What Are Blue Notes?

I wanted to share a music article with you that I wrote awhile back. Are you familiar with the term Blue Notes?

Blue notes are specific flattened tones used in jazz and rock melodies. They create a specific quality of sound known as "blue."

When I play a simple melody line from a nursery song, like London Bridges, it is easy to pull out the melody of a familiar tune. If I wanted to color in more sound, like adding color to a painting with crayons and paints, then I would throw in an Eb note that moves to the E note.

Blue notes like to return to their neighbor tone one half step higher. Blue notes and their half step higher tones add a special feeling that first sounds a bit dark, then it has a lighter sound to the song.

 Neighboring tones lead to chord tones. Let's talk a little more about these neighboring tones when the melody goes back and forth with a non-harmonic tone that is a half or whole step placed in the melody.

An upper neighboring tone is a note that is chromatically and/or diatonically above another note. When we talk about a lower neighboring tone, we say that is a note diatonically or chromatically below another note.

Why do we use these specific tones? Well, they serve as a way for the piano player to improvise. When we flat a tone that will provide the melody line with that tension and release sound. Remember that neighboring tones are non-harmonic. Usually you will play them on a weak beat.

Here are a few written examples of music notes to play in a measure. Start with single notes in your right hand.

Example One:

B, B, Bb, B, D.

Example Two:
D, Eb (blue note), E, C, D, C.

Blue notes are flattened tones on the 3rd and 5th steps of the major scale that always return to the neighboring tone one half step higher. They make a huge difference in sound. Begin by playing these notes in a row to hear what I am saying: C, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G.

Just within one measure, you will find places to add blue notes for improvising. The choice is yours. Here is what I mean. Play these single notes for one measure that receives four beats to the measure. So that means you will be playing some eighth notes along with quarter notes; Eb to E, Eb to E then play Gb to G.

Have fun creating new melodies with Blue Notes.

You may be interested in Backpocket Band Software

 Best,





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Related articles

• Aural Awareness by Miles Donahue
• How To Play Triplets Against Eighth Notes

How To Play Triplets Against Eighth Notes

India Eighth notes and rest (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Beginner's Corner

Each quarter note can be divided into two equal eighth notes or four equal sixteenth notes.

Sometimes composers want to put three equal notes into a quarter note. This is called a triplet. Triplets are three equal notes that fit into the amount of time usually takne up by one quarter note or two eighth notes.

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata has many triplets in one measure of music.

Try this clapping exercise:
1. Turn on the metronome to a slow beat, quarter note = 60.
2. Clap just the beat.
3. Listen and feel the beat in your head.
4. Then clap 3 times for each tick of the metronome.
5. Triplets all need to be the same length. Say a 3-syllable word like straw-ber-ry or can-ta-loupe as you clap. Each part of the word is part of the triplet.

 Intermediate Corner

How To Play Triplets Against Eighth Notes

Have you seen music where one hand has triplets while the other plays eighth notes? This can be a bit tricky at first. It is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy. You are doing two different things at once.

The trick to playing two notes in one hand against three notes in the other is that none of the notes within the beat will line up together; except for the first note.

In one hand you'll have to fit two equal notes into each beat, while the other will have to fit three equal notes in the same amount of time. It may sound like the two hands are not exactly in-synch or together.

Follow These Steps

1. First clap triplets and eighths. Work until you can change easily from one to the other. Use a metronome to check that you have a steady beat. Feel how the groups of two and three fit into the beat.

2. Play a scale with a metronome. Play eighth notes going up (1 eighth to a note of the scale) and triplets coming down. Then switch and play triplets going up and eighths coming down.

3. Play each hand's part separately. Switch back and forth between the two like you did with the clapping.

4. Divide the beat into six equal parts. The eighth notes will fall on the first and third beats of the six. The triplets will be played on the first, third, and fifth note in the group of six. As a result the second eighth note comes right after the second triplet. At first, you might have to count to six each time you play both hands, placing each eighth note and each triplet in the correct spot. This will get easier with time and practice, and soon you will start hearing where each note falls within the beat, without having to work so hard.

Advanced Corner

I'll be posting part two real soon on more rhythm stuff. I hope you'll check out part one, Where's The Beat?

So, for sure you'll want to keep up with your Hanon Exercises

Here's more valuable resources to research:

Hanon - Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises - Complete: Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics

 Blues Hanon

 Jazz Hanon

 Junior Hanon

Breakdancers Buy From Art.com

All the best,

 



"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Related articles

• Where's the Beat? (Part One)
• Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay
• What Makes Hand Coordination Better?

What Makes Hand Coordination Better?

Left hand writing the German word "Linkshänder" (left handed). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So many of you have asked for help in hand coordination. Usually when one has trouble playing both hands together on the piano, it is a result of one hand knowing the music better than the other. You will want to be consistent in both hands with the fingerings so that muscle memory is developed. Smooth playing results in correct fingering, not just knowing the notes.

