billkeis.com

I know many people don’t like year-end letters but I couldn’t resist.

2016 was a wild year for many reasons.  I am very happy to be working in the music biz.  This is what I love to do and I’m looking forward to 2017.

Last year I had fun playing gigs with 11 different bands/artists.

I enjoyed working in my studio as a player, engineer, producer with 9 different clients.  Additionally, I wrote numerous songs, TV/Film cues, arrangements, charts and transcriptions.

A CD I worked on was released in 2016 – Chico 45th Anniversary ~ CHICO [latin, variety] (Bill Keis, mastering engineer, keyboards).  I’m looking forward to three more CDs being released in 2017.

As a teacher, my niche is teaching adults.  I cover many things including accompaniment skills, composing and how to play in a band.

Super cool news:  a student wrote and recorded a song for his wife for their anniversary, several students played casuals and sat in at nightclubs, one student (who was failing) got an “A” in her College music class.  In 2016 I reached a milestone…all 10 of my music books are now available on Amazon Kindle!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2017.  Let’s get together and make some noise!

Bill

(818) 246-6858

http://www.BillKeis.com/
http://www.BillKeisMusicLessons.com/

Blues in an extremely important style of music because it has influenced nearly all music since its beginning, circa 1890 A.D. Certainly this rich heritage deserves much study.

This article is by no means meant to cover even a fraction of the blues. The purpose here is simple. Define a few key elements of the blues that every 21st century musician should know.  This will get you started.

The Blues Chord Progression

The most basic version of Blues has a very simple chord progression that consists of only three chords: the I, IV and V chords of whatever key the song is in. These chords follow a specific sequence over 12 bars.

I  IV  I  I

IV  IV  I  I

V  IV  I  I  (or V when repeating)

Since countless songs have been written to this chord progression it is something that really should be memorized.

Additionally, most musicians know this progression and you probably wouldn’t be taken seriously if you don’t know it.

Improvisation

Although the blues is rather simple compared to many styles that followed it, playing blues is no easy task for a beginner. Even someone well-trained in Classical music might find playing the blues quite challenging.

The reason for this is that blues music has lots of improvisation. If that is new to you, now is the time to practice and get it down.

There are 3 Blues Scales.  They are:

Major Blues Scale 1 2 –3 3 5 6 8

example:  C  D  E flat  E  G  A  C

Minor Blues Scale 1–3 4 +4 (–5 )5 –7 8

example:  C  E flat  F  G flat G  B flat  C

Jazz Blues Scale    1 2 –3 3 4 +4 (–5) 5 6 –7 8

example:  C D E flat E F G flat G A B flat C

If you haven’t already done this, practice improvising in 4/4 with triplet feel up to at least 80 BPM in a few different keys.

Pick a key and then practice the 12 bar blues progression with a metronome until you can easily play it several times without losing the beat.

Then, begin to practice improvising over the blues progression using the data below.

Practice #1 until you’ve got it, then go on to #2, etc.

1. Major Blues Scale of the key for all chords (in major blues)
2. Minor Blues Scale of the key for all chords (in minor blues)
3. Minor Blues Scale of the key for all chords (in major blues)
4. Blues scale of the chord you are on
5. Jazz Blues Scale of the key for all chords (in major blues)

Summary

Have fun and do lots of improvisation and soon you’ll find you are well on you way to playing the blues.

The Secrets of Improvisation – Part Two

Rhythmic Improvisation

Certainly if you want to play Jazz or Rock, or pretty much any style of music developed since 1900, you should be able to improvise rhythms.

However, even if you just want to play Classical music, practicing improvisation will still be helpful because it develops basic skills to a higher level than just reading notes does.

If we draw a comparison to talking, certainly you wouldn’t think of only speaking from a prepared script. So as a musician, why only play what is written on the page?

You will reach a higher level of command over rhythm, if you practice improvising rhythms.

Do the following drills by clapping, counting out loud and tapping your foot. Then play on your instrument, at first just one note or a chord.  After you are proficient, improvise with scales, etc.

1. 4/4 (no sub-beats) only quarter,half,dotted half, whole notes & rests
2. 3/4 (no sub-beats) only quarter,half,dotted half,whole notes & rests
3. 4/4 in eighth note feel
4. 3/4 in eighth note feel
5. 4/4 in triplet feel
6. 3/4 in triplet feel
7. 4/4 in sixteenth note feel
8. 3/4 in sixteenth note feel

Practice with a metronome.  The speed depends on your level: beginner, intermediate or advanced.  Here are some guidelines.

