Jordan has some really nice tutorials that he did years ago about arpeggios and some more, definitely go check them out! They have helped me a lot with some technical things over the years
I feel like the impulse to mythologize every exceptional player as a natural talent from birth really undermines the work they put in. He was receiving professional training in piano in the second grade. He had to work for it.
@@christianlarson4201 I agree. A couple of years ago, I realized that the difference between people like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson, and novice players like me is that they not only started at a young age, but they have put years into playing before they even imagined themselves playing with a top level rock group. It makes me wish that I had gone to a music camp when I was eight years old.
@christianlarson4201 I feel they are lucky. So lucky to be inlove with something enough to keep grinding and practicing that samething without losing interest. Thats the difference in others. Some of us cannot stay doing a routine for too long, for me personally, i cant cuz its going to start messing with my mental health. I have to do something different otherwise it may lead to depression.
if you have the admiration you should give it a try, start with a small controller of two octaves, you'll fall in love and will want to learn more and more songs, the piano is the most versatile instrument
@@greenrobot5This. I learned on an old rickety upright when I was growing up, but fell back in love as an adult with a 31-key microKorg and the GarageBand piano sample 😂
Few people through out history comes close to Mr. Rudess. As a Long time Dream Theater fan (mid 90's), i've had the pleasure of being "along for the ride". I recommend anyone who listens to this to listen to some Dream Theater, if they haven't already. All the guys are incredibly talented, and the music is master class.
I second this. Discovered Dream Theatre in my mid teens in the early 2000's. Some of the best music and musicality in the history of rock and rock bands. Each of the individual players is legendary at their instrument. I used to marvel at Portnoy's drums when I first started playing drums. Now I'm learning arpeggios on the piano from Rudess. Life is so, so good. ❤
The world needs bands like Dream Theater. If it wasn't them, someone else would've brought progressive metal to the masses the way DT did. Prog will never die because curiosity & fascination about who is the most virtuosic at something is shared by almost every person alive. Before prog it was bebop and classical music. And on and on...
Wow, this was a breakthrough. Instead of worrying about the motion to get there--just go there, and once you're there, it's natural. Like a years worth effort just clicked into place near instantly.
This was such a great video. He described perfectly my problem with the tuck under, which I was doing from the first chord position instead of doing it while transitioning already to the second position. I just tried it and man, oh man, what a difference. Thank you Jordan and Pianote!
Yeah. Others explain this more or less too, so I was already getting this a bit, but he explained it clearer and I'd say better leading to faster speed.
if you like what he’s saying, you might want to check out the taubman technique. there’s free videos you can find on youtube. the basic concept behind it has really changed my technique for the better
This is how I was taught to play arpeggios. They're difficult to play well, it takes a lot of practice and patience. I've never mastered them because I start making up excuses to practice something else or just get lazy. The key to great arpeggios is making every note sound even and in time, they should sound the same as a simple melody. Much respect to all who put in the practice and get them down.
What really helped me is to figure out that the rhythm and the proper arm movement is more important than hitting the right notes 100% of the time when beginning to learn this. The note accuracy will improve with repetition, but at the beginning of this process it’s important to go faster than your personal comfort zone mandates. I know this is confusing to newbies, because tutorials always talk about playing slow with accuracy to learn to play fast, but that isn’t the same thing as what I’m describing above. When playing slow you are working on proper striking technique, but when doing what’s described in this video you are mastering the arm movement up and down the keyboard and pushing yourself to play at a faster rhythm. That’s why the “bursts” he talks about are important.
Yes - break down the arpeggios into four note groupings, then when you are comfortable with that, extend it to five and so on.... Small bites are better than one big mouthful.
Great advice! "..it’s important to go faster than your personal comfort zone mandates" Jordan said it himself in the video - his teacher was pulling his hand up the keyboard "a little bit faster than he was comfortable with" ( at 00:58 ). Thank you! :))
As a keyboard player/composer I was always fascinated by arpeggios and never got them right, I'm still learning to perfect them and use them more and more in my solos.
