How to build a good accompaniment - Jyrki Tenni

A good accompaniment is a combination of rhythm, harmony and style, with a little twist of creativity. Often the piano accompaniments are written out (like a classical score), but most often the best result is achieved when a pianist can create an accompaniment of his/her own. How can this be?

How to create accompaniments on piano, without any written music? That is a question I hear often. Some pianists have an education of years, even tens of years, and still they are not able to accompany a simple song without the sheet music.

One thing to keep in mind is that the improvisatory part of piano playing should be present from the very beginning. It takes time to build the improvisatory piano skills. The younger you start, the better you can be - basically.

When playing music, one should express something. If your aim is to play the notes correctly, the result is a good performance of the notes at the best. But, when you are in charge of the notes yourself, you are aware of the feeling, tension, story and the possible lyrics etc., you actually are composing, just like man has been doing for thousands of years. This is a very new invention, that we should play only music by dead white European male composers!

When starting the improvisation, one should limit the elements first. Either limiting the amount of notes, or the musical "playground", or, playing e.g. black keys only. By doing that one can be sure that everything one plays, sounds satisfying already in the beginning.

The teacher should be encouraging, and not too demanding. Use some material that supports the learning process; like Keyboard Accompaniment and Improvisation. By finding simple and effective tasks for the student, the teacher can open a totally new world for the pupil.

So next time you play the piano, take a look at the lyrics. What's going on? What is the situation, who is telling the story, what is the feeling and how it is developing? Then let all this information affect your mind and feeling. Play the piano only after this.

This article is written by Jyrki Tenni. Find more information at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOQjLNvaH2e-qbf2DO2GbWA

This article is written by Jyrki Tenni.Find more information at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UcoqjLNvaH2e-qbf2DO2GbWA