Natalie: Hello and welcome to Gigajam, this is lesson four that we're on, of our essential keyboard skills course part one. I'm Natalie Barrass and this man here is Terry Gregory our tutor. Terry, how are you today?
Terry: Fine thank you
N: I'm very, very good, I'm looking forward to our lesson ahead of us
T: Yeah, me too
N: Tell me, what are our lesson objectives?
T: Well today's lesson is about developing two hand coordination. So in the past we've played right hand…
N: Mmm
T: …and we've played left hand, but until now we haven't played them both together
N: Yeah
T: So that's our first big objective. And the other big objective today is introducing eighth notes. We've looked at other rhythms before, whole notes, half notes and quarter notes
N: Yes
T: Today it's eighth notes. You want some more objectives?
N: Well, if there are any
T: Yeah, there are some more
N: (Laughs)
T: There's also developing fluency in left hand coordination by being able to change chords, obviously the first few exercises, we'll look at one chord played with the left hand, and the scale with the right hand. Later on, and there'll be a...several exercises and studies to support this, we'll be actually changing…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …between chords. And all of that stuff will involve us, you know, developing our transferability a bit further, and spending a bit more time in the bass clef with the left hand chords
N: Good stuff. Okay, let's begin
T: Yeah first up is two hands together. So we know have to play a triad in either hand. Let's play a triad in the left hand, and we know how to play a scale, so let's play a scale in the right hand. So…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …it's doing both those things together. Let's check each of those components. The left hand is gonna play the triad of A
N: Yeah
T: I know there's three notes in the triad
N: So that's A there
T: There's the A, we remember where that lives, and I'm using my little finger to do that. C, and E, and there's the notes of the A major triad, A, C sharp and E, and they come from the A major scale of course
N: Mmmhmm
T: And it's play one, miss one, play one, so that's the first note, third note and fifth note…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …so I'll just review there for myself and everybody else. And that's that, and that'll be played as a whole note in the left hand, so that means playing that triad, that chord at the start of the bar, and it lasts throughout the whole bar. So that'll go one, two, three, four, one. That's how the left hand will work. At the same time the right hand is gonna be playing a scale…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …using that thumb under and finger over technique. Thumb under ascending…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …and the finger over descending
N: Which scale?
T: The A major scale. A major scale going with the A major triad
N: Right
T: And…
N: Will that sound good together then?
T: …let's find out. If I play it properly it should…
N: (Laughs)
T: …they certainly should, they certainly should on paper, in theory at least, fit together well. And we're playing quarter notes in the right hand, so there's quite a lot going on, and I might, I just check that left hand part. And let me check the right hand part
N: Do you wanna do it once through without the Xtractor?
T: Yeah, I think that's a good idea, and I'm just, in advance of that, just checking that both parts work fine. I've gotta remember to do that, and then get that thumb…
N: Mmm
T: …under. So that's the first challenge, and then the next challenge will be one, two, three, four, so that's four quarter notes…
N: Yeah
T: …which is one bar. So at the start of the next bar, I've gotta play that note, and that chord together. So that's what we mean by two hand…
N: Ahh
T: …coordination. Several events have to happen together at exactly the same time
N: Mmmhmm. So that's a good idea, running through it slowly and, sort of...
T: Yeah
N: …knowing where that note is that we have to play the chord at the same time as well
T: Just working out where the tricky corners are for me to negotiate
N: Okay, well do once through just…
T: Okay
N: …as best you can, then we'll play it with the Gigajam Xtractor
T: And I probably would do it, if I, if I was doing this home alone privately, I'd probably do it without any kind of idea of tempo…
N: Right
T: …just so I can get those corners figured out. So I'd go…nice and slowly so I've got time to think
N: Mmmhmm
T: I'd make sure all my fingers are functioning, and that everything falls together. So I've gotta go one, two, three, four, and both hands have to fall together. So that's that two handed coordination thing. I think I'm ready
N: Alright let's do it. Exercise one if you're following along at home
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: It's quite fast at eighty bpm. You could slow it down if you want. Chord, chord
T: Thank you, you're a nice reminder. Left hand playing the triad, right hand playing the scale…
N: Mmm
T: …both playing A major. And…
N: Do that one…
T: …I'm making sure…
N: …more time…
T: …that I'm…
N: …for me Terry
T: …coordinated. Okay. Try'na stay in time
N: Mmmhmm. This is exercise one, our A major triad on the left hand and the scale on the right hand. It does sound good
T: Not bad
N: Yeah. And you're concentrating there not to miss your beat when the chord comes in
(Xtractor stops playing)
T: Yeah, it's quite a lot to think about, the two handed coordination, making sure that everything falls on time, making sure that it's all at the right tempo. We need to develop these skills, continue to develop these skills further, because later on as a keyboard player in a band you might be required to play the melody
N: Mmmhmm
T: You might be required to make an improvisation, so
N: Alright, well rhythm wise there we were just looking at quarter notes
T: That's right
N: Let's speed it up a bit
T: Yeah, let's take it to the next level, if that wasn't fast enough!
