Sheet music: Beautiful, unique, and distinct?
Jul 4th, 2007 by Derrick Fung
Written by Chris Ling.
Often times one of the common pitfalls that many budding musicians make would be to buy sheet music, practice and practice to the point of perfect recitation, and then perform for friends and family. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad or wrong with playing sheet music the way it’s written, but for those who are interested in truly improving their own personal musical style and improvisation ability, read on.
The sheet music that you buy from publishing companies, are great. They provide a clear melody, as well as a solid background so that when played by the amateur musician, sounds almost like the recording. The tune will be easily recognizable by all, and everyone will enjoy the performance. However, what separates a karaoke performance from a true concert recital is one’s ability to take the music written, and transform it into something beautiful, distinct and unique.
So you might be thinking… that’s great in theory Chris… but how do I do this? How do I take your typical pop song sheet music, and add my own ‘unique interpretation’. The truth is… there’s no easy answer. Musical interpretation takes time to develop, and comes gradually with constant experimentation. There are however, a few things to keep in mind when beginning to learn the art of stylistic improvisation:
- Whether or not you are classical trained, basic music theory helps. It’s always good to be aware of what key you are in, as this will allow you to have an idea of what are acceptable notes to hit; what causes dissonance and what are the best ways to resolve that dissonance.
- When first starting out less is always better than more. Musical style means adding in your own special touches… but that doesn’t mean you need to be playing notes every single beat of the song.
- Style, not complete genre change. Remember that while you do want to add your style to the music, it would be best not to completely change the genre of the piece to something completely unrecognizable. If you are playing a slow ballad… there’s no need to suddenly add in ear bleeding power chords in the background. Through that example is perhaps a bit extreme, I’m sure you can see my point about keeping your additions subtle. Ultimately, you want your listeners to believe that this was how the song was originally written. Take someone else’s song and make it your own.
- Listen to others; find what works and what doesn’t. One of the ways I first started out with musical interpretation was listening for specific techniques that my favorite musicians used, and then experimenting with them, finding what I liked and what I didn’t. You’re not expected to come up with everything on your own, and having references makes it a lot easier when you’re first exploring the world of style.
- Finally, take that song in the first paragraph… the one that you practiced to the point of perfect recitation. Spend a while working on adding your own style (don’t worry if it takes you a long time, it does get easier with practice) and then finally get that same group of friends and family and see what they think. You’ll be surprised how much of a change they notice!
Musical interpretation is nothing new. Now that you’ve opened your eyes to this wonderful skill, watch your favorite artists perform. What do you notice?
That’s right! The sheet music doesn’t match what they’re playing on stage! One of the reasons your idols are famous and successful is because of their unique style… something that is not captured in store bought sheet music. So take risks, develop your style, and don’t worry, you’re on your way to stardom!
If you have any questions about developing your style, feel free to email me: masterling88 at hotmail dot com.
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