Visualization Techniques for the Pianist

Cell Phone "photo image" Captured July 25, 2005 at the U.S. Library of Congress. This reception was sponsored by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, in Commemoration of the Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965.

Controlling the images of the mind through image projection has proven valuable not only for psychotherapy, but also as a learning aid.

Visualization can have as much impact on the subconscious, memory, and entire body as a "real" experience.

For example, it is sometimes more expeditious to memorize a song by reading and thinking it through than it is to play it. Some musicians like to work on a difficult passage by visualizing themselves playing it with perfect execution and technique. When visualizing, energy is channeled and concentration is pinpointed. The mind, and sometimes even the muscles will react and learn as if the music was actually being played.

I'm not suggesting you sell your instrument and spend all of your time meditating, but visualization is a means to very fast results.

Having negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves produces negative results. This is true even when we are unaware of the thoughts and feelings we are having. The first step for visualizing is to become aware of how you "program" yourself, that is what you "tell yourself," about your musical abilities and the way you play. The next step is to learn how visualization works. You can put it to work for you as a tremendous aid for learning, playing, or anything you choose.

The imagination is one of the main taps of our subconscious. The subconscious is the controlling force behind creativity. We are all in a never ending process of creating. (One guy I know has 11 kids.) We are creating our perception of life, creating our happiness or misery or whatever we choose. The more control we have over our creative resources, the better our music and more fulfilling our lives will be.

We can get the creative wheels turning, by relaxing and changing our state of mind. Deep breathing (also known as diaphramic breathing) the foundation of vocalizing is commonly used by musicians before playing and before going on stage. It relaxes the entire body and slows down the brain waves, which allows for clearer thinking. Uncontrolled nerves (as any singer knows) are a hindrance, especially to improvisation and songwriting, where a relaxed "letting go" attitude is necessary.

The reason that some days you're hot and some you're not is your changing frame of mind. A little mind control makes for a more consistent player and more rapid improvement.

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Does Reading Make Music?

Smooth Jazz Artists
(L to R) Rick Braun & Richard Elliot
Performance at the 13th Annual Jazz Fest, June 5, 2005

When you read music you are deciphering the printed page and transferring the information to the keyboard. You might say that you are decoding what the composer or arranger put on the page . The symbols put on the paper by the composer are the only means he or she has to convey his/her musical ideas to the performer, hence to the listener.

But! Is decoding a page of printed music and transferring those symbols to sound really making music?

Not necessarily. That is only one step. We might say that reading the notes with our eyes and playing them with our fingers is putting the mechanics to work. If we stop studying the piece as soon as we are fairly fluent in playing the notes we have read, we may be good keyboard mechanics, but we may not be considered "musicians."

No doubt you have listened to a pianist and come away saying, "That performance really carried me away." On the other hand you have also probably heard much so-called "music" that left you cold—that did nothing for you. Perhaps one reason we enjoy listening to "ear" players is the fact that they are listening to what they play and are not distracted by the printed page.

"Ear" players MUST listen to themselves or they would have no idea of what comes next. The music is really speaking to them. Always remember that until music speaks to the player it cannot communicate anything to the listener.

What has all this got to do with reading music? You ask:"Is it wrong to try to learn to read? Since I can't play by ear, should I just forget about learning to play?"

The first question will take a bit of detail to take us from the printed page to good listening. Don't forget that the performer must be a good listener, if not the most critical of all listeners. If, as you perform, you become so engrossed in the printed notes, their pitch, their time, the touch, the dynamics—that you forget that all those things must fit together as a whole to make a good tone story, then you are a note reader, not a musician. But you must learn to read fluently if you can't play by ear.

There are comparatively few people who can play from memory or by ear everything that is on the page, fully and accurately. But, you don't hear them falter and fumble over the spots that are rough because they have learned how to "fake," how to cover their mistakes so the average listener is not aware of their bloopers.

So go ahead—learn to be a good reader. Not just a good letter reader, be a phrase-wise reader. Be aware of everything printed on the page, but read between the lines. Like a good actor, put yourself in the role and project your feelings to your listeners . Don't let your development stop with just reading pitch and time. Include those little nuances: the delicate shadings of volume, the elasticity of tempo�the phrases that punctuate your musical story. Those are the things that make music from the printed page.

Now you know your answer. It is not wrong to learn to read fluently. Reading, as well as good technique, is a vital part of a musician's craft. And the more automatic your reading and technique become, the easier it will be to learn new music. That, of course, is the one big advantage the fluent reader has over the ear player—the player who reads can learn new music he or she has never heard.

Perhaps your second question is also answered. Of course, you can enjoy music even if you have to dig out every note phrase by phrase. A few hints may help you decide how to choose your music and how to go about learning it. First:

Choose music that is well within your present level of playing so you won't have to work forever on once piece.

Don't worry about challenging yourself.

Don't dub yourself lazy just because you play easy pieces. Who cares what grade level your music is? Just play the melody so beautifully that everyone wants to hum along.

Keep the beat moving smoothly and with the proper accent so everyone will want to tap their toes.

Put in enough subtle changes of volume to make the phrases speak.

Deviate from the established beat just enough to enhance the natural flow of rhythm to make the music come alive.


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Tri-Tone Substitutions

Jazz Bassist & Songwriter, Marcus Miller (June 5, 2005)

Capital Jazz Festival

Using Tri-Tone substitutions are a good way to develop good voice leading in your progressions and also to create harmonic tension.

The interval between the third and seventh of a dominant chord is a Tri-Tone. Since this interval doesn't occur in major seventh or minor chords, its presence defines the dominant chord.

What's so unusual about the Tri-Tone is that it's the third and seventh of two different dominant seventh chords. B and F, the third and seventh of G7, are the same notes as Cb and F, the seventh and third of Db7. Because of this, G7 and Db7 can substitute for each other.

Try experimenting with Tri-Tone substitutions. This will add color to your overall improvisations.

How to Create "Hip," Mature and Lush Harmonies

Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in a single octave, the root on the bottom, the third in the middle, and the fifth on the top.

Usually chords are "voiced!"

This basically means that the positions of a chord's tones are scattered over the keyboard. The tones may be altered, doubled, added to, missing, and so forth.

There are a great variety of possibilities available in voicing chords. Voicing chords properly is an art within itself.

Using the correct voicing techniques in your playing will give your improvisation a "hip," mature and full sound.

Chords played in root position just does not seem to do the job when playing Rock, Pop, Blues Gospel and "Smooth Jazz" piano.

Learning and mastering good voice leading techniques in your playing is not difficult if you just follow some simple rules.

1. The most important notes in any chord is the 3rd and the 7th. The 3rd of the chord defines whether the chord is a major or minor chord. The 7th of the chord will define whether the chord is a dominant or major chord. Usually the bass player will play the root and fifth. The root and fifth are not essential tones and can be completely left out from your chord progressions. If you must use the root and fifth, try using it in your right hand not your left. This allows you to add your color tones in your right hand.
2. When you are taking a solo and not "comping" (accompanying) for another soloist, you should play your chord voicings in your left hand so that the right hand can be free to improvise, do fills, double the left hand, add extensions (color tones), etc.
3. The range of your voicings is also very important. A good rule of thumb to remember when voicing your chords is to always try to voice your chords around middle C. Keeping your voicings around middle C will sound full and clear. Limits of approximately an octave above or below will assure best results by preventing the voicing from assuming a quality of either thinness or muddiness.

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