Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘improvisation’

It is nice when you are able to set the formal music practising aside and play any music that you like.  However, it’s not always so easy to get hold of the sheet music for your favorite songs.  There are two ways to overcome this predicament, and they are related in a way.  The first idea is the use of a Fake Book, and the second is to learn how to improvise. 

You can get Fake Books at music stores or by ordering them online.  You can also get a version of the same concept when you come across a simple notation of a song.  Be aware that when using a Fake Book, it only contains two ways to help you. First, you will get a melody line in the treble clef.  This will usually only show one note at a time – no chords – and it will be a simplified version of the song. 

Along with the melody line, you will also be presented with a letter above the staff.  The letter signifies the chord you are to play in the bass clef and could possibly add to the treble clef if you are skilled enough.  There will be a letter above the staff each time the chord changes. 

By learning the chords, you are preparing yourself nicely to be able to use a Fake Book with ease.  You can use the straight chords or invert them.  You can play them as running chords where you play each note separately in succession.  Any rhythm can be chosen for the bass clef. 

The Fake Book may require that you put your creative skills to work.  You have to use what you know to fill in the blanks that are left by an incomplete score.  Because of this, it is almost your job to create the music from scratch.  One good thing is that new, up-to-date Fake Books are produced regularly, and include many modern songs. 

Yet, if you want to really come up with your own original song or instrumental piece, you can do it better by learning to improvise.  You can learn very complex theory about improvisation, but you can begin with the information you already have.  You need to know mainly about scales and chords. 

Choose a scale to work from; a C scale may be the easiest for you since it is all on the white keys.  Next, choose some chords within that scale.  If you have chosen the C major scale, the  use of the G major and F major chords are the best combination.  The benefit of using these is the lack of sharps or flats. 

Create your own chord progression.  A nice order would be C-F-G-C.  Practice playing these chords with your left hand.  Usually the chords are played lower than middle C, however this is not set in concrete.  Play them wherever you see fit.  Play them as simple triads or invert them.  Play them in any sequence.  Then keep practicing until it becomes second nature. 

When you are comfortable with your chord progression, you can begin to improvise a melody.  Take one note at a  time, and play these with your right hand, eventually forming a melody line.  At first it may sound a little rough, but persistence is key here — keep on practicing, and eventually a nice melody line will be created. 

Also, try improvising with a melody you’re already fond of.  Say you want to play Jingle Bells, but you do not have the music.  The melody can be easily picked out.  after you have chosen the melody this way, chords can be fit to the melody, simply based on the melodies scale of key.  So as you can see, even though you may not have the sheet music, there are ways you can still play the music without.

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