What
in the world is “naked music?”
You
know it when you hear it, but the words that describe
it sound strange, don’t they? We’ve all
heard of popular music and rock music and gospel music
and jazz music, but naked music?
Naked
music is simply the notes on a piece of sheet music.
It’s “naked” – not dressed
up or arranged at all. No fills, no slurs, none of
the ingredients that make a song come to life.
Not
a single professional musician plays the music exactly
as it appears on a piece of sheet music. Instead,
they use the written music as a map, or an outline,
and then proceed to do their own thing with it. They
twist it, bend it, add to it, subtract from it, put
fills in it, change the key, change the words, change
some of the melody notes, and on and on.
So
when you hear your favorite artist perform a piece
of music, if you look at the written sheet music while
they are performing it, you will see it is MUCH different
and MUCH better than the plain old “naked music!”
So
how can the average musician dress up naked music?
There are many ways, but here are seven of my favorites:
1.
Change the chords slightly by adding color tones.
What are color tones? Color tones are notes added
to the basic chord, usually expressed as 6ths, 7ths,
9ths, etc. For example, instead of playing just a
straight C chord as it is written – C, E, G
– try adding a color tone to it, such as a 6th
(A) or a 7th (Bb) or a major 7th (B) or a 9th (D).
In fact, try adding a couple together, like a 6th
and a 9th. So instead of being a plain vanilla chord
made up of C, E, and G, you’ve made it a tasty
variation adding A and D to the equation.
2.
During the pause between phrases, add a counter melody.
How? Take the given melody notes and turn them upside
down or inside out, or change the rhythm slightly
so the tune is still recognizable, but different.
3.
Add chord substitutions. Instead of always using the
chords that are written, ask yourself this question:
“Into what other chord will this melody note
fit?” For example, if the melody is G and the
chord is C, what other chords contain the note G in
them? There are several answers to that question.
G is not only in the C chord, but it is also in the
Em chord, the Eb major chord, the G chord, the Gm
chord, etc. Try one of those alternate chords until
you like the sound combination, then use it instead
of the C chord. It will add an originality and freshness
to your playing almost immediately.
4.
Add fills and runs between phrases. How do you do
that? Simply break up the chord that is in force at
the moment, and run it up the keyboard as a broken
chord – one note at a time. Or start at the
top of the keyboard and come down. Or play with the
chord a bit by playing 2 of the 3 notes instead of
the entire 3 note chord.
5.
Use melodic echos. After you have played the melody,
echo it by playing it an octave higher, or two octaves
higher, or an octave lower.
6.
Use half-step slides. If the chord progression is
from D7 to G7, instead of going to G7 directly, “slide
into it” by playing the chord that is one-half
step above – namely, Ab7, then quickly sliding
off Ab7 to G7.
7.
Use “blue notes.” Blue notes are created
by sliding off a black key onto a white key quickly.
For example, if the melody is E, slide off Eb to E
quickly using the same finger.
This
is just a tiny sampling of what you can do to dress
up your music. There are literally hundreds of other
techniques, from pseudo-modulations to inside blues
moves to deceptive cadences to tremelos to twangs
to crunches to straddles to 3-1 breakups to walk-downs
and walk-ups and on and on.
By
simply adding a few of these techniques to your playing
you can easily double and triple the excitement created
by your piano playing as you “dress up naked
music!”
Duane
Shinn is the author of over 500 music books, CD's
& DVD's including http://www.pianoplaying.com/
- "How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano!" He
also is the editor of the free email newsletter
http://www.playpiano.com/
- "Piano Lessons Online: Piano Chords & Progressions!"
which has over 61,000 current subscribers worldwide.
(Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/)
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