Value of Accompaniment
Found in: Accompaniment, Claiming Territory
Brianna S., Georgia
I have an adult student who has had 7 lessons now. She is a very fast learner. She can play 11 songs at this point. (I have thrown in a couple extra accompaniments.)
I would like some advice on helping her see the value of accompaniment. She seems to not like it very much.
I did have her pay for Accompaniment one this past week so we can start that very soon. I have also started her on Dreams arrangement 1 and 2, and plan to do NS arrangement 1 next week.
So far all of my students have loved accompaniment. Plus, this is only the 5th adult student that I’ve had.
We have talked about improv, and I assigned her to practice black note improvisation, and plan to give her a composition assignment next week.
This week we also discussed how Simply Music is a way of learning — that though some of the beginning songs are very easy, we need to remember that we are learning how to learn. Just like when you learn how to use a hammer, you would start with a birdhouse, or a box. And the box is not the point — learning how to use the hammer is the point. We start with and easy project, and learn how to use the tool well, and then move on to a harder project.
Is there anything else I should be doing, especially in terms of getting her on board with accompaniment?
Cat W. , Tasmania
A thorough knowledge of chords is a very powerful entry point into composition and improvisation. Often, just listening to a chord progression can provide the foundation and inspiration for a song or improv. We get this chord knowledge by playing accompaniments. So, I would suggest that you set her a comp and improv project using some chords she as learned. You can either stick to the exact same chord progression as in the accompaniment, or have fun exploring the effect of changing the order of the chords.
e.g. Take the chords from Honey Dew or Amazing Grace and explore breaking up the notes and building melodies.
A song, any song, be it an accompaniment or otherwise is never just a song – it’s just a beginning! ie a starting point for further ideas! Adults I have taught who don’t like accompaniments all have one thing in common – they don’t like singing! So, try encouraging her to sing and if not, remind her that having the melody present is essential for experiencing true accompaniment. Anything less is simply banging out a series of chords – a most unsatisfying experience.
Hilary C., Western Australia
I always tell students that the program will teach them to make chords on all the notes and they will learn the relationships between the chords and that this program gives them the treasure chest of music, even to when they are reading and recognizing chords on the page – or words to that effect.
Sometimes students baulk because there is no tune – perhaps playing with an audio recording might help.
Perhaps getting her to pick out tunes, even nursery rhymes, and putting chords under in the left hand.
Joanne J., Australia
For me, the Accompaniment program is where the real diamonds are found. I played extensively for 50 years from music and never understood what I was playing until the mystery was unlocked by our wonderful Accompaniment program. Now when I lose harmony notes in a piece of music I don’t have to fish out the music as I can actually work out what I should be playing as I now understand how music is constructed, and that understanding all began with Accomp 1. It is being developed constantly by using that as the foundation for every piece of music I play whether it be just using a chord structure or an actual arrangement no matter how simple or complex. Knowing about the relationship of I, IV and V also gives us a fabulous vocabulary for making our own music freely – a joy I had never known before.
Feel free to quote my experience – I am passionate about the ‘magic’ of this particular part of the program.
Megan W., Washington
Christmas is the best time for me to gets my students excited about accompaniment. Last year someone posted a booklet they had made with Christmas songs using only chords C,G,F and a Dm. So I was able to use that as my inspiration and came up with a booklet of songs that my beginning students could play. They had not started the accomp program yet, but because they had learned Honey Dew and Amazing Grace they were able to play about 7-10 songs. They and their families were overjoyed.
For each song I would put at the top “Singers start on” and then give a beginning note that people singing along would know where to start with the melody. For our Christmas piano party we did a big Christmas sing a long and several families told me it was the best Christmas party of the season for them.
When they see the possibilities of playing really well known, fun, and great sounding holiday music they start to see the vision of accomp even at this early stage.
Gordon Harvey, Australia
I couldn’t agree more! For a fantastic resource of holiday material, check out Elizabeth Gaikwad’s Songs for Christmas program. The great thing about this program is that it can be reused by the same students at later stages when working with more advanced accompaniments or reading projects. One valuable thing to do when introducing accompaniments to new students is to play them more developed versions (rhythm variations, broken chords etc) so they can see how sophisticated-sounding arrangements can be created from lead sheets. Some of the developed arrangements in Elizabeth’s program can be used for this purpose.
Sue B.
I am inspired by all the responses to your forum posting on accompaniment. This program is exactly why as an experienced teacher and pianist of (also) 50 years I feel now I understand and can actually PLAY without a sheet of music in front of me! I have always envied musicians who can sit down and play spontaneously and improvise with ease.