Become a piano genious in 6 months GUIDE //COMPLETE!

This thread will be my own personal guide and tips for you all who wants to be good at Improvising on the piano.

Ok, I'll start off with myself. I started playing the piano for 6-7 months ago. From the beginning I watched youtube videos where they show you exactly button by button how to play certain songs... However after 2 months I got tired of this, I wanted to be good at playing without all these preparations... I wanted to be able to just sit down and play. So I started learning how to improvise. And now I'm here to tell you all about my tips, tricks and techniqes when I improvise.

Before I'm going to start, I'm going to assume this; You already know the name of all the keys of the piano, you know how to build Major and Minor chords you know what a scale is and how a scale works, and you already know the C-Major scale, also you should know what an octave is.

Lesson #1 Teach your mind to play spontaneus

The first thing you are going to do is to sit down at the piano. Come up with a rhythm in your head, and now go ahead and play on all the black keys of the piano. It doesn't matter what you play, this step is to teach yourself how to play spontaneusly and to not to be afraid to make mistakes. It will sound a bit chineesy because you're playing on a diatonic( ? ) scale. It doesnt really matter if it sounds bad or not, practice this for a while, atleast a total of 3 hours spread over a day or two. When you feel that you have gotten used to play spontaneusly without being afraid to make mistakes, you are ready for the next lesson.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE IS TO LEARN NOT TO BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES



Lesson #2. Introducing the magical F# Major scale.

If you're a newbie, most guides tell you to learn the C-Major scale and play on that. But I say; screw the C Major scale. The F# major scale is the absolute BEST and simplest scale to play on. But why? It's because the keys are arranged in a way that is extremely comfortable for your hands to play. Compared to the C-Major scale, the F# Major scale is extremely easy to learn to make those quick scale runs up and down. Heck, it took me barely a week to run up and down the scale at maximum speed, and I barely had time to practice! You will mostly use your right hand for these runs, you will not need to practice your left hand for this part, it's not important yet.

The F#Major scale;

F# G# A# B C# D# E#(F) F#

What you're gonna do now is the same thing as you did in lesson one. Sit down, and practice doing runs with your right hand up and down the scale. Once you got it decently well do the same thing as you did on Lesson Number 1, try to play spontaneusly with your right hand, but this time, use the entire scale instead of just the black keys!
When you feel comfortable with the scale, start next lesson!

Lesson #3; Learning the chords of the scale

Ok, this part is probably going to be the most difficult one. If you haven't already, you will start learning the chords of the F# Major scale which is;

F# Major, G# Minor, A# minor, B Major, C# Major, D# Minor, E# Diminished

Now what you have to learn now is a very important arpeggio pattern that is used in many modern pieces.

I will demonstrate it with a C-Major chord: C3 -> G3 -> C4 -> G3 -> E4 -> G3 -> C4 -> G3 (repeat)

So what you will do is; learn all the chords, pick one of the chords and practice the arpeggio pattern, once you can play the arpeggio for the chord without having to even think about it, it will be much easier to learn it for the other chords.

When you know how to play the arpeggio for all the chords, you are ready for the next lesson!


Lesson #4 What's so good about this chord pattern/voicing and how should I use it?

This is where the magic starts working ! What's so awesome about this arpeggio voicing? Well, what's so good about it is that is PERFECT for keeping the rhytm of your improvisation. You play the chord and the rhythm with your left hand and you play the melody with your right. Ofcourse you can't always use this pattern when youre playing, you have to come up with your own variation, but this is what you have to do on this lesson:

Practice playing the arpeggio with different rhythms, and come up with your own variation and technique for it. When you feel you got a decent grip on this, continue for the next lesson!


Lesson #5 Adding drama to your pieces; Dissonant sounds and Chromatic passing tones

I'm assuming now you have practiced playing melodies along with your arpeggios for a while, and that you have a decent technique. I'm not assuming your actually good at it, but I'm just assuming that you can keep some random music "flowing" atleast without problems. Now I'd like you to practice something new, Dissonant sounds and chromatic passing tones. These 2 tricks adds some REALLY nice drama into your playing. If you don't know what a dissonant sound is, it's kind of a "cutting sound" which sounds actually very unpleasant, but when played in a song it adds some of that "heartbreaking" flavour.

So how to gett dissonance in a piece? Well, either you can play a diminished chord OR you play any tone OUTSIDE of the scale. For example you play G Major, then want to make a move to A minor.

Instead of moving G Maj -> Am, you do this G maj -> G# Dim -> Am

What you do is just move the G from the G B D up a half tone, and it becomes G # dim. You can do the same thing if you want to move the other way, from A minor to G Maj. A min -> Ab dim -> G Major.

So.. um.. PRACTICE!



Okay Now You have learned much, now you have come to your "experiment fase"-

It's time for you to experiment with what you have learned, and learn new things.

Learn new scales, try to learn how to change scales and make it sound good. Try learning new type of chords like sus, aug, add9 etc.

Something interesting to try is to use the Major chord for some keys instead of the minor. for example insted of ii you play II. Rock songs usually use this, and its kind of neat.

