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agreed, you dont need to overplay in your left hand to be great. you can play simple root chords, arpeggios , but play them with maximum feeling with great melody right hand playing and it will sound awesome
Another great tutorial Bill. This really helps as an example of what you can do with the techniques explained in your "How to Really Play the Piano" book too. I would really appreciate more of this stuff: you explaining how you can take basic lead sheets and interpret them, using rhythm, different left hand patterns, right hand melody notes + chord notes + 7ths + 9ths, etc.
Thanks for this inspirational video, I am getting back to the piano after 30 or so years having learned the basics as a kid. I am sure with the bit of knowledge I have and this kind of help my inner pianist will flourish.
No problem, Caroline - glad it was useful. You're far from alone in where you're coming from: lots of people who subscribe to my channel are coming back to the instrument after a long break. If you need to refresh any basics, have a look at my beginners' course (playlist here: th-cam.com/play/PLpOuhygfD7QnP46wUgQudOySX_z2UOhXs.html ) and/or give me a shout if you have any questions/anything you're stuck with!
Very good video. Coming from a background in guitar, I never actually learned to read notes. So I use the chords listed above to help learn the melody on complex songs with minors and other types of chords
Really liked this explanation and demonstration, finally sinking in. Switching from organ to piano has been challening. Starting to make more sense now
Always appreciate the help. I've been watching for a while and i know i should be farther along but i can hardly believe i've gotten as far as i have. I'm still noodling around in C. Working on different patterns with some arpeggiation in the right from one chord to another with a ballad style. There is just something about it. Thanks!
L.E. W. Hi, I am new to improvisation, except for composing Intros and Extros and ornamentation to written music. So may I please ask you for a definition of and an example of the "Ballad Style"?
Thank you very much.. That is helpful. More videos on harmony please. I would appreciate if you showed the use of different patterns concerning the left hand on well known some other Songül.
Glad to hear it - thanks very much! I'll bear in mind the harmony/left-hand stuff - I actually get a lot of requests for both, so more will be coming soon!
This is a great video. I've recently taken up the piano and I've been trying to develop my left hand work, mainly for figuring out versions of existing songs but also for composition. I have played guitar for a little while so I know a tiny bit of theory on chord construction etc. This is a great summary of some really useful patterns. You see these everywhere. Plenty of classical pieces as well as pop songs use these patterns, and they're simple enough to give some encouragement to a relative beginner like myself. Thank you!
Glad you found it useful, Bryan! The combination thing really just comes down to sheer brute force practice - keep chipping away, little and often, and it'll come together. Give me a yell if you run into any problems!
nailed it man! too easy to get locked into the same patterns as you point out, it's really a continuum between these different accompaniment styles. always good to keep the LH purpose in mind, rather than accompanying mindlessly.
Thanks Bill Nice clear explanation and big help to improve as Iack the rhythm. Right hand not so bad but left has been stuck around the root notes. Will certainly spend some time on this. thanks again and congratulations.
This tutorial is very helpful Bill. Following on from this, I would like to know how to plan my right hand melody to make it more interesting. I sometimes play octaves, sometimes add a few fills, never seem to play a piece the same way twice. I try to harmonize my left hand with the right, but not to compete, and try to avoid playing the same chord with both hands. I have a basic knowledge of chords, melody, harmony and timing, but now feeling lost! Jennifer.
Thanks Bill, very helpful video. At this point I can do many of the block chords (incl inversions) without that many problems. And you're quite right that for many songs they sound just fine. However it is rewarding to go beyond that straightforward pattern. In going further, I can do one octive arpeggios reasonably fluidly, but two (or more) are still a nogo. I liked how in the stride pattern that you kept the reach for that bass omph fairly close. For some reason, I had it in my head that the reach had to be an octive or more which kind of became a wall that I couldn't get over. Having it closer may just make it doable. Perhaps a chord progression exercise (on loop) for each of the patterns might strengthen those muscles. Thanks again, I'll try to check out your off-YT site.
Thanks for the kind words, Jeffrey! I actually have just such a video planned, and may get it shot soon. Until I do, you might find that doing some standard left hand broken chord and arpeggio exercises might help. If you can get hold of a copy of the ABRSM Manual of Scales that'll tell you all the correct fingerings (in practice you'll vary them a lot, but the "proper" way of doing things is always a good place to start...!)
Well-done sir. Your tutorials were so much expressive. I learnt something really helpful from this video. But I will like to ask if it is possible for you to add the display of the keys you are playing on a separate display for easy visibility. I hope you get my point?
Thanks! Yes, I get the point: it's something I've considered several times over the years, but I've never been able to really make it work in a way I like - I'll keep trying!
Funnily, arpeggiation is easy to me because arpeggios are one of the exercises I do in my daily warm-up practice. I can also arpeggiate downwards, with the pedal it works for me. Strides are very difficult because I have to look at the left hand all the time in order not to miss the right notes, so I lose control of the right hand very easily. Following the sheet while playing strides is impossible for me at the moment.
You're not alone in finding stride a challenge, Carlota. It's not too bad if you're playing in a style that's relatively forgiving of small, "splashy" mistakes like blues, but there are some stride styles - I'm thinking of ragtime, really - that demand absolute precision. I find it difficult to stride without looking at the keyboard (unless things are going really slowly) - I don't know many people who can do it at any sort of speed without at least peeking!
