Chords for Keyboard strings tutorial
Tempo:
76.2 bpm
Chords used:
Bb
Gm
Ab
F
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hi everyone, my name is Peter.
Thanks for joining me at Our Worship Sound, where we're working to make worship keyboard
technique and technology easier.
One of the most common sounds that you'll hear from a [Ab] lot of keyboard players is strings.
I think there are three different ways that we tend to approach it.
I want to give you some tips on how you can [E] take these three approaches and do them well.
I think it's really important when you're adding strings to clarify what you're trying
to do with them.
Are you trying to add texture to something that you're already playing, like in a piano
part?
Are you trying to add high-end energy and create a different dynamic?
Or are you going all the way and trying [Ab] to create an orchestral sound within a song?
Because the approach that you're taking will dictate how you need to play, as well as what
kind of sounds you need to use and how you need to set them up.
So in this video, we're going to kind of bounce back and forth a little bit between how we
should play and how we can set our sounds up to achieve the best results.
The first approach we can take is adding texture to what we're [Bb] already playing with the keyboard part.
You don't have to change your approach with this one.
You just have to know how to add a strings layer to what you're playing.
I've added a synth strings layer to this piano sound.
[F] [Gm] So you can hear it's adding a richness, it's adding texture to it.
There is one sound adjustment that I would recommend for this approach.
You might be able to adjust it within the sounds in your keyboard, or you might be able
to adjust it within the software if that's what you're using.
[Bb] I'm [Ab] using software to create these sounds, main stage, so I'm going to go into this main
stage [Bb] synthesizer plugin.
I'm going to look for the cutoff filter, and that's going to be consistent for whatever
synth you're using.
You want to look for the cutoff filter, and I'm just going to lower this just a little bit.
It just creates a sound that's going to work a little bit better in this context.
It's not so overwhelming, and it allows your main part to come through.
So that's the first approach, where you're not really changing what you play to accommodate
the strings, you're just adding the strings layer to it.
But do go ahead and cut off some of the higher frequencies so it doesn't overwhelm the mix.
The second approach, we are going to start to change our playing approach a little bit.
We're still layering though, okay?
So one thing I might do if I'm getting to a louder part of a song and I need to add
a little bit of energy to it, I'll start to add a string sound.
[Gm] I'll play a little bit higher up on the keyboard, and it works really well to add energy to
a louder part of the song.
There are three things that I pay close attention to when I take this approach.
The first thing is to make sure the strings don't build up.
It's really important to clear your sustain pedal a little bit more often than you normally would.
So let me play what I would normally do with the sustain pedal, is leave it down until
the next chord change.
[Bb] Let me show you what that sounds like.
Obviously way too much going on there, so you need to clear it a lot more frequently.
So I'm clearing it after the beginning of each note there, and it just allows a lot
more clarity in there.
Second, I listen for the melodic movement that I'm creating with my chords or with the
notes that I'm playing.
I'm not just hanging out on one or two notes.
If I was doing that, something like [Gm]
[Fm] where the top note is always this F, it gets boring.
So we want to create movement to add that interest and that energy to the sound.
The last thing that I pay close [Eb] attention to with this approach is the [Bb] spacing of my notes.
If I just take a normal close spacing [Gm] approach, [Bb] it doesn't really give a lot of clarity to
the strings at that point.
So what I try to do is space them out.
I think octaves work really well in this situation, which is mostly what I'm doing.
I'm also adding the third to it with what I've shown you.
But if you just want to play octaves, that works.
Now if you're not used to playing octaves or it's too much of a stretch, there is a
way, at least in [E] main stage, that can create that octave without you actually having to play it.
Let me show you this really quickly.
[N] This is something that I've just learned recently.
So if you find your strings channel strip and go up to this MIDI effects row.
We're going to click here and add the chord trigger plugin.
Where I'm at with this right now is I'm just going to click clear and then I'm going to
click C4 down here.
Actually click learn, C4, and then I'm going to play C4 and also [C] C5 on my piano.
