The Music Exchange | Richard Simpkin

What? Play without music? I can’t do that!

Those who designed the form of musical notation we use in Western culture did us a huge service providing a way to pass down tunes, harmonies, dynamics and texture to anyone who could learn to read the same notation. However, when things are written down (e.g. laws), often something is lost in terms of flexibility and interpretation. Many who are expert in communicating notation as it is on the page find it hard to communicate that notation in a way that engages their listeners. Others enter a state of paralysis if the music is taken away and they’re asked to improvise or to play something ‘by ear’.

Set free

That was definitely me for the first 15 years of being a musician — and I wasn’t even that good at reading the notes.

The thing is that most musicians learn to read notation classically through the grades system and are taught by people who read musical notation. Small elements of improvisation have been introduced into syllabuses, but I don’t think enough has been done to free musicians up from being tied to the notes.

Adapting their skill

Being set free from notation is important for church musicians (especially pianists), who have to adapt their skill to be able to accompany congregations — to be able to single out the tune in octaves in the right hand while providing the bass and harmonies in the left — to be able to bash out the bass in octaves in the left hand while providing harmonies and the tune in the right — to be able to merge in with a band playing chords (not playing the tune at all!) — to transpose a song that is too high for a congregation to sing comfortably. In terms of giving a congregation a clear lead, all these things are more important than simply playing the notes on the page accurately.

I was privileged to help with the music in a different church setting last night, and a viola player was helping with me. One of the songs was too high so I asked her to play in a lower key. She struggled to transpose the notes at sight, but all I did was ask her to play without music and she did a great job. It was much simpler for her to play without music than to have to translate ‘C A D G’ in the music into ‘D B E A’.

Handy hints

If you are a pianist who freezes when asked to ‘just follow the chords’ or to do something different to what it says on the page, then here are a couple of things you can do.

Take away the music! The piano reductions of most modern songs are only written to give ideas about tune, harmony and feel (you’ll know already that if they’re played literally they sound pretty clunky). Then, think of a song or hymn that you like and play the tune a few times in the right hand. Then, line by line, work out chords in the left hand that would fit with the tune — it usually works if there’s just one chord per bar. If it helps, write out the tune and then write the chords that you decide to use underneath. This will help you make sense of the direction in which the song is going harmonically. If you have someone who plays an instrument with you or can sing, you could them ask them to sing/play the tune while you play the bass of each chord in octaves in the left hand and the chords in the right. You’ll quickly learn that each song only has four to six different chords in it, so it won’t be long before you can work without the written music at all. Then it’s a short step to being able to play the song in a different key.

Freer and more flexible

You don’t need to throw away the music completely, but getting a good grasp on how chords work will help you interpret the musical notation in a more naturally musical way, and you’ll find you’ll be much freer and more flexible as a congregational music leader. What’s more, it takes a lot less time than a classical education!

Richard Simpkin is Director of Music at St. Helen’s Church, Bishopsgate, London.