Rock Pop Piano

ROCK & POP PIANO Michael Gundlach

An easy Introduction to Improvisation For Beginners & Advanced Students

e m u l Vo

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Mario Romero ([email protected]) Kd.-Nr. 756483

Publisher: MIGU-MUSIC, Michael Gundlach, Frankenthal, www.migu-music.com

Distribution: MIGU MUSIC Publishing House Jahnstr. 2 67227 Frankenthal Germany [email protected]

Musical notation: Michael Gundlach Cover-Design: FEUERWASSER . gestaltungsbüro Cover-picture: skynesher – iStockphoto & DWP – Fotolia.com Inside-layout: Michael Gundlach, FEUERWASSER . gestaltungsbüro Band-Arrangements: Kostas Karagiozidis

Unauthorized copying and printing is forbidden and can result in private and criminal prosecution. © www.migu-music.com Mario Romero ([email protected]) Kd.-Nr. 756483

Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................................... 4 Basic Information............................................................................................................................................. 5 Improvisation with 2 notes............................................................................................................................. 6 Improvisation with 3 notes............................................................................................................................. 8 Love with Passion (Lead Sheet).....................................................................................................................12 Love with Passion (Piano Arrangement).......................................................................................................14 Three Note Combinations............................................................................................................................. 20 Amélies Dream (Lead Sheet)......................................................................................................................... 22 Amélies Dream (Piano Arrangement).......................................................................................................... 24 Three Note Combination with Second, Third and Fifth............................................................................... 29 Improvisation with 4 notes........................................................................................................................... 30 Butterfly.......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Butterfly (Lead Sheet)................................................................................................................................... 36 Butterfly (Piano Arrangement)..................................................................................................................... 38 Your Improvisations....................................................................................................................................... 43 Improvisation Tips......................................................................................................................................... 44 Chords & Note Sequences............................................................................................................................. 45 Exercises in different keys Exercise 1.......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Exercise 2.......................................................................................................................................................... 50 Exercise 3.......................................................................................................................................................... 52 Exercise 4......................................................................................................................................................... .54 Exercise 5.......................................................................................................................................................... 58 Exercise 6.......................................................................................................................................................... 60 Exercise 7.......................................................................................................................................................... 62 Exercise 8.......................................................................................................................................................... 64 Exercise 9.......................................................................................................................................................... 68 Exercise 10........................................................................................................................................................ 72 Exercise 11.........................................................................................................................................................76 Exercise 12........................................................................................................................................................ 78 Exercise 13........................................................................................................................................................ 82 Exercise 14........................................................................................................................................................ 86 Exercise 15........................................................................................................................................................ 88 Exercise 16........................................................................................................................................................ 90 Exercise 17........................................................................................................................................................ 94 Exercise 18........................................................................................................................................................ 98 Exercise 19.......................................................................................................................................................102 Exercise 20.......................................................................................................................................................106 Exercise 21.......................................................................................................................................................108 Exercise 22.......................................................................................................................................................112 Exercise 23.......................................................................................................................................................116 Mario Romero ([email protected]) Kd.-Nr. 756483

Introduction The goal of this course is to master the art of creative Pop and Rock improvisation using just a few notes. Reducing your improvisations to just a few notes will help you avoid aimless noodling and will stimulate your creativity. Throughout this course we will use typical Pop and Rock harmony progressions.

The Exercises In all the exercises, for better clarity, we will use the C major scale and its chord structure. This allows for easier understanding and comparison of the various improvisation examples. Additionally, all exercises are presented in several keys (pages 46–115). However, it is recommended that you transpose the exercises in your head, in order to be more flexible in your improvisations.

The Songs Normally songs are notated as a “lead sheet”, consisting solely of the song melody and the chords. In this book we first present the song as a lead sheet, followed by the written-out piano version.

Audio Tracks (mp3) The CD symbol next to each musical example will show you where to find the track on the mp3. The exercises were recorded using piano only, while the songs were recorded as professional play-alongs. Every play-along is presented twice. For listening and studying, a “full play-along” contains the written-out piano part. The “half play-along” omits the piano part so you can play and practice with a real band. Next to the examples you’ll see “FP” for full play-along and “HP” for half play-along.