So now we have it set up so that when I play this C, it doubles it an octave [Gb] higher.
So I'm going to show you that in a minute.
Before I do that, I would recommend that we shrink the trigger keys layer.
[F] Maybe it's right there.
Because I don't think we want to double up every [Dbm] note that we play.
So anyway, now I can [G] get that octave effect without [Bb] having to play the octaves.
[C]
[Bb] [Gm] [Cm] [Gm]
[F] So [Ab] that's a really nice and easy way to achieve that octave spacing.
But just in general, you want to think about spreading your notes out a little bit when
you use that approach.
So the first approach, we didn't change our piano or we didn't change our playing approach at all.
The second one, we gave more emphasis to the strings.
And the third one, we're going to give all of our focus on our string [Bb] part and actually
try to create an orchestral sound.
This one is the most challenging.
It requires the most thought into the notes that we play.
Obviously we wanted to use more of a natural sounding strings.
But we also want to actually go to the [Ab] step of thinking about the different string instruments
in the orchestra.
The basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
And think about where those instruments would live and what kind of notes they could play
within the chords so that they're spaced out and it's well voiced.
[Bb] You could think about two notes per hand and you have the basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
Okay?
And space out your notes and voice them specifically instead of just how you would normally play
them on piano, maybe something like that.
It doesn't have to be really locked in.
You can fudge the notes a little bit because you're the one playing all the parts.
You're not going to have the [Ab] viola section [Bb] file a complaint that you're asking them to
play three notes or you're leaving them out of three measures in a row or anything like that.
[Em] But in general, try to find notes for each one of those different instruments [Bb] and kind
of have that mindset as you're going through it.
The other thing you want to think about with this approach is creating melodic lines not
only on the top but within the interior parts as well.
Because if you can get them to play interesting things, it'll add to that effect.
So let me try this chord progression thinking more in terms of an orchestra.
[Gm]
[Bb] [F]
[Eb] Probably [Bb]
not my best work but you can start to work with some different interior [G] lines
and movements and create that motion.
That is a really nice effect if you can create that sort of orchestral or cinematic type
of effect with that.
So I hope those three approaches are helpful.
I want to take one more step to help you out and that is if you're a main stage user, I
want to go ahead and send you the sounds that I use for strings.
One is this more natural sounding string patch that I use.
It's tweaked a little bit to get it sounding a little bit more natural than what's included
in main stage.
Also, that's the synth string sound which is kind of my go-to patch for that.
I'll go ahead and send you that octave strings thing that was set up with the chord trigger.
All you have to do is just go to ourorshipsound.com slash strings and then fill out your first
name and your email address and we'll get those [E] out to you.
So again, that's ourorshipsound.com slash strings.
I hope that video was helpful.
If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions
or you want to dispute something I said.
Be sure to subscribe for [Gm] notifications on future videos [Ab] as they come up.
Stay tuned at the [B] end of this one.
There will be some other recommended videos to help keep you on with main stage or strings
or whatever you're playing on piano-wise.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
We'll see you soon.
Thanks for joining me at Our Worship Sound, where we're working to make worship keyboard
technique and technology easier.
One of the most common sounds that you'll hear from a [Ab] lot of keyboard players is strings.
I think there are three different ways that we tend to approach it.
I want to give you some tips on how you can [E] take these three approaches and do them well.
I think it's really important when you're adding strings to clarify what you're trying
to do with them.
Are you trying to add texture to something that you're already playing, like in a piano
part?
Are you trying to add high-end energy and create a different dynamic?
Or are you going all the way and trying [Ab] to create an orchestral sound within a song?
Because the approach that you're taking will dictate how you need to play, as well as what
kind of sounds you need to use and how you need to set them up.
So in this video, we're going to kind of bounce back and forth a little bit between how we
should play and how we can set our sounds up to achieve the best results.
The first approach we can take is adding texture to what we're [Bb] already playing with the keyboard part.
You don't have to change your approach with this one.
You just have to know how to add a strings layer to what you're playing.
I've added a synth strings layer to this piano sound.
