Learning piano accompaniment?

[DanieMarie]

I've kind of struggled with this and I've even bought some books on this, but they're all too easy and aren't really teaching me what I want to know.

I sing, and I do mostly jazz, 60's pop and some modern selections thrown in (often jazzed up), and I would really like to go pro again but I'm having trouble finding an accompanist (they're either -too- professional and I've been out of the game for 4 years, or flaky). So I thought maybe I could teach myself to accompany myself. I'm not expecting to sound like George Shearing overnight, but I'd like to be sort of competent. The problem is, I can't really get past block chords and the "Hey Jude" pattern. The books I bought didn't really have tips that helped with "professional" sounds if that makes sense (more like if someone wants to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" nicely for their kids to sing to). I was classically trained for the most part, except for a piano class in jazz school which I got struggled with (there was only a beginner and advanced class, no intermediate because the program was small and most people were either one or the other, and having played piano for years I got stuck in the latter....I had NO improv or piano arranging experience). I didn't play piano for 4 years but I got my piano back just over a year ago and I've been improving and I can play a lot of the stuff I used to be actually be good at with a bit of practice when I pick it up. But now I'm back at the same hangup I had before!

Anyway, does anyone have any resources or tips for learning this thing? Or should I really beg my parents for lesson money?

[thalassa]

Re: Learning piano accompaniment?

My dad is a phenomenal improv piano player...his specialty is early jazz and 1940's popular music...his advice is to just play. And have fun with it. He took *years* of lessons growing up, played professionally when he was young and single, and has played for pleasure and family for the better part of two decades since (mostly everyone in my family plays multiple instruments, but I have discalculia that also manifests itself in my inability to sight read music). "If you have half an ear you should be able to figure out what makes the "sound" you are going for, and if you have even an ounce of talent, trial and error should let you figure out how to fix the rest" And then play some more. He also suggests getting the computer software that records what you are playing to play it back and translates it into actual written music.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Learning piano accompaniment?

Hmmm the software sounds interesting.

Practice does make perfect and I -am- a lot better than I was a year ago (I can actually sight read jazz in block chords and not have to work out voicings!)

My other handicap is that I have insanely small hands. Apparently so does Elton John and Chopin did as well (maybe that's why I can play Chopin relatively better than other composers) but as a woman that means that my hands are roughly the size of an average 10 year old. But then I think that I should be able to work around it better, because you see videos of asian children playing piano like crazy and they have to have smaller hands than I do!

I thought also that maybe if I was struggling I'd try to arrange myself a written accompaniment? I'm really pretty decent at doing written arrangements that work on real instruments! Then maybe I could work on improving outside of that.