How To Play Accompaniment Piano

Elise — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:47:33 +0000

Coldplay Piano Accompaniment

Classical piano is probably the most expressive and complicated genre to learn in terms of note and harmony variation. You never know what’s coming. Arpeggiated chords? Trills? A chord attack? But that’s what makes it a great challenge!

There are those pianists who don’t focus much on advanced classical pieces and lean more toward popular or contemporary pieces. Most often, a good piano arrangement of a popular song can actually sound ten times better than the original song that you may hear on the radio. Some people find them easier to play and learn because arrangements usually take advantage of chords in the left hand that can be easily identified and used throughout the entire song while the right hand plays the melody. And unlike classical music, a popular song will almost always follow the format of intro, verse one, chorus, verse two, chorus, bridge, and chorus. This can make it a little easier because the verses and choruses will sound similar, if not exactly the same.

Learning to play popular and contemporary pieces can be even more fun if you or someone you know has a good singing voice and can sing along to the piano. This is called accompaniment piano, and it can be more difficult to master than you might think.

Even though most contemporary piano sheet books come with piano/vocal/guitar notes and lyrics, this doesn’t mean that you’ll have an easy time fitting the vocals and piano accompaniment together. To make it easier on you, here are six steps you can keep in mind when you’re learning how to play accompaniment piano.

1. Chords are primarily played in accompaniment piano, while the singer provides the melody. The piano acts as a supporting role, not the main role.

2. Be careful not to overplay, especially on an acoustic piano. Pianos are very strong instruments and can easily overpower someone’s singing voice. When you come to any sections in the passage which must be played forte (loud), make sure to limit your aggressiveness at those times.

3. You must lead the singer without making it too obvious. Playing the first note of every vocal line can help guide the singer and cue his or her vocals without sounding awkward or too obvious.

4. You can double the root note of the chords to give weight and expressive range to the chord progressions. The result is a more effective tonal foundation for the vocalist.

5. During the times that the singer isn’t singing, you can create musical fills as it relates to the melody and chords. This is basically the time that the piano accompanist should shine.

6. Make sure to maintain a good knowledge and study of chords, as they are the main tools in your repertoire for accompaniment piano. The more chords that you know, the better equipped you will be.

Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:

For a complete course on how to learn and master accompaniment piano, check out How To Accompany. There is a 30-day moneyback guarantee, so you can give it a whirl for a month to see how it works and how you can benefit from it.

This blog post has been sponsored by your friends at www.HowToAccompany.com.

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