keyboard workshop By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM FEBRUARY / MARCH 2005 What is AI? Setting up the Keyboard Chord Basics

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1 By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Jackie is the wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve Marsden. She is also, however, a highly qualified teacher with a wide experience of Yamaha organs, keyboards and Clavinovas... Here they combine their talents to show you, in a series of six articles, how to play professional chords the Yamaha way. keyboard workshop When Steve returned from the Yamaha Club weekend last October he mentioned that several people had asked for help in using the AI (it stands for Artificial Intelligence...) accompaniment fingering mode found in TYROS and other recent keyboards and Clavinovas. Of course all this comes easily to Steve and the other Yamaha demonstrators, as they have been involved in the development of these products and learned to use new innovations like this from the start. I ve played organ (in fact some club members may remember me from the days when I played concerts on the organ club circuit ), and I ve taught both organ and piano - but it s been a long time since I really got to grips with an electronic keyboard. So... I was naturally interested when Steve showed me how AI worked, and suggested that he should teach me the method too, the deal being that I would then put this into words that a new-comer would understand. What is AI? Basically AI gives a player the freedom to produce more sophisticated (and musical) harmonies from the automatic accompaniment chords they play. When, for example, you play a C chord on a standard electronic keyboard it will normally generate a basic C bass note too. You may, however, want it to produce an E or G bass instead. Organ players will understand what I m talking about immediately because they can dictate the bass note by pressing the appropriate foot-pedal. With Yamaha s AI mode a keyboard player can influence the bass note of each chord by the way he (or she) shape each chord he plays - without the need for foot-pedals. Chord Basics Every chord is made up of a minimum of 3 notes. The chord of C major, for example, contains the notes C, E, and G, whilst a G major chord is comprised of the notes G, B and D. When the three notes that form the chord you want to hear are played (in any order or inversion) in the keyboard s accompaniment section, the instrument will generate the chord. Most keyboard teaching systems advise that the chord of C major is taught with G at the bottom then C and E above so, I ll assume that s how you re playing it. fig C major Using the correct fingering is always important, and is even more so when using AI - or your fingers will end up in the kinds of knots even a sailor won t recognise! Yamaha s AI system won't work with the single finger method of playing and the reasons for this will become apparent later on in the series when I give you some examples of how to make AI work for you. Setting up the Keyboard fig. 2 Select AI FINGERED from the display FEBRUARY / MARCH 2005

2 To check if your keyboard supports the AI mode, and to enable you to use it if it does... i) Switch the keyboard on. ii) Press the [Direct Access] button. iii) Press [ACMP] (accompaniment) button. iv) Select AI FINGERED from the display (using the buttons 1 or 2 below the screen to scroll through the Fingering Type list - see fig. 2) v) Press the [Exit] button until the main screen appears. vi) Press the [ACMP] button again until it is illuminated and active. vii) Now... we're ready to play! A simple start Select [Synchro Start] and play the C major chord (fig. 1) It doesn't matter how long you hold this chord down for as we re only doing this for practice. Whilst holding down the C chord, look at the MAIN display in the screen to locate the area where the chord name is shown. The keyboard will show the name of each chord you play - as you play it. You might like to take this opportunity to check your fingering at this point too, remembering that your thumb is finger number 1. You should have finger 5 on G, finger 2 on C and finger 1 on E (fig. 1). Re-strike the chord but this time only play finger 5 on G and finger 2 on C (giving finger 1 a rest). Take a look in the chord display and, if all has gone to plan, it should now show C/G (C chord on G bass) instead of just C. You should also be able to hear a change in the bass line. Note: Some keyboards display C/G whilst others show C/g... but this is purely cosmetic. Now... keeping finger 2 on C move finger 5 down to E and restrike both notes (fig. 3). You are now playing C/E (C chord on E bass) - wow! You'll soon be sounding just as good as the Yamaha team! Hey! F# doesn't go with a C chord and assumes that you re trying to play an F# chord of some description. Because the keyboard works as fast as a computer, it will probably have worked out what you ve played before you do! Lets try an F major chord. Play the F chord in the usual position with finger 4 on A, 2 on C and 1 on F. (fig. 4) fig. 4 Re-strike the chord, with finger 1 on F and finger 2 on C (omitting finger 4 - A). The chord display will confirm that you are playing F/C (F chord on C bass). Easy! Now re-strike the chord again - this time with finger 1 still on F but with finger 4 on A (resting finger 2). Now the chord display shows that you are playing F/A (F chord on A bass). Now for something a little more tricky! Play a G major chord in the usual position with finger 5 on G, finger 3 on B and finger 1 on D (fig. 5) fig F major G major To play G/D (G chord on D bass you must play G at the top and D below. To do this you ll need to move your hand from its basic position and down the keyboard... so that finger 2 is now on G and finger 4/5 has moved down to play D (fig. 6). fig. 6 fig. 3 As you ll have noticed, we ve kept C as the top note throughout - only moving the notes below. By doing this, the keyboard understands that you want it to generate a C chord but that you wish to choose the bass note yourself. The keyboard s intelligence understands which bass notes will work correctly with each chord so... if you try to play C (at the top) and put F# at the bottom the keyboard thinks to itself Check the chord display again and you will see it shows G/D. Well done! That's as far as we will go for this session as I want you to have time to practice moving your hand down - until you can do this without looking. Practice what we ve covered... and maybe you can try to adapt the method to some simple tunes. In part two we ll apply AI fingering to some tunes I ve already tried... before moving onto something a little more adventurous. FEBRUARY / MARCH 2005

