Piano Professor / Songwriting / Theory Genius is in. Taking your questions

Piano Professor / Songwriting / Theory Genius is in. Taking your questions...

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soundcloud.com/eddieeight/sets/musick-is-magick
amazon.com/Modulation-Dover-Books-Music-Reger/dp/048645732X
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1. Who are some of your favorite keyboardists?
2. Favorite 5 musicians in general?
3. Favorite genre(s)?

I am a jazz/classically trained bassist but haven't played in a year or so. Want to play an electric bass in a rock band, how hard will it be to relearn?

Any of your work online? If so, can we hear it?

ow many pianos have you built

How is the undergrad comp major going to avoid homelessness?

>the
this

. Who are some of your favorite keyboardists?
Favorite dead: Chopin or Liszt
Favorite living: N Kapustin or T Rosenkranz
. Favorite 5 musicians in general?
Stephen Merritt (Magnetic fields), Stephen Schwartz (broadway), Genesis P-Orridge, Joanna Newsom, not grimes
3. Favorite genre(s)?
>>question is impossibru to answer. i like something in virutally all

How do you approach improvising over changes?

Kind of a broad question but can you give me a quick rundown or point me in the direction of some helpful resources

This is a piano thread, not a bass thread. I'm not a guitarist so idk. but bass players only play one note at a time, right, so it shouldn't be that hard?
i would imagine you'll pick it back up quickly

soundcloud.com/eddieeight/sets/musick-is-magick

none. it is a very complicated process that requires lots of woodworking skill, and is usually completed by a team not a single person. it's not like building a guitar or something

Have you listened to any Herbie Hancock?

And if you what do you think of his music?

right

you're going to have to go on to graduate school and get a career in academia for anything stable. also depends on the style of music -- if you can do broadway or film scoring you might have a chance at finding work in ny or la, or if you are great at wrting songs you could work in nashville or atlanta. but don't expect a steady paycheck with a comp degree unless you're a teacher

Max Reger - Modulation
amazon.com/Modulation-Dover-Books-Music-Reger/dp/048645732X

Will help you get from any key to any key.

There are aalso a few church--organ type books that can help you with this.

i've listened to some, but not a lot. obviously a great keyboardist. that's all i can say really. sorry.

Nah you're good, man. I understand. I've been going through his discography, so I was just curious what a piano player would think.

Carnatic or Hindustani

no opinion. sorry but i can only split an octave into 12 pieces on a piano.

bump

>only twelve
what the heck

Thank you for doing this, profanon

1. What are some good resources to learn music theory?
2. How do you gain ideas for your songs when writing? I never seem to fully complete a verse, never mind a song
3. What do you write first: lyrics or melody? Why?
4. Where do you see the trends of music going in 5 years? 20 years?

1. Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Complete

2. i keep a notebook and a notepad file on my computer, and every time i think of a cool line or a cool idea i write it down, then try to string stuff together later. ideas come at weird times. Try turning your dreams into song ideas.

3. depends on the song. sometimes a lne inspires the melody, sometimes the other way round.

4. Music will continue to be heavily electronic. Music will also continue to hybridize --- we will see many new genres as different styles start mixing together and growing.

>not grimes
Lol - clever thinking.

In terms of songwriting, do you do it all while working at the piano (sounding things out, etc) or are you more of a staff paper/mental audiation type? I'm a classically trained musician myself (both composer and performer) and I always find it interesting to hear how a person's actual physical instrument figures into their composition process.

i do it at the piano mostly. sometimes once a melody is formed and i just need a 2nd verse, i can write lyrics away from the piano. however for me the piano is absolutely important - tones, harmonies, progressions are what really inspire me

Thank you for the book recommendation. Will read this Christmas season

5. Will rock music ever return to the mainstream? How and why?

ROck is already nearly 70 years old. i doubt it. hip hop is a little newer which is why it's still around. EDM is here to stay for a while though since it's the "newest"

I just cant name keys. I don't have absolute pitch. I try improvising but even if I have something in mind I cant put it out there on the spot. Just seems impossible to improvise without knowing the key of the sound in your head. Do you improvise? How do you do it?

yes, improvise over one chord for a while first until you get the feel. then improvise over 2 chords, going back and forth between the two. this will get you some practice changing. then try 3 chords. go slow. remember that in improv, mistakes are OKAY. in fact they are the RULE

I practice my melodic and harmonic minor scales everyday, practice arpeggios, do some sight reading everyday. Then when I'm playing I know I have these things to hand but am aware while I play to listen out for an interesting sound and to build on it. With improvisation it's a good thing to take risks sometimes, it can create the moments

What's the largest music youve ever seen?

the music made by this man

Bud Powell's transcriptions

Thank you anons I will give this a shot.

I've been composing for 4 years and I can't sight read or audiate. Am I retarded or does this come in time?

i bet you can sight read. go back to the easiest piano pieces you learned when you first started, play them through again. find other songs that are at a similar, SIMPLE level. sight reading should always be BELOW the level you currently play at.

You are not retarded, but you must practice sight reading in order to get better at sight reading. always have lots of fresh EASY music to practicce sight reading from

Always been more of a fan of rock, that sucks

Work through a piece from beginning to end from a fake book each day. The less you stop and start over and over the quicker you'll get better.

>Scwartz
>>not Sondheim