Accompaniment Variations 23 & 24
Found in: Accompaniment
Stephen R., California
I’m confused on Accompaniment Variations 23 & 24. Do they only apply to second inversion chords? Neil uses Amazing Grace as an example, so would all the chords be in second inversion through the song, or only the first chord?
I couldn’t tell if he’s using mostly second inversions or just on the opening chord. I think all second inversions, because that would require changing “shapes” for students since we haven’t begun the inversion discussion officially yet. I’m wondering how to go about presenting this to students. Tell them the name of the chord is the middle note and keep the “shape”?
Ian B., California
Remember that all the variations are not meant to be applied to every chord or kept as a pattern for the entire song. Neil talks about this a couple times in the audio training. I suppose you could do the entire Amazing Grace using 2nd inversions, but I think of the “pivot” and the “pivot run” variations almost like a flourish or drum fill. So I’d be more apt to throw it in at the end of every 4 or 8 bars and just play the remainder of the piece with more straightforward Acc 1 style chords.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
Yes, Variations 23 & 24 apply to 2nd inversion chords. But we’re not teaching inversions as a concept at this point. It’s just another playing-based way of physically relating to different ways of processing chords. Neil addresses this specifically at the beginning of the teacher training for variation 23 – maybe listen to that again.
At this point of learning HOW to process this variation, I do not spend time explaining how often or when to use it. My students process through a few songs using only the newly learned variation so they can add it to their ‘vocabulary’. Later on we discuss more about using the variations musically – not overusing the busier ones, mixing them up. The long-term goal is for the student to have a natural feel for spicing up their accompaniment with different rhythms and ideas. Like speaking naturally after you’ve built up a vocabulary.
Stephen R., California
I feel like students may forget or not incorporate these once we move on to Accompaniment 2. Do you go back and revisit these later? I’m typically doing one Accompaniment Variation a week or two weeks, but not going back. Every group of three before Variation 22 I like them to apply to outside material.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
If you don’t keep revisiting them, they will go by the wayside typically. I usually keep several variations on the playlist as one item – e.g. “Var 22 – 25 review”. If they revisit them just once a week for a while they’ll most likely have them down.