Piano Licks

krom8 said:
The term for what you're wanting to learn is "fills".
Click to expand...

Erm, no its not. A fill is a little piece at the end of a phrase that is different from the rest and fills the gap before the next phrase. As far as I can gather what he wants is just some constant background melodies to complement the main lead.
 
Sanguis Mortuum said:
Erm, no its not. A fill is a little piece at the end of a phrase that is different from the rest and fills the gap before the next phrase. As far as I can gather what he wants is just some constant background melodies to complement the main lead.
Click to expand...



Actually, i would say that "fills" (which typically refer to drums) can be anywhere, not just at the end of a phrase... it is ornamental playing that "fills" in space.


A term I would use in this scenario (without having actually heard an example of what he is looking for) would be "flourishes"



...but people call it all by all sorts of names, but in the end it just means "play a bunch of stuff and make it sound interesting"
 
-Jay- said:
I'm not sure where to post this but this is concerning piano licks and improvisation. Now this is sort of hard to explain but I'll try my best.

When I listen to R&B songs such as Justin Timberlake - Still on my Brain I noticed that there are small piano licks in the background. They're usually licks that aren't part of the key but sound perfectly in the song. It just adds to overall ambiance and sound. I just don't know where to start as far as melodies. I've tried a few but they don't work as well as the ones I'm hearing. They sound even too complicated even to try to play it by ear, much like trying to copy live improvisation. I was thinking there might be websites where I might be able to find these licks but all I found were blues improvisation. I know this might seem a bit random, but its something that has really baffled me for many months now. If you guys can help me out and point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

I also hope you know what I'm talking about lol.

-James
Click to expand...

I agree with quitekil... silentkillah. Those likes were made by experienced pianist.
By the way, what site were the blues licks on
 
6 1/2 year old thread - doubt that the op is still here - can't check because his username reduces to someone else who hasn't posted since 2001 (the - on either side are removed by the vBulletin database engine for the purposes of user lookups)

would suggest Floyd Kramer, Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Scott Joplin amongst many others to listen to to understand this style of fill-in playing - which is chromatic in nature

For some excellent material to learn this from go to the PGmusic website - they have several instructional DVDs for different styles of piano and other instruments
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top