Elton John piano comps - a tutorial/braindump

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This video is a response to a question I've had: "I have a question about the song Amoreena by Elton John. I have the chord structure, and I have no problem with that, nor with the inversions and so on. My problem is going beyond the mere chording of the song to add some of the runs and overall flavours that Elton puts into that tune."

So in this video I'm going to talk about Elton John's piano comps, with a bit of reference to Amoreena. I don't believe in doing walkthroughs, so what I to do is talk a little bit about Elton John's comping style, mention a few bits and pieces about the way he writes songs -- which is important, and has a major effect on what we're talking about here -- and give you some examples of the techniques he uses.

Also, I'm going to assume that, like Mitchell, you're OK with the different chords and how chord progressions work, and you understand terms like 'comp', 'cadence', 'suspended ninth', 'dominant' and all the rest.

In the vid I consider three different strands in Elton John's piano comps. The first is hymns and church music. Then I talk about the influence of the blues, then the influence classical music has on him.

How do you make use of this? Take the chord sequence, and play it through as a basic comp on the piano lots and lots of times. After a bit, try to incorporate just one or two of those ideas and techniques, the little classical runs, the suspended notes, the bluesy touches, and after a while and a lot of practice, add a couple more. Listen to the way Elton John does it, play around, and you'll start to get close to the Elton John sound. And when I say "a lot of practice" he himself will have played these things through five, six, seven hundred, a thousand times before performing them. That's how you get that good -- it does take a lot of time, in particular if you're trying to sing as well. But, you know, nothing worthwhile is easy. It's worth sticking at it, because when you can do it it's a lot of fun.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano tutorial
• elton john
• piano comps
• comps
• pop piano
• Amoreena

[vanmail7]

Great video! Very helpful. Just so you know, I was attempting to pause the vid and hit the dislike button on accident. Sorry about that. Your video series has been very helpful. Thanks!

[billhiltonbiz]

@vanmail7 No worries - I've done that myself before....!

[MJarmell]

Bill,

That was a masterful explanation, not only centering on the tune I had requested but explaining the wider and deeper concepts present in Elton's playing. Also, I like your call to practice and gradual incorportation of ideas, in general. I thank you.

[billhiltonbiz]

@MJarmell No problem at all - I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks also for suggesting Elton John - a lot of people really love his piano style, so I think this should be pretty popular.

It was also a good excuse for me to relisten to some of his music and think about it more deeply, so I really enjoyed making this. If you have any more good questions like that, fire them right on over!

[coolguy701]

what is the definition of comping? this was very helpful though thank you so much.

[billhiltonbiz]

@coolguy701 Glad you like it! The word "comping" comes from "acCOMPpaniment". A comp is what you play on the piano when you're supporting another voice or instrument. Most commercial arrangements of popular songs have the piano playing the tune, which is useless - in a pro performance the voice/lead instrument carries the tune and the piano provides harmonic and rhythmic support and colour. Most comps by people like Elton John are semi-improvised. You with me?

[fadibitz]

Bill, the interview you mention regarding Elton's penchant for hymns was likely from a 1991 David Frost interview. A snippet of the interview is here (add this after the "watch?" bit in the URL in any YouTube vid): v=KtDwqX1HNvU

[nikolas8ira4]

sorry for bothering you but i have been struggling to find a suitable comping technique for amoreena and i was wondering if you could make a video on bluesy,maybe country comping styles.thanks so much for your time

[nikolas8ira4]

I love Amoreena and Elton's piano style,especially on the album Tumbleweed Connection(Amoreena,Burn down the mission,country comfort,son of your father,ballad of a well known gun,my father's gun)..one of the best "piano albums" ever,yet so underappreciated....

[kakofatus]

@MJarmell I'm also a piano player and a big Elton John fan and already had lots of doubts about his comping and piano playing. Bill's video is fantastic, but if you want some complement to it, I recommend you the website: eltonscafe . com. It's not mine, I just came upon it a few years ago. It's got loads of his song's exact transcriptions into sheet music and some texts about them. It's really useful. I don't remember if Amoreena was there, but lots of the good ones are. Hope you like it.

[texasbrian1]

Brilliant! Well done... I've noticed the heavy blues and classical influences, and although I had heard him mention writing hymns, I hadn't noticed the hymnal influences until now...

Do you hear any differences between his writing then (70s) and now?

[jeranbrown1]

Really great video, and exactly what I was looking for! I'd been searching for a primer of what Elton's doing between the chords.  He stays pretty chord-based, and that's easy enough with practice, but it's the ornamentation that always stumps me. Thanks again!