Improvise cool R&B chords for piano So you'd like to be able to improvise those deep soulful chords with a lot of emotion and tension? R&B / Soul or even blues chord progressions tend to have a lot more tension than other genres of music. Deeper neo soul with artists such as Jill Scott, Erah Badu, D!"ngelo, Bilal etc.. tend to have chords with so much tension that the# are technicall# outside the scale simliar to Ja$$, but the the phrase will usual# finish with a %coming home% note, usuall# in the a'or e#. ( am not one who is big on music theor# so ( won!t be going into too much depth with e)planations, rather (!d 'ust lie to show #ou some effective R&B *hord progressions even for guitar that can be used to build tracs. ( tend to discover most R&B *hords b# trial a nd error, although recentl# ( have developed a techni+ue to +uicl# find chord transitions. See below for some nice R&B *hord progressions ( have piced up over time.
A Four Chord Neo Soul Soul Verse (Key of E fla !a"or# sing power chords tr# the following R&B *hords, eas# to improvise on the pian o. -m / Bb / Ebmin / "b 0 1his can be looped to create a R&B / soulful tension souding verse. Switching from -m to Bb 2Dom3 is simple. 1he * 2inde)3 and Eb 2thumb3 are simpl# shifted to 0 Bb 2inde)3 and D 2thumb3., bass note sta#s on - 2see the pictures below3. Same switching from Ebmin to "b 2Dom3. Bb and Db are shifted to "b and * 0 simple. Bb can be deepened b# adding a 4th 253 "b can also be deepeend b# adding a 4th 2-3 1r# pla#ing these on an electric piano for that smooth sound. 6ou can also tr# it out on the guitar too. 1he same applies of course.
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7img Eas# to get to the th without moving too much.
'eep Neo Soul Verse 1his one is another four chord pattern and has gentle tension on all chords giving it a deep sound. "m / Bm *ma'th / Bba'. 6ou!ll find that pla#ing this to a slow tempo has a Dwele feel to it. 1r# it out preferabl# on an electronic Rhodes sounding e#board.
Four chords ih "a))y *ey chan+es Start with "b a'or th2right hand improvise on the Eb e#, Eb, -, 5, "b, Bb, *, D3 5 inor th2right hand improvise on the Bb e#, Bb, *, D, Eb, -, 5, "3 5b a'or th2right hand improvise on the Db e#, Db, Eb, -, 5b, "b, Bb, B3 - in th 2right hand 08 bac to e# of Eb3 Switching e#s lie this is one of the main ingredients for a 9eo Soul sound, this is what gives that depth and tension.
Voicin+ and Improvisin+ for R&B or Neo Soul :oicing can be described lie %giving character% to a chor d, it!s a good wa# to improvise on the piano. " chord will normall# be pla#ed b# press all e# simultaneousl# however hitting the e#s and different times and produce different effects. ;ith good voicing #ou can reall# impress friends and famil# b# them thining #ou are reall# pla#ing the piano with both hands when in fact #ou are simpl# spicing up a power chord. Ever#bod# has different methods but ( lie the Bass, melod# ) <, Bass, elod# ) <, Bass elod# ) =.
1o achieve this,simpl# positiion #our hands for a power chord and randoml# hit left, right ) <, left right ) <, left, right ) =. 1here are countless combinations. "nother good voicing method is the pla# a full th with #our left hand. ( thin the easiest wa# to do this is invert of the th e# because the th ma# be too far for #our pin# to reach so bring it down an octave. 1he th e# should now be ne)t to the base e#, with this setup #ou should be able to pla# a th easil# with all five fingers. -or the right hand tr# randoml# hitting e#s within that scale and see what #ou find. -or a more 'a$$# organic feel, tr# hitting groups of e#s that are ne)t to each other, it creates more of a deeper harmonic sound.
,ha scales are used for Soul or R&B>istening to thousands of Soul / R&B / 9eo Soul tracs ( can clearl# hear that the E flat or B flat e#s are the most commonl# used. 1he e# for E flat is Eb, -, 5, "b, Bb, * and D. 1his is ver# eas# on the fingers had has a ver# soulful and 'a$$# feel to it. 1he <0?0@ se+uence will be -min, Bb and Eb a'. Ance #ou are comfortable with these, #ou can branch out to other combinations or even chords out side the scale. E.g. 5b a' has a 5ospel t#pe of feeling if pla#ed in the e# of Eb. "nother good tric for a 'a$$# sound it to pla# a 4th or "ugmented chords between chords transitions. 1his is simpl# done b# moving the ?th or th 2or both3 down a step and pla#ing that chord as an 2in between3 chord. ( wor it out using ear and trial and error. 1his also wors for gospel sounding music. Be sure to tr# to learn all @< scales though, for music proficienc#. "lso it is good to note that some chords that sound wrong at the time of pla#ing actuall# ma# sound cool and original after going awa# and listening to it at a later time. 1herefore ( recommend recording #our session, even practice stuff.