N: (Laughs)
T: So, so far we've looked at whole notes and half notes and quarter notes, and we need to look at eighth notes now. So a quick review of that. Quarter notes last one beat
N: Yes
T: So what we're doing is we're chopping in half each of those quarter notes to make them eighth notes. Instead of having four events in the bar
N: Mmmhmm
T: We're now gonna have eight events in the bar, like that
N: Right
T: So instead of it being one, two, three, four, we've gotta fit something between one and two, so we divide it in half
N: Mmmhmm
T: And instead of counting one, two, three, four, one, two, three, put something in between, one and, two and, three and, four and, one. Make sense?
N: Yeah, so you'd…
T: Three and…
N: …play there on…
T: …four and
N: …the one, two, three, four, and also on that 'and'
T: Right, so instead of going one, two, three, four, I've gotta go, one and, two and. So it's almost like thinking about a double on each note…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …before you move. Just play two A's rather than one A. And if you keep the time nice and even
N: Mmmhmm
T: You should, it should work out the eighth notes
N: So that was a little hint of how they sound
T: Yeah
N: Explain to me how they look
T: Yeah, exercise two would show you how they look. They are again little black blobs with tails, and they're joined together in pairs which allows you to see each beat
N: Yeah
T: So two of them in a pair as, as eighth notes, make up one beat…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …or make up one quarter note. So one and, two and, three and, four and, so that counting one, two, three, four you don't change where you count that…
N: No
T: …although there's eight events
N: That one always comes at the same place
T: Yeah, we don't wanna move that, and we don't wanna move the two up
N: No
T: Just because that's the second note. We'll keep, the two actually signifies the placement of the beat…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …rather than the note itself. So I probably would try that one my own first, one, two, three, four, okay, one and, two and, three and, four and. And then I know I've gotta continue that up through the whole scale…
N: Okay
T: …it's an A major scale using eighth notes in the right hand
N: Right, well let's do that with the Xtractor then. So this is exercise two
T: Okay
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: This is practising our eighth notes, and also our scales
T: And I've still gotta do thumb under. And second finger over. A, B…
N: Three and,…
T: …C sharp
N: …four and, one and
T & N: Two and, three and
N: Four and, one and, two and, three and, four and, one and, two…
T: And I'll just try and…
N: …and, three and…
T: …keep them even…
N: …four and. Do the notes for me
T: C sharp, D, E, F sharp, G sharp, A…F sharp, E, D. What I don't wanna do is go…
N: What was the difference between that?
T: Well they haven't really got the right note length, so…
(Xtractor stops playing)
T: …if I play one, two, three, four, that's pretty easy to judge cos I just keep the, one note going until the next note comes in
N: Yeah
T: With these it would be easy to make the mistake of getting them out of the way quickly and making them short…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …we don't have to make them short really
N: They're not that short
T: No they're not that short they're just the natual subdivision, is the word musicians use, of each beat. So it should just be one and, two and, three and…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …four and. Very natural and flowing, rather than…
N: (Laughs)
T: That kind of forced
N: Yeah
T: Short stopped way
N: Okay, well
T: Good
N: Developing these further, is it possible to play them with triads?