Good stuff. There's got to be be a recognition, that in order to achieve satisfactory results a critical mass of skill and knowledge has to be acquired first. Hats of to Bill Hilton that he does preface this essential fact. What I have never been able to find is a series of these tutorial, free or payment required videos, which have been arranged in an order where one leads to the next. This would enable the tutor to advise 'start here'. The viewer/student has to decide where 'here' is for their own particular situation by toggling back or forward, and then progress from there. I have tried a couple of paid piano tutorial courses. Only to be confronted with masses of information with very little in the way of guidance. Might work for someone with more nous than me but I felt drowning in a mass of information.
Yeah you have to learn basic piano and basic music theory first. Otherwise every video would be 50+hours long and identical. And maddening for those of us who are ready for the relevant information.
Thanks very much! The issue of putting them into a series ("start here, then this one, then this one...") is one that keeps me awake at night. The great difficulty is that, because so many people learn so much about piano improvisation informally, either from TH-cam, books or playing around, there are very few common starting points except that of absolute beginners: everybody's knowledge is slightly different. One compromise I've tried is setting up various playlists, each of which takes slightly different paths/covers slightly different topics. You might find some of those useful. And, obviously, if you have any questions about what to do next, do please ask - it sometimes takes me a little while to reply (I get a lot of questions....!) but I always do in the end! Here's the link to my playlists: th-cam.com/users/billhiltonbizplaylists
You've hit the nail on the head, Bethany. It would also aggravate the "dude u talk too much" crowd, who already have beef with the fact that teaching this stuff in an effective way means, y'know, *saying* stuff.
@@BillHilton You're welcome man! I have a weird skill set myself of masters in music theory and grade 8 piano but NO improvisational ability at all and only basic jazz figuration skills. So I already have to skip through the first 1/3 of lots of videos to find what I need! Everyone will be different so you can only do your best to cater for a range of people, as you evidently are. Enjoying it!
@@BethanyLowe8773 Cool. Interestingly, you're exactly in the category of people I was aiming at when I first started the channel, ten years ago - ie, those who had had formal training but wanted to improvise etc. Give me a yell if you have any specific questions/suggestions for tutorials etc.
More wonderful content,I'm finding myself limited sometimes - only have 61 keys on my instrument - missing having two keyboards on the organ,but I will prevail - thankyou.
I'm sure you will, David. 61 keys shouldn't be too much of a limitation, as long as you have a touch sensitive keyboard and a sustain pedal. I'd try to upgrade to 88 when you can, though!
@@BillHilton I've gone down the middle,got a 76 keys model,it is touch sensitive and my sustain pedal works with it - onwards and upwards - hopefully lol
Thank you very much Sir! You teach it really well. All the three patterns sound great by your hand. However, with the arpeggio, the piano gets unhinged and sounds like it's talking on its own in an manner that could easily make any Believer's eyes teary!
I love this arrangement. Is there anyway I can get a transcription of it so I can see exactly what you are doing with your left and right hands? Thanks.
I'll see what I can do, Tom! Bit of a busy "to do" list at the moment, so if you haven't heard/seen anything within a couple of weeks, give me a nudge!
Thank you so much for the information. I have just started my piano journey and I need to par it down to sizes I can handle. The tutorial is a little out of reach for me yet, but I am inspired to keep working hard. Thanks again! I am subscribed and will support your efforts as well. P.S. You are easy to listen to and you pace your lessons perfectly. Phil Petersen
Thanks Phil - glad to be of help, and thanks for the kind words. Do give me a shout if you have any questions, as I try to answer them all (...eventually!)
And what can you do with your LH if you're playing in a band with a bass and lead guitar? Would be really helpful if you could make some tutorials on how to play piano with other musicians. Any plans to do this?
Hi Tim - the short answer is "less"! If you're soloing (and depending on the type of song) you have to create the rhythm and the bass for yourself. So if you've got two people doing it for you, things actually get quite a lot easier: typically you might go for a more thinned out, impressionistic left hand. That's not always the case: you can double up (think of a lot of piano rock songs, e.g. Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"). In terms of tutorials, I've done bits and pieces that touch on the subject - e.g. th-cam.com/video/R4QHsULKlhA/w-d-xo.html - but I might well make a Piano Questions Answered on this one. Watch this space!
Hi Bill. Yeah I know I should do "less" but I sometimes end up playing only chords with the RH, not knowing what to do with the LH, haha. A "Questions Answered" on this would be awesome; I'll definitely keep an eye on this space.
Keep an eye on it in about an hour from now and you should see it - I found myself turning the question over last night and wound up shooting the thing today...!
What about enriching the melody? I find it hard to make melody line sound better, because any added note to it makes it resonate too much, or change the sound completely. Especially in fast melodies... Also, great tips on arpeggio accopaniment :))
No problem Levi! The best way is basically to play lots of different songs - that's a lot more interesting than flat-out memorization, and will help you to get a feel of the chords in context, too.