#1 & #2 from 120 – 240 BPM

#3 & #4 from 90 – 208 BPM

#5 & #6 from 60 – 140 BPM

#7 & #8 from 46 – 104 BPM

Work up to a point where you can freely improvise in each format including all the basic rhythmic figures and variations in dynamics.

To become a great improviser requires lots of knowledge about scales and chords and many other things.  An understanding of various styles of music and what those styles are composed of rhythmically, is very important.

See below for a list of styles and their rhythmic feels. This is a partial list. Some styles cross feels.

Eighth Note Feel

Pop ballads, Bossa Nova, Cha-cha, Rock, Pop Rock, Waltz, Tango

Triplet (Swing) Feel

Shuffle, Blues, 50’s, Dixieland, Swing, Bebop, Straight Ahead (Jazz), Jazz waltz, Country waltz, Show tunes, Reggae, Standards, Gospel

Sixteenth note feel

(Sometimes written as eighth notes in cut time)

Funk, R&B, Disco, Jazz Rock, Samba, Salsa, Calypso, Caribbean, Pop ballads, Fusion, Funk/Rock, Cumbia

Sixteenth note triplets ~ “swing sixteenths” feel

Hip – Hop, Funky Shuffle, Smooth Jazz, Modern Rock, R&B styles

If you play in the rhythm section: keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, it is also a good idea to practice improvising grooves.

A groove is a repeating rhythmic pattern, usually one or two bars long, that is played by one of the rhythm section instruments. Each player could be playing a different groove and they all work together or several players could be playing the same groove.

A groove ‘lays down the bed’ for the melody instruments to play on. Grooves will most commonly repeat for a section of a tune and then change to a new pattern for a new section. Fills would be played at the end of melodic phrases (commonly every 4 or 8 bars).

Rhythmic Improvisation is a very important secret of improvisation.

Improvise: to produce without preparation; to make up and perform with little or no preparation; to compose and perform at the same time.

In music, this usually refers to making up a melody over a chord progression1. This is a very easy and fun thing to do, if you know how. So how do you learn? The first thing is to realize that even though improvisation is done without preparation, there is a lot of things you can study and practice to improve this skill and make it more fun. Learn all your scales and chords inside and out. Experiment. Listen to a lot of different players.

Improvising music is very much like talking. Most people improvise conversation everyday. How long did it take to learn to do this? How did you learn to talk? Well, just like when you were growing up, start simple. Practice making up melodies without chords by using only a few notes or one scale at a time.

Chick Corea2 once said, “Play only what you hear. If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything.” What does that mean? Well, it means to play only what you create in your mind, what you “hear” in your mind. And that is the goal: PLAY ONLY WHAT YOUR HEAR. And how can you get to that point?

Again, let’s compare improvising music to talking. When you tell a friend about a cool movie you saw last week, you get an idea and then say words to communicate your thoughts. The same thing should happen when you improvise. Get an idea of some sounds and then play those sounds. In other words, PLAY ONLY WHAT YOU HEAR.

My advice is to start simple. First learn to play over one chord, then two chords, then the 12 Bar Blues1, etc. Continue working up to improvising over a whole tune, but even then start with easier tunes like Pop or Country. After that you’ll be able to move on to Jazz.

Keep in mind the goal is to ‘play what you hear’ (play what you are creating in your mind). To develop that skill, you should often sing “la” or “da” when you practice improvisation.

Music is made up of melody, harmony, and rhythm. To become a great improviser, you have to learn a lot about all three of these subjects.

Above all, have fun!

1 Chord Progression: a sequence of chords played in a song.

2 Chick Corea: American jazz pianist and composer; b. Massachusetts June 12, 1941.

Dear Bill, 

The book is great. Got me thinking that anyone can learn music 

and you really can use drills and practice to hone any level 

of innate talent you might have. 

Thanks, Matt

Hello!

This blog category is gonna be about my adventures as a live performer.  There are often funny things that occur on my gigs as well as wonderful aesthetic moments.  I will talk about these and other related topics.

Enjoy!