How to Make Piano Music From Scales
- 1). Brush up on the piano scales you already know, left and right hand. If you know 10 or more scales then learn another 5; if you know little or no piano scales then try to learn some basic major and minor progressions. Starter scales are C major, E major and G major.
- 2). Learn more piano scales. You can never know enough musical scales for any instrument; the larger number of note progressions you know, the less likely it is your piano music will sound repetitive and similar and the more likely it is your piano piece will sound interesting and original.
Websites, such as pianoworld.com, offer an interactive list of every piano scale that you can play, and piano theory books can help you with note fingering. - 3). Experiment in how these scales make up piano chords in the left and right hands. You can divide the C major scale (C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C), for example, into various chord structures: a C major triad (C,E,G); a C 5 chord (C,G); a C major 7 (C,E,G,B) or even a C major 9 sus4 (C,D,F,G,B).
Take all the scales you know so far and learn to play the chords that make them up. Several Internet programs, such as looknohands.com, show the chords that make up any piano scale and play them back to you with sound. - 4). Write down the chord structures that suit the style of piano music you wish to make---a D dim7 chord (D,F,Ab,Cb) would suit a scary or spooky piece of music while a D# major chord (D#,G,Bb) would suit jazz or blues piano music. If you haven't chosen a particular style of piano music to create, then simply write down the chord progressions that sound good to you and sound suited to each other.
- 5). Order the chosen piano chords into a musical structure by testing combinations of chords as you play. You may want to use three chords in a linear row (C major, E major, G major) repeated, or you could attempt to use seven or eight chords in a longer, more complex routine.
You will need to consider the tempo, or speed, of the piece by setting the beats per measure (4/4 time, for example) and whether you will hold certain chords for longer than others. Also consider how hard you press and depress the keys as this can add a relaxing or an angry mood to the piece. - 6). Alternate playing the notes of the chords and the scales individually. This is one way to make a melody or create "joining" licks and riffs between chord structures. Use various timings and tempos to change the sound and style of the piano melody. The "Yankee Doodle" song melody, for example, uses a C major scale beginning with middle C (C,C,D,E,F,E,D,C,B,G,A,B,C,C).
- 7). Write down your best ideas, prototypes and final scores onto paper. This could be as simple as writing down the chords in order across a blank piece of paper or as advanced as scoring the notes and symbols on a staved piece of sheet music. Look at other sheets of music to see how specific notes and symbols are written or use sites such as treblis.com for basic notation theory, including where and how to write the notes you are playing.
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