[F] [Gm] So you can hear it's adding a richness, it's adding texture to it.
There is one sound adjustment that I would recommend for this approach.
You might be able to adjust it within the sounds in your keyboard, or you might be able
to adjust it within the software if that's what you're using.
[Bb] I'm [Ab] using software to create these sounds, main stage, so I'm going to go into this main
stage [Bb] synthesizer plugin.
I'm going to look for the cutoff filter, and that's going to be consistent for whatever
synth you're using.
You want to look for the cutoff filter, and I'm just going to lower this just a little bit.
It just creates a sound that's going to work a little bit better in this context.
It's not so overwhelming, and it allows your main part to come through.
So that's the first approach, where you're not really changing what you play to accommodate
the strings, you're just adding the strings layer to it.
But do go ahead and cut off some of the higher frequencies so it doesn't overwhelm the mix.
The second approach, we are going to start to change our playing approach a little bit.
We're still layering though, okay?
So one thing I might do if I'm getting to a louder part of a song and I need to add
a little bit of energy to it, I'll start to add a string sound.
[Gm] I'll play a little bit higher up on the keyboard, and it works really well to add energy to
a louder part of the song.
There are three things that I pay close attention to when I take this approach.
The first thing is to make sure the strings don't build up.
It's really important to clear your sustain pedal a little bit more often than you normally would.
So let me play what I would normally do with the sustain pedal, is leave it down until
the next chord change.
[Bb] Let me show you what that sounds like.
Obviously way too much going on there, so you need to clear it a lot more frequently.
So I'm clearing it after the beginning of each note there, and it just allows a lot
more clarity in there.
Second, I listen for the melodic movement that I'm creating with my chords or with the
notes that I'm playing.
I'm not just hanging out on one or two notes.
If I was doing that, something like [Gm]
[Fm] where the top note is always this F, it gets boring.
So we want to create movement to add that interest and that energy to the sound.
The last thing that I pay close [Eb] attention to with this approach is the [Bb] spacing of my notes.
If I just take a normal close spacing [Gm] approach, [Bb] it doesn't really give a lot of clarity to
the strings at that point.
So what I try to do is space them out.
I think octaves work really well in this situation, which is mostly what I'm doing.
I'm also adding the third to it with what I've shown you.
But if you just want to play octaves, that works.
Now if you're not used to playing octaves or it's too much of a stretch, there is a
way, at least in [E] main stage, that can create that octave without you actually having to play it.
Let me show you this really quickly.
[N] This is something that I've just learned recently.
So if you find your strings channel strip and go up to this MIDI effects row.
We're going to click here and add the chord trigger plugin.
Where I'm at with this right now is I'm just going to click clear and then I'm going to
click C4 down here.
Actually click learn, C4, and then I'm going to play C4 and also [C] C5 on my piano.
So now we have it set up so that when I play this C, it doubles it an octave [Gb] higher.
So I'm going to show you that in a minute.
Before I do that, I would recommend that we shrink the trigger keys layer.
[F] Maybe it's right there.
Because I don't think we want to double up every [Dbm] note that we play.
So anyway, now I can [G] get that octave effect without [Bb] having to play the octaves.
[C]
[Bb] [Gm] [Cm] [Gm]
[F] So [Ab] that's a really nice and easy way to achieve that octave spacing.
But just in general, you want to think about spreading your notes out a little bit when
you use that approach.
So the first approach, we didn't change our piano or we didn't change our playing approach at all.
The second one, we gave more emphasis to the strings.
And the third one, we're going to give all of our focus on our string [Bb] part and actually
try to create an orchestral sound.
This one is the most challenging.
It requires the most thought into the notes that we play.
Obviously we wanted to use more of a natural sounding strings.
But we also want to actually go to the [Ab] step of thinking about the different string instruments
in the orchestra.
The basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
And think about where those instruments would live and what kind of notes they could play
within the chords so that they're spaced out and it's well voiced.
[Bb] You could think about two notes per hand and you have the basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
Okay?
