, which I've really enjoyed so far

>>73311475
i want to learn how to improv properly...

>>73311683
read
>>73311153

do people actually use the other two pedals besides the sustain or no

>>73311683
I've been watching a youtube channel called Walk That Bass that explains stuff about jazz improvisation, its been helping me pretty well.

violin player here

i like piano players

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Jazz Improvisation just takes time and a lot of musical theory knowledge, but mostly building chemistry with other Jazz musicians and knowing the same Jazz Language cause any other way it might not work out as you expect.

Learn everything you can from books and listen to a lot of music, learn a lot of Musical Theory, Scales, Chords and Learn to read music, while you're at this, jam out with friends, learn to play with other people, not just by yourself.
That's the best i can really say about learning Jazz.

I recorded a very Jazz Influenced EP with a Trio with some musician friends, you guys can check it out if you please https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut5-yYss-UY&t

Pic unrelated

I've been playing classical guitar for 10 years and picked up the piano for a couple of months now.
What would you guys recommend for someone who is not a complete beginner?

>>73313757
I'm gonna start taking lessons later this year, but I want to learn what I can meanwhile.

>>73312789
who the fuck wants to date a guy who smokes and listens to mac demarco

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professional pianist/teacher here. I'll answer any specific questions people have about improv/theory. General questions like "how do I improvise" seem to have already been answered pretty well.

Here's a recording of me playing over a bossa thing

https://clyp.it/rq12odai

>>73312789
My drummer in my band is insanely loud, how do I convince him to either use brushes or get better at playing softer.

I started playing a couple of weeks ago and i'm learning some songs from Pokemon vidya but i'd like to get more into the theory side of things, any book suggestions for a beginner?

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>>73312216
this is the only piece I've ever needed the middle pedal for (points for identifying, there's more obvious passages I could have picked)

left pedal I use occasionally, its obviously for when you need a super ppp, there's a subtle timbre change as well

>>73316017
rach prelude in c

>>73313958
I've yet to come across a piano teacher/instructor who wants to teach a young adult. All I've come across want to teach children and teenagers. Would you happen to have an idea of why that is???