3 keyboard workshop By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Your response to the first installment of So, you want to play... took Jackie Marsden straight to the top of our monthly readers poll. Jackie is the wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve Marsden and a highly qualified teacher with a wide experience of Yamaha organs, keyboards and Clavinovas... Part 2: Hello again. I hope my last article made sense and that you ve been able to apply some of the basics we covered to tunes you already play. I ve heard through the grapevine that a lot of you enjoyed part 1 and are keen to learn more. One thing I should emphasise is that AI is more than just another feature on your keyboard ; it involves a whole new playing technique - and does need practice. With this in mind, lets move straight on with an exercise based on a simple little tune you ll all know... Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I can just imagine you all groaning... not that tune again, give me something more adventurous! I have my reasons for using Twinkle Twinkle (which, to be honest, no one really plays after their second lesson). The tune is easy, the chords are easy... but, using AI we can make it more interesting, just altering the bass line.. So off we go... The theory... Organ players will already know that chords aren t necessarily played with root note in the bass (e.g. a C chord played on a C bass). The C major chord can be played with either C, E or G in the bass but, hold on a minute... aren t those the very three notes that make up a C major chord? Indeed they are, so it follows that a G major chord could be played with either G, B or D in the bass. And the chord of F major - yes, I bet you re all one step ahead of me by now... can be played with either an F, A or C bass note. Bear in mind however that the bass line shouldn't jump around just for the sake of it. It should be in keeping with the style of the piece. The performance... Rather than attempt to play the tune and chords all at once I d like you to practise the chords on their own first - so that, when you do fit everything together, it comes naturally and you don't have to think too hard about the individual parts ) Chord name: C (major) Select an accompaniment style, play this chord of C major - and start the rhythm. You ll hear the normal (root bass) C major chord ) Chord name: C/G Don t stop the rhythm - but retrigger the chord playing just the notes C (the key note) and the G below (setting the bass note to G). 3) Chord name: C/E Now re-trigger the chord again, this time playing the notes C (the key note) and the E below (setting the bass note to E) APRIL / MAY 2005

4 Now let s do the same thing with the chords of Fmajor and G major... (keynote is red) ) Chord name: F (major) 5) Chord name: F/C 6) Chord name: G (major) 7) Chord name: G/D Play a new chord. By playing the three notes that make up the chord of F major you tell the keyboard that a new chord is required. Re-trigger the chord as before, this time playing the notes F (the key note of F major) and the C below (setting the bass note to C) Here s another new chord. As before the three notes that make up the chord of G major tell the keyboard that a new chord is required. Re-trigger the chord, playing the notes G (the key note of G major) and the D below (setting the bass note to D) Twinkle, Twinkle - AI Chord Exercise Now lets try the chord progression in sequence. Select an accompaniment style such as Chart Ballad (or 8beat) at 68bpm and play (chords only) from the music above. When you re happy that you can play the chords on automatic pilot begin to introduce the tune. Again, don't worry if it all falls apart to begin with. You will master it with a little perseverance. Once you ve conquered Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, try some other simple tunes such as Ode to Joy, Merrily We Roll Along and White Rose of Athens. The art to using AI is not just to play the tunes but to arrange them. Of course it will entail an element of trial and error as you experiment with the substitute chords but don t be put off - this is how all the top players find out what works and what doesn't. Trust me, I've heard Steve practicing! If you d like to me with any tunes you ve arranged before the next edition of the magazine, send them to jackie@yamaha-club.co.uk Careful though... I may even pinch some of your ideas! A MIDI file containing my performance is available from the Club website for those with Internet access. Download it to a floppy disk and use it in your keyboard to view and play the music score. If your instrument supports the SCORE facility - look for a button marked score - you ll be able to display the music on the screen as in the illustration (right). Go to: Members Only - Download: Demos APRIL / MAY 2005

