COURSE QUESTIONS / QUERIES / COMMENTS!

RuthPower

MikeClarke haha Mike you are so awesome! Thanks for sharing with us - I do love the Saturday morning, coffee in hand - feeling good about where you're at & going with the piano! There'll be a day soon when you and your daughter can be swapping tips, maybe play a duet? 🤩
The Kate Bush song is one of my favourite covers ('Running up that Hill' - which fun fact: the acronym spells RUTH!). That studio was our rehearsal space in Shoreditch, London. Barely enough room to fit a drumkit and 3 musicians, but it was a fun space - with a rooftop to hang out in our breaks!
Ha the bloopers! Yes, Super Basics was the first course I filmed for Piano Picnic and it was definitely an intense (but fun) week of filming that and also 'Songs by Ear' - good times! I don't film so much content back to back these days so don't find myself getting the hysterics from exhaustion quite so bad! 😁
Just to make sure that you start with the proper pre-filmed course here: https://school.pianopicnic.com/courses/enrolled/162195
The 'Play By Ear Live Archive' version is a live-filmed workshop version, that is still a really great program to go through but best after the Songs by Ear actual course.
ENJOY! And have a super wonderful week!

RuthPower

Here's the video for anyone who hasn't seen it! My old band's cover of 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irn30DPcyNI

noellah-jeannica

Hi @RuthPower. Just gonna be catching up with missed coaching sessions this week. Is there a way for me to download the handout for “Flowing Technique” as a PDF? For some reason I couldn’t do that in “The Creative Pianist” course itself. Thanks!

RuthPower

noellah-jeannica Hi Noella - welcome back! Great point - I've just gone in and enabled the download. Should be good to go now. Enjoy!

noellah-jeannica

RuthPower Got it! Thanks.

Tricia

HI RuthPower , the Keys of Songwriting Workbook p20 has a reference for audio examples in the lesson areas such as 'Release' but I only see the videos on each page. Nothing below it. I've gotten up to almost the end of the Harmony section and found it curious that it's been empty below the videos. Am I missing something?

RuthPower

Tricia Hi Tricia thank you for pointing this out - I've now uploaded the missing audio in the lesson area for 'Tension & Release'. Enjoy! Let me know how you get on with the rest of it!

Tricia

RuthPower Thanks, Ruth! It's very comprehensive and concise. I especially appreciate the range of examples throughout to illustrate the concepts and your personal stories. One I related to was something like "don't use fake lyrics" lol So true! I've done that as well. I find using filler syllables (like 'na' or 'da') leaves it more open-ended.

RuthPower

Tricia fantastic! Glad you are loving it! Yes fake lyrics never really work out too well, you always end up trying to convince yourself as well as the listener, easier to write what you know!

Tricia

Hi Ruth and friends, I’m wondering if there’s a coaching, set of exercises/drills or a lesson somewhere in one of the modules about hand independence and also LH patterns/ accompaniment? Said differently, how would you develop past playing block chords or octaves?

I’ve just gotten to the end of Step 4 in Lovin Leadsheets and in Hands Together mode, I seem to only be able to work it out together if the LH is only playing on the 1. Is it because I’m still reading the chords from the lead sheet? Even in free play, I can only get some kind of flow when LH is just on the 1. Sharing what that sounds like below. Is that because finding where to place fingers for the chords isn’t yet automated for me?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BA9seqT1T7Uh1Lwc2URnlaUwd2CsIf1h/view?usp=drivesdk

alexx88

Tricia Ruth would be best to give you specifics as to "why" & good examples of where to look. You've got a few things you seem to want to work on. LH patterns, rhythm, improv, hand independence & technique.

All of this will come in time as you play. Try not to think about it so much. When you get stuck in your head creativity suffers & you get all hung up. Been down that road many times! I'm a frequent flier!

Here's a few things to check out. Don't overwhelm yourself with all the info! Try a few things to get comfortable with, & expand.

There are so many things you can try for LH patterns. 1-5-1, Fifths (1-5), alberti bass, rocking the 1 w/3 & 5. off the top of my head I'd check out more in Lovin Leadsheets, Riffing Pro, Arranging for Solo Piano, In the Vault: Chords & Comping, Improvising In Any Key, Techniques & Drills, Tricky Fingers, Rhythm Station, Flowing Piano, The Club Mix, although that comes out in pieces. Good Luck & Have Fun!

MikeClarke

Tricia

Hi Tricia, I haven't any advice, sorry.
Alexx would be the person I would be going to if I needed help, so it's great she has given you some tips.
The only thing I can think of, is when I've wondered about something, I've typed some key words into the 'Search Forum' box and have been surprised with the wealth of info in here. Might be worth giving it a go if you haven't already, there might be something Ruth has posted before. All the best, Mike

RuthPower

Tricia Hi Tricia, thank you for sharing where you are up to - I love your 10 minute challenge results! That is a really cool example of free playing! So @alexx88 really hit the button with her comment - don't put too much pressure on yourself right now to do a lot of different patterns - the next step of getting toward doing more with your chording hand is to be comfortable playing on each beat - so right now you're playing on beat 1 - the next step is to play on each beat of the bar along with the melody.
From there, you might play on some off-beats instead of on-beats.
Or, stay on the beat but play each note of the chord separately.
There's endless patterns you can get into - but most of the battle is about being able to play one rhythm with your left and another with your right. As Alexx said, Riffing Pro will take you on that journey, but I would not go onto that until you've finished Lovin' Leadsheets.
So your plan - is to keep going with Lovin' Leadsheets, don't expect too much of yourself right away - keep playing on the beat and think about simple ways to separate the notes of the chord, or play on different beats of the bar.
There are more hints to do with this in the coaching 'Chords & Comping' in The Vault.
You are doing brilliantly!!!
P.S great tip from @MikeClarke to use the search function, that's a good one!