T: Yeah, course it is. Yeah, we did it just now playing a triad in the left hand, an A major triad, and playing a A major scale in the right hand…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …using quarter notes. So now we've just practiced eighth notes, we could do that. Obviously I'd take much more time about…
N: Yes
T: …practising each of these exercises. I wouldn't just whiz through them like this, but obviously in the show we've gotta try and show everyone the content of the lessons, so
N: Absolutely, we wanna give you as much information as possible
T: Yeah
N: But you need to keep practising at home
T: Yeah, I'd…
N: Alright, so…
T: …practise that
N: …this is exercise three. Talk me through this one
T: Okay, so again I might do a bit of practise in advance, hopefully…
N: Yeah
T: …before you switch on the Xtractor
N: (Laughs) Here's your time now
T: Yeah, just to make I've got my moves together. So, left hand's pretty simple, I can see that, that's the A major triad. A…
N: It's on the bass clef
T: …C sharp and E. It's in the bass clef, so it's starting on top line of the bass clef
N: Yeah
T: Which is an A, and then C sharp, see that sharp sign next to it?
N: Yeah
T: And then the E. There's my A, C sharp and E, play one, miss one, play one, miss one. Nothing, no change there, the change is in the right hand so let me just practise one, the first bar on it's own, just to see if I've got a chance at this. One and, two and, three and, four and, and then I would have to go one and, two and, three and, four and. So they're disjointed at the moment…
N: Mmm
T: …but that's just for me to practise it. I need time to figure my moves out, that didn't work very well
N: (Laughs) That's almost your left hand wanting to mirror your right hand
T: Yeah, and I think you have to iron out all of those kind of gremlins, you know. You're trying to be coordinated
N: Mmm
T: And one type of coordination is for the hands to move together
N: Mmmhmm
T: But although this is coordinated, there is some degree of independence between the two hands, so…
N: Alright, well let's have a listen to that
T: Yeah
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: Four. Second bar, third bar
T: I won't do too much talking if that's okay?
N: No, you concentrate Terry. Okay, from the beginning
T: So this is the…
N: The chord again
T: …A major scale in the right hand
N: Third bar, descending now
T: And an A major triad in the left…
N: Once…
T: …hand
N: …more
T: Don't forget the thumb under
N: No. This is, I mean fantastic practise for your coordination, isn't it?
T: Yeah, really good. And the second finger over
N: Do it once more
T: Okay, I need the practise, that's for sure
(Xtractor stops playing)
N: Lovely, well, well done there Terry
T: Thank you
N: Join us back for part two, that's the end of part one, where we'll be learning G, C and D, and a further study
N: Hello, welcome back to part two of lesson four. Now, in the break, me and Terry were chatting and we've kind of come up with the word transferability. It's really the key word of this lesson, and indeed of the whole course, isn't it?
T: Yeah it is really, I mean what we've been doing so far in this lesson, for the first time is two hands together. This, developing this two handed coordination thing, playing a triad in the left hand and a scale in the right hand. And what we're gonna do now with the rest of this lesson, mostly, is transfer that to other notes. The other notes we know of course are, we just did A, so keep that one, G we know…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …we also know C and D. And the other thing that occurred to us is that the guys that have been doing the essential bass skills course or the essential guitar skills course, will have learned these chords as well
N: Yeah
T: The drummers I guess, the essential drum skills course, will have learned the rhythms
N: Mmmhmm
T: So you're in pretty good shape if you've done your homework, and practised and followed everything through carefully and thoroughly, and spent a lot of time practising
N: (Laughs)
T: You should be able to get together and play and jam, you know, maybe get a…
N: And set up a band or…
T: Yeah
N: …something, yeah…
T: Yeah
N: …for school if you're all sort of following the courses, different instruments, or at work
T: Yeah, the course is carefully written so that it tracks, you know, all the way through, and there's this clear pathway for everyone to follow, so that they can share their knowledge and have some fun and make some music
N: Okay and talking of that clear pathway, our path leads us to exercise four
T: Yeah, let's make some music with exercise four which is the G major scale. So what we're dong is taking what we did before the break, left hand triad, right hand scale. Two hands coordinated together even though they're doing slightly independent, slightly different things, we're trying to make sure they're coordinated. So the left hand is the G major triad
N: Mmmhmm
T: G, B and D, and I've got the same fingering as ever. No changes, that's the beauty of the whole thing, it's consistent. Transfer it to the new place and press go. Don't do that yet though cos…
N: (Laughs)
T: …I'm not quite ready. So the right hand I've gotta just check my scale, and remember I'm playing eighth notes
N: Yeah, this…
T: That wasn't…
N: …is the new kind…
T: …very good
N: …of note value that we've got now
T: One and, two and, three and, four and, okay that's right. One and, two and, three and, four and, one and, two and, three and, four and, one…So the first time I go through it I just figure out my moves
N: Yeah
T: And then I think, okay I need to be a good musician here, and make sure that I'm playing good time and good rhythm and good feeling, and a good sound and a good timing out of it. I was talking earlier about not playing too short notes, so I need to make sure that it actually flows, you know, in a connected musical manner
N: And it sounds good
T: Yeah, that's the important thing isn't it? If you're gonna play with other people, they're gonna know. So, shall we give it a go?