The chord symbols If you browse through songbooks, you will notice that there are many different ways to notate a single chord. In order to interpret a song from a lead sheet, it’s very helpful to understand the meaning of these various chord descriptions. If you are having difficulty interpreting chord symbols, please refer to my books “Pop Piano Method – Volume 1 + 2” and “Cocktail Piano Method”.

Fingering The right hand melodies are supplied with detailed fingering to allow for easier practicing. If you feel more comfortable using your own fingering, then please feel free to do so.

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Basics In this course, for improvisation, we will use the notes of the major scale exclusively. Notes of the C major scale 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Root

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Sixth

Seventh

Many song stylists and bands use three-part and four-part chords from the major scale for song composition.

Three-part chords of the C major scale

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VI

VII

Steps (scale degrees) in Roman numerals

Four-part chords of the C major scale

I

II

III

IV

V

Steps (scale degrees) in Roman numerals

Please note: For advanced playing, all the notes of the major scale can be used in improvised solos over all the chords related to that scale.

Mario Romero ([email protected]) Kd.-Nr. 756483 Rock & Pop Piano 5

Improvisation with 2 notes Throughout this course we will use typical harmony progressions that you will find in many familiar songs. Quite often composers will only use three or four chords from the major scale. The first harmony progression we will learn consists of the I, VI, IV and V chords in the key of C.

Chord Progression 1 I

VI

IV

V

C

Am

F

G

As we mentioned when improvising you can theoretically use all the notes from the major scale over every chord or chord progression. In order to create a tasteful improvisation, it is recommended you start by using fewer notes. You can even start improvising using only two notes. We’ll use the first (root) and the fifth of the scale.

C major scale 1

2

3

Root

4

5

6

7

Fifth

The root and the fifth can also be used in varying positions and octaves.

Exercise 1 shows you how improvising with the root and fifth would sound with Chord Progression 1. We’re only using the root and fifth over each of the four chords. The left hand plays the root and fifth of each individual chord.

Exercise 1

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Track 1

Rock & Pop Piano


The root and fifth can also be played together and in various positions. Root and fifth from the C major scale

It is also very effective if you alternate between playing two notes together and playing single notes. You will see this in Exercise 2. Because of the slower tempo, this exercise sounds like a ballad. Of course you can also play it at a faster tempo.

Exercise 2

Track 2

The next exercise, because it is a little faster, has a rock style.

Exercise 3

Track 3


Improvisation with 3 notes Improvising with 2 notes is very interesting, but after a while it sounds bland. To broaden our horizon, let’s add another note to our improvisations: the second tone of the scale. Now we are playing with the root, second and fifth. Root, second and fifth of the major scale

Root

Second

Fifth

All three notes can be used in varying positions and octaves.

Exercises 4 + 5 show how these three notes will sound when improvising over Chord Progression 1.

Exercise 4

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Track 4

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Exercise 5

Track 5

Here we will learn two new harmonic progressions often used in pop music:

Chord Progression 2

Chord Progression 3

I

I

IV

V

C

C/E

F

G

I

V

VI

I

IV

V

I

C

G/B

Am

C/G

F

G

C

As you can see from the following exercises, playing the root, second and fifth over our new progression sounds very nice.

Exercise 6

Track 6

Exercise 7

Track 7


Exercise 8

Track 8

As we noticed when playing our two tone improvisations, we can also play the two tones together. We can transfer this to the three tone improvisations, in varying positions:

Likewise alternating between notes played together and single notes is very musical and tasteful. Take a look at Exercise 9.

An improvisation using the three tones in octaves is also possible:

In Exercise 10 you’ll find improvisations with octaves over Chord Progression 2.

