Piano Improvisation

irocku / July 27, 2020

IROCKU Piano Tip – Upper Structure Chords

Upper Structure Chords are a great way to add flair to your chord voicings. An Upper Structure Chord is a chord that you add on top of the root chord. In this video we use the dominant 7th chord as the root chord. Playing the root chord in your left hand, you can then go up chromatically adding major chords with your right hand. The chords that work best don’t have the 4th(or 11th) or the major 7th because they can clash with the 3rd and dominant 7th of the root; the 3rd and dominant 7th being the notes that define the root chord. You can also try adding minor chords over the root chord. Try playing the Upper Structure Chords in different inversions or you can use them in your improvisations by arpeggiating them. Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. Find a few Upper Structure …

irocku / April 13, 2020

IROCKU Piano Tip – Improvisation Exercise

This week’s IROCKU Piano Tip provides an exercise to learn how to separate your two hands so they can work independently, playing two different things at the same time. An essential ingredient of improvisation. This video begins with an exercise you can practice anywhere with each hand tapping independently on your lap. Not only is this a practical way to practice but it facilitates the learning process by focusing your attention on the rhythm. The video then takes this exercise to the piano based on a simple three-note New Orleans syncopated groove in the left hand. Over that groove we play a whole-note scale in the right hand, then we play the scale in half-notes in the right hand, than quarter-notes, then eighth-notes, and finally eighth-note triplets. Once you are able to smoothly …

irocku / April 1, 2020

IROCKU Piano Tip – Chord Suspensions

This week's IROCKU Piano Tip looks at coloring chords with notes outside of a chord's primary chord tones; in this video tip we look at adding the second(i.e. add 2), the fourth(i.e. add 4), and the sixth degrees of the associated scale. We show practice techniques moving from the Major Triad, to the Add 2, to the add 4, and back to the Major. Adding suspensions to major triads is a technique that introduces tension and release and is used throughout pop and rock piano playing to add additional texture to your playing. Levels: Intermediate-Advanced. IROCKU Piano Tips cover piano techniques and fundamentals, improvisation, rhythm and groove, progressions, rhythm patterns, piano accompaniment, music theory and riffs. Click here for more: IROCKU Piano Tips Learn how to play …

irocku / April 1, 2020

IROCKU Piano Tip – Breathing and Phrasing

This week's IROCKU Piano Tip covers techniques and ideas on how to improve your soloing through phrasing. The techniques discussed in this video include using your own breathing to create phrases-soloing while exhaling and taking a break while inhaling, much like a horn player or vocalist must do. We also cover include adding periods and commas to your phrasing in the form of staccato notes and elongated notes; adding dynamics by playing louder and softer, and adding excitement to your solos with bursts of energetic riffs. Levels: Intermediate-Advanced IROCKU Piano Tips cover piano techniques and fundamentals, improvisation, rhythm and groove, progressions, rhythm patterns, piano accompaniment, music theory and riffs. Click here for more: IROCKU Piano Tips Learn how to …

irocku / March 31, 2020

IROCKU Piano Tip – Improvisation Techniques

This week's IROCKU Piano Tip covers techniques and ideas on how to improvise over a simple chord progression. The techniques discussed in this video include shifting finger patterns within a mode, intervals and octaves, using your thumb and your pinky as your home base to add color to a phrase, and the 'call and response' approach to improvisation. Levels: Intermediate-Advanced. IROCKU Piano Tips cover piano techniques and fundamentals, improvisation, rhythm and groove, progressions, rhythm patterns, piano accompaniment, music theory and riffs. Click here for more: IROCKU Piano Tips Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more. Join …

rocknthe88s / June 15, 2018

Debunking the misconception that Improvisation is running up and down scales.

In "Chuck Leavell's Stride Blues" Rock Essentials series we debunk the misconception that Improvisation is running up and down scales and we show how playing "shapes" is an easier way to improvise. "Stride Blues" piano lesson We've received lots of positive feedback on this approach which leads us to the following questions: What are the best methods and techniques for learning to improvise? For those of us with limited time to practice what is the most efficient way to learn? What are the biggest mistakes and myths among people learning jazz & blues piano? What are the biggest wastes of time? What are the biggest mistakes novices make when they are playing/practicing? Even at a professional level, what mistakes are most common? Reply below to let us know …

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Piano Improvisation