In the last lesson, we
crossed the fine line between
they study of theory and playing
by ear into improvisation, and
we are going to start that
improvisation in earnest in this
lesson. Before we do, I
want to reemphasize something.
First, I want to make sure that
you do not find yourself falling
into a trap. That would be
the trap of settling for knowing
how to do something without
knowing how to do it well.
For example, many of you might
be able to name chords by now.
But can you do it fast enough?
If it takes you as much as a few
seconds to name a chord, that is
a good start. However, you
are not naming them fast enough
to apply your knowledge when you
are playing (unless you are
playing very slow).
The same goes for your
exercises in playing by ear.
If you cannot play a melody
without mistakes by ear and
usually pick the right chord
automatically, you still have a lot of
work to do.
So, my
advice is that if you are not
able to practically apply what I
have taught you, keep
practicing. When will you
know when you are there?
When you can apply what you know
without even thinking about it.
Even though I understand the
theory of what I play, I do not
have to think about theory when
I am playing it. It just
happens naturally. Getting
to this level does not happen by
reading these lessons--it
happens by practicing these
techniques every day for a long
time.
So what is piano
improvisation?
Practically
speaking, piano improvisation
happens in either of these two
situations:
A melody and chord chart
is provided and the pianist
can play whatever he/she
wants within that framework.
Either the melody or
chord chart (or both) is
missing and the pianist has
much more freedom. For
example, the pianist might
have the freedom to choose
the chords to accompany the
melody.
In church music, examples
of the first situation
include playing for the
congregation or playing for
a group singing different
parts. It is not
possible to change chords in
those situations because the
vocal parts are creating a
chord structure. The
second situation might occur
when playing solo or when
accompanying a soloist (in
that case, chords can be
changed as long as they work
with the melody).
For the purpose of our
lessons, improvisation does
not have to be spontaneous
(you should know that some
musicians would disagree
with this statement).
There is nothing wrong with
practicing an arrangement
ahead of time so you can
play it exactly the same
time after time. The
rules I will teach will
apply whether you are
creating an arrangement or
just sitting down to play
spontaneously.
Obviously, improvisation
involves much more than
changing chords and/or the
melody. It also
involves technical
embellishment, style, and
mood. The combination
of all these things means
that any simple hymn can be
played in infinite ways.
As you can see from the
examples in the last lesson, there are numerous things you can do just with a simple melody and I, IV, and V chords. As we move into studying improvisation, you will have to learn how to creatively work with the melody and harmony to bring beauty and variety to your music. The
possibilities are endless, but the only way to add them to your tool chest is through experimentation and practice.
Philosophy of
improvisation
Music is a highly
controversial subject in the
church, and I am going to
stay away from the ongoing
fray except to mention that
your philosophy of music
probably impacts the way you
look at improvisation, and
quite possibly, your ability
to improvise.
For example, while
improvisation existed and
was practiced during the
classical era, it has
largely become obsolete in
Western music. For
that reason, many
universities have been slow
to include improvisation as
part of their piano
performance programs.
That is why you hear about
classical concert artists
who embarrass themselves
when they are spontaneously
asked to play "Happy
Birthday."
There is an intense
debate in church circles
regarding whether the zenith
of music occurred during the
classical era (and afterward
declined) or whether music
has continued to evolve from
that point to this day.
Your view on this as well as
your views on modernism,
authoritarianism, democracy,
and morality may impact the
way you view improvisation.
I am not a historian or a
philosopher, but I strongly
encourage you to do some
reading on the history of
music and the related
conflicts between various
factions of society and the
conflicts within the church.
It is a fascinating study.
Goal of improvisation
Is your goal to create
"good" music? Is it to
create music that people
like? There are
musicians in every genre who
believe that the structure
(or compositional form) of
their music is most
important. They
basically believe that if
people do not like their
music, they just do not know
what good music is. I
will go on record saying
that this attitude offends
me.
The goal of church music
is to glorify God.
However, practically
speaking, your music is
played not just to God but
also to people. My
goal when playing for other
people is to communicate and
affect them at a deep level.
If I can do this, the
compositional form of the
music is irrelevant.
So-called proper form
changes from culture to
culture, but the common
denominators of all good
music are communication and
emotion. Learn the
rules of theory but feel
free to chunk any or all of
them if they conflict with
your ability to glorify God
and minister to people.
Don't stifle your music by
trying to make it
compositionally sound when
there is not even a
definitive source that
defines what
"compositionally sound"
really means.
To illustrate what I am
talking about, here is an
example of what I hear from
beginning arrangers.
They start with a song, and
start following a form that
sounds like the classical
theme and variations.
In many cases, the
variations are completely
disjointed and often
inappropriate for the style
of the song. Once, I
heard "Onward Christian
Soldiers" played in a minor
key for one of the
variations. Very
often, I will hear
reflective songs played like
a Rachmaninoff concerto.
So, don't feel the need
to diversify a piece just
for the sake of diversity,
and don't force anything
else into the music that
does not feel right just
because you think that is
what an arrangement should
sound like. Just try
to communicate at a deep
level, and things will fall
into place from there.
How to learn improvisation
faster
Before we begin, I want to give
you a hint for how you are going
to learn faster. It sounds
obvious, but here it is--listen
to good pianists as much
as you can. Just as
importantly, listen to good
pianists play the music you are
interested in learning how to
play. Play their music
around the clock and eventually,
you will start sounding like
them.
There are a few pianists who
have especially influenced who I
am today. I learned a lot
from none other than Dino
Kartsonakis. I am not as
flamboyant as he sometimes gets,
but his laid-back piano-only
stuff is close to brilliant.
There are not many pianists in
Christian music anywhere near
his level. Another great
pianist I have taken lessons
from and listened to is John
Innes. John has played for the
Billy Graham crusades for
decades. He has brilliant
technique and a great knowledge
of chords.
I also
enjoy and would recommend Stan
Whitmire if you like southern
gospel sounds.
Sadly,
there are not too many other
recording pianists in Christian
music that I can really
recommend that you listen to
(there are however some great
pianists who unfortunately have
not recorded anything). We need
to be better as an entire genre
at producing higher quality
music, but I am afraid that the
current great pianists tend to
play jazz rather than Christian
music.
Practice strategy:
Make sure you have CDs from great Christian pianists that you can start listening to. Then start listening!
