Processing I, IV and V
Found in: Accompaniment
M., New York
I’m about to “find” and “process” I IV V for the first time. Two questions.
1) So far, we’ve had students stick to the range from E above middle C to F below for all their accompaniment chords. There is therefore a choice to be made in transposing, and either way something old is kept and something new must happen. With transposing to F as an example, choice one is to stick to this range, which means chords are all familiar but now IV (Bb) and V (C) require moving up from the I as opposed to down which students are used to in all cases so far, while choice two is to keep the down-to-IV-and-V movement, but that would require playing F above middle C, out of the usual range. Which “old” think is more important to preserve, the overall chord range or the down-to-IV-and-V movement?
2) In the training video, Neil mentions writing in I-V-V, and then when transposing writing in the new chord names themselves. I see in the library at least one person mentions specifically not writing the chords in, letting students get used to really thinking in terms of I-IV-V to help them transpose in the moment without attachment to specific chord names. I personally would have thought to go this second route as well for the same reason, not to mention that the page would get crowded/messy trying to write in however many different sets of chord names for various transpositions. But I wanted to see what the consensus was out there in terms of who has had success with which method, i.e., just working from I-IV-V written in vs. actually writing in the sets of specific chord names vs. who knows what else.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
It’s not a big deal which direction they go with the chords. I tell my students that a GENERAL rule of thumb is to keep the RH chords close to middle C (think of middle C as a magnet), so you get a nice, full range of bass, harmony and melody. If they start playing all their chords higher, I will say (light-heartedly) that it sounds like a chipmunk song, then we discuss it.
I also tell them it is also personal preference. It doesn’t matter if they are used to moving UP to a particular chord, or DOWN to a particular chord. They can find either one by the time they get to this point in the program. Just have them experiment and see which sounds best.
As far as what to write in the book when transposing, I have my students write just I, IV, V – not the chord names. I tell them they can write ” I = F, IV = Bb, V = C on the top of the page if they need a reference at first. If a student is having trouble with the process, I might backtrack and have them write in the chord names.
Victoria S., California
I’m open to ideas about this also. I am trying this approach out at the moment. After going through the keys of AG & ALS that are printed in ACC I, and after finding the bottom notes of I, IV, V from the triad, I have them play JB in different keys before having them play AG & ALS in those same keys. They never seem to get tired of the blues and are willing to work harder at JB initially to find the patterns. It also allows them to think about moving the LH thumb up a whole step – I don’t tell them about that unless they are having a problem with it because their ear tells them usually. Once they know JB in a different key, they are already comfortable with those chords and applying them to AG & ALS seem downhill.
As to range, I tell them to decide where they want to position for that song. I let them know that sometimes JB might not sound as cool in a key played too high on the keyboard, and it can also sound too muddy played too low. I want them to decide that for themselves. What I like about this is giving them some artistic choice and permission to explore wider ranges.
As to AG and ALS, I tend to favor the down-to-IV- and-V movement, as they have learned it that way the first time, and them letting them know that it is not wrong to play those chords going up, but a matter of what sounds good to them. I am thrilled if they can go either direction, because ultimately they will have that ability anyway.
Winnie B., Colorado
I’ve been using the left hand tuneup in a key as a “cheat sheet” for keeping track of the chords in that key.
Since the little finger always plays the name of the I chord, 2 is the IV chord, and V is the thumb, the chords are clearly marked for right hand playing. If you take the LH thumb up a step, it plays VI, and the little finger can go down a step for VII, and then the whole scale for any key is mapped out in the left hand. My students find this
useful in mapping out the chords: they play the left hand’s appropriate finger while writing out the number of the chord in the music.
Barbara M., Massachussets
I have arrived at a way of processing Accompaniments which I am happy with at this time. As they learn new keys, we make a chord chart in the front of the book. The columns say I, IV, V. They fill in the columns with the chord names, like C< F< G. Rows are added as keys are added each week at the lesson. This we refer to as the chord chart.
On their playlist we added the words “chord chart.” They play through the whole chord chart each time they practice, saying I, IV, V. Each week I assign a different accompaniment song to transpose. Playing the chord chart each day is more drill-like than SM usually promotes. However, that repetition and simplified accompaniment assignments has really helped.
Of course, this whole chord chart thing happens after they have processed the first 3 in the keys provided in the book.