Hi, Thank you for sharing it very good information and tips but I have the same question in your video how may I improve using my left hand my right-hand moves very well on the melody but my left hand is very slow following the cords and sometimes not even moving... what do I have to do, to be able to move more my left hand and integrate with my right hand? I would appreciate it if you could give me a tip to work... thank you very much
You're welcome, Sergio! Generally you will find that the left hand improves with time and consistent practice - if your right is your dominant hand it's natural that it will take longer to make progress with the left. However, there are some things you can do: scales in particular are very useful - even if you just learn two or three scales (say, C, G and Am) and practise them over two octaves in the left hand, consistently, for a couple of weeks, you should begin to see improvements. Let me know how you progress, and get in touch if you have any more questions - I'm always happy to help!
Pretty much it's the same pattern, Robert, doubled up - ie low single notes on beats 1 and 4, chords on beats 2, 3, 5 and 6. Given that 6/8 is a compound time you could also do a dotted quarter note/crotchet on a low note and then the same on a chord - it would depend on how you were counting the particular piece. Does that make sense?
Very useful information! It kinda answers the question I asked about broken chords a few weeks ago although you're using other pattern here... I would like to know what are your points of view regarding the circle of fifths - I made a video sharing the ways I interpret it ...but I would like to know your perspectives, Bill! Thanks :)
Sure Bill! Share the message when you find more opportune and beneficial to you :) I remember 2 years ago how bad I was struggling with those simple things that are right there "hidden" in the circle and by having that diagram near the piano practice, it promotes guidance instead of root memorization. I wish I had seen a video or a book explaining me the "grand staff ACE symmetric hack" and the different ways to look at the circle but I had to find and make associations for myself and took me long time. I don't even care if you reference my name or my video, is just the message that's important. I hope it will speed up the learning of other people. Thanks.
Hey Bill, That was interesting but how does one determine please which left hand chords to play in the block chords, arpeggios and stride that sound harmonious to the right hand melody ? BTW I have the 'How to really play' book.
Thanks Kevin! What you need to do there is work out the chord progression for the song. This tutorial should help: th-cam.com/video/ilcfgQ3lZus/w-d-xo.html
Excellent tutorial. I hope that one day soon (this year) I'll be able to apply it to my playing. Here's a question. I've been able to learn some block chords in C, but now I'm trying to play running chords and my mind doesn't seem able to handle it all. I can play each hand separately, but putting them both together brings me to a screeching halt. Any advice?
Philip is absolutely on the money, Steve - it really is a question of starting *very* slowly and gradually building up. You're literally laying down new circuits in your brain, and it takes time for those networks to build: you need to give your brain lots of exposure and lots of repetition, starting as simply as possible.
Sir How do you harmonize the Syllables "A"-"Ma"-"Zing" "Grace" "How"-"Sweet"-"The" "Sound" with different base on the left hand and different chord position on the right hand. If you could make a tutorial about this, it would be really helpful to me especially when trying to harmonize the melodies before the chorus to make it more rich : )
That's kind of a big question! There are several different skills you're talking about there, so kind of beyond the scope of a single tutorial. You might find this one a good place to start: th-cam.com/video/ilcfgQ3lZus/w-d-xo.html
A song tune i can easily cracks, but find difficult to crack down the music pieces of the song. Can you provide tutorials on how to catch music pieces.
Hi, question on pedal and stride. Without the sustain peddle, the base fades quickly but with it things can get crowded in the melody. Seems to me. Is it better to let go the sustain pedal early? Learn to use the middle pedal? Something else? Cheers! And thanks
Morning Lionel! The middle pedal is tricky, even if it's a true sostenuto pedal (some are extra-soft "practice" pedals, and some pianos obvs don't have middle pedals at all). What I tend to do is hold the lower note on beats 1 and 3 with the pedal then lift off (or repedal) the simultaneously with landing on the chords on beats 3 and 4. This is kind of an imperfect solution, and often you have to adapt your right hand improvisation to stop it all sounding too fudgey, but insofar as there's a standard way of doing it, that's it. It's one of those problems where there's no single solution, but you have to adjust the various elements (left hand, right hand, pedal(s)) relative to one another to get a decent end result. Does that make sense?
Thanks for the feedback. Lots more for the practice session. I asked about the middle peddle only because I splashed out on the three peddle board! And thanks for all the videos. I'm working towards working through your book...
Hello! @11:39 the song ends with a set of chords starting from Bb to F chord. Can you explain the technique you used to add the other chords for making the ending fancy?
You don't have to stick to the chord notes, Rohit: a good place to start with choosing notes might be the scale of the key you're playing in. I have various tutorials on that kind of thing that you might find useful, e.g. this one: th-cam.com/video/zrqOaHYe70Y/w-d-xo.html
Hi, I have a question about modulation: when I’m playing a song I will use several different chords. How do I know the difference between “I’m just playing a chord of Em, but we’re still in C” and the piece, or section of a piece actually having modulated to another key. This leads to another question: how does one go about making a piece modulate? I know that sounds artificial, but sometimes my improvisation can get a bit boring hanging out in the same key forever, so maybe there might be a way to spice it up by moving to another key.
