Ask me any questions about Theory/Composing techniques/orchestration/arranging.

J

jaycentury

New member
I'm able to help anyone with any questions regarding Theory/Composing techniques/orchestration/arranging and even piano tips to practicing.

What i learned by being a part of this industry is that noone is "Self-Made". Everyone has gotten help from everyone, and thats a fact.

Ask Away!

Jason Kellner
Film Composer/Orchestrator/Arranger/Music Copyist/Pianist
Montreal, Canada
 
We don't need you, we can just ask Bandcoach instead! :D

How much do you know about jazz piano?
 
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I studied jazz piano for a little over 6 years now so I wouldn't say I'm a beginner. Anything I could help you with?
 
I am working on my sight reading atm. Any tips/suggestions? I play guitar, studied a bit of piano at school, and am studying jazz music.
 
Pumpthrust said:
I am working on my sight reading atm. Any tips/suggestions? I play guitar, studied a bit of piano at school, and am studying jazz music.
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Sightreading just requires you to plow through different songs and see how far you could get through it. Thats how I do It at least. To practice sightreading, open up a piece of music, put a metronome on at somewhat of a slow speed depending on your level (I would say 60 BPM). And then try and get through as far as you can. Remember the most important thing your learning by sight reading is the rhythms. So if theres a certain rhythm you can't play, tap or clap it out. Repetition is key.
 
jaycentury said:
I'm able to help anyone with any questions regarding Theory/Composing techniques/orchestration/arranging and even piano tips to practicing.

What i learned by being a part of this industry is that noone is "Self-Made". Everyone has gotten help from everyone, and thats a fact.

Ask Away!
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welcome, take the load off me, a little, maybe

make sure you go to your settings/preferences and turn on that you want your signature to show up in every post
- I have taken what you had and put it into a signature ready for you

also avoid using colours unless you know that they are friendly to both the black theme and the grey/white theme - the grey you used above is borderline; some lighter shades and pastels really do not read well in the grey/white theme

jaycentury said:
Sightreading just requires you to plow through different songs and see how far you could get through it. Thats how I do It at least. To practice sightreading, open up a piece of music, put a metronome on at somewhat of a slow speed depending on your level (I would say 60 BPM). And then try and get through as far as you can. Remember the most important thing your learning by sight reading is the rhythms. So if theres a certain rhythm you can't play, tap or clap it out. Repetition is key.
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in addition don't stop to correct errors keep going -treat it as a performance and only stop when you reach the end
- missing notes, blowing rhythms, is all part of the process.

As you play, though, make a mental note of what you erred on and go back and look at what the problem was and devise ways of fixing it
- you may need to ask someone else if it is not apparent what the issue is
 
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i know a little music theory from producing and am learning some more via guitar lessons. im not super well versed, but know the basics. what do you think the most important things to know in theory are beyond chords/scale names, and where would you recommend i begin teaching myself/learning piano? should i just start learning basic songs, or are exercises more important early on? (sorry for asking a lot, by the way!)
 
Could you recommend half a dozen standards for me to learn so that I have a grasp over the different branches of jazz and also different branches of theory?
 
personally I'd suggest the following 10:

Autumn Leaves

Bewitched page 55(63)

Caravan

Georgia on my mind page 92

I Got Rhythm page 191(192)

Mood Indigo

One O'clock Jump

So What

Take the A train

When Sunny Gets Blue

I would also recommend getting this and reading it cover to cover several times whilst playing all of the examples thoroughly
http://www.jameslevymusic.com/Steps.pdf

ps

these are all legit and free sources for the above though some do look suspiciously like pirated versions - the fact that they are hosted at academic sites suggest that they are available for their students and have not been properly protected from general access
 
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