Chords for Learn to Play: Fast Piano Runs (Fills)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hey guys, welcome back to another lesson [G] and in this lesson I'm going to talk about runs
So runs is taking a chord and playing it up and down the piano
usually _
[G#] With some speeds [F#] to make it flashy, but not necessarily
So I'm going to give you some exercises and ideas on how to work on your own runs
Let's start [C] with a simple chord progression
C major that's C E and G
[Am] goes into an A minor that's A C and E
_ [F]
Into an F that's F A and [G] C and then a G which is a G B and D
[C] _ _ [Am] _
_ [F] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _
I'm going to play the bass note with my left hand.
It's outside the camera's view, but
_ all I'm playing is [A] C A
[F] F [G] and G
so _ start by [C] taking the C chord and
_ Playing it up once so it's going to be like this _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So I'm using you can use several different fingerings and you have to
_ Find out which one's the most comfortable to you.
I
For example in this case I used
thumb
_ second finger
fourth finger and then my thumb kind of jumps and _
The pattern repeats itself thumb second third.
I use [F#] the third this time use the [Cm] fourth before and _ _
_ fifth my pinky [D] _ _ _
[C] so _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ And [B] you can do the same with any of the three [Am] chords
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ So this will be exercise number one and when you'll be playing it if you haven't done these things before
Be sure to be very very slow
_ just play very slowly and make sure that you're
Exact and that you feel confident in what you play and don't worry about the speed a different fingering which might be slightly more
Convenient or not would be to use the third finger on the first chord.
So instead of doing
This thing with the fourth _ use your third so the two options are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ or
the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ same sound of course just different fingering _ _ or so _ _ _ _ I'm
Switching the finger. _ _ _
So once you feel somewhat comfortable with this exercise
Extend it by going down as well _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ So what I'm doing here is once I hit the high note, I'm reversing
_ When I get to the thumb, I jump over it _ _ _ _
Once again, you can jump using your fourth finger or third _ _ _ _ _
fourth _ and _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Do it with all of the chords for _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ the next step.
I'm going to have you change the simple chords _
With sus2 chords and the reason that gives it a more modern edge
so
I'm going to have you [G] play the C sus2 chord over all of the [F] bass notes and
[G] You're gonna start with a G actually so it's gonna be _ _ _ this is a C sus2 and one of its inversion so it's a G a
_ [C] C with a second finger and a D with a third finger and
_ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _
As before do it in two parts [E] the first part just going up and then going up and [G] down
_ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ So this gives it a slightly nicer more modern edge and
[D] _ _ _
You can try mixing it up a bit by _
_ Using a
F sus2 chord [C] in an inversion
_ So you can use the F sus2 for [Fm] the F and G chords in the sequence.
Let [E] me show you _
the first two chords the C and A minor [G] would be with the first C sus2 chord and
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ Then [C] the next one would be with the F sus2 chord _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So play together
_ [G] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [G]
Now don't worry about speed.
I know it's very tempting to do something like this _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and that's
Might be your end goal.
Well, this takes a lot of time to achieve and if there's something I've regretted throughout my career is
Trying to do things
faster than they should be
_ That usually builds up bad technique and then you stay with it for many many years and correcting [F#] it is a nightmare
So my advice is really really go as slow as you need to get
The good range of motion [C] and hit all the notes evenly
So even if you're playing
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
That's fine.
Don't worry about it.
_ I hope I've given you some ideas on how to start working on your _ _
Runs technique and also how to give it a slightly more modern sound and I'll see you in the next video _ _ _