Hmmmm - those are very good questions actually, Peter, thanks very much! I'll add them to the PQA list for April, so watch out for a tutorial on modulation in the next 2-3 weeks...
Bill, you generally explained the three types of LH patterns but you played so fast, I couldn't catch the arpeggios pattern. Is it 1-5-1-5-1? Is it 1-5-1-3-4-5?
It varies by chord and the exact notes you use to form the arpeggio/broken chords, but on (say) the F and Bb I was playing 5-2-5-4-2-1. As ever with fingerings, though, what works and what doesn't is going to to vary slightly depending on your hand and finger size, strength and flexibility. The main thing is to choose a fingering that works for you and is good and legato!
Hi Bill, I find the 10-Degree Left Hand pattern (1-5-10), it sounds very nice as well. But I have a question about the Fingering. I find some classical music that use 5-3-1 fingering to play 10 degree on left hand.(I feel less stretching to thumb) though,in some popular music use 5-2-1 fingering to play 10 degree left hand. (via descending baseline) Which fingering is much commonly used ? I hope I could keep practicing on one of the pattern first. Many thanks. :)
Hi Ed: I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by 1-5-10 - do you mean the tonic note of a chord, followed by the fifth, followed by the note an interval of a tenth above the tonic (i.e., C - G - E)? Or something different? If you could just clarify that for me I'll do my best to give you some sort of useful answer :)
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I'm watching this while eating and found myself subconsciously chewing to the beat hahaha
and 2 years later... I laughed at it LOL
Same Imao
agreed, you dont need to overplay in your left hand to be great. you can play simple root chords, arpeggios , but play them with maximum feeling with great melody right hand playing and it will sound awesome
God bless Bill Hilton for helping those like myself trying to play using some left hand playing.
Thanks Bill
Thanks Bill. I have both of your books. Black and red. You are a great teacher. I am learning alot.
Hi Donna - thanks for buying the books, and for the kind words. Give me a shout if you ever have any questions!
Another great tutorial Bill. This really helps as an example of what you can do with the techniques explained in your "How to Really Play the Piano" book too. I would really appreciate more of this stuff: you explaining how you can take basic lead sheets and interpret them, using rhythm, different left hand patterns, right hand melody notes + chord notes + 7ths + 9ths, etc.
Thanks very much Tim - I'm really glad to be of help. More of this stuff is definitely on the way!
Wow !!! Very simply explained LH patterns with one tune. I liked your teaching method. Keep posting such videos.
Thanks very much!
Thanks for this inspirational video, I am getting back to the piano after 30 or so years having learned the basics as a kid. I am sure with the bit of knowledge I have and this kind of help my inner pianist will flourish.
No problem, Caroline - glad it was useful. You're far from alone in where you're coming from: lots of people who subscribe to my channel are coming back to the instrument after a long break. If you need to refresh any basics, have a look at my beginners' course (playlist here: th-cam.com/play/PLpOuhygfD7QnP46wUgQudOySX_z2UOhXs.html ) and/or give me a shout if you have any questions/anything you're stuck with!
Very good video. Coming from a background in guitar, I never actually learned to read notes. So I use the chords listed above to help learn the melody on complex songs with minors and other types of chords
Hey there,
You are a good pianist. I really wanted to know how to end a song like you play those cool notes.
Wonderful Teacher, God bless
Thank you, George!
Really liked this explanation and demonstration, finally sinking in. Switching from organ to piano has been challening. Starting to make more sense now
Glad to hear it, Patty - if you have any questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to help :)
This piano teacher is simply BRILLIANT! and I have seen a lot. If you're especially an adult beginner like me, look no further.
Thanks for the kind words, Rach!
Thank you
That was fun to try different left hand patterns
Always appreciate the help. I've been watching for a while and i know i should be farther along but i can hardly believe i've gotten as far as i have. I'm still noodling around in C. Working on different patterns with some arpeggiation in the right from one chord to another with a ballad style. There is just something about it. Thanks!
L.E. W.
Hi, I am new to improvisation, except for composing Intros and Extros and ornamentation to written music. So may I please ask you for a definition of and an example of the "Ballad Style"?
Thank you very much.. That is helpful. More videos on harmony please. I would appreciate if you showed the use of different patterns concerning the left hand on well known some other Songül.
Glad to hear it - thanks very much! I'll bear in mind the harmony/left-hand stuff - I actually get a lot of requests for both, so more will be coming soon!
What a wonderfully instructive video. I'm off to explore your channel. Subscribed today.
Thanks and welcome - really glad you found it useful. Give me a shout if you have any questions/anything I can help with!
1. BLOCK CHORD
2. ARPEGGIO
3. STRIDE
Combine all of those to make the piece that you're trying to play more fluid and not sound robotic.
Aulia Izzati Is there a video that shows this please?
The Pop Bubble2
This is a great video. I've recently taken up the piano and I've been trying to develop my left hand work, mainly for figuring out versions of existing songs but also for composition. I have played guitar for a little while so I know a tiny bit of theory on chord construction etc. This is a great summary of some really useful patterns. You see these everywhere. Plenty of classical pieces as well as pop songs use these patterns, and they're simple enough to give some encouragement to a relative beginner like myself. Thank you!