What more? Experiment with rhythms, try playing 3/4, 2/4, 6/8, etc. and try changing between them.

So... EXPERIMENT, learn new things, and eventually you'll dominate !

Excellent! This is going to be very valuable, consider it stickied

I started watching blues improvisation videos on youtube after i registred here, but I dont really know any blues riffs,
so the only thing I can do is play funky up and down the blues scale, with 1 finger.

Now I've started to make up random stuff. I pick 5 keys from CDEFGAB, and use only those to play something,
I was inspired by a video on YouTube of a woman playing with only 5 keys on Oprah Winfrey.

But I still suck pretty bad

VictorCS wrote:I started watching blues improvisation videos on youtube after i registred here, but I dont really know any blues riffs,
so the only thing I can do is play funky up and down the blues scale, with 1 finger.

Now I've started to make up random stuff. I pick 5 keys from CDEFGAB, and use only those to play something,
I was inspired by a video on YouTube of a woman playing with only 5 keys on Oprah Winfrey.

But I still suck pretty bad

I do the same thing. Choose a scale, and try to stick with the right keys in any octave. I manage to stay in the scale, but it doesnt sound very good at the moment still. But at lest its not ofkey Hehe, its a start Im not so interested in improv yet, but maby someday. My biggest task is to be really good at reading sheetmusic, and be able to play b sheetmusic really well. Not neceserary just play while im reading, but to learn songs quickly, and play them nicely
I dont have any problem remembering notes, they just stick if I practice.

VictorCS wrote:I started watching blues improvisation videos on youtube after i registred here, but I dont really know any blues riffs,
so the only thing I can do is play funky up and down the blues scale, with 1 finger.

Now I've started to make up random stuff. I pick 5 keys from CDEFGAB, and use only those to play something,
I was inspired by a video on YouTube of a woman playing with only 5 keys on Oprah Winfrey.

But I still suck pretty bad

Keep practising and follow my guide, I promise you will be able to soon =) If you have any questions , feel free to ask

Very nice tutorial!

umm...what does arpeggio of chords really mean?

C-Major chord: C3 -> G3 -> C4 -> G3 -> E4 -> G3 -> C4 -> G3 (repeat)

what does C3 -> G3 means?

The numbers represent an octave, this is just an example.

The difference between C3 and C4 is that C4 is an octave brighter... Makes any sense? Maybe andrew can show a vid of what i mean? =}

Keynumber from the lowest note(1) on a piano, to the highest(88 ), followed by the keys name/notes name!

88 C8
87 B7
86 A#7/Bb7
85 A7 a4
84 G#7/Ab7
83 G7
82 F#7/Gb7
81 F7
80 E7
79 D#7/Eb7
78 D7
77 C#7/Db7
76 C7
75 B6
74 A#6/Bb6
73 A6
72 G#6/Ab6
71 G6
70 F#6/Gb6
69 F6
68 E6
67 D#6/Eb6
66 D6
65 C#6/Db6
64 C6
63 B5
62 A#5/Bb5
61 A5
60 G#5/Ab5
59 G5
58 F#5/Gb5
57 F5
56 E5
55 D#5/Eb5
54 D5
53 C#5/Db5
52 C5
51 B4
50 A#4/Bb4
49 A4
48 G#4/Ab4
47 G4
46 F#4/Gb4
45 F4
44 E4
43 D#4/Eb4
42 D4
41 C#4/Db4
40 C4 (Middle C)
39 B3
38 A#3/Bb3
37 A3
36 G#3/Ab3
35 G3
34 F#3/Gb3
33 F3
32 E3
31 D#3/Eb3
30 D3
29 C#3/Db3
28 C3
27 B2
26 A#2/Bb2
25 A2
24 G#2/Ab2
23 G2
22 F#2/Gb2
21 F2
20 E2
19 D#2/Eb2
18 D2
17 C#2/Db2
16 C2
15 B1
14 A#1/Bb1
13 A1
12 G#1/Ab1
11 G1
10 F#1/Gb1
9 F1
8 E1
7 D#1/Eb1
6 D1
5 C#1/Db1
4 C1
3 B0
2 A#0/Bb0
1 A0

Aww! Your Guide is the awesomeness! I'm reading and practising it!
Improvisation RULZZ! It's helping me you don't know how much!

CripKilla wrote:Aww! Your Guide is the awesomeness! I'm reading and practising it!
Improvisation RULZZ! It's helping me you don't know how much!

cool man, send a vid and show ur progress =)

This is awesome. This is a great thing to do next to trying to learn sightreading. Ive cheated though, because Ive done almost all the steps now.

Ive spent a few hours, perhaps two hours, and I know the F#Major scale, the chords, and the arpeggios. (I had to google that one! Yoink!) Ok - I wrote it down in a book. Now I just some more time to write it in my brain too.

By the way, why do you write E#dim when its a Fdim? I guess there is some great music theory behind it?


Really great guide though. Can you do this with all scales?

Btw Thomandy - Is it safe to assume that G6 is G in the 6th octave? Because I dont want to memorize that list.

Christian wrote:This is awesome. This is a great thing to do next to trying to learn sightreading. Ive cheated though, because Ive done almost all the steps now.

