Styles of Music Played By the Piano
Eighty-eight keys of black and white stare back at you as you take your seat in front of the keyboard. To the beginner, this can be intimidating. But once you place your fingers on a few of the keys and get the answering notes in response, the piano starts to become more friend than foe. Now all you need to do is figure out what style of music you want to play.
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Classical Piano
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Classical music dates to the mid-16th century. This is the world of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, and the peak period lasted from 1750 until 1810. The first piano was built by Cristofori in 1698. This Italian invention gave rise to two instruments, the piano and the harpsichord. Sheet music was printed for both. The first concert given using a piano in the classical style was in London. The pianist was Johan Sebastian Bach. Most other styles of music can trace their roots back to the classics.
Ragtime and Jazz Piano
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Walk down Bourbon Street in New Orleans and chances are you will hear an artist creating music on a piano. There are even better odds that music will be jazz. This music style actually started out as ragtime, a style created by African Americans and made popular by musicians such as Scott Joplin. The fast-paced piano style helped in the development of jazz piano, namely Dixieland and the Harlem Stride. Ragtime took a back seat to the jazz craze for a while but in 1973 a move called "The Sting" was released. The signature song of that film was a ragtime tune called "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin. The thing about both ragtime and jazz is that the music is more often improvised than played from a written music sheet. "Jelly Roll" Morton, who wrote the "Jelly Role Blues" in 1915, preferred to just "go with the flow."
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Jazz and Gospel Piano
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The gospel piano style is similar to jazz and the blues. Gospel music came about during slavery. The Methodist hymns of the time were just too somber, so the slaves started throwing in a bit of Tribal African rhythm. Gospel is meant to make you feel good and want to get up and move. In churches, these pieces are usually played on pianos or organs that are accompanying a choir or solo vocalists. Like jazz, ragtime and the blues, gospel piano was popularized by African Americans in the southern United States.
Rock Piano
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Just when and where the rock piano style began is still debated. Some credit Bill Haley and the Comets, others Elvis Presley. A few are of the opinion that Fats Domino opened that door in 1949 with his hit "The Fat Man." A takeoff on boogie woogie and jazz combined, this style is faster, louder and crazier. If you have ever seen Jerry Lee Lewis pound the keyboard with his feet, you will understand. Fast forward a few decades and you'll find Elton John pounding the keys with his "Crocodile Rock" and Billy Joel singing about the "Piano Man." Both the works of these artists, and the rock piano style, are still going strong.
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- Photo Credit Piano image by ColeyLou from Fotolia.com