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Exercise 9

Track 9

Exercise 10

Track 10


Track 11 HP, Track 12 FP

Love with Passion Lead Sheet Music: Michael Gundlach

© www.migu-music.com

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“Love with Passion” is the first song using our three note improvisation. With the lead sheet you can play along with the track and create your own improvisations. For improvising we’re using Chord Progression 4 which is a harmonic variation of Chord Progression 3.

Chord Progression 4 C

G/B

Am

C/G

F

C/E

Dm7

G7sus4

This piece is in C major and you can play the three tones C, D and G over the entire Chord Progression 4. The improvised part from the written piano version is on pages 16–18, measures 40–64.



Love with Passion Music: Michael Gundlach


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Three Note Combinations If you play the root, second and fifth of the C major scale together as a chord you have a “Csus2” chord:

Csus2

Single notes Csus2

The chord symbol “sus2” means that the second of the chord is played instead of the third. In the key of C major the “Csus2” is the “I chord” (a major chord) without the third. The IV chord and V chord from the major scale are also major chords. Both these chords can be converted into sus2 chords: Fsus2

Single notes Fsus2

Gsus2

Single notes Gsus2

The single notes of the Fsus2 and Gsus2 can be used for improvising in F major and G major respectively. These three major chords form our next harmony progression, which we will use for our first exercise with the three note improvisation:


IV

V

I

C

F

G

C

Exercise 11

20

Track 13

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The three major chords from Chord Progression 5, adding the third, can be played in the bass. Now we have a new chord progression, which will be the basis for Exercise 12:

Chord Progression 6 I C

IV C/E

Exercise 12

F

V F/A

G

I G/B

C

Track 14

“Amélies Dream” (in G major) is the first song to utilize the three note combinations. The improvised section introduces a new chord progression:

Chord Progression 7 (G major) I

IV

VI

V

G

C

Em

D

With all four chords we can improvise using the root, second and fifth of the G major scale. We can also convert the IV chord and V chord (major chords) into sus2 chord and improvise with the individual notes. In the lead sheet from “Amélies Dream” you will see which notes can be used.



Amélies Dream Lead Sheet Music: Michael Gundlach


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Amélies Dream Music: Michael Gundlach


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Three note Combination with Second, Third and Fifth Before we move on to four note improvisation in the next chapter, let’s look at a new three note combination. Now we will use the second, third and fifth of the major scale. Second, third and fifth of the C major scale

Second

Third

Fifth

This new combination can be used for improvisations over all the previous chord progressions. We can practice this in Exercise 13. We’ll use Chord Progression 1 (see page 6).

Exercise 13

Track 17

Tip: Improvise this new combination over Chord Progression 3!


Improvisation with 4 notes Using just 2–3 notes provides a simple introduction to Pop and Rock improvisation. By adding a fourth note we open up more musical possibilities. Our four tone sequence consists of root, second, third and fifth of the major scale:

C major scale 1

2

3

Root

Second

Third

4

5

6

7

Fifth

All four tones can be used for an improvised solo over the chords of a C major scale (and over all the chord progressions). Exercises 14 + 15 will demonstrate this. The four notes are presented in ascending and descending lines, in various registers.

Exercise 14

Track 18

Exercise 15

Track 19

Exercises 16 + 17 use Chord Progression 4. We use Chord Progression 2 for Exercise 18. An interesting triplet rhythm occurs in Exercise 19.

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Exercise 16

Track 20

Exercise 17

Track 21


Exercise 18

Track 22

Exercise 19

Track 23

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As we have already learned, we can play notes together and in different registers. Many variations are possible. In this course we want to concentrate on just one practical variation.

Four tone combination using two notes each

In Exercises 20–22 we see the four tone combination using two notes each in the right hand.

Exercise 20

Track 24

Exercise 21

Track 25


Exercise 22

Track 26

We can also use the four note combination in octaves. Practicing octaves will improve your piano technique. Exercise 23 uses the four note combination in octaves over Chord Progression 1.

Four note Combination in Octaves

Exercise 23

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Butterfly “Butterfly” is the first song using the 4 note improvisation. The song is in the key of A minor which is the parallel minor key of C major. This means we can use all the notes of the C major scale for improvising. We want to limit ourselves to the notes C, D, E, and G.