N: Let's do it
T: Give it a whirl?
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: Pushing play
T: Exercise four
N: One and, two and, three and, four and, one and, two and, three and, four and, one and, two and, three and, four and, one…two and, three and, four and. Let me look at your fingers there Terry. And this is the descending, and the finger over. Once more? This is the ascending, with the thumb under there
T: That's right
N: And now the descending, finger over, and end
(Xtractor stops playing)
T: Not bad, so there's my G major. In reality I'd practise that many more…
N: Mmm
T: …times before I felt happy to move on. Obviously we need to move on, so…
N: Alright, and we move on to exercise five, which is this idea of transferability again
T: It's this, it's that T word, the transferability and we're now moving over to C major which we know. So I've gotta find C major triad in my left hand
N: Mmmhmm
T: So I know where the C lives, it's there. I know the hand shape, my hand is kinda very locked in…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …to that shape now. I can work out in the privacy of my own home the names of those notes. I need to know all that stuff so I can read the bass clef
N: Mmmhmm
T: The left hand is in the bass clef. And then the right hand, same thing, same thumb under, finger over etcetera, etcetera. C major using eighth notes
N: Using eighth notes, alright, I'm just readying the Xtractor here, getting…
T: Thank you
N: …rid of that default instrument so that all the piano playing we hear is yourself there on the keyboard
T: Ooh err
N: Are you ready to go for it?
T: Yeah, I'm ready
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: Here we go so this…
T: Two…
N: …is exercise five if
T: …three…
N: …you're following along
T: …four
N: That third bar of the C major, descending now. Okay…
T: So this is all…
N: …here we're ascending
T: …the same stuff
N: Yeah
T: My hands aren't doing anything different
N: No
T: They're just in a different place on the keyboard
N: Just hitting some different notes, but still the same order
T: Exactly
N: How does that feel?
T: Feels alright
N: Are you having to concentrate hard?
T: Yeah, sort of
N: (Laughs)
T: I don't wanna make a fool of myself…
N: No
T: …in front of you and everybody else
N: Not on TV
T: So there's my C major triad
N: Mmmhmm
T: And scale using eighth notes
(Xtractor stops playing)
N: Lovely, alright let's transfer onwards
T: Yeah, keep transferring it. One more place to transfer to, and then we might be ready for the big study we know is coming up at the end, the big chord study
N: Yes, I looked forward in the notes to that
T: Yeah, well the reason we're doing all this, I guess, is to underline this importance of this concept of transferability, and to get plenty of practice at developing our two hands playing together. The other thing is of course when you do play in a band, you're not just gonna play one chord…
N: (Laughs)
T: …it wouldn't make for a very interesting song. So you're gonna have to change between the chords
N: Yeah
T: So what we're doing is making sure we can play each of the chords, each of the notes names we know, a chord and a scale for it, so that when that piece comes up I know that's gonna involve me moving, changing from one chord to another
N: Mmmhmm, good stuff, this is exercise six then
T: And this is D major
N: So exactly the same as what we've done before, just a different scale
T: Yeah, it's just like moving to another room and copying the same stuff, isn't it, you know?
N: Alright…
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: …I'm not gonna give you any time to practise…
T: Thanks
N: …we're gonna go straight in with the Xtractor. That's bar two, bar three, and you're hitting that chord on the first beat of each bar
T: I'm trying to, yeah
N: Well you're doing very well. Obviously if we were analysing this at home, we could be checking the pinpoint accuracy of your playing
T: Yeah I mean, and I would definitely do that, just not right yet
N: (Laughs)
T: I'd give myself plenty of chance, so that it becomes a bit more automatic…
N: Yeah
T: …you know what I mean? I can concentrate on the music
N: It's like driving a car, or playing a computer game…
T: Yeah
N: …or something
T: Yeah, computer games a good analogy isn't it? Because it takes a while for you to get through to the next level
N: Yeah, and to work out the controls as well
(Xtractor stops playing)
T: Great
N: Lovely stuff. Okay, let's move onwards
T: Yeah. So the next section in, in the lesson talks about changing chords
N: Mmmhmm
T: And the study here, exercise seven, is designed to allow you plenty of opportunity to practise that. So it's quite a long exercise
N: It is, isn't it?