You also want to maintain the same speed in each hand. This is challenging for many of us because we are dominant in one hand over the other. Both hands need to be comfortable but you've just got to know your left hand better. This is usually where the train wreck to the song begins. Be sure and keep your eyes on the music, too. If you keep looking at your hands and all around, you'll lose focus and your place in the music. I know it's challenging to learn a bass pattern over and over in your left hand, while one seems distracted by playing the melody and improvising in the right hand but believe me, it can be done with lots of practice. Train the left hand to be more independent.

Some more practicing tips for playing both hands together:

• When playing music from the grand staff, read the notes vertically (bottom to top) before moving on horizontally (left to right).
• Play the song a couple of times with the right hand by itself. Then play the song a few times with the left hand only. When you’re confident with the notes for each hand, you can try playing the song hands-together.
• Play slowly at first and speed up the tempo as you become more comfortable with the song.
  http://www.dummies.com 
  
  
  Learn the parts separately, the left hand and then the right hand.
  Mark where the notes are together.. (like beats...) Ex. If you have 4 quarter notes in the left hand and you have 8 eighth notes, mark when they're together so you don't get lost.
  
  
  Before you even attempt a difficult passage, make sure your note reading skills are up to par. If you can’t distinguish each note on the staff quickly, take a step back and master that first.  Trust us – it will make the process a lot easier! http://takelessons.com
  
  

  (Nearly always) play with both hands, don't try to separate them.
  Don't worry about skipping a note here or there in the harmony. If you don't get there in time,  just go on to the next one, or make up a harmony! Few listeners will be able to tell. After a while your left hand will develop a feel for where the notes might be expected to be. After a while, your right hand will be able to pick out the melody essentially by ear without having to pay so much attention to the notes on the page, thus allowing you to pay more attention to the left hands harmonies. These two trends will combine together to  make playing easier and easier. Doing a little bit of playing by ear, and a little bit of sight reading new music, will help to strengthen these trends. http://www.lofthouse.com

 My two cents, patience and perseverance. Plus, Hanon Exercises will definitely help! Did I mention memorizing a piece? This adds lots to the equation of easily moving both hands across the keys. Yes, it takes time to do so with lots of practice. Also, I have read that many drop bass notes in their left hand and just play a single note within each measure while the right hand moves more effortlessly. Try this approach if it's easier for you to separate two different rhythms but you may be over simplifying and missing out on some of the tones. Adding a metronome may help and yet it will frustrate many a musician.

A healthy approach to the dilemma of hand coordination is to have very relaxed hands. Also, keep in mind that it's the hand and forearm that support the finger movements. Continue with practicing scales and exercises in contrary motion, along with arpeggios to connect both hands playing music. Play single note runs, and chords, too.

Four-Way Keyboard System - Book One

 Pianoanne has some very cool teaching aides over at her site. Take a look at these, for Friday freebie!

Download the free workbook, Barnyard Friends.

 Let me know what works for you in putting both hands to the keys!
Have a great weekend! Time for Christmas music!

Blessings,






"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Related articles

• Friday Freebie: Rhythm Printables
• Friday Freebie: Music Symbols and Vocabulary
• Monday Mailbag: Piano Fingering

Friday Freebie: Level1 Fundamentals

As we begin to slowly wrap up another year of teaching, you'll find lots of testing going on in my piano studio with my students. I am often asked the question, "What books do you use?" I think many teachers have their own preferences on what works best with them. I start newbies in Bastien Primer Level. Later as a student progresses, I use Alfred's Piano Lesson Books. Here are a few things one will learn in Level 1 for the piano.

How Music Is Written

The Grand Staff

Treble and Bass Clef

Measure

Bar Line

Double Bar Line (Always used at the end of a piece.

Notes

Quarter Note = 1 count

Half Note = 2 counts

Dotted Half = 3 counts

Whole Note = 4 counts

Time

The numbers at the beginning of a piece are called the Time Signature. This tells us how to count the piece.

Upper number tells us to give four counts to a measure.

Lower number tells us that a quarter note gets one count.

Seize the C’s

When Middle C has its stem up, right hand plays it.

When Middle C has its stem down, left hand plays it.

The Phrase Mark

Music is a language and has punctuation signs that divide it into phrases or sentences. These PHRASES are marked with curved lines called slurs.

Introducing Eighth Notes

Two eighth notes equal one count. One eighth note is half as long as a quarter note.

Rests

Rests are signs of silence. They tell us how many counts our hands should remain silent.

Quarter Rest = 1 count

Half Rest = 2 counts

Whole Rest = 4 counts

The whole rest means that a certain hand is silent for a whole measure.