5 keyboard workshop By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Jackie Marsden, wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve, is a highly qualified teacher with a wide experience of Yamaha organs, keyboards and Clavinovas. We join them on their journey of discovery for part three... in which Steve shows Jackie how Yamaha s AI chord system works. Part 3 I hope that you re all getting along okay with this new way of playing chords. Until now, we ve been playing chords using alternative bass notes taken from the notes of the chord itself. But what about other, more adventurous bass lines? Steve often uses the well known descending bass line to Bach s Air On A G String (or Procol Harum's Whiter Shade Of Pale ) to demonstrate the AI fingering system. The chord sequence for both these tunes is very similar and there is a small demonstration MIDI file on the website ) Chord name: C (major) Select an accompaniment style, play this chord of C major - and start the rhythm. You ll hear the normal (root bass) C major chord ) Chord name: Am/G Play the note A (the new key note) with finger 4 and add the G below (setting the bass note to G) with your little finger ) Chord name: G Play the three note chord of G major in root position. This sets a new chord in which the note G is the key note ) Chord name: C/B Play the notes C (the key note) with B below (setting the bass note to B). 5) Chord name: F Play the three note chord of F major in root position. This sets a new chord in which the note F is the key note. 3) Chord name: Am Play the three note chord of Am as normal in root position. This sets a new chord in which the note A is the key note ) Chord name: G7/F Play the note G (the new key note) with finger 4 and add the F below (setting the bass note to F) with your little finger. 6) Chord name: D/F# This is something new... The keyboard will recognise that you have played only two notes. D is at the top - instructing the keyboard to play a D? chord. But should it be a D major or a D minor chord? Normally you would need to play a three note chord to give a clear indication of the chord type but, as the lower note in this instance is F# (which forms part of the D major triad), the keyboard s brain will understand that you are calling for a D major chord on an F# bass. Clever stuff! 1 JUNE / JULY 2005

6 Once you feel comfortable with the chord sequence, try adding the melody. The first four bars of Bach s Air are given below together with the chord symbols... Air - by Bach AI Chord Exercise If you completed that exercise successfully, try to use the same formula to add extra AI bass notes to a different tune... What s coming next? Steve has asked me to practise this chord. I don t know why - and I m not sure if I ll ever be able to stretch my hand so far - but he said I will need it for the next installment of Professional Chords. Take a look at the picture and try and copy what Steve s hand is doing. I only have a small hand so it is quite a stretch, but I am determined to be able to play it without thinking. Editor s note... As Jackie says, Steve does have large hands - in fact they re like shovels! If you can play that - good luck to you, because, like Jackie, I only have small hands and, although I can reach the notes if I really stretch, I could never manage to play the chord cleanly in performance. For readers who are also digitally challenged may I suggest an alternative fingering where the little finger plays the two lowest notes of the chord. It s still not easy, but it can be achieved with practice. Good luck... Don't strain your hand though because we want you back in full working order for the next installment. Glyn Madden A MIDI file containing a performance of these examples is available from the Club website. Go to: Members Only - Download: Demos JUNE / JULY 2005

7 By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Jackie Marsden, wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve, presents part four of her series which explores how Yamaha s Ai chord system works. keyboard workshop Part 4 Hello again... How did you get on with the chord I left you with at the end of part 3? I did manage to play it with the fingering that Steve told me to use, but it was a stretch. For this issue Steve s composed a simple tune called Chill Ai to demonstrate how you can use Ai* to force a bass note to hold. Let me explain... You might, for instance, want to play a C chord followed by a Bb chord, but require the bass to stay on the note C. It can be done - but it does help if you have hands the size of Steve's. Before we go any further, some members have asked why they get a slightly different chord name on the display to what they were expecting? This is normal, and you ll see this happen if you follow this exercise. The keyboard looks at all the notes being played (including the ones for the bass) and decides the chord name based on this information. Chill Ai First we have 3 chords to learn. Try to use the same fingers as illustrated ) Chord name: C (major) You will notice that each of these chords have four notes. The (red) Notes on the outside are doubled up (in this case C ). This is how you tell the Ai system which note you want it to designate as the bass note of the chord. 2) Chord name: F / C Practice Try playing the three chords in order - for 2 bars each. C /// C /// F/c / / / F/c / / / Bb/c / / / Bb/c / / / : repeat 3) Chord name: Bb / C When you play Bb/c, you may notice that the instrument s chord display shows Bb9/c. This is normal as you would add a C above the Bb to make a Bb9 chord, but because there are two C' s - one at either end of the chord, Ai can tell that these are the intended bass notes. * We ve changed AI (Artificial Intelligence) to Ai because, due to our print style, readers are mistakenly reading it as A1. AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2005

