Cobbway Piano Syncopation Lesson 4 of 8

8/3/2019 Cobbway Piano Syncopation Lesson 4 of 8

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T H ET O B E T T E RP I A N O S Y N C O P A T I O N _ .

LESSON 4PUBLISHED BY

THE HAROLD COBB SCHOOL OF P IANO SYNCOPATIONCHANCERY LANE , 91 ST. GEORGE 'S STREET, CAPE TOWN


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LESSON 4.Contents:

1. Explanation of the right hand filling in the fox trot and waltz shown in Chart .~.2. Breaks and embellishments.3. Broken chords (bell breaks, thumb breaks and 5th finger breaks) (Chart 6).4. Examples to be worked out for the next lesson.

EXPLANATION OF THE RIGHT HAND FILLING IN THE WALTZ ANDFOX TROT (Chart 5).The Fox Trot (Chart 5).

1. In the first four bars of the fox trot in Chart 5, the right hand filling is straightforward. In bar5, however, D octave is filled in with E and G. Play the bottom D and E with your thumb, G with yoursecond finger, and top D with your 5th finger. You will often find this fingering useful when you haveto play adjacent notes at the bottom of a right hand chord.Another interesting point occurs in bar 16, where three fill in notes are used in one chord, C Rev.This often happens in 7th, diminished and added 6th chords.When you have worked slowly through the fox trot, study the waltz in Chart 5.The Waltz~(Chart 5).

2. In the first four bars of the waltz, the filling in of the right hand chords is straightforward. Inthe first chords of bars 5, 7, and 13, however, there are adjacent notes at the bottom of the right handchords. Strike these notes with your thumb, as explained in paragraph 1 above.Don't attempt to study broken chords (Chart 6) until you are sure you understand how to fill inright hand chords, because all embellishments like broken chords, breaks, trick runs, etc., are based onthe construction of chords.Therefore be sure you understand how to fill in your right hand octaves, or you will never understandhow to fill in your solos with breaks and embellishments.

BREAKS AND EMBELLISHMENTS.3. I cannot stress sufficiently that breaks and twiddly bits don't make a good syncopating pianist,although they will certainly help to make your playing interesting to your listeners and yourself.The pianist who crowds his playing with breaks, runs and twiddly bits always reminds me of theperson who never stops talking, but never says anything worth hearing.Remember always that your listeners want, above all, to hear a melody played rhythmically. By

all means dress up your melody in an interesting way, but always be sure that it can be recognised.4. When you introduce only a few selected, suitable breaks or embellishments in a number, theeffect you achieve is far more arresting and musical than a solo that is all breaks and no melody.5. From now until the end of the Cobbway course, I will deal with all types of right hand tricks andembellishments in modern piano playing.Practise each example carefully, not only in the given key, but also in as many other keys as you can.When you have done this, and not before, try to use these breaks and embellishments in any piece youare playing, but take great care not to overdo it. You must learn to introduce your breaks periodically,not continually, and in a musical way.

BROKEN CHORDS (Chart 6).6. Broken chords offer one of the most effective ways of dressing up a melody. They are reallyrhythmic figures made up of the notes of the prevailing harmony.If you look at Example V (Chart 6) and compare bar 1 with bar 2, you will notice that in bar I themelody is a plain semibreve up to note C; and that it is replaced in bar 2 with an attractive rhythmicbreak made up entirely of notes of the same chord, C.Compare bar 3 with bar 4, and you will see that here the same thing has been done with notes of thechord G.7. Bell Break : The form of broken chord known as the bell break is illustrated in lines V and W(Chart 6). In line V the bell breaks are descending. In line W the bell breaks are ascending.Thumb Break: The broken chord known as a thumb break is shown in line X. In these breaks, thethumb plays the first note.Fifth Finger Break: Line Y illustrates the fifth finger break (also a broken chord) where the firstnote in the break is struck by the fifth finger.Practise these four different ways of breaking up a chord. not only in the given examples, but withother.chords as well. Not only will this give you a good knowledge oJ chords, but it is a very good technicalexercise.

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Example 30:

C DI n ~ 2/_~ P- 3-?t":: ' _ 7 < r -, iJ' 1);0. .s-: 0LA n /I C Y ~ -. .~ .~ C DM G 7 C C R e . v .= I f . =J :l...- = J " = J b. ; . J : - " J : -~ - .I ., - - - - ., -UI - - / /1 . . . - ~--: : o : -f- - . 1 - - ~ - -41 il= -4 -

8. Example 30 is amelodyplayed in straight syncopated form. Play it several times and then studyExample 31.Example 31 :

J - _ , . _ ; _ ~ . - ~ - ,, n r:."_ - . ' - .-..l' ~., ~ I:' fY ., - .. - U r.::; 0 -.:i" . . - . '../I :... . . ~ CiII . . _ . ; . , . - .. .v - !"" ~. . . ~ ' r -~ c D M G7 C C Rev.= I J = " = J I: = f :J I b . .. . . I I = - ;,~,._ . /I ., - - - ., "UI. -- - = ; f - = "iii- ~ - ~- -J--~ - - - -. - . 1 -

9. The melody in Example 31 is the same as in Example 30. but the right hand has been dressedup with broken chords.In bar 1 there is a thumb break which may be played in the same register, or an octave higher. Tryboth ways.In bar 2 there is a 5th finger break. Note that this type of break begins just before the fourth beat.

In the fourth bar there is a bell break.lO. Bell and thumb breaks are applied to the waltz in exactly the same way. Compare examples

:i2 and 33.Example 32:

~ I I 2 - 3 4-JI - - ; ; .I oJ ~_1 I\ .1 1 . . . . . I . . -.:-II. ~ ...; IC G Rev., -J ~ '1 -f - = 1 = _ : : , = - =-. -z ., ., ., ., ., ., .,U . _ . , -./I'T ..:: = f - II -= 4 -- - . "illC D

11. Play Example 32. fill in the right hand chords and try to introduce bell, thumb and 5th fingerbreaks; then compare your work with Example 33.Page 2 L es so n


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Example 33:

n ,~~8 ~.I e- -~~ ~ . ,. . ;_.~ . = . - t.. ~ ~:..--.......~ _ . . . _ ' ;_I J _ , _ ' . . ::;;,.. _ I ' ! : ~I 11 A _ . "! O - . .-- ... v ~ .-- " ' !O._/ / ,, _ :J J S: = 1 - = 1 = . I- - - - -I J -J /I. . . . , . . .: 4 1 : =f: ~I- --iI!-

EXAMPLES TO BE WORKED OUT FOR THE NEXT LESSON,14. For your next lessen, fill in the right hand of Exercises 16 and 25 (Lesson 2); also work outthese examples, using thumb and 5th finger breaks.15. These examples will be written out for you in Lesson 5; the lesson will also deal with diminishedand augmented basses, the added 6th chord, and alternating waltz basses.16. Bear in mind your notes on "How to Practise."

l~. In Example 33, which is Example 32 embellished with thumb, fifth finger and bell breaks, Ihave put a thumb break on the 2nd beat of bar 1; a fifth finger break on the 2nd beat of bar 2; and abell break in bar 3.Compare Example 33 with Example 31 and you will notice that these chords are broken up in thesame way; although one is in fox trot time and one in waltz time.13. Let me stress once again that this type of break, like every other break or embellishment, mustnot be overdone or it will become very monotonous.

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CHART 5 WALTZ< D o

. ,. ;oco ~~ ; i 1 =1 , . . (3)8VA ~.. - - c J: ~ A7 ~I f 1 :7 J!.t . . ~ 6 Re- . t ' l t : t -tt .... - = = 'f. - 1 I r - lII!~'1 d P d 1 P d t P o l'f ~

-fiL - = ! : = -A- ~ C V ~ eVA I-n- --. IU - . ~( M I"-' I I ' "C G7J : : " -1 = =~ = - = = ! = ! = I: ~.1' -- : 4 i ~ til ~~ L~CO , . . _ @)A- ,. @, -~ I : t ~ @-i 1 =A

.:i-f" i.-"'." A7 t t - = I = = l - [7 tf-~ G R e . V t t l :-I: -J: ~. - - ~ ~I= :;Ii . - - ~

d @ ) e : :~ . . ~ ! = @C -C:..,I C DM C Y t h ~ C, J: - = J: s : -",_ . ., = - f - .. __t ~ ~ 1 =Pd Pd...t

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CHA~T 5. FOXTROT

~0_ - e - ~ e n @'_" ~ . " . . . : : @ - , ~~~~ . .. DM ttl ~7 t: = 1 c = J _ ,M G7 C :$: F f l ' I \=~ .. :1 s: : ; ~ - = =:"1:.til ~ -.J- :4 = III - ~ = -I "ill

,,, IX. . .

C -I: .. DM. G71 c F .. FM.... C : ~ . . = 1 1 : - - = : . h " ~-. . .. . .

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_~ -Lesson 4 P age 5


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CHART6 .

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W & E l l 6 R E A l ( A S (E N O I N u< D

xTHUMB B R E A K< D

s t h F I N 6 - E R B R E A KC D y

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Cobbway Piano Syncopation Lesson 4 of 8