And space out your notes and voice them specifically instead of just how you would normally play
them on piano, maybe something like that.
It doesn't have to be really locked in.
You can fudge the notes a little bit because you're the one playing all the parts.
You're not going to have the [Ab] viola section [Bb] file a complaint that you're asking them to
play three notes or you're leaving them out of three measures in a row or anything like that.
[Em] But in general, try to find notes for each one of those different instruments [Bb] and kind
of have that mindset as you're going through it.
The other thing you want to think about with this approach is creating melodic lines not
only on the top but within the interior parts as well.
Because if you can get them to play interesting things, it'll add to that effect.
So let me try this chord progression thinking more in terms of an orchestra.
[Gm]
[Bb] [F]
[Eb] Probably [Bb]
not my best work but you can start to work with some different interior [G] lines
and movements and create that motion.
That is a really nice effect if you can create that sort of orchestral or cinematic type
of effect with that.
So I hope those three approaches are helpful.
I want to take one more step to help you out and that is if you're a main stage user, I
want to go ahead and send you the sounds that I use for strings.
One is this more natural sounding string patch that I use.
It's tweaked a little bit to get it sounding a little bit more natural than what's included
in main stage.
Also, that's the synth string sound which is kind of my go-to patch for that.
I'll go ahead and send you that octave strings thing that was set up with the chord trigger.
All you have to do is just go to ourorshipsound.com slash strings and then fill out your first
name and your email address and we'll get those [E] out to you.
So again, that's ourorshipsound.com slash strings.
I hope that video was helpful.
If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions
or you want to dispute something I said.
Be sure to subscribe for [Gm] notifications on future videos [Ab] as they come up.
Stay tuned at the [B] end of this one.
There will be some other recommended videos to help keep you on with main stage or strings
or whatever you're playing on piano-wise.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
We'll see you soon.
Key:
Bb
Gm
Ab
F
E
Bb
Gm
Ab
Hi everyone, my name is Peter.
Thanks for joining me at Our Worship Sound, where we're working to make worship keyboard
technique and technology easier.
One of the most common sounds that you'll hear from a [Ab] lot of keyboard players is strings.
I think there are three different ways that we tend to approach it.
I want to give you some tips on how you can [E] take these three approaches and do them well.
I think it's really important when you're adding strings to clarify what you're trying
to do with them.
Are you trying to add texture to something that you're already playing, like in a piano
part?
Are you trying to add high-end energy and create a different dynamic?
Or are you going all the way and trying [Ab] to create an orchestral sound within a song?
Because the approach that you're taking will dictate how you need to play, as well as what
kind of sounds you need to use and how you need to set them up.
So in this video, we're going to kind of bounce back and forth a little bit between how we
should play and how we can set our sounds up to achieve the best results.
The first approach we can take is adding texture to what we're [Bb] already playing with the keyboard part.
You don't have to change your approach with this one.
You just have to know how to add a strings layer to what you're playing.
I've added a synth strings layer to this piano sound. _ _ _
[F] _ _ [Gm] _ _ So you can hear it's adding a richness, it's adding texture to it.
There is one sound adjustment that I would recommend for this approach.
You might be able to adjust it within the sounds in your keyboard, or you might be able
to adjust it within the software if that's what you're using.
[Bb] I'm [Ab] using software to create these sounds, main stage, so I'm going to go into this main
stage [Bb] synthesizer plugin.
I'm going to look for the cutoff filter, and that's going to be consistent for whatever
synth you're using.
You want to look for the cutoff filter, and I'm just going to lower this just a little bit. _
_ _ It just creates a sound that's going to work a little bit better in this context.
_ _ _ _ It's not so overwhelming, and it allows your main part to come through.
So that's the first approach, where you're not really changing what you play to accommodate
the strings, you're just adding the strings layer to it.
But do go ahead and cut off some of the higher frequencies so it doesn't overwhelm the mix.
The second approach, we are going to start to change our playing approach a little bit.
We're still layering though, okay?
