Скачать или смотреть Tutorial #8 - for Halloween - improvising in C minor scales; intro to counterpoint; motifs

Hello everyone. Just in time for Halloween, thought I would focus on a new minor scale and its variants. This tutorial introduces the natural, harmonic, and melodic C minor scales. I introduce the concept of counterpoint (two competing but complementary sequences of notes using your two hands, leveraging the scales we just learned).

Finally, I introduce several chords to use in creating C minor chord progressions:

C Minor (C Eb G)
F Minor (F Ab C)
G Major (G B D)
Ab Major (Ab C Eb)
F Minor 6th: (F Ab C D)

Then, the relative major chord is Eb Major (Eb G Bb) and the relative Eb major scale uses the same notes as the C minor natural scale. This relative major chord can add variety into the improvisation.

FInally, you can also add Bb Major (Bb D F) chord into the complement of chords.

Playing with these 7 chords and variations of those chords (different progressions and also playing a different bass note than the tonic) can provide a great deal of variety for your improv.

When experimenting with counterpoint, get used to independently playing each hand together, but using notes within one of the C minor scales...only those notes. Nothing outside those notes!! Keep in mind that you have two extra notes available given the variations of the scales: keep the counterpoint within the following notes:

C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, A, Bb, B, and C again....

Then play around with multiple sounds/instruments in your keyboard. If you have single note instruments like a violin and cello you can create a split on your keyboard and play one instrument with your left hand and the other instrument with your right hand. It will take a while, but the more you work on independence between your hands, the more freedom you will have in leveraging a counterpoint technique.

Sometimes, it might help to play each hand in isolation first. Come up with some sequences of notes you like. Practice the sequences and work on memorizing the patterns. Then, start to put your two hands together. Play around and try to create some interesting sequences for your counterpoint. If you are having difficulting coming up with sequences of notes, work on building chord progressions first using the 7 chords we introduce above. Then, you can start a counterpoint by playing individual notes within each of the chords of the progression you select. We will get into more detail in follow-on tutorials.

Important concepts:

1. Learn the C minor scales: natural, harmonic, melodic. Practice playing those scales on each hand and then ultimately playing both hands together.
2. Work on learning the 7 chords above and play around with variations of those chords and what fundamental (bass note) you use. Play around with progressions of those chords and come up with sequences of chords that sound good to you.
3. Work on counterpoint.... It is important to build independence of both hands and being able to 'multi-task' and play two notes at the same time trying to keep both key sequences in the forefront of your mind. Play around and have fun!!

Remember...it takes time for dexterity, independence, and knowledge of the key signatures to become second nature. Spend 30 minutes or more a day for a week and keep playing around with the various concepts. You'll start to get comfortable with the scales, the specific notes, the chords, and the ability to play two things at the same time.... It gets easier with time.

!! If this is useful to you, please let me know. Hope it isn't too complicated...Lots of material covered tonight.

God bless! Have fun improvising!

#tutorials #improvisation #synthesizers #keyboards