This is actually a great video for explaining how to make big jumps in your playing (if you understand it). The movement aspect of playing is not taught enough, and here Jordan teaches that. I remember playing 'downtown' once and I couldn't get it ... until I realised I had to move my arm about an inch forward on a certain phrase...It's all about discovering other people's techniques, and then if you get good enough, the other way around!!!
Oh this is GREAT!! First, my husband is a HUGE fan of Dream Theater and I became a fan after hearing Hollow Years for the first time. ❤️❤️ Second, I play the piano and have been looking to improve my technique and of ALL the people to teach arpeggios, you managed to get THE best keyboardist out there! Thank you!
same here; pianist as well and have been a DT fan ever since a roommate at college got me into them and that was mid 90's with awake and Images and Words.
50 years of focusing solely on playing an instrument... 12hrs+ a day for 5-6 days a week... professionally, in your spare time, etc. Do that with ANYTHING and you too will look effortless. He is amazing for sure!
Thank you Jordan, this really refreshed my rusty arpeggio playing. Ive been playing for over 50 years but it's never too late to pick up tips that help. This video was a useful reminder thank you. Plus, clear, non woffly presentation! 😊🎶
Wow that chord progression at the end was epic! Good stuff. Very different from the traditional way we were taught arpeggios. Chord progression at the end: C- Em- F - Db - Eb - Ab - Db - G (descending wheedle-ee wheedle-ees on G major triad) - C - G - C
Jordan is awesome. It’s really amazing how precise he play these arpeggio’s in the key of C. In my opinion, it’s the hardest key to play these & scales in properly. He’s a master.👊🏾👊🏾🎵🎶
Incredible, and extremely useful techniques! I can't wait to get another keyboard and start brushing off the cobwebs. I've been a bassist for 32 years! Music is the gift that keeps on giving. Cheers!
Rudess has the skill of making piano technique and theory seem fascinating. I've studied piano at a conservatory and based on my partial experience he is one of a kind inspirational musician and a teacher.
Wow, what a great tutorial! Yeah, I remember when I couldn’t play arpeggios, and I learned the same way, although I can’t hold the candle to Jordan‘s playing, looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow at NAMM, glad to be one of his Patreon members
Thank you so much for this excellent video on arpeggios - I have just found, and subscribed to, your channel. This is exactly the same technique I was taught by my teachers at the 2 universities that I studied at, and which I pass on to my students. As you say, it's all about the motion, horizontal movement, the flow, and of course the position of the elbows. I make a big deal about a relaxed, tension-free, minimum movement, and fluid technique with my students. Most of them do work for that goal, but I do find these days that there are many young pupils who want the instant gratification, without the work! :) The say "how do I play so easily and fast (if necessary), but they want it to "just happen" for them!! Despite that I still love what I do. Going to definitely check out some more of your videos - one never stops learning!
This is a refreshing take on how to play arpeggios! Kinda like how to efficiently operate a machine, taking your anatomy into account. Thank you, Jordan!
Very grateful and happy to take advice from Mr Rudess. Many thanks indeed - I will be making a few minor mods (and some diminished ones) to my arp practice routing! Cheers from Sydney - Dave
This is super cool stuff to hear him explain! I’m just a novice but I get his points. 👍 I hope he hangs out with you guys in front of the camera for awhile!
Jordan makes it look so easy. Then I sit at my piano and my fingers go "uh uh, we're not doing that !" Hahaha Seriously, he's amazing. For me it isn't really that I can't move that fast; it's about time and devotion. I can move like that on the guitar, but I've invested a lifetime on that.
After longtime I see the Master again showing good tips . Good to see. I am a very big fan of you, after decades still stuck on the first series of keyboard wizard, then u was fast! Amazing video was that! and I now still doing the harmonic progression excerice...wish you all the best.