The Repeat Sign

Two dots before or after a double bar indicate REPEAT signs:

This means that you play the measures enclosed by repeat signs TWICE.

The Tie

The tie is a curved line placed over or under two notes of the same pitch. You play the first note only and hold it down for the total time value of  both notes.

Natural accents

In playing the piano, certain counts are louder than other counts. These loud counts are called natural accents.

In 4/4 time – always play the first count louder.

In 3/4 time – always play the first count louder.

In 2/4 time – likewise play the first count louder.

A Brief History Of The Piano

The direct predecessors of the piano are the clavichord and the harpsichord. History records their use as early as the Sixteenth century. still earlier, the effort to produce two or more tones simultaneously yielded the dulcimer, but it had no keyboard. Notice the limited manual range and the non-existent pedals of the early instruments. Cristofari (1665) and Bach (1685) were responsible for the major developments in the piano. Today the manufacturers have given us the gloriously complete concert grand.

Importance Of Review

You gain smoothness and ease by reviewing your old pieces and studies. Be sure always to devote at least 10 mins. a day to review work.

Sight Reading Hint

In finding a note, move the eye first, then the hand. Find the note visually then manually. Too many students start moving their hands without knowing where they are going. Keep the hands quiet until the note has been found visually.

The Sharp Sign

Here is the SHARP sign (#). It appears before a note. It tells you to play the first black key to the right of the note instead of the regular white key.

The Sharp Sign In The Signature

Instead of writing out every sharp in the song, most composers would put a sharp sign at the beginning of the piece. This is called the Key Signature. IT tells you to sharp  a specific note throughout the piece.

The Flat Sign

This is the FLAT sign (b). It means to play the first black key to the left of the note.

Common Time

Very often in music you will not find a numerical time signature at the beginning of a piece but will find the large symbol C. This stands for COMMON TIME (4/4 Time).

ACCIDENTALS

The Sharp (#), Flat (b), and Natural signs which appear in a piece (other than in the key signature) are called Accidentals. Watch out for them. Natural sign means to restore back to white key.

How To Become A Faster Note Reader

Sight-reading is a skill that can be compared to bowling or golfing. It doesn’t take a great deal of mental effort or knowledge to play these games, but it takes a prodigious amount of practice to be expert. The same analogy holds true for sight-reading. You can’t think or wish yourself into becoming a good reader-you must practice and drill constantly.

Quick note reading demands daily drill. Remember, music isn’t hard to play; it’s hard to READ. You fumble and stumble at the keyboard because you can’t find the notes quickly enough. Keep your drills alive every day. You will soon grow to become a more rapid reader. Plus, the physical element of good vision is a factor in sight-reading.

How To Play In Rhythm

Never count to your playing, but always PLAY TO YOUR COUNTING. In every piece in 3/4 time always play your first count louder: 1 2 3 1 2 3

             >

How To Use The Damper Pedal

The main pedal in piano playing is the DAMPER PEDAL. (the one at the right). It is sometimes (wrongly) called the loud pedal. The pedal at the left is the soft pedal and the middle pedal is the sustaining pedal. Keep the heel on the floor and sole of shoe in pedal contact at all times. Pedaling should be noiseless-no clicking of the shoe or letting the pedal up with a bang.

Musical Terms

Music writing began in Italy. Therefore Italian words are used to tell us how music is played. If each country used its own language it would be very confusing. Suppose Russia described its music in Russian, and Norway defined its music in Norwegian, etc., we would have to know far too many languages. Consequently all countries have adopted Italian terms for their music. You see if we know the Italian terms we will understand how to play music of any country.

Introducing The Staccato Touch

When dots are written above or below notes, you touch the keys as if you were touching a hot flat iron. This is called STACCATO.

The Dotted Quarter Note

A dot after a note is equal to a note next lower in value. Therefore, the dot after a quarter note equals an eighth note. The dotted quarter in 4/4 time is counted as follows: 1 2 and 3 4

The Metronome

The letters M.M. at the beginning of a piece stand for Maelzel’s Metronome. The numbers on the metronome indicate ticks per minute. Thus if the metronome were set at 60, it would be ticking seconds. The metronome is used only for a moment to see what time the composer has in mind. We never depend on it entirely for our rhythm.

Watch out for new expression marks. Crescendo means to grow louder and diminuendo means to grow softer.

Watch out for the octave higher sign. 8…… It means to play eight keys higher.

Intervals

An interval is the difference between two sounds. Intervals have number-names which equal the amount of letter-names they include.

There's so much more to add here but I'll stop for now. 

Take a look at these FREE sites for theory stuff:

http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Fundamentals/workbooks.html 

http://learnmusictheory.net/fundamentals/index.asp

Music Fundamental Links

If you are an adult who plays by ear but would like a textbook/workbook for music fundamentals, then I recommend 300pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course

 Best Regards,





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King