My Individual Piece

For my individual assessment I plan to compose a ballad played on piano. I also aim to write the accompanying lyrics and record the vocals. I planned to use a piano because it was different to anything I had done before as I only have experience with guitar. Also, when researching ballads they are the most commonly associated instrument, especially in love songs because of the way they sound. When asked why naked piano balladry has all of the sudden taken off, John Legend opines that the "phenomenon is about audiences seeking more humanity and musical austerity in contrast to the searing intensity of most popular music." (GRAMMY.com 2014)
"I think we need a break from doomp, doomp, doomp," he says, emulating the automated rhythms featured in an increasing number of modern pop hits. "Sometimes you need some clarity, something that goes straight to the heart. I think [piano balladry is] more striking when you hear it." - (Legend, J. 2014)

I looked at Nate Bosch, a piano teacher and songwriter’s video “Writing a love song on piano”. 

“When writing loves songs, you want to remember the theme of tenderness, and the emotions that are going through you. So, how do you translate that to the piano? I kind of like the key of E flat, I think it is a pretty sounding key that is good for this type of music. When you play the E flat chord, try adding a 9th note to it (you remember your intervals don't you?). The 9th note adds a little something to the chord. Maybe try going up an octave after a while. Whatever you do, just remember to focus on creating that tenderness.

“Four chords that are really good for a love song are the I, IV, VI, and V chords. In the video I play a little progression starting on the root, then moving on to the four then the six, then the five. From there I move on to the two chord and walk back up to the five. Then I take the song in sort of a power ballad direction, really digging into the root chord, the four chord, back to the root, then back to the four before ending the chorus with a five chord. Remember the five chord is great for ending musical phrases before going back to the root in the next phrase. The root is the perfect chord to end a song on. After the chorus I return to the root chord and the song gets soft again.”

Of course, I had no clue what any of this meant and I began to realise that even though I wouldn’t be playing the piano myself in the piece I was really going to struggle writing the melody for someone else. Because of the time constraints of the assessment it wasn't going to be feasible to learn enough about piano in such a short time to pull off a successful piece, therefore I stuck with what I know and wrote my song on guitar.