So one thing I might do if I'm getting to a louder part of a song and I need to add
a little bit of energy to it, I'll start to add a string sound. _
_ [Gm] _ I'll play a little bit higher up on the keyboard, and it works really well to add energy to
a louder part of the song.
There are three things that I pay close attention to when I take this approach.
The first thing is to make sure the strings don't build up.
It's really important to clear your sustain pedal a little bit more often than you normally would.
So let me play what I would normally do with the sustain pedal, is leave it down until
the next chord change.
[Bb] Let me show you what that sounds like. _ _ _
_ Obviously way too much going on there, so you need to clear it a lot more frequently.
_ _ _ So I'm clearing it after the beginning of each note there, and it just allows a lot
more clarity in there.
Second, I listen for the melodic movement that I'm creating with my chords or with the
notes that I'm playing.
_ I'm not just hanging out on one or two notes.
If I was doing that, something like _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
[Fm] where the top note is always this F, it gets boring.
So we want to create movement to add that interest and that energy to the sound.
The last thing that I pay close [Eb] attention to with this approach is the [Bb] spacing of my notes.
If I just take a normal close spacing [Gm] approach, _ _ _ _ [Bb] it doesn't really give a lot of clarity to
the strings at that point.
So what I try to do is space them out.
I think octaves work really well in this situation, which is mostly what I'm doing.
I'm also adding the third to it with what I've shown you.
_ _ But if you just want to play octaves, that works.
_ _ _ Now if you're not used to playing octaves or it's too much of a stretch, there is a
way, at least in [E] main stage, that can create that octave without you actually having to play it.
Let me show you this really quickly.
[N] This is something that I've just learned recently.
So if you find your strings channel strip and go up to this MIDI effects row.
We're going to click here and add the chord trigger plugin.
Where I'm at with this right now is I'm just going to click clear and then I'm going to
click C4 down here.
Actually click learn, C4, and then I'm going to play C4 and also [C] C5 on my piano.
_ So now we have it set up so that when I play this C, it doubles it an octave [Gb] higher.
So I'm going to show you that in a minute.
Before I do that, I would recommend that we shrink the trigger keys layer.
_ [F] Maybe it's right there.
Because I don't think we want to double up every [Dbm] note that we play.
So anyway, now I can [G] get that octave effect without [Bb] having to play the octaves.
[C] _
[Bb] _ _ _ [Gm] _ [Cm] _ [Gm] _ _ _
[F] _ So [Ab] that's a really nice and easy way to achieve that octave spacing.
But just in general, you want to think about spreading your notes out a little bit when
you use that approach.
So the first approach, we didn't change our piano or we didn't change our playing approach at all.
The second one, we gave more emphasis to the strings.
And the third one, we're going to give all of our focus on our string [Bb] part and actually
try to create an orchestral sound.
This one is the most challenging.
It requires the most thought into the notes that we play.
Obviously we wanted to use more of a natural sounding strings.
But we also want to actually go to the [Ab] step of thinking about the different string instruments
in the orchestra.
The basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
And think about where those instruments would live and what kind of notes they could play
within the chords so that they're spaced out and it's well voiced.
[Bb] You could think about two notes per hand and you have the basses, cellos, violas, and violins. _
Okay?
And space out your notes and voice them specifically instead of just how you would normally play
them on piano, maybe something like that.
It doesn't have to be really locked in.
You can fudge the notes a little bit because you're the one playing all the parts.
You're not going to have the [Ab] viola section [Bb] file a complaint that you're asking them to
play three notes or you're leaving them out of three measures in a row or anything like that.
[Em] But in general, try to find notes for each one of those different instruments [Bb] and kind
of have that mindset as you're going through it.
The other thing you want to think about with this approach is creating melodic lines not
only on the top but within the interior parts as well.
Because if you can get them to play interesting things, it'll add to that effect.
So let me try this chord progression thinking more in terms of an orchestra. _
_ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [F] _ _
[Eb] Probably _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
not my best work but you can start to work with some different interior [G] lines
and movements and create that motion.
That is a really nice effect if you can create that sort of orchestral or cinematic type
of effect with that.
