Comping 103—Waltz-time broken chords
March 2015; Vol. 7, No. 2
Here’s a riddle: What do you break to fix? Answer: bland blocked chords. Whether improvising teacher accompaniments or helping students dress up ho-hum arrangements, broken chords are a very useful trick to have in your bag. Broken chords sound great with lyrical, long-note melodies that...
Comping 102 — Going further with “boom-chicks”
January 2015; Vol. 7, No. 1
Last time, we explored playing a basic (boom-chick) stride pattern to accompany students when no duet part is provided. Now, we’ll consider two ways to enhance and adapt this useful “stock” accompaniment. 1. Passing note bass Add variety and momentum to the steady boom-chick of...
Steps to teaching improvisation
July 2015; Vol. 7, No. 4
If you are a regular reader of this column, you probably already teach creativity alongside traditional reading skills. However, if you are wondering how to structure this aspect of your lessons, you are not alone. After speaking on this topic, it’s not uncommon for teachers...
Comping 101 – Accompanying Students
November 2014; Vol. 6, No. 6
Accompanying students is an enjoyable way to transfer musicality from veteran to rookie efficiently without so much “teacher talk.” For students, it • tightens up their sense of time; • helps them listen while playing; • enables them to feel more like “real musicians”; •...
Dot spots
September 2014; Vol. 6, No. 5
Add improvised pizzazz to the easy rhythms found in beginner tunes by asking your students to identify “dot spots.” These are places where students can substitute dotted rhythms in place of quarter notes. Instead of this: Students play this: Listen and play It’s not necessary...
Endings
May 2014; Vol. 6, No. 3
by Bradley Sowash Add pizzazz by repeating the last chord concerto-style in a couple of ranges. Flying hands Play the last chord hand-over-hand Liberace-style for a flashy sound that’s also exciting to watch. Then “button it” with a final low tonic note. Scaling away… Try...
Creating by chance
July 2014; Vol. 6, No. 4
Can’t get started making your own music? No excuses! Use the laws of chance to prime your creative pump. In the eighteenth century, Mozart devised a game for composing minuets by assigning pre-written melodic fragments to the numbers on dice. Here’s a similar activity you can...
Introductions
March 2014; Vol. 6, No. 2
A good musical introduction creates anticipation for the listener by suggesting the key and style of a tune about to be played. Ready? Go! The easiest way to set up a tune is to play a V7 intro chord. This works because it takes advantage of...
Stretching a Lead Sheet
January 2014; Vol. 6, No. 1
So, your students can play the melody and chords in a lead sheet…now what? Played at a medium tempo, this classic tune lasts about thirty seconds: How could this be stretched it into a complete performance? For inspiration, we can turn to legendary trumpet man...
Scalin’ the chords
May 2011; Vol. 3, No. 3
When I was about twelve years of age, my parents took me to a restaurant that featured a live jazz trio. I was amazed to see the pianist playing without written music. Unaware of the awkwardness I might cause by interrupting a performing musician, I...
Blues 101: Basics
March 2016; Vol. 8, No. 2
Blues music evolved from its eighteenth-century roots in the work songs and lamentations of enslaved African-Americans to become one of the most identifiable streams in American music. If you grew up in the United States when I did, you heard it on the radio (Jerry...
Blues 102—Variations
May 2016; Vol. 8, No. 3
Having addressed in the last column how to help students compose simple Blues tunes, let’s now consider how to help them add on to their creations. 1. Embellish the melody Whether notated or improvised, ask your students to play their compositions a couple of times...
Blues 103-Improvisation
July 2016; Vol. 8, No. 4
In the last two columns, we looked at the steps involved in composing and varying a basic Blues melody. The next step is to stretch the form even further by adding improvisation. Blues scales You know how it feels good to complain a little now...