Ive spent a few hours, perhaps two hours, and I know the F#Major scale, the chords, and the arpeggios. (I had to google that one! Yoink!) Ok - I wrote it down in a book. Now I just some more time to write it in my brain too.

By the way, why do you write E#dim when its a Fdim? I guess there is some great music theory behind it?


Really great guide though. Can you do this with all scales?

Btw Thomandy - Is it safe to assume that G6 is G in the 6th octave? Because I dont want to memorize that list.

Hello =) Im glad u like the guide. Well, the reason is so that you can see that all the letters are there

a# b c# d# e# f# g#
compare
a# b c# d# f f# g#

it's just easier to "see" that all the keys are there =) thats all!

Christian wrote:
Btw Thomandy - Is it safe to assume that G6 is G in the 6th octave? Because I dont want to memorize that list.

I dont know! But, no need to memorize that list G is G, and if you know how to read sheets you will easy find what G you want

pianohama wrote:
a# b c# d# e# f# g#
compare
a# b c# d# f f# g#

it's just easier to "see" that all the keys are there =) thats all!

Just took me a few minutes to remember that e# is in fact F.


Im gonna see how quicly I can do this guide. Hoping for less than 6 months. Yarr!

Adding a question - My biggest problem while playing is proper finger placement, I have not played piano for a too long time so I know there is hope.

What is the proper finger placement for the arpeggios? Is it just finger 1, 2 and 3?

Anyone know what lessons Andrew talks about this in? (Finger placement.) Or if anyone could direct me to any helpfull info about it, it would be good stuff.

+1

I use 1, 4, 3. if 1 is the pinky finger ^^ but dont worry about that. this guide is to teach you to play at your own rules, just keep playing and find your own system =)

Yeah thats fair enough. I just dont want to "burn in" bad playing habits, because I want to develop, and not to lock up.

Ill see what I can find though.

Myself I play with 5(pinky),3, 2 and 1(thumb) depending on what key the pattern is. I can stretch my hand comfortably one whole octave, and slighty uncomfortably a tenth(? e.g. C1-E2.)

Christian wrote:I can stretch my hand comfortably one whole octave, and slighty uncomfortably a tenth(? e.g. C1-E2.)

Yeah, me to But the C-E I got to tuch the edges of both keys. I found ut something, ant that is that I can just as easly strech an octave using my tumb and 4th finger. Hehe

Kool. With a Kay!

Christian wrote:Yeah thats fair enough. I just dont want to "burn in" bad playing habits, because I want to develop, and not to lock up.

Ill see what I can find though.

Myself I play with 5(pinky),3, 2 and 1(thumb) depending on what key the pattern is. I can stretch my hand comfortably one whole octave, and slighty uncomfortably a tenth(? e.g. C1-E2.)

oh ya thats what i meant ^^

How do you find melodies? Ive gotten stuck on one, and I keep on playing that or rubbishbin-ones. Any tips on varying the melody?

I read humming is good.
And jumping octaves.

Christian wrote:How do you find melodies? Ive gotten stuck on one, and I keep on playing that or rubbishbin-ones. Any tips on varying the melody?

I read humming is good.
And jumping octaves.

You should learn to recognize distances! Learn how an octave sounds, then learn how a perfect fifth sounds, other than that, if you know the chords you dont have much choice, for example if your on a Am chord, its often either an A , C or E you should be on.

So my recommendation is learn Octave then perfect fifth/fourth, how they sound. Other than that melodies are only consisting of scale climbing / rhythmic parts. Mostly you'll have to experiment your way, eventually you'll get better at it Hope this helped, have fun!


Check this out, i've written some about how to learn songs by ear here:
https://afpa.hooxs.com/general-piano-discussion-f4/playing-by-ear-t35.htm

Im gonna ask you another one or five, because you are such a quick response. Thats very good of you.

Is there more to knowing octaves than.. well. I see them all on the keys. I know what it is basicly. Hard to explain. Its like CDEFGAB->new octave. Right?

Perfect 5th/4th? are those intervalls or chords? Sound like chords...

Christian wrote:Im gonna ask you another one or five, because you are such a quick response. Thats very good of you.

Is there more to knowing octaves than.. well. I see them all on the keys. I know what it is basicly. Hard to explain. Its like CDEFGAB->new octave. Right? correct, the distance between C -> C(Lighter/Darker) is an octave =).

Perfect 5th/4th? are those intervalls or chords? Sound like chords...

A perfect fifth is the intervall between the first note of a minor/major chord to the third note. (Dim and 7 chords do not count).

For example Am: A C E, the distance between A -> E is a perfect fifth.
C E G; C -> G = perfect fifth

Perfect fourth is a perfect fifth but with 2 halfsteps down the keyboard so if C-G is a perfect fifth, C- F is a perfect fourth ^^ =)

A perfect fifth sounds like you know those old music style when you come to the end of the song it just says "pam,pam" then the song is ended?(called perfect cadence I think) but its "in reverse" so instead of c -> g they play g(darker) -> c(lighter). So yeah try to listen to it abit on the piano you will understand what I mean..