So I hope those three approaches are helpful.
I want to take one more step to help you out and that is if you're a main stage user, I
want to go ahead and send you the sounds that I use for strings.
One is this more natural sounding string patch that I use.
It's tweaked a little bit to get it sounding a little bit more natural than what's included
in main stage.
Also, that's the synth string sound which is kind of my go-to patch for that.
I'll go ahead and send you that octave strings thing that was set up with the chord trigger.
All you have to do is just go to ourorshipsound.com slash strings and then fill out your first
name and your email address and we'll get those [E] out to you.
So again, that's ourorshipsound.com slash strings.
I hope that video was helpful.
If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions
or you want to dispute something I said.
Be sure to subscribe for [Gm] notifications on future videos [Ab] as they come up.
Stay tuned at the [B] end of this one.
There will be some other recommended videos to help keep you on with main stage or strings
or whatever you're playing on piano-wise.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
We'll see you soon. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thanks for joining me at Our Worship Sound, where we're working to make worship keyboard
technique and technology easier.
One of the most common sounds that you'll hear from a [Ab] lot of keyboard players is strings.
I think there are three different ways that we tend to approach it.
I want to give you some tips on how you can [E] take these three approaches and do them well.
I think it's really important when you're adding strings to clarify what you're trying
to do with them.
Are you trying to add texture to something that you're already playing, like in a piano
part?
Are you trying to add high-end energy and create a different dynamic?
Or are you going all the way and trying [Ab] to create an orchestral sound within a song?
Because the approach that you're taking will dictate how you need to play, as well as what
kind of sounds you need to use and how you need to set them up.
So in this video, we're going to kind of bounce back and forth a little bit between how we
should play and how we can set our sounds up to achieve the best results.
The first approach we can take is adding texture to what we're [Bb] already playing with the keyboard part.
You don't have to change your approach with this one.
You just have to know how to add a strings layer to what you're playing.
I've added a synth strings layer to this piano sound. _ _ _
[F] _ _ [Gm] _ _ So you can hear it's adding a richness, it's adding texture to it.
There is one sound adjustment that I would recommend for this approach.
You might be able to adjust it within the sounds in your keyboard, or you might be able
to adjust it within the software if that's what you're using.
[Bb] I'm [Ab] using software to create these sounds, main stage, so I'm going to go into this main
stage [Bb] synthesizer plugin.
I'm going to look for the cutoff filter, and that's going to be consistent for whatever
synth you're using.
You want to look for the cutoff filter, and I'm just going to lower this just a little bit. _
_ _ It just creates a sound that's going to work a little bit better in this context.
_ _ _ _ It's not so overwhelming, and it allows your main part to come through.
So that's the first approach, where you're not really changing what you play to accommodate
the strings, you're just adding the strings layer to it.
But do go ahead and cut off some of the higher frequencies so it doesn't overwhelm the mix.
The second approach, we are going to start to change our playing approach a little bit.
We're still layering though, okay?
So one thing I might do if I'm getting to a louder part of a song and I need to add
a little bit of energy to it, I'll start to add a string sound. _
_ [Gm] _ I'll play a little bit higher up on the keyboard, and it works really well to add energy to
a louder part of the song.
There are three things that I pay close attention to when I take this approach.
The first thing is to make sure the strings don't build up.
It's really important to clear your sustain pedal a little bit more often than you normally would.
So let me play what I would normally do with the sustain pedal, is leave it down until
the next chord change.
[Bb] Let me show you what that sounds like. _ _ _
_ Obviously way too much going on there, so you need to clear it a lot more frequently.
_ _ _ So I'm clearing it after the beginning of each note there, and it just allows a lot
more clarity in there.
Second, I listen for the melodic movement that I'm creating with my chords or with the
notes that I'm playing.
_ I'm not just hanging out on one or two notes.
If I was doing that, something like _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
[Fm] where the top note is always this F, it gets boring.
So we want to create movement to add that interest and that energy to the sound.