Tricia

alexx88 and @RuthPower thanks for the road map! I find it super helpful to have an idea of what's ahead and which lessons would be directly connected. I guess I'm chomping at the bit a little... Lovin' Leadsheets Step 5 has gotten into LH rhythm some more too 😄

Related to this, would you say it's important to always practice with a metronome? Or at which points is it good to practice with a metronome and when is it ok to just try to feel the groove of it?

MikeClarke Thanks for the Search Forum tip! For some reason, I've never used that box before.

alexx88

Tricia I'm the same way with always wanted to jump ahead & try new things. That practice has both pros & cons. Key is knowing once you dive in when it's time to take a step back & hammer home some pre-requisite things first, so you don't get frustrated, while at the same time not holding yourself back when you are ready to " jump into the deep end without a life jacket."

Rumor has it the metronome can be quite useful lol. 😃 I'm SO the wrong person to give advice/comment on that. I hate using one. I never use one, even if I change the sound of it. Could I benefit from using one? Yep, there are times. Ruth knows how much I love the device, we've had discussions on it's merits.

RuthPower

alexx88 haha yes your favourite! Yes @Tricia if you can stand it the metronome is great to practise with: it can be frustrating to use while you're learning a rhythm because it doesn't stop when you stop and you can quickly get tangled up. So it's best to learn the rhythm so you can play it without stopping - then use the metronome as a tool to make sure you are hitting each beat on time but also not slowing down or speeding up over time. It helps you with keeping a steady tempo and getting used to counting beats with the rhythms you play.
If, like Alex, you can't stand the metronome and it's removing all the romance of playing (which I agree, it does) then finding a drumbeat to play along to - either one stocked in your keyboard or search 'drumbeat 4/4 120bpm' or whatever you're after in YouTube and something will pop up for you to play along to.
In terms of 'chomping at the bit' definitely continue with the course, but finding something fun that excites you is also important (if the course is meandering a bit) check out some of the 'Hack That Riff' tutorials in the course section and learn some song bites. It's useful to give you quick no-pressure songs to practise learning new repertoire.

Tricia

alexx88 Right! Noticing when the frustration starts to kick in is so important. In this case of trying to play on all the beats (as opposed to just the 1) for the LH, it was really confusing for me to be reading the lead sheet and trying to do hands together while finding their place on the keyboard. Too many new skills at the same time. So, I dialed back to practicing by tapping the rhythms of the LH and RH at the same time. This way I was just focusing on one skill. Took a few short sessions to get it. Gonna try the song again on the keyboard next.

One thing I realized is prior to learning piano I would keep time with the RH. I don't know if that comes from being right-handed or from playing the ukulele. 😂

@RuthPower yeah... I think metronome will come later for me in this case. I'm ok with the sound for regular exercises or for complex rhythms, the very easy to set up Impulse (coda labs) app. What's been helpful for me learning to play lead sheet melody on piano (especially with coordinating the two hands) is either singing while playing or saying the beats (Kodaly style with Ta and Titi) while reading the notes.

re: fun, so true! I've added your note on the course to the other items @alexx88 earlier.

RuthPower

Tricia So pleased that you're finding a way through - everyone is different and approaching with different experience & base skills - your previous experience with ukulele will definitely be helpful! For the mere fact that both hands need to do something different! What song/s or riffs are you working on at the moment?

alexx88

@"Tricia" How cool that you also play the ukulele! This group/forum is great, when you feel challenged or frustrated about something, whether it's a musical skill or technology, or whatever. Someone else has been there & has help or insights or tips, or even just another way of thinking or approaching something that can get us moving forward again.

RuthPower

alexx88 so true Alexx! I also love that like @MikeClarke said, we are amassing a library of topics that future members can search through to find answers for the same struggles. Love it!

Tricia

RuthPower I wish I could say I was working on piano songs or riffs but what I'm mostly actively working on are the foundational skills. I'm enjoying working through the lessons. I try to do one course, something from the club mix (still on essential skills at this time) and some free play.

I hope you don't mind but I have another question about LL. Considering how long it took to get the coordination for LH (on all beats) with RH, do you think I need to do at least one more LH variation before moving on? Or can I just move forward, and get back to that skill with the Hack That Riff tutorials? Or is it worthwhile to do more LH at this point since I'm familiar with the RH melody?

alexx88 Do you also play the uke? :-) I love that you can play a song with it easily from Day 1.

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