Hi folks,
One of my songwriting students, who primarily thinks in terms of guitar, asked for some guidance today on how to approach writing a song on piano. Here's what I came up with to get her started in a helpful direction, using ostinatos as a key to structure her ideas (and also to help her engage her muscle memory to make it easier to play).
This is a free downloadable PDF with a practical step-by-step process that you can adapt to suit your own style of playing and composing:
Instrumental Songwriting Strategies for Beginner Piano
If this approach resonates with you and you'd like to explore more, please check out my Lessonface profile:
http://www.lessonface.com/UndergroundRiverMusic
I'd also love feedback on this if it sparks related ideas for you, or if you have suggestions for how to improve this as a handout.
Cheers,
Sean Shea
Underground River Music
Hello Sean!
Your approach sounds pretty solid.
I teach piano students how to play from chord symbols with a similar approach. I always start off with simple block chord voicings and then have the students apply repeating patterns (ostinatos, etc.). The details depend on the student's skill level, of course.
When I teach students how to improvise a melody over a set of chord changes, I'll have them take a simple pattern for the chords in the left hand (block chords repeated in quarter notes, for example) and give them a set of rules for creating a melody in the right hand. For beginner students, for example, I will have them create melody using only the black keys (for a pentatonic scale) and teach them a simple chord progression that fits underneath that scale.
I've found that students as young as 6 or 7 can learn to do basic improvisations like this as long as the process is broken down for them clearly enough!
Good luck to you and your students!
Nathan Jones