Piano fake book left hand

The topic of how to play nearly anything on a musical instrument is obviously broad, even more so on piano, and is therefore difficult to avoid tainting with the authors bias. Fake books are one of the best ways to practice piano because they require you to go beyond just playing chordsif you really want what youre playing to sound good, you have to vary your chord progressions, add in some melody and transitions, and. My new book, 100 left hand patterns every piano player should. Easy rhythm pattern for accompanying yourself or friend keyboards february 26, 2014 march 12. Essentially you must provide an improvised left hand using those chord symbols. Playing piano with your left hand, too your left hand plays a supporting role when youre at the piano. For example, play chords with your left hand and melody with your right hand. Play the chord root as the bottom note in the left hand unless it. Fake books are a wonderful way to learn popular music. Huge collection which uses the most frequently used chords with some substitutions. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or.

How to play the same song 100 different ways includes the fun fake book by jerald simon. You can learn piano up to times faster compared to other methods. Download and print spongebob squarepants theme song sheet music for piano solo big note book by mark harrison. Quickly and easily learn to play popular songs in piano. These can either be combination chords such as a g chord over an a bass note, or simply inversions, such as a g chord over its fifth, d. Here are a number of books that will help you get the most out of your music fake books. By the way, there is nothing fake about playing out of a fake book in fact, you are about to learn it requires a great amount of skill. This is a challenging skill so take your time getting comfortable with the chords played 1block.

When you start to learn piano chords, i recommend that you get a book with melodies and simple chords to practice with, like this easy fake book affiliate link that i also use in my studio. Jazz fake book this is the ultimate jazz fake book and contains more than 625 songs. Each song has a chord chart at the beginning of it to help you play the left hand accompaniment to the melody. Generally, the songs are written much more concisely, or are abbreviated with only the melody and chord names written in. Use these 100 left hand patterns in this book to arrange the 100 songs from the fun fake book or use the left hand patterns to arrange any music youd like to. How to play piano with a fake book 100 left hand patterns every piano player should know. The included fun fake book 100 songs in the key of c is a gold mine all by itself. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of left hand accompaniment patterns. Here is a video to expand on yesterdays post about how to use fake books. Heres the jeffrey chappell stepbystep method for approaching a fake book lead sheet. The best left hand pattern for piano the secret sauce duration.

This book was created to help piano students of all ages and skill levels learn how to improvise and arrange music of their own. I have nonetheless attempted, in response to many ongoing requests, to compile a guide to learning and enhancing the performance of ragtimeoldtime piano pieces. P laying piano is one of lifes great joys creating beautiful music, entertaining family and friends and expressing your inner creativity. When i discovered my first fake book, i recognized that if i sat at the piano, i could play the melody in my right hand and play the chords in my left and i literally began playing piano overnight, much to the shock of my parents. The fun fake book featuring 100 songs in fake book format where the right hand melody is shown with corresponding chords notated above each measure the piano player fakes, or improvises, their own left hand pattern using the 100 left hand patterns taught in the book. How to play from a fake book without gettin the blues index of chapters chapter 1 g, am7 and d7 page 1. But even though it doesnt often get to play the melody, your left hand adds some crucial bass notes and accompaniment. I highly recommend for those who play keyboard, or play using left hand chords. The piano, in a jazz setting, is considered a rhythm instrument, and.

The best way to learn each of the left hands is to choose a lh pattern and then play 20 different fake songs with that lh pattern. Slash chords are fake book notation for inversions. Once upon a time, before the rise of the electric guitar, back in the dim dark past of the early 1900s, americans out for a night on the town were serenaded by live groups. Download the ultimate guide to piano patterns to make exploring these patterns in your studio that much easier, ive created a download of the most common patterns that students should know. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or keyboard. Your left fifth finger will always play the root of the chord, and you will play the interval of either an octave, seventh, or fifth in that hand. Then, you can begin modifying the left hand to enhance the right hand melody. Within a couple years my friend and i got a gig playing for tips at a local diner that had a beat up piano. If you havent explored left hand piano styles and patterns before, your.

Half hour piano lessons for beginning piano students after a few months most students switch to 45 min. As with almost all fake books, complete lyrics are included for the. Left hand piano patterns made of broken chords you can use. They handed me a fake book and told me to learn the chords in the songs they were going to play.