The improvisation section consists of a combination of Chord Progression 1 + 8.


VI

IV

V

C

Am

F

G

VI

IV

I

V

Am

F

C

G

Chord Progression 8

Chord Progression 8 is a new combination formed by rearranging the chords in Chord Progression 1. In the piano version you will see the improvised section in measures 37–60 (pages 40–41). Notice the use of single notes and two notes played together.

Tip: “Butterfly” consists of the above four chords. When improvising with the play-along you can use the four note combination throughout.



Butterfly Lead Sheet Music: Michael Gundlach


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Butterfly Music: Michael Gundlach


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Your Improvisations Throughout this course you have seen many examples showing you how to improvise with 2–4 notes. As you play through the examples you acquire a feeling for what sounds good. You can apply this information to your own improvisation and when playing with other play-alongs. Track 30 contains a play-along in a rock groove. The key of E major is typical for guitar-oriented rock music. The chords are arranged differently from Chord Progression 5, which means we have a new progression.

Chord Progression 9 (E major) I

IV

I

V

E

A

E

B

First try improvising using only the notes E, F#, and B. Then you can try different combinations (see Three Note Combinations, page 20).

Track 30 HP Style: Rock

The next play-along has a modern ballad groove. Here we use the key of Eb major. For your improvisations you can use the four note combination of Eb, F, G, and Bb. The play-along uses the chords from Chord Progression 7.

Chord Progression 7 (Eb major) I

IV

VI

V

Eb

Ab

Cm

Bb

Track 31 HP Style: Ballad


With the following play-along you can once again improvise in C major. Our four note combination is C, D, E, and G. Harmony is Chord Progression 2.

Chord Progression 2 (C major) I

I

IV

V

C

C/E

F

G

Track 32 HP Style: RnB

For the last play-along we are playing in G major. Our four notes are G, A, B, and D. Additionally, we’ll learn a new chord progression.

Chord Progression 10 (G major) VI

V

I

Em

D/F#

G

Track 33 HP Style: Ballad

Improvisation tips • When improvising, try to build your solo, playing fewer notes at the beginning. • Leave plenty of spaces (rests) in your playing. This creates excitement. • Use syncopation. This adds “drive” to your playing. • Use repeated notes. You can repeat single notes in your improvisation. • Invent new three and four note sequences and try them over the 10 Chord Progressions.

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Chords & Note Sequences Here is a list of chord triads in all keys. You will also find all of our note combinations in all keys. With this list you can apply the learned techniques in all keys. For example, if you want to improvise in D major, you have the correct chords and notes right here.

C major

F major

G major


Bb major

D major

A major

Eb major

E major

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Ab major

B major

Db major

F# major

Gb major


Exercise 1

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Exercise 2

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Exercise 3

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Exercise 4

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Exercise 5

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Exercise 6

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Exercise 7

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Exercise 8

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Exercise 9

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Exercise 10

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Exercise 11

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Exercise 12

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Exercise 13

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Exercise 14

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Exercise 15

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Exercise 16

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Exercise 17

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Exercise 18

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Exercise 19

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Exercise 20

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Exercise 21

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Exercise 22

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Exercise 23

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Thank you! First of all, I would like to thank my parents and my sister Claudia. You supported me so much over the years, and I will never forget that! I would also like to thank all my music teachers for their profound musical influences. A special debt of gratitude goes to my deceased classical music teacher, Professor Helmut Vogel, as well as my jazz teacher Professor Jörg Reiter. Kostas, thank you very much for your friendship over the years, and for your technical support in all our productions. You have amazing talents! Many thanks to Feuerwasser for the excellent book cover and creative use of the layouts. Also, I would like to thank everyone that supported me and encouraged me during this project. My highest praise and gratitude to God, who gave me this gift and in Jesus Christ, our hope and salvation over death.

www.migu-music.com Mario Romero ([email protected]) Kd.-Nr. 756483

Rock Pop Piano

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