That's an awesome tip, I kept focusing on finger movements as well and going slower, going to try to just move the arm out and learn to pick up speed from there
I took up the piano as an adult at the same time I took up Tai Chi. The theory from the latter was an influence. One of the principles is often said as 'move from the centre'. There are a number of aspects to this. One that is relevant to the piano, as it is also relevant to typing is this: a one inch movement is a large movement for a single finger, but is a small movement for the hand, a tiny movement for the arm, and a miniscule movement for your body's centre of mass. The idea, then, is to reduce the amount of finger work necessary by moving the hand, and minimising the reliance on the wrist by moving the arm. Thus your arm follows the average position of your fingers. Moreover, the motion jams up if you try to move your fingers first. Thus you move your arm, and if necessary your torso too, so that large movements are made by the large part of your body, and lead the movements of the smaller parts of your body. (This is something you see a lot if you watch a video of someone practising a Tai Chi form: centre moves first, legs and waist do the majority of the work, the upper torso then follows the body below it, the arms follow the shoulders, the hands follow the arms, and so on. It leads to efficient movement, and is also something you'll see if you watch a violinist or cellist moving a bow with their hand.)
In one of his video before passing away, Chick Corea gave a similar but common advice, which is to not twisting your hands when playing scales or simply moving over the keyboard. The moment you start doing weird stuff to reach notes, you renounce either to your speed or accuracy. The wirst needs to stay still, it's the fingers that has to work
That reminds me of an old friend, who also passed on long ago. I was mesmerized at how he played piano. His hands literally glided over the keys, must like shown here. His playing was what I refer to as "full".... and the point of that, it was all by ear. The man couldn't read a note if his life depended on it. He had a ton of music books for the songs that he played. He used them for the lyrics, which allowed him to play the tune. Some people are just born with "the gift" of playing what they hear. He is missed, but we can still see him in the 2 movies he was in. He played himself and played piano in the movies. Life moves on.
I was today years old when I realized that this is the greatest human on earth and that I have been trying to get speed wrong my whole piano life. I was like no way this is real I went to the keyboard and did what he said and now I zip like a crazy piano wizard. I am both elated and sad that it took so long to get here. This will most only work for people with a core technique , but it would be awesome if people could get here without technique. To zip along like this would fuel the desire to learn pieces.
"Watch Me Play Arpeggios Faster Than Humanly Possible and Shred For Like 4:23" was what I thought this would be, but this was actually a lesson. Thanks, Jordan! :)
This is good advice Jordan as I too would get hung up on the slightly bigger distance. One thing that helped me is to think that I had use of the full key, not just the wide area near the edges. Since the middle fingers are so much longer, playing a little further in toward the fall board really helped with my speed and the corkscrew elbow effect you demonstrated. Thanks again for sharing!
Another thought is that something you are doing is to move your thumb (going up) or third finger (going down) an exact octave. A slightly simpler exercise, one I'll try next time I do some piano practice, is to ignore the third of the chord. So just play the C and G with the same fingers you would playing the entire arpeggio. Anyway, this is definitely something I''ll explore when I practise next. Great video.
Ah, you had me at this title! I've played all levels of Arpeggios and have my ARCT in piano, but speed is sometimes my nemesis! Loved seeing your last video with Jordan!
Fabulous reminder and from a teacher's heart, immense gratitude for the aspect of healthy technique and efficiency! Everyone LOVES to play fast, so these reminders are crucial!
Good video this works on guitar also, when I'm doing multiple position shifts with scales or arpeggios my hand/arm doesn't pause at any one position but moves continually while my fingers hit the notes as I pass through the positions. & of course efficiency is a major key to speed (staying relaxed & only using the muscles you need helps also)👍
Awesome tutorial. Another great tip to make fast arpeggio scales octaves is using the buttons octave up/down, it needs practice but it works. I guess I saw this 1st time in a from Jordan R. video whatever