T: And as ever with any long exercises I would break them up into short smaller sections, little bite size chunks
N: Mmmhmm
T: So I know this is sixteen bars
N: Yes
T: And I'm thinking, oh I need to chop that down a bit, and I'm thinking, okay sixteen bars, and we know that we've learned four chords. We've learned G, A, C, and D. I don't know what order they're coming up in. So I think if I've got sixteen bars and four chords I could probably break it into sections…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …four four's is sixteen, so…
N: Well let's have a look at it, let's break it down
T: Yeah this looks like four four bar sections. And in fact musicians often are quite careful to help you to achieve this. If you look at it, your notes…
N: Mmm
T: …for exercise seven, after the first four bars, which are all on one chord, the chord of D, there's that double bar line. And that kind of reminds me, oh yeah, okay, so their thinking of that as kind of an end of an section. Not that I'm gonna stop or anything, but it's just a kind of a punctuation for me
N: Mmmhmm
T: Okay, I know that that signifies something else is gonna happen, change of section, so it's change of chord in this instance, so that's good
N: And it's the same between eight and nine, and if we scroll on obviously there at the end of bar twelve, and then obviously at the end of the piece
T: So reading a chart is an important skill. Obviously reading a chart is essentially, fundamentally about reading notes and reading rhythms…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …whether they're whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and whether they're D, or C, or A, or G. But it's also about following the flow of information. When to change
N: Mmmhmm
T: How many bars there are on each chord, being able to read the sections…
N: Mmm
T: …and decipher the information that way
N: Okay, so what's the essence of this exercise, what are we gleaning from this and learning?
T: Yeah, we're putting it all together, it's that thing, it's that, you know, accumulative aspect that we're always looking for. We've learned a lot of stuff by now, we're sort of half way to grade one nearly…
N: Yeah
T: …we're in lesson four, so you know
N: Only one more to go and then we're halfway
T: We're actually halfway there, yeah. So we need to put it all together and this is the changing chord study, so really what we're doing is making sure we can change with good timing, good feeling…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …it's coordinated. Make sure we can move both hands together…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …and find the new chord. So I hope I can do that
N: And rhythmically it's what, it's what we've been doing, isn't it? It's that playing a chord at the beginning of each bar
T: Yeah
N: And then doing this ascending and descending
T: With the eighth notes in the right hand…
N: Okay
T: …so the chord of D first, and then the chord of C. So in reality what I might do, is do this first, I might go…Okay there's my first one, and I've gotta do that for four bars
N: Mmmhmm
T: And the second one is…Okay, so I'm just checking I know what I'm doing
N: Yeah
T: And then the third one would be A. So I'm finding the locations on the keyboard…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …and then the last one is the chord of G. I'm also getting a sneak preview of how it sounds…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …as well as how it feels
N: So the chord, the order is D, C, A, G
T: That's right, yeah
N: Alright, and I notice at the end there, at the end of bar sixteen, there's that repeat sign
T: If you haven't had enough…
N: (Laughs)
T: …and you need to practise it, and you will need to practise it cos you won't get it right first time. You go over it and over it and over it. You don't have to accept the Xtractor tempo, you can slow it down
N: This is exercise seven…
T: Okay
N: …if you're following along
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: So this is D first of all…
T: Up and down
N: …then we're doing the descending of the D
T: Now the change over which will always be tricky
N: Changing to C
T: Thank you. And back down
N: Yeah, descending that, there's our four bars of C
T: Big jump now
N: Yeah that is a big jump, changing to A there
T: Big jump, you're likely to go wrong…
N: Mmmhmm
T: …as it kind of did for me
N: And obviously if we were analysing this, we'd see that
T: Don't analyse it
N: (Laughs) Changing down to the G there. Terry, you keep playing
T: Okay
N: I'll say to you guys, thanks for watching, and join us for the next episode which is lesson five, where we'll be introducing inversions