8 Now, let's take a look at the tune. You will see that it is quite easy to play, especially if you play just the top notes - but it gets a little harder when you try both notes together. Try the melody first - but watch the timing. I found a great way to learn this was to use the backing / demo file that Steve has made. He chose the "Chillout" style - hence the title - available on all CVP300 series Clavinovas, PSR3000 and in the TYROS premium pack Chillout style. Style / Rhythm: Chillout Tempo = 88 beats per minute Chill Ai Ai Chord Exercise composed by Steve Marsden Well, that s all for now. Steve and I would love to hear how well (or otherwise) you re getting on with Ai. So... why not send us a copy of your performance of Chill Ai? Then we can evaluate how well you re doing and, perhaps, recognise the areas where more help is needed. You can the song files you create to steve@yamaha-club.co.uk Or... send your performance on a floppy disk to: Steve Marsden, Yamaha Kemble Music UK Ltd., Sherbourne Drive, Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, MK7 8BL You could even include some other songs that you have experimented with using Ai. Good luck! A MIDI file containing a performance of Chill Ai is available to download from the Club website. Go to: Members Only - Download: Demos AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2005

9 By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Jackie Marsden, wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve, continues to explore Yamaha s Ai chord system. keyboard workshop Part 5 In part five I m going to ask you to combine all the things we ve learned so far in a modern, fun version of the Christmas carol God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. I d better warn you now... you will need to practice. Steve s really made me work this month! It will help if you can download his MIDI file from the Yamaha Club website (see bottom of opposite page for details). Personally I found this invaluable as I was able to hear all the chord changes as he plays them - and get a real feel for the arrangement. The arrangement is in the key of D minor, so there s only one flat to worry about. I m sure you ll have played all the chords before but I ve included a few charts below to help. The hardest thing is to get the chords flowing smoothly so that the 'joins' can t be heard... but I m sure you ll soon master this. In Steve s lovely chord sequence the most important thing to remember is to hold down the notes on the outsides (shown in red) of the chord - so you only have to move your fingers to change the middle notes. Confused? Look at the diagram below and all will be revealed. D Dm7 E/D Eb/D Dm Other chords to look out for are Dm/C, Gm/D, A/C#, F/C and F/E. They all follow the principles outlined in previous lessons. For example to make the chord F/E you play F with finger 1 (thumb) and E with finger 2, making sure the bass note is always below the chord note. As you know - if you ve been following the series - the keyboard s computer mind will try to work out what key you re playing in and will anticipate the chord progressions you make accordingly. Sometimes, however, this is not what we want - so we have to force the chords to follow the pattern we want. Eb/D The chord Gm/D (left) provides an example of this practice. The chord before it in this arrangement is A/C# - so the keyboard might expect you to play G/D. as we want Gm/D we have to tell the keyboard exactly what to play - rather than let it work it out for itself. Let s face it, your keyboard is only a machine - not a mind reader. Now... if a woman had programmed it we wouldn't have this problem! DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006

10 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Style / Rhythm: J-Pop Hit 2 (Japanese Pop Hit) Tempo = 81 beats per minute arranged by Steve Marsden Steve told me that, at the Yamaha Club Weekend at Alvaston Hall, he found that the hardest thing to explain was how to set about creating your own arrangements using the Ai fingering mode... so in part six I ll be looking into this in more detail. Until then, don t be afraid to experiment with all those lovely Christmas carols and tunes you ll be entertaining friends and family with this Christmas.. If it all goes wrong... so what?! The lessons we learn from our mistakes are just as valuable as those we learn from our successes. Good luck with God Rest Ye... the Gentlemen. See you next year. MIDI File Download - Download Steve Marsden s MIDI file demonstration from: Members Only - Download Demos DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006

