LadyDpiano: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or simply Ninja Turtles) are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists. From their home in the storm sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil megalomaniacs, and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society at large. The characters initially appeared in comic books before being licensed for toys, cartoons, video games, films, and other merchandise. During the peak of its popularity in the late 1980s through early 1990s, the franchise gained considerable worldwide success and fame."

Whenever I stay with a song, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that has straight rhythm... then
I like to practice with Back Pocket Band Software

So, Ben Landis has lots of sheet music (for free) of video, game music and cartoon shows. If you're interested in this style, visit http://www.benlandis.com

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bass Line

4/4 Time 100bpm

1. 2 measures of C to C (Broken Octave)
2. 2 measures of Eb to Eb
3. 1 measure F to F
4. Ab to Ab, then Bb to Bb
5. 2 measures C to C
6. 1 measure Ab to Ab
7. 1 measure Bb to Bb
8. 2 measures C to C
9. 1 measure Ab to Ab
10. 1 measure Bb to Bb
11. 2 measures C to C
12. 1 measure Ab to Ab
13. 1 measure Bb to Bb
14. 1 measure Ab to Ab
15. 1 measure Bb to Bb
16. 2 measures C to C
17. 2 measures Eb to Eb
18. 1 measure F to F
19. 1 measure Ab to Ab, then Bb to Bb.
20. 1 measure C to C played together, then G to G played together
21. 1 measure C to C played together 3 times.

Right Hand Notes

Absolute
C

1. Play EG together, then EA. Do it several times to get the feel.

Absolute
C

2. Then play these notes, GBb and change to GC. Practice several times.

Absolute
C

3. Now you play CEb together, then change to CF. Play these intervals back and forth, end on C.

Did you know that Errol Garner, the jazz pianist, was left-handed? So, I got to thinking about left-hand parts on the piano and how much time I have invested in piano practice to improve and strengthen my bass lines in music.

I've always been comfortable playing a melodic line with my right hand but when it comes to playing Alberti bass or Waltz bass, I seemed to need the extra practice, playing left hand notes separately until they were polished and then adding both hands together to hear a more balanced sound.
To achieve this, let's take a look at music and see how a composer will write harmony parts in many different ways.

1. Block chords look like all of the notes are stacked together, like a snow- man, and you play them together at once. You will find many blocked chords for your left hand in rock and roll and hymns, too.

2. Broken chords are when the left-hand plays the notes of a chord but one at a time. You can approach this by playing oom-pah rhythm or some say, boom-chick, like a repeated pattern of a single note followed by a chord. You will hear this in Ragtime in Scott Joplin music.

3. Arpeggiated chords make up notes of a chord that are played one at a time, like an arpeggio. They are found in Classical piano music and Pop music.

4. Alberti bass is when the notes of each chord is played starting with the bottom note, on to the top note, middle note and then up to the top note again.

5. Waltz bass is where the first note of the chord is on the down beat, the first beat of the measure and followed by the other notes on beats 2 and 3. It is played with a strong beat in a 3/4 time signature. This ballad style allows your right hand the freedom to pull out the melody line and just let it flow.

This is the basic introduction to left-hand movement. More advanced rhythmic patterns would include off-beats, swing and slow jazz waltz, to name a few. Plus, there is Latin rhythm to learn, such as Bossa Nova, Mambo Tango, Cha Cha, Rhumba and Samba.
No matter what level you are on, with many of the left-hand parts listed above, you can incorporate them into your music for rhythm practice.

If you have time, be sure and stop by Back Pocket Band Software for PC and Mac