No problem at all - really glad you find it useful. Give me a shout if you ever have any questions!
Very very good presentation, very clear. This was MOST USEFUL. Thank you so much!!
You're very welcome Sabato - glad it helped!
Wow. This is what I’m looking for. Now the thing I need to do is how to combine these techniques without stuttering
Glad you found it useful, Bryan! The combination thing really just comes down to sheer brute force practice - keep chipping away, little and often, and it'll come together. Give me a yell if you run into any problems!
Well-prepared, and really well put over. Thanks very much.
You're welcome!
Awesome lesson! Many practical nuggets in here. One of the BEST lessons I've seen on this topic! Thank you so much!
Finally found what i was looking for.....thanks Bill Hilton👍
nailed it man! too easy to get locked into the same patterns as you point out, it's really a continuum between these different accompaniment styles. always good to keep the LH purpose in mind, rather than accompanying mindlessly.
Thanks Evan - glad you liked it! :)
Thanks Bill Nice clear explanation and big help to improve as Iack the rhythm. Right hand not so bad but left has been stuck around the root notes. Will certainly spend some time on this. thanks again and congratulations.
Thanks Peter - glad you like it. Keep plugging away!
great lesson...clean and straight forward,..good job!!!
Thanks James!
Simple teaching..Highly valued...
Thanks Jacqueline - glad you like it!
I think there's no specific rule on which patterns is preferable. I play my own pattern 1-5-1-3-5 and it sounds amazing.
Great stuff! I kinda expected the good old 1-3-5-3 as a step up from block chording.
This tutorial is very helpful Bill. Following on from this, I would like to know how to plan my right hand melody to make it more interesting. I sometimes play octaves, sometimes add a few fills, never seem to play a piece the same way twice. I try to harmonize my left hand with the right, but not to compete, and try to avoid playing the same chord with both hands. I have a basic knowledge of chords, melody, harmony and timing, but now feeling lost! Jennifer.
Glad you like it, Jennifer! Several other people are asking about right hand stuff, so expect a PQA on it very soon...!
Thanks Bill, very helpful video. At this point I can do many of the block chords (incl inversions) without that many problems. And you're quite right that for many songs they sound just fine. However it is rewarding to go beyond that straightforward pattern. In going further, I can do one octive arpeggios reasonably fluidly, but two (or more) are still a nogo. I liked how in the stride pattern that you kept the reach for that bass omph fairly close. For some reason, I had it in my head that the reach had to be an octive or more which kind of became a wall that I couldn't get over. Having it closer may just make it doable. Perhaps a chord progression exercise (on loop) for each of the patterns might strengthen those muscles. Thanks again, I'll try to check out your off-YT site.
Thanks for the kind words, Jeffrey! I actually have just such a video planned, and may get it shot soon. Until I do, you might find that doing some standard left hand broken chord and arpeggio exercises might help. If you can get hold of a copy of the ABRSM Manual of Scales that'll tell you all the correct fingerings (in practice you'll vary them a lot, but the "proper" way of doing things is always a good place to start...!)
You are one among the best. Wonderful lesson
Thanks very much indeed, Jonnah!
@@BillHilton you are welcome
thank you very much! very simple and straightforward explanation
Thank you very much for your brilliant tutorial. Greetings Hannes.
Very helpful. Thanks Mr Bill Hilton
No problem, Daniel - thanks for taking the time to say so!
Like Daniel I found this lesson very helpful,easy to understand and very straightforward,thank you.
Well-done sir. Your tutorials were so much expressive. I learnt something really helpful from this video. But I will like to ask if it is possible for you to add the display of the keys you are playing on a separate display for easy visibility. I hope you get my point?
Thanks! Yes, I get the point: it's something I've considered several times over the years, but I've never been able to really make it work in a way I like - I'll keep trying!
Massively helpful! Thank you!
You're very welcome, Christian!
Excellent instruction!!
Merci beaucoup for this.
Funnily, arpeggiation is easy to me because arpeggios are one of the exercises I do in my daily warm-up practice. I can also arpeggiate downwards, with the pedal it works for me. Strides are very difficult because I have to look at the left hand all the time in order not to miss the right notes, so I lose control of the right hand very easily. Following the sheet while playing strides is impossible for me at the moment.
You're not alone in finding stride a challenge, Carlota. It's not too bad if you're playing in a style that's relatively forgiving of small, "splashy" mistakes like blues, but there are some stride styles - I'm thinking of ragtime, really - that demand absolute precision. I find it difficult to stride without looking at the keyboard (unless things are going really slowly) - I don't know many people who can do it at any sort of speed without at least peeking!
Thankyou. Great stuff 🙌
You’re welcome!
Fabulous tutorial . Learned a lot from that . Thanks
Great tutorial Bill
Thanks a lot. That was really helpful.
Thank you very much 👍👍👍.
You're welcome!
Thank you so much Bill.
Great lesson many thanks
No problem Andrew - glad you liked it!
Many thanks for this lesson. It is the best.
Thanks Mansour - glad you liked it!
Thank You bro, you are a true Pro !! :)
No problem Rishi - glad you like it!
