Integral Inspirations

Download: two pages, these materials are appropriate for an intermediate level pianist. Adult students and junior high and high school age pianists have enjoyed its soothing sound. It's also nice to pair this improvisation with Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude for piano - even for those who have never improvised. The download includes notation for all the different ways you can practice in order to play it, which I demonstrate in the related video you can watch here on the site (VIDEO - Soothing New Age Piano Improv).

 

This intermediate level piece is appropriate for both young and adult students. If you can play this piece, you can play Summertime by George Gershwin! Or, you could play Summertime, then play this piece as a quasi-improvisation (feel free to take some liberties with it yourself), then play Summertime again, for a nice jazz arrangement. This piece has another download associated with it which shows how the chord voicings are formed. I demonstrate all this in a video you can watch here on the site (VIDEO - Poky Stroll to Gershwin's Summertime).

When you downloaded and played the piece, Poky Stroll, you may have noticed how easy it is to then play Summertime by George Gershwin. The sheet music for Poky Stroll has chord symbols, just like a lead sheet would, but it's also a fully notated piano piece, arranged with jazz chords for both hands. But would you have known what to play, if all you had was a lead sheet? How does a piano arranger (or jazz pianist) create such special and colorful jazz chords, called voicings? When you download this 1-page step-by-step explanation, you'll understand how the chords were formed in Poky Stroll. It's fun to compare the first "unvoiced" chord in each example with the final chord voicing, to notice how much better the chord sounds in its new voicing. Then, answer the 3 short quiz questions to prove your jazz arranging know-how!

What musical scale is so easy it can be played by a beginner in the very first lesson?

What does the piece, Juju, by jazz composer Wayne Shorter and the first movement of Pour Le Piano by Claude Debussy have in common?"

Find out in this fun mini-lesson!

Download is two pages. Here's an explanation of one of the most beautiful and atmospheric 7th chords used in many pieces of music, including Film Noir movie soundtracks, jazz standards and also a piece by Dave Brubeck. As simple as adding the interval of a major 7th to a minor triad, the minor major 7th chord is important and lovely to know about.

Download: Three pages, this is an Early Intermediate Level lesson. "Harmonic analysis" may sound scary and difficult at times, but not here! Instead, we have fun. We start by first understanding Skip to My Lou. We create an easy arrangement from a lead sheet of this simple song. You may be surprised to see how naturally this entertaining activity flows into a complete understanding of a piece by Beethoven.