{"id":3189,"date":"2021-04-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=3189"},"modified":"2023-01-13T09:13:03","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T17:13:03","slug":"creative-piano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/creative-piano\/","title":{"rendered":"The Creative Piano Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anyone can sound awesome on the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, we did a Creative Piano Challenge where we asked folks around the office to improvise using only four chords<\/a>: C major, A minor, F major, and G major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what came out of it was simply breathtaking<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this video, you\u2019ll see what we mean that anyone\u2014and I mean anyone<\/em>\u2014can sound good on the piano with the right ingredients and a little guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll watch creative piano performances from three different individuals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Jacquie<\/strong>, a beginner pianist<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Scott<\/strong>, a more advanced pianist<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Dave<\/strong>, an experienced drummer<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s see what they come up with!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jacquie proves that beginners can make beautiful sounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Our first challenger, Jacquie, is a beginner piano<\/a> player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First, Jacquie walks through each chord to get familiar with them. Then, watch her use a simple scale pattern as a motif. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can see that you don\u2019t need to do anything too fancy to sound fantastic. Jacquie keeps to the notes right under her hand, yet she\u2019s still playing with both hands. The pattern she uses also fits perfectly with the rhythm she\u2019s chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scott shows what further experience can create<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Our next challenger, Scott, has been playing piano since he was seven years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scott mixes up the chord progression by starting on F major. Right off the bat, he creates a beautiful little motif based on a rhythm. Then, he moves through each chord and embellishes them with riffs and fills<\/a>, moving all over the keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Scott\u2019s performance may seem complex, but it can be boiled down to four basic chords, all on white keys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pianists of all levels can play something great with these four chords, and once you gain more confidence and experience, you can really push the boundaries and make something truly amazing \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dave brings a drummer\u2019s perspective to the piano<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Dave is an experienced drummer from Drumeo<\/a>. Let\u2019s see what perspective he brings from the world of percussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dave starts by playing different versions of the four chords, alternating rhythms and adding extra notes here and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then, Dave starts thinking outwards and experiments with different melodies, bridges, and riffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While I like to tease Dave that he\u2019s more heavy-handed (#drummers \ud83d\ude0f ) we pianists can definitely take inspiration from his rhythmic style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There\u2019s no wrong answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    As you saw, our pianists all used their first few rounds to explore what sounds they can make with the chords first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then, once they got more comfortable, they started branching out into other notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When it comes to getting creative on the piano, there\u2019s no such thing as playing \u201cwrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead, free your mind of judgement, explore, and get lost in the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Anyone can sound good on the piano with the right ingredients and a little guidance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    And guess what? You don\u2019t even need to know how to read music<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Show us your creative piano performances!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Now it\u2019s your turn! Take these four chords, make something with them, and share them with us \ud83d\ude42 Post a link to your video in a comment on our YouTube<\/a> post, and we may share it with the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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