11 By Jackie Marsden Bmus(Hons) FLCM LGSM Jackie Marsden, wife of Yamaha s technical guru Steve, concludes her exploration of Yamaha s Ai chord system. keyboard workshop Part 6 Hello... I hope you ve found my series on creating professional chords with the Yamaha keyboard both informative and helpful. Several members have contacted Steve via technical support about the feature and, although it takes a bit of getting used to, I m glad to be able to report that most of you seem to be having a fair measure of success with the system. God Rest Ye Merry - video download One player in particular who has made an excellent job of mastering the Ai mode is Yamaha Club s most recent contributor, James Woodcock. James has made a video, available to those of you with Internet access, showing him in action playing the arrangement of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen we published in the last edition of the Yamaha Club Magazine. To view James s performance go to topic, html (or, as this is a bit of a long-winded address, you can simply follow the link direct from Yamaha Club s What s New For February... page). If you view the video you ll see that James has altered one of the chords in the arrangement from A/C# to Ddim. This is interesting because it shows how you can take a written piece of music and alter it to your C own taste. You can do this too. You might change one (or more) of the chords... or maybe substitute different notes... or alter the timing... but where do you begin once you re on your own? Setting out on your own During the past year we ve given you some examples of how to play chords with alternative bass notes. Experiment with others. The key to this is not to be afraid to try different things. If you don t know how to play a certain chord in Ai mode don t worry, Steve is only a phone call away (and James Woodcock will probably be able to help too via the website). If you have a good ear you ll probably be able to hear when a chord works with a melody line (and when it doesn t) and you shouldn t be afraid to explore as many alternatives as possible. Just because the music score indicates that a C chord is the correct one doesn t necessarily mean that other, more adventurous, chords are wrong. Experiment with new bass lines too - but, as with all instrumental voices, you should try to imagine what a real bass player would do. Of course, this isn t easy if you don t actually play the instrument concerned, but you can learn an awful lot by listening to CDs and watching musicians on the telly. C F C G7 C G7 C F C G7 C F C G7 C F C G7 C G7 C FEBRUARY / MARCH 2006

12 Record your performance... One of the best ways to appraise a performance is to sit back and listen to it from a distance. Today s electronic keyboards are ideally suited to this purpose as nearly all have built in recorders - and Tyros2 even has an audio recorder as part of its specification - so you can record your playing and then be your own best critic from an arm-chair at the other side of the room. And if you don t like what you hear? Go back to the drawing board and try again using other chords and/or bass lines. Twinkle Twinkle - Reprise Back in April last year I set a little exercise based on the tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I d like you to revisit the piece and, using the knowledge you ve gained during the course of this series, build a little Ai arrangement for yourself. The basic arrangement (opposite) uses just three chords C, F and G7 but this, as you now know, is just the foundation for a more complex (and more interesting) arrangement. * Play the tune as written... Take it note by note - following the score exactly. If you play each chord in its root position you ll find that you have to move your hand around more than usual - but, in Ai mode, you ll hear the standard bass line. * Build on the theme... You could try adding passing notes to the melody (as in bar 8). have you ever considered how similar Twinkle is to that other well known nursery rhyme Bah Bah Black Sheep? The tune is very similar - but not quite the same. You could combine the two for some interesting variations. If you have a reasonable grasp of harmony you may like to pad out the right hand with some chord notes here too. (and if not, it ll be worth following the new series by Terry Harriman that begins on the next page). Use your Ai skills to force new bass lines - based first on the written chords, then on substitute chords. You can experiment with this for as long as you like - and it may be an idea to revisit the arrangement we began with in part 2. When you get bored with Twinkle (how could that happen..!), try the same exercise using some other simple tunes such as Merrily We Roll Along, Ode to Joy etc. These tunes are ideal because, Steve Marsden in their simplest form, they are really easy to play - but each can be built into an advanced arrangement using Ai (and a little bit of imagination). Good luck with it all - and goodbye for now Jackie (and Steve) Marsden There must be a Celtic breeze blowing towards Dronfield at the moment because, with St. Patrick s Day (March 17th 2006) still some way off, we ve already begun to receive quite a few requests for Irish karaoke MIDI files. Irish Singers Vol.1 Catalogue ref: SSP35 (Price: inc p/p from Yamaha Club) Forty Shades Of Green* I Will Love You All My Life* Green Fields Of Ireland* Mary With The Golden Hair* Galway Bay* Dublin In The Rare Old Days* Home In County Galway* Fields Of Athenry* Irish Singers Vol.2 Catalogue ref: SSP36 (Price: inc p/p from Yamaha Club) Dirty Old Town It's Good To See You Home To Donegal My Lovely Rose Of Claire Isle Of Inishfree Limerick You're A Lady Galway Shawl Pretty Little Girl From Omagh And here s a new release in the Simply Sound Famous Artist Series - for those who aren t Irish... NEW Pam Tillis * Harmony track included Catalogue ref: SSP37 (Price: inc p/p from Yamaha Club) When You Walk In The Room Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) Spilled Perfume Calico Plains In Between Dances Sweethearts Dance I Was Blown Away They Don't Break Em Like They Used To karaoke midi files FEBRUARY / MARCH 2006