Piano Lesson - The Piano is a Drum Set

Too many pianists seem to have forgotten that their instrument is classified as part of the percussion family. They spend so much energy and focus on the minute details, such as which note goes where, that they lose (or never get) the visceral connection with their instrument, the relaxed physicality that drummers have.

Its no mystery why drummers tend to make the best jazz pianists. Listen to the great Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. He was originally a drummer, and you can always hear it in his playing. To be able to spontaneously craft beautiful melodies on the piano while functioning also as a percussionist is just one of the many tightropes you must learn to walk as a musician.

In the following metaphor I have used absolutes to make appoint strongly. Ive minimized the important of individual notes in favor of the larger elements of rhythm and shape. Certainly this is an injustice to a more complex truth. Undeniably, tension and release, occurring as one melody note moves to the next, is a vital and emotional part of music.

However, much of the emotional content in music is to be found in its larger elements: the rhythms and the contours of the line as opposed to the individual notes.

If you want to express your emotions freely, you need to be able to focus your attention on those elements. And you can only do that when the smaller, mechanical tasks have been hard-wired into your hands. For instance, shifting scales as the harmony changes is not a creative act. It is largely a bookkeeping issue that should be delegated to your hands it should become automatic.

In order to thoroughly program your hands to handle the mechanical aspects of playing, you need to spend years focusing on them working out note-choice, fingering, and technique minutiae. And you need to know theory: the task of analyzing a tune for scale-choice (another non-creative act) should feel automatic. But all of this disciplined detail work is a means to an end, and youll progress much more quickly if you have a clear image of that end.

Image an odd-looking keyboard with keys, just two touch-sensitive drumheads where the keys used to be.

The drumheads are digital and there is also a built-in computer that can instantly analyze chord to determine the most appropriate improvising scales. You simply insert a card that has a recording of your style of playing, so the computer can adjust its scale analysis to match your style.

Before you play, you insert the sheet music into the data slot. During your solo you tap rhythms on the right drumhead, shifting your right and left to indicate higher or lower pitch. While your right hand is busy tapping, you comp on the other drumhead with your left hand again, just by tapping the rhythm you want. The computer selects one of your favorite voicings for each chord. Your only concern is the rhythm.

Playing this piano is almost as easy as playing a set of bongo drums. You can express your rhythmic impulses freely through the instrument without the usual complications of being in the right key, making transitions from scale to scale, or searching for the right voicing.

Do you want to buy this piano? Sorry, it hasnt been invented yet!The point of this metaphor is to get you to envision what being a pianist is like after youve learned all your theory, scales, voicings, and other structure thoroughly. Its a way for you to imagine the physical, loose, big-movement, conductor-like, drummer-like way of being at the instrument. Its to help you keep that end vision in mind so that you dont end up boxing yourself in. And its to remind you that the piano is a percussion instrument.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ron Worthy is a Music Educator, Pianist and Songwriter. If you wish to learn more by joining his Private Monthly Online Membership and/or purchase his Piano "Tricks of the Trade" DVD, please go to: http://www.playpianotonight.com

Here Are Some Tips On Piano Lesson - The Piano is a Drum Set

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And thats as it should be. A waltz, for example, basically consists of a heavy beat followed by two lighter beats. And the jazz fan feels just the opposite. But beneath the surface of all music is a commonality that is organic to all forms and styles of music.

Dance Music!

Though there have been various dance crazes throughout the history of popular music, dance music became its own genre in the mid-'70s, as soul mutated into disco and whole clubs were devoted to dancing. What tied them all together was their emphasis on rhythm -- in each dance subgenre, the beat remains all-important foundation. Dance music comes in many different forms, from disco to hip-hop. Whatever the music, if you feel the beat you can dance to it.

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In other cases, I have received calls from customers who had hired a non-reliable piano mover because their price was much lower, and had to book an emergency move with us, because that piano mover did not show up to move their piano or call to explain why they were not there. Do you have any references? The value of a piano can vary from a few hundred dollars to 500,000 dollars depending on the make, model, age and condition of the piano.

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Also, feel free to send me comments, questions, or hate mail at:. Think about it, why would so many of us do it if it weren't a blast? And have you ever noticed the hands of a pianist?

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Music can evenstir up memories that we had otherwise forgotten about. Put on your headphones and, again, makesure that the volume is at the right level. 4- You don't have to listen to music that is designedspecifically as relaxation music. Finda darkened room and light some small candles or burn someincense oil if you find this relaxing. Relaxation music works best when listened to for aminimum of 30 minutes but if you do listen regularly then fiveminutes during your break at work will still have a calmingeffect.

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"Babe of Bethlehem" is a lovely, dramatic retelling of the nativity. Music Inspired by the Angels Music Spotlight with Sounds of Light Productions, Angel Light By Lisa M. What inspired the "angelic" theme that runs through these songs? How did you decide on the selections for this, your first recording, and what went into the arrangement process for the prayers and Psalms selected?