Advanced Piano Tutorial: My Favorite Things, Pure Imagination-reharm, improv, rhythm (piano)

Описание

Piano: My Favorite Things (The Sound of Music), Pure Imagination (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) - annotations, re-harmonization, improvisation (piano)

Check out www.marcuschoipiano.com for free downloads of the audio and midi files, as well as info on my upcoming online course.

My aim with this video is to create something original, complex yet beautiful by melding these two musical classics and to share it with my students and the world. Complexity, coupled with inspiration, can lead to greater emotional depth. One thing missing from a lot of music these days is the element of surprise, but it is a very powerful tool. I have annotated this video for analysis of the re-harmonizations, improvisation, metric modulations, scales, rhythmic considerations, and greater transparency during some of the faster runs. Also, happy 50th anniversary to The Sound of Music!

Some great versions of the tunes:

Brad Mehldau, My Favorite Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up4Ln8rqOzM
Sakamichi No Apollon, My Favorite Things Medley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOf3MVMPGOc&index=17&list=LLJcFWh362XV4jpfBA3rg0nQ
Lady Gaga, Sound of Music Medley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSgQqSmZz6k
Glee, Pure Imagination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdAk5zXaTVQ
My Favorite Things (original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IagRZBvLtw
John Coltrane, My Favorite Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG2dsXV5HI
Pure Imagination (original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2pt2-F2j2g

I view theory as more of an afterthought, as opposed to something I use to make music. Many of the things I come up with probably don't have a theoretical school of thought associated with it, but it does take a solid foundation of fundamental music theory to be able to transcend the theory (otherwise you might just be wading in deep water trying to grasp things that may or may not be there). For a more experienced pianist, this tutorial may serve useful to expand upon his/her already solid musical foundation and perhaps create some new ideas to use. For the novice, you can follow the notes/changes exactly, or, with some knowledge of chord construction, follow some/all of the changes, alter some changes, and voice them in your own way. As for melodic improvisation and rhythm, you can mimic those as well, or use the concepts that I've tried to outline to come up with your own melodic lines and associated rhythms. Above all, I recommend experimenting, and recording your experimentations so that when you find something you like, you can re-listen to it and then use it in your final version. This, of course, goes for any song. The original song is beautiful as it is, and I believe that it's only worth making a cover if your own version is truly unique in someway. The original can usually not be surpassed, only built upon. In other words, I could never create a version as good as the original, but I can succeed in making something different.

I tried to include an abundance of information here for you to use in order to make your own creative songs/covers. I included some left-hand flowing techniques, rhythmic displacement/modulation, chordal theory and voicings, and melodic line creation and improvisation considerations.

Complexity, coupled with inspiration, can lead to deeper levels of emotional expression. This video was made using some advanced jazz improvisation, rhythm, and harmony techniques I've learned from my Master of Music at NYU. I'd like to thank my teachers Kenny Werner, Jean-Michel Pilc, Andy Milne, Tony Moreno, and Art Lande for their priceless tutelage and inspiration.

my website: http://marcuschoipiano.com
Kenny Werner: http://kennywerner.com/
Andy Milne: http://www.andymilne.com/
Jean-Michel Pilc: http://www.jeanmichelpilc.com/
Tony Moreno (drums): http://tonymorenodrums.com/
Art Lande: http://www.artlande.com/