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DukAmok posted:Yeah, I love that kind of technical stuff. The problem is that I can only play very simplistic things at that kind of speed. Practice, with a metronome, running scales with your right hand while keeping your attention focused on making your left hand both rhythmically and harmonically interesting. As far as other scales are concerned, there are quite a few to choose from. I play jazz piano, but from talking to my more pop/20th century friends, they have a few scales/modes that are nice to mess around with. They are as follows: Lydian: 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (play over major chords/ major 7 chords) Mixolydian: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 8 (play over Dominant 7th chords or major triads) Phrygian: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 8(play over any minor chord, but specifically the iii chord) Dorian: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, 8 (basic choice for minor chords) Aeolian: 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 8 (second most basic choice for minor chords) Harmonic Minor: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7, 8 (minor chords, sounds all eastern european) Diminished: 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, bb7, 8(diminished chords, sounds like a lady is tied to the railroad tracks and the evil villain is stroking his mustache) As far as chords for your left hand, you can try to move away from basic voicings a little bit. Perhaps leave out the root note, and instead substitute scale degree 2(also known as scale degree 9). Whole Tone: 1, 2, 3, #4, #5, #6, 8 (sounds like a dream sequence) For example, for a C major chord, you could quickly strike a C bass note low down on the keyboard, and then move your hand up and play a voicing like "e, g, b, d" - or you could also do "e, a, b, d". If this doesn't fit your style, try adding more 7ths or 6ths on top of your triads. Look into half diminished chords(1, b3, b5, 7) or augmented triads (1, 3, #5). Hope this helps.
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Feb 24, 2008 05:38
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DukAmok posted:Modes have never made sense to me. I tried playing some of those you posted over the chords you recommended, and I couldn't really make them sound good. I don't think I'm picking the right notes or the right chords or something. Haha, i hosed up on the dorian scale degrees. Dorian is actually 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7. The flat 2 is really only in phrygian when dealing with minor. I guess it's really all a matter of getting used to how the different scale degrees sound and getting comfortable with them. To me, and to many other people, 2 and flat 2 both sound like "2", just with a different mood. They both scream to go back to 1 really badly. As for the 6th scale degree, i have no idea why that sounds bad to you. For me, scale degree 4 sounds way more awkward than any other, especially 6. I can hang out on 6 for a while and have a pretty good time. I guess that has a lot to do with your familiarity with the sound of the pentatonic. As far as the whole "jazz folk play scales and make it sound cool" thing - it's because they have amazing technique and rhythmic ability. You can make anything sound great if you have superb touch and cohesive rhythm. Work on making nice sounding phrases, as if you were singing/whistling instead of banging on keys, and you too can make boring scales sound cool. Further, you're probably being too hard on yourself - stuff i play often just sounds like lovely scale runs to me, but to others(or even to myself listening to a recording on a later date) it sounds just fine and perhaps even pretty interesting. I'd recommend playing through modes, even if they sound like poo poo to you, just for the practice. One way to get comfortable with the modes without really thinking about them is a scale exercise. For instance, run a C major scale two octaves up and down - but when you get to the top, play an extra note (D). When you get to the bottom, play one less note, and start on E. Just a quick starter would be: up: C D E F G A B C D down: C B A G F E up: F G A B C D E F G down: F E D C B A G. Essentially, you're running up C ionian, down D dorian, up E Phrygian, down F lydian, up G mixolydian, down A aeolian, up B locrian, and then down C ionian again. It's a great way to get fingerings down for your diatonic modes, as well as an awesome way to get comfortable with playing solos that aren't centered around the super-boring root note. Once you play this through in all 12 keys, i think you'll find that the diatonic modes sound a little less funky - especially when you play them over chord progressions. At some point, you will come to realize that every scale degree is like a character in a play - they all have their specific roles, moods, tendencies, and homes. They all work in different ways and for different purposes. I'm still trying to get that realization down, but it's becoming more and more clear every day. I hope this wasn't too confusing, i realize that i've sort of thrown out some heavy material without much explanation in my posts - but i'm glad you've at least gotten something out of them. If you're super confused about the scale exercise i could whip an example up in sibelius and post it - but i think you should be able to figure it out with a little effort. Quasimodo fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Mar 2, 2008 |
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Mar 2, 2008 11:36
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