Good stuff. There's got to be be a recognition, that in order to achieve satisfactory results a critical mass of skill and knowledge has to be acquired first. Hats of to Bill Hilton that he does preface this essential fact. What I have never been able to find is a series of these tutorial, free or payment required videos, which have been arranged in an order where one leads to the next. This would enable the tutor to advise 'start here'. The viewer/student has to decide where 'here' is for their own particular situation by toggling back or forward, and then progress from there. I have tried a couple of paid piano tutorial courses. Only to be confronted with masses of information with very little in the way of guidance. Might work for someone with more nous than me but I felt drowning in a mass of information.
Yeah you have to learn basic piano and basic music theory first. Otherwise every video would be 50+hours long and identical. And maddening for those of us who are ready for the relevant information.
Thanks very much! The issue of putting them into a series ("start here, then this one, then this one...") is one that keeps me awake at night. The great difficulty is that, because so many people learn so much about piano improvisation informally, either from TH-cam, books or playing around, there are very few common starting points except that of absolute beginners: everybody's knowledge is slightly different. One compromise I've tried is setting up various playlists, each of which takes slightly different paths/covers slightly different topics. You might find some of those useful. And, obviously, if you have any questions about what to do next, do please ask - it sometimes takes me a little while to reply (I get a lot of questions....!) but I always do in the end! Here's the link to my playlists: th-cam.com/users/billhiltonbizplaylists
You've hit the nail on the head, Bethany. It would also aggravate the "dude u talk too much" crowd, who already have beef with the fact that teaching this stuff in an effective way means, y'know, *saying* stuff.
@@BillHilton You're welcome man! I have a weird skill set myself of masters in music theory and grade 8 piano but NO improvisational ability at all and only basic jazz figuration skills. So I already have to skip through the first 1/3 of lots of videos to find what I need! Everyone will be different so you can only do your best to cater for a range of people, as you evidently are. Enjoying it!
@@BethanyLowe8773 Cool. Interestingly, you're exactly in the category of people I was aiming at when I first started the channel, ten years ago - ie, those who had had formal training but wanted to improvise etc. Give me a yell if you have any specific questions/suggestions for tutorials etc.
More wonderful content,I'm finding myself limited sometimes - only have 61 keys on my instrument - missing having two keyboards on the organ,but I will prevail - thankyou.
I'm sure you will, David. 61 keys shouldn't be too much of a limitation, as long as you have a touch sensitive keyboard and a sustain pedal. I'd try to upgrade to 88 when you can, though!
@@BillHilton I've gone down the middle,got a 76 keys model,it is touch sensitive and my sustain pedal works with it - onwards and upwards - hopefully lol
@@Darwenhypnotherapy Good luck, David, and let me know how you get on!
Thank you. This enriches my learning.
You're very welcome!
Dudeeeee youre very articulate good job 👏
Thank you very much!
Very very useful.
Thank you! Brilliant!
You're welcome, Fran!
For limiting arpeggios, I suggest the Genius George Shearing interpretation of This Nearly Was Mine. :)
You have excellent taste - love Shearing!
@@BillHilton Thanks! 🕺
Thank you very much Sir! You teach it really well. All the three patterns sound great by your hand. However, with the arpeggio, the piano gets unhinged and sounds like it's talking on its own in an manner that could easily make any Believer's eyes teary!
Agreed.
I love this arrangement. Is there anyway I can get a transcription of it so I can see exactly what you are doing with your left and right hands? Thanks.
I'll see what I can do, Tom! Bit of a busy "to do" list at the moment, so if you haven't heard/seen anything within a couple of weeks, give me a nudge!
Thank you so much for the information. I have just started my piano journey and I need to par it down to sizes I can handle. The tutorial is a little out of reach for me yet, but I am inspired to keep working hard. Thanks again! I am subscribed and will support your efforts as well.
P.S. You are easy to listen to and you pace your lessons perfectly.
Phil Petersen
Thanks Phil - glad to be of help, and thanks for the kind words. Do give me a shout if you have any questions, as I try to answer them all (...eventually!)
Thank you
You're welcome Silvy!
this is unbelievable helpful
Thanks Alexis - glad you've found it useful!
bro you are a fkind godddd, i was searching for this video for like 2 fking yearsss
This Bill Hilton guy is a diamond geezer.
This is so good and pretty. Thanks for the video. Bill, may I ask what keyboard is that you're playing? Such brilliant sound!
Clavia Nord
Great learning
Thank you Harbans!
And what can you do with your LH if you're playing in a band with a bass and lead guitar? Would be really helpful if you could make some tutorials on how to play piano with other musicians. Any plans to do this?
Hi Tim - the short answer is "less"! If you're soloing (and depending on the type of song) you have to create the rhythm and the bass for yourself. So if you've got two people doing it for you, things actually get quite a lot easier: typically you might go for a more thinned out, impressionistic left hand. That's not always the case: you can double up (think of a lot of piano rock songs, e.g. Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"). In terms of tutorials, I've done bits and pieces that touch on the subject - e.g. th-cam.com/video/R4QHsULKlhA/w-d-xo.html - but I might well make a Piano Questions Answered on this one. Watch this space!
Hi Bill. Yeah I know I should do "less" but I sometimes end up playing only chords with the RH, not knowing what to do with the LH, haha. A "Questions Answered" on this would be awesome; I'll definitely keep an eye on this space.
