Music on Piano is like multiple choice.

(not really sure about other instruments but this is one thought I had about improv, play and composing on piano)

Jamming on piano is like multiple choice, if you don't know the answer to a multiple choice question then you usually get rid of at least two you know can't be it, and your left with 2 to choose from, so 50% of the time your going to guess the right one, and eventually if you do it enough times, keep seeing the same question over and over again with the same multiple choice questions, eventually you can finish the test or improv rather easily, and start doing more and more things once you can flow and start seeing the keys light up and darken.

When you hit keys you know will produce a bad sound so you start blocking it out and start seeing groups of keys that you know you can travel on for the sound to be complete, and when you hop you can go somewhere else on the keys, your trailblazing a path but you can take different routes along the path just so long as you stay heading in the general direction which is key.

Certain sounds also start seeming like they are harder to push down then other sounds, lighter sounds i can play kinda poppy popping off of keys, heavier, fatter, darker sounds seem heavy to the feel and you gotta have a light to medium touch to slowly push that sound out.

improv on the keys is just pure talent.
Some folks can hear or see pathways
in advance and adapt immediately. Others
take years of practice. But none of it can be
accomplished without pure talent. And most
if not all of those pathways are based around
some type of scale depending on the style, tempo,
feel, etc....

But it was very interesting to hear you mention
groupings. They do play a part in improv.
Nice post. star and flag for ya


[edit on 22-8-2010 by boondock-saint]

I think it's "string" instruments in general that resonate with our bodies so well.

I could (sort of) get the same feelings with a guitar. (back when I was still practicing, anyway.)

Supposedly a harp is really good for this resonate effect, and really good for you.

I'd love to have a piano...

well in theory anything you play is 'acceptable'.

It depends which keys you hit really. You can hit any combination of white keys and it will be in the key of C major. And I think if you hit only black keys it will be in F# (?).

Try the same thing on a guitar, i expect your success will be more limited.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by Frakkerface]

reply to post by Frakkerface


Yeah, the white keys are hard to find... and yes, my success is very limited.



The guitar is really my instrument of choice though. More octaves available, right? Also the proximity of the instrument to your body.
String bends are another way to navigate through your jam, which I don't thing are available on piano.
I'm going to have to get a guitar one of these days...

Yeah there is something nice about hugging a big acoustic and feeling it resonate against you. And playing an electric through a huge amp nice and loud so that you can feel the air punching you.

Originally posted by Dogdish
String bends are another way to navigate through your jam, which I don't thing are available on piano.

Hehe well you say that but....
Fluid Piano

sometimes you're in the zone.

it is what you choose to put out there.

that people remember.
any other mixes or alt tracks will be heard as less than the first.

but for jamming, the only way they know you hit a wrong note is the look on your face.

For any "wrong" note you hit, you're only a half-step away from a "right" note... one of the most important lessons to learn in soloing is knowing, in the context of a particular song, which direction to go from that wrong note to make it work...

Originally posted by fooks


but for jamming, the only way they know you hit a wrong note is the look on your face.

that's so, so true.