How To Use Piano Chords To Create Complete Sections Of Music

Everyone wants to learn the "secret shortcuts" that will make improvising/composing music easier. And why not? Do you think professional composers don't use them? They do.

What I'm about to show you will have you blocking out sections of music in no time.

If you've been reading my articles about composition, you no doubt have heard me say that a composition is the art of repetition and contrast. And it's true! But before we get to the contrast part, we have to start somewhere. And that's where "sections" come in.

For example, in Lesson 4: "Morning Mist," we use a crossover pattern in the left hand while the right hand improvises a melody. In fact, this is a perfect combination of improvisation and composition because what we have here is a 12 bar phrase repeated twice.

Now, in the lesson itself, I don't tell you it's a 12 bar phrase because I just wanted you to learn how to improvise. But, the fact is that's what this lesson is compositionally.

Here's what it looks like when charted out - chart for Morning Mist (pdf file)

Notice that only 3 chords are used here. But 3 chords are all we need to create this section of music. Essentially, this is a harmonic loop. We use the chords to create a background upon which we improvise our melodies.

Now, after improvising our melody, we may like what we hear and want to memorialize it thus turning this into a full-fledged composition.

The easiest way to create these harmonic loops is to simply pick a key, then a few chords from the key and start improvising with them. Then, when you feel like you're on to something you like, simply chart out when the chords change and that's that. You've created a harmonic loop

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html now and get a FREE piano lesson!