Keep an eye on it in about an hour from now and you should see it - I found myself turning the question over last night and wound up shooting the thing today...!
Awesome Bill! Thank you so much!
No problem - here you go: hope it does the job. I might do more in a similar vein in future... th-cam.com/video/301pIBJCA9E/w-d-xo.html
Playing Arpeggio : "Left hand crashes with right hand" so funny 🤣🤣🤣
What about enriching the melody? I find it hard to make melody line sound better, because any added note to it makes it resonate too much, or change the sound completely. Especially in fast melodies...
Also, great tips on arpeggio accopaniment :))
I might do a separate tutorial on that, actually, because it's (necessarily) kind of skimmed over here. Watch this space...!
I really love that thanks
Can you make a tutorial for helping to select non-diatonic chords for a chord progression.
I'll add that to my (growing) list - thanks!
very helpful. thank you.
Why the hell does this guy only have 250k subs?
Hi Bill - Thanks for the video! What is the best way to memorize inversions? Just memorize them all?
No problem Levi! The best way is basically to play lots of different songs - that's a lot more interesting than flat-out memorization, and will help you to get a feel of the chords in context, too.
Hi, Thank you for sharing it very good information and tips but I have the same question in your video how may I improve using my left hand my right-hand moves very well on the melody but my left hand is very slow following the cords and sometimes not even moving... what do I have to do, to be able to move more my left hand and integrate with my right hand? I would appreciate it if you could give me a tip to work... thank you very much
You're welcome, Sergio! Generally you will find that the left hand improves with time and consistent practice - if your right is your dominant hand it's natural that it will take longer to make progress with the left. However, there are some things you can do: scales in particular are very useful - even if you just learn two or three scales (say, C, G and Am) and practise them over two octaves in the left hand, consistently, for a couple of weeks, you should begin to see improvements. Let me know how you progress, and get in touch if you have any more questions - I'm always happy to help!
@@BillHilton Thank you so much for taking the time to give me this tip it is very much appreciated
Thank you!
When you did the stride bass for Amazing, that was 3/4s. Do you have a variation for a stride bass in 6/8ths?
Pretty much it's the same pattern, Robert, doubled up - ie low single notes on beats 1 and 4, chords on beats 2, 3, 5 and 6. Given that 6/8 is a compound time you could also do a dotted quarter note/crotchet on a low note and then the same on a chord - it would depend on how you were counting the particular piece. Does that make sense?
Very useful information!
It kinda answers the question I asked about broken chords a few weeks ago although you're using other pattern here...
I would like to know what are your points of view regarding the circle of fifths - I made a video sharing the ways I interpret it ...but I would like to know your perspectives, Bill!
Thanks :)
Thanks! Circle of fifths: kind of a useful mental map, I think - can I put it on my list to make a PQA episode about?
Sure Bill!
Share the message when you find more opportune and beneficial to you :)
I remember 2 years ago how bad I was struggling with those simple things that are right there "hidden" in the circle and by having that diagram near the piano practice, it promotes guidance instead of root memorization.
I wish I had seen a video or a book explaining me the "grand staff ACE symmetric hack" and the different ways to look at the circle but I had to find and make associations for myself and took me long time.
I don't even care if you reference my name or my video, is just the message that's important.
I hope it will speed up the learning of other people.
Thanks.
Wonderful video..
Thank you!
Hey Bill, That was interesting but how does one determine please which left hand chords to play in the block chords, arpeggios and stride that sound harmonious to the right hand melody ? BTW I have the 'How to really play' book.
Thanks Kevin! What you need to do there is work out the chord progression for the song. This tutorial should help: th-cam.com/video/ilcfgQ3lZus/w-d-xo.html
Amajing Bill.I am one of your followers.I cannot connect n harmonise RPGO with the melodise rhythmically.Please advise how can I do?
Any other videos on patterns please?
I have another one planned, Marwan - it might be a month or two off yet, but it'll appear soon!
Hi. What were the "gospel rundown" chords at the end? Were they Bb - F/A - Gm7 - F?
Yep - you've got it!
Excellent tutorial. I hope that one day soon (this year) I'll be able to apply it to my playing.
Here's a question. I've been able to learn some block chords in C, but now I'm trying to play running chords and my mind doesn't seem able to handle it all. I can play each hand separately, but putting them both together brings me to a screeching halt. Any advice?
I find it helps to go REAL slow to start with and speed up to tempo as I get comfier.
Thanks. I will try that.
Philip is absolutely on the money, Steve - it really is a question of starting *very* slowly and gradually building up. You're literally laying down new circuits in your brain, and it takes time for those networks to build: you need to give your brain lots of exposure and lots of repetition, starting as simply as possible.
