"Pop Piano Playing Simplified"
Learning to play
"pop" piano consists of three
inter-related steps:
-
You learn to read the melody line only (the tune) of sheet music (or a fake book);
-
You learn how to read chord signs and play chords;
-
You learn how to create a "rhythm bass" in your left hand with chords.
If you thoroughly digest and learn these three steps, you can play most any popular tune ever written from the great standards to the hits of today.
But you must
master
these 3 steps -- not half-master, but
master!
When I was a kid,
I used to dream about playing pop piano (also often referred to a popular
piano). I would listen on the radio to the pop piano players of the day --
people like Erroll Garner, Carmen Cavellero, Roger Williams, Oscar
Peterson and many others.
I would rummage
through old book stores searching for used piano courses that might give
me the key to playing like those pop piano players I admired so much.
Occasionally I would find a book on popular piano, but they weren't really
of much help to me.
Then one day when
I was 14 or so I saw an ad in Popular Mechanics (of all places) for a
chord chart that promised to show me everything I needed to know about
playing pop piano. It cost all of $2., which at that time was more like
$20. today, so it was a big investment for a young teenager like me.
But it paid off
big time. It showed me how to form the C6 chord and the Dm7 chord, and how
to play "Frankie & Johnny" in my right hand while I played chords in my
left hand. I'm sure it didn't sound like much then, but it was like
finding the key to the universe for me! I wanted to play popular piano,
and now I could actually do it -- I was playing pop piano!
I don't want to
bore you to tears, but on this course I have narrowed the entire field of
popular piano playing down to 3 steps. If you really understand and master
these 3 steps, you are on your way to playing pop piano like you've always
wanted to. You won't be great by any means, but you'll be on your way! |