Bringing the Pop to Popular Music:
Teaching Performance Practice in Pop, Rock, and R&B
Presented at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, July 2021
and
North Carolina Music Teachers Association State Conference, October 2021
and
Florida State Music Teachers Association Conference, October 2022
Nicolas Lira, DMA
and
Bridget O'Leary, MM, NCTM
Abstract
For many students, popular music may be the most important style they learn in piano lessons -- the one that they return to again and again later in life. As educators and performers, we seek to teach and perform pop, rock, R&B, and electronic music, with the same authentic performance practice as repertoire from previous eras. We emphasize appropriate stylistic interpretation when teaching classical music: Bach differs from Chopin, Scarlatti differs from Grieg, and Schumann differs from Prokofiev. Similar to classical composers, many popular musicians have distinguishing stylistic elements and musical idioms. Using live performance and analysis, Bridget and Nicolas will demonstrate appropriate stylistic playing and detail suitable performance practices within these popular genres of piano music using transcriptions and arrangements.
Songs from Alicia Keys, Sara Bareilles, Elton John, and others will be used to discuss methods of listening and understanding of aspects of their music. Like classical music, playing pop and rock requires learning what to listen for in a recording, how that influences the character of a song, and how to achieve it on the keyboard. We will break down the connection between articulation and rhythm and how these two elements define style. We will share strategies to teach this relationship and share examples of the ways popular musicians establish a groove ahead, on, or behind the beat. Also discussed will be the piano’s versatility in popular music - as soloist and rhythm section, often at the same time. This presentation will give music educators clarity and vocabulary to convincingly teach and perform these popular styles.
Further Reading and Resources
Meter
Krebs, Harald. Fantasy Pieces. New York: Oxford, 1999.
Jackendoff, Ray and Fred Lerdahl. A Generative Theory of Tonal Music. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1983.
Rhythm and Articulation
Heinlein, Ryan. Timing is Everything. Overland Park, KS: Heinlein Music, 2019.
Harmony and Voicing
DeGreg, Phil. Jazz Keyboard Harmony. New Albany, IN: Jamey Aebersold Jazz, 1967.
Esterowitz, Michael. How to Play From A Fake Book. Bedford Hills, NY: Ekay Music, Inc., 1986.