The last thing that I pay close [Eb] attention to with this approach is the [Bb] spacing of my notes.
If I just take a normal close spacing [Gm] approach, _ _ _ _ [Bb] it doesn't really give a lot of clarity to
the strings at that point.
So what I try to do is space them out.
I think octaves work really well in this situation, which is mostly what I'm doing.
I'm also adding the third to it with what I've shown you.
_ _ But if you just want to play octaves, that works.
_ _ _ Now if you're not used to playing octaves or it's too much of a stretch, there is a
way, at least in [E] main stage, that can create that octave without you actually having to play it.
Let me show you this really quickly.
[N] This is something that I've just learned recently.
So if you find your strings channel strip and go up to this MIDI effects row.
We're going to click here and add the chord trigger plugin.
Where I'm at with this right now is I'm just going to click clear and then I'm going to
click C4 down here.
Actually click learn, C4, and then I'm going to play C4 and also [C] C5 on my piano.
_ So now we have it set up so that when I play this C, it doubles it an octave [Gb] higher.
So I'm going to show you that in a minute.
Before I do that, I would recommend that we shrink the trigger keys layer.
_ [F] Maybe it's right there.
Because I don't think we want to double up every [Dbm] note that we play.
So anyway, now I can [G] get that octave effect without [Bb] having to play the octaves.
[C] _
[Bb] _ _ _ [Gm] _ [Cm] _ [Gm] _ _ _
[F] _ So [Ab] that's a really nice and easy way to achieve that octave spacing.
But just in general, you want to think about spreading your notes out a little bit when
you use that approach.
So the first approach, we didn't change our piano or we didn't change our playing approach at all.
The second one, we gave more emphasis to the strings.
And the third one, we're going to give all of our focus on our string [Bb] part and actually
try to create an orchestral sound.
This one is the most challenging.
It requires the most thought into the notes that we play.
Obviously we wanted to use more of a natural sounding strings.
But we also want to actually go to the [Ab] step of thinking about the different string instruments
in the orchestra.
The basses, cellos, violas, and violins.
And think about where those instruments would live and what kind of notes they could play
within the chords so that they're spaced out and it's well voiced.
[Bb] You could think about two notes per hand and you have the basses, cellos, violas, and violins. _
Okay?
And space out your notes and voice them specifically instead of just how you would normally play
them on piano, maybe something like that.
It doesn't have to be really locked in.
You can fudge the notes a little bit because you're the one playing all the parts.
You're not going to have the [Ab] viola section [Bb] file a complaint that you're asking them to
play three notes or you're leaving them out of three measures in a row or anything like that.
[Em] But in general, try to find notes for each one of those different instruments [Bb] and kind
of have that mindset as you're going through it.
The other thing you want to think about with this approach is creating melodic lines not
only on the top but within the interior parts as well.
Because if you can get them to play interesting things, it'll add to that effect.
So let me try this chord progression thinking more in terms of an orchestra. _
_ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [F] _ _
[Eb] Probably _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
not my best work but you can start to work with some different interior [G] lines
and movements and create that motion.
That is a really nice effect if you can create that sort of orchestral or cinematic type
of effect with that.
So I hope those three approaches are helpful.
I want to take one more step to help you out and that is if you're a main stage user, I
want to go ahead and send you the sounds that I use for strings.
One is this more natural sounding string patch that I use.
It's tweaked a little bit to get it sounding a little bit more natural than what's included
in main stage.
Also, that's the synth string sound which is kind of my go-to patch for that.
I'll go ahead and send you that octave strings thing that was set up with the chord trigger.
All you have to do is just go to ourorshipsound.com slash strings and then fill out your first
name and your email address and we'll get those [E] out to you.
So again, that's ourorshipsound.com slash strings.
I hope that video was helpful.
If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions
or you want to dispute something I said.
Be sure to subscribe for [Gm] notifications on future videos [Ab] as they come up.
Stay tuned at the [B] end of this one.
There will be some other recommended videos to help keep you on with main stage or strings
or whatever you're playing on piano-wise.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
We'll see you soon. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _