Piano Styles

When learning to play piano I decided to look at different styles that I may be interested in playing to help me decide what sort of things I need to research to enable me to continue learning. This will also help me when I eventually come to create my own music for I will know how certain styles are played.

Many modern piano styles are based on the blues. The blues involve an emphasis on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with an additional note included. The flatted fifth is added to the minor pentatonic to create the blues scale. Many blues songs are based on a simple chord progression, known as 12-bar blues. This uses the I, IV and V chords of a scale to create a foundation for melodies and solos.

Rhythm and blues piano is based on blues, jazz, and gospel styles. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on the rhythm of the song. Most R&B has a particular swing to it, with a strong feel of syncopation in the rhythm. Syncopation involves placing the stress on a normally unstressed beat. This often results in an almost off-time feel to the untrained ear. This would help me when creating our soul piece for our group work.

New age piano often involves less chord changes than other styles, instead relying on simple two-chord progressions and polychords. A polychord occurs when two different chords are played at once. This technique is taken from earlier classical works by composers such as Stravinsky.

The classical piano style is probably the most varied of all the styles. Classical music is older than other styles, and is considered to the proper grounds for musical instruction. Many elements of other piano styles come from classical music, and nearly all forms of musical theory are used in classical music. Classical music usually requires intense training to master, though there many pieces designed with the novice player in mind.

Though classical is often considered the high point of music, this is not necessarily so. For instance, many players who are “classically trained” have trouble adapting to the feel and sincerity of the blues. For this reason, a well-rounded player should be adaptable and learn as much about each of these piano styles as possible. In this way, a pianist is ready for any musical challenge.