Start by marking scott the piano guys favorite piano fake book as want to read. Play from fake book learn to read piano chord symbols, play piano chords and make nice arrangement to songs. I ordered this book for a student who specifically wanted to learn how to play from a fake book. Similarly, the link on the right goes to amazons page for this book. I just want to show you the principle of playing the piano by chord symbols as opposed to reading music as it is. I didnt know anything about chords at that point, even though i had taken piano lessons for about 8 years from 6.

The left hand is still only playing the root of the chord. Click notation example top right of this web page if you have never seen the format. Each song is treble clef melody, all lyrics words to the song, chord symbols above the staff. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your own resources to supply an interestingsounding. A piano fake book allows you to read and play music on your piano. Piano key notes made easy for beginners learn piano. This book takes many of the ideas i put forward in how to speed read piano. Thats exactly why left hand patterns are so important and why i created a download especially to help teachers explore this with students. If you are playing jazz, you will use 7th chords and there are 5 of those too. Did you guys teach yourself how to play from fake books or did a teacher teach you. Learn more about my new book, 100 left hand patterns every piano player should know play the same song 100 different ways includes. When playing from a lead sheet or fake book, the right hand also usually keeps the melody note on top.

Include chord tones in the right hand as well as the left hand. But unlike your typical books, which contain the score as written by the composer or arranger, a fake book is more of a reference for the songs. Then choose another lh pattern and play 20 songs with it. How to play a iivvv7i chord progression on the piano and improvise with it by jerald simon. It has easy, well known songs to practice playing easy chords to, and making faking your own accompaniments. Depending on the song, its mood, or tempo, or rhythm, you might try some left hand arpeggio work, or block chords moving up the piano, or just solid repeated chords on the beat. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your. She is also the author of numerous books and dvds on how to play popular piano and is the president of.

Once you do that, there are several techniques you can fool around with in the left hand. It is a very comprehensive book filled with technique and explanations on how to use the left hand so you can proficiently accompany the melody using only chord symbols for your left hand. By kevin harper history of fake books and lead sheets imagine this. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of lefthand accompaniment patterns. I bought a fake book when i first started playing called this is the ultimate fake book 1,000 songs. The left hand usually covers a 5th, octave and sometimes a 10th the right hand usually has smaller intervals.

Chapter 9 dividing the workload page 183 learn common voicings that allow you to move some of the notes from the right hand to the left. Left hand plays the chords and right hand plays the melody. Quickly and easily learn to play popular songs in piano fake books. The only book available today that teaches how to practice at the piano, not just what techniques you need scales, runs, hand finger independence, endurance, jumps, tone, relaxation, etc. But until now, it typically took years of lessons and persistence to be able to sit down and play popular songs when the opportunity arises.

Scott the piano guys favorite piano fake book by scott. You might need to learn by chords for the left hand bass, named by c, g, d, f instead of actual individual notes. Scott the piano guys favorite piano fake book scott houston. They provide a melody line and lyrics plus chord symbols. Hal leonard has dozens of fake books for all musical genres to ensure you can play the music you want or need to play. The piano, in a jazz setting, is considered a rhythm instrument, and therefore uses the lefthand chords and accompaniment to help provide the rhythm. Download and print study for the left hand sheet music for piano solo by bela bartok. This book has lots of songs that a beginner can play right away with the right hand treble notes. Easy rhythm pattern for accompanying yourself or friend. How to use a fake book featuring 100 left hand patterns every. This book is my sixth piano book related to playing from fake books and improvising at the piano. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names, youre left to your own resources to supply an interestingsounding bass line.

For instance, you could browse for real and fake books devoted to specific instruments, like the hal leonard scott the piano guys favorite piano fake book volume 2 or the hal leonard the greatest rock guitar fake book. I am looking for volunteers to translate this book. Someone told me this is not a good fake book because the chords suck. Piano music shows both a treble and bass clef, and what to do with your right hand and your left hand. The 100 left hand patterns introduced in this book can help piano students, piano teachers, and music professionals take their piano playing to. Piano chord voicing is most often divided between both hands. It has a variety of different songs like tv theme songs, a little jazz, movie, pop etc. Ever wondered how to create better accompaniments for the melodies in your favorite fake books. If you play the song more than one time thru, use a different left hand on each chorus. I demonstrate some options for adding left hand rhythm. As far as chords go, if you are playing pop music there are 5 triad types.