Steve Rose oö55\ty m nun jkkkkjji>u666
Philip Dunn the
Sir How do you harmonize the Syllables "A"-"Ma"-"Zing" "Grace" "How"-"Sweet"-"The" "Sound" with different base on the left hand and different chord position on the right hand. If you could make a tutorial about this, it would be really helpful to me especially when trying to harmonize the melodies before the chorus to make it more rich : )
That's kind of a big question! There are several different skills you're talking about there, so kind of beyond the scope of a single tutorial. You might find this one a good place to start: th-cam.com/video/ilcfgQ3lZus/w-d-xo.html
@@BillHilton Thank you sir
Good job
Can u have a tutorial or something of that sort to teach us how to intérprete the notes of a song
Oh Bill I need u brain and fingers 😯😯. Please do you have anything on right hand harmony?
Thanks Brian! You could try this one: th-cam.com/video/TUld2NpCWoU/w-d-xo.html
It's very interesting I need to get access to what you doing thank as your student what kind of advice would you give me?
A song tune i can easily cracks, but find difficult to crack down the music pieces of the song. Can you provide tutorials on how to catch music pieces.
You could try this one, which might help at least in part: th-cam.com/video/ilcfgQ3lZus/w-d-xo.html
Thank you. Enjoyed the stride pattern . Please tell me the ending chords used at 11:42
No problem, Marina, glad you liked it! The run-down chords are Bb - F/A - Gm7 - F.
Hi, question on pedal and stride.
Without the sustain peddle, the base fades quickly but with it things can get crowded in the melody. Seems to me.
Is it better to let go the sustain pedal early? Learn to use the middle pedal? Something else?
Cheers!
And thanks
Morning Lionel! The middle pedal is tricky, even if it's a true sostenuto pedal (some are extra-soft "practice" pedals, and some pianos obvs don't have middle pedals at all). What I tend to do is hold the lower note on beats 1 and 3 with the pedal then lift off (or repedal) the simultaneously with landing on the chords on beats 3 and 4. This is kind of an imperfect solution, and often you have to adapt your right hand improvisation to stop it all sounding too fudgey, but insofar as there's a standard way of doing it, that's it. It's one of those problems where there's no single solution, but you have to adjust the various elements (left hand, right hand, pedal(s)) relative to one another to get a decent end result. Does that make sense?
Thanks for the feedback.
Lots more for the practice session. I asked about the middle peddle only because I splashed out on the three peddle board!
And thanks for all the videos. I'm working towards working through your book...
Hello! @11:39 the song ends with a set of chords starting from Bb to F chord. Can you explain the technique you used to add the other chords for making the ending fancy?
can we play anything while arpeggioting or we have to stick to the chods notes ?
An arpeggio by definition is "notes of a chord played one at a time. "
@@Timbretwo that means any pattern we play by left hand is just arrangment of chords played in rythem ?
You don't have to stick to the chord notes, Rohit: a good place to start with choosing notes might be the scale of the key you're playing in. I have various tutorials on that kind of thing that you might find useful, e.g. this one: th-cam.com/video/zrqOaHYe70Y/w-d-xo.html
@@BillHilton thank u so much 😊
@@rohitdudhe4449 You're welcome - any time!
Hi, I have a question about modulation: when I’m playing a song I will use several different chords. How do I know the difference between “I’m just playing a chord of Em, but we’re still in C” and the piece, or section of a piece actually having modulated to another key. This leads to another question: how does one go about making a piece modulate? I know that sounds artificial, but sometimes my improvisation can get a bit boring hanging out in the same key forever, so maybe there might be a way to spice it up by moving to another key.
Hmmmm - those are very good questions actually, Peter, thanks very much! I'll add them to the PQA list for April, so watch out for a tutorial on modulation in the next 2-3 weeks...
Make some more videos on arpeggios that romantic textures
Bill, you generally explained the three types of LH patterns but you played so fast, I couldn't catch the arpeggios pattern.
Is it 1-5-1-5-1?
Is it 1-5-1-3-4-5?
I think he normally plays 1-5-1-3-5-1 but it seems like he varies it a bit
It varies by chord and the exact notes you use to form the arpeggio/broken chords, but on (say) the F and Bb I was playing 5-2-5-4-2-1. As ever with fingerings, though, what works and what doesn't is going to to vary slightly depending on your hand and finger size, strength and flexibility. The main thing is to choose a fingering that works for you and is good and legato!
Hi Bill,
I find the 10-Degree Left Hand pattern (1-5-10), it sounds very nice as well.
But I have a question about the Fingering.
I find some classical music that use 5-3-1 fingering to play 10 degree on left hand.(I feel less stretching to thumb)
though,in some popular music use 5-2-1 fingering to play 10 degree left hand. (via descending baseline)
Which fingering is much commonly used ? I hope I could keep practicing on one of the pattern first. Many thanks. :)
Hi Ed: I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by 1-5-10 - do you mean the tonic note of a chord, followed by the fifth, followed by the note an interval of a tenth above the tonic (i.e., C - G - E)? Or something different? If you could just clarify that for me I'll do my best to give you some sort of useful answer :)
Yes, that's C-G-E (E in higher octave). I have a bit wondering which finger (2 or 3 ) to play the G note. Many thanks :)
hello very nice tutorial, it helped me a lot.! =)
would u mind sharing a good practise to improve the fast chord changes like at 11:38 to 11:42 ?
No problem - thanks very much! Hm, good question - I'll add that one to the list, thanks!
@@BillHilton uw :) good i will for it!
More popcorn mum🍿🍿🍿