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Always in My Head Chris Martin Acoustic Piano


rpindacity

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Chris Martin man. How the hell did he teach himself to play this good? There is no one else like him. True legend
Like he said in lots of interviews "i dont know what the fuck im doing, the music just comes trough me", this way the music is naturally made ( not forced ), simple and since hes not a music theory expert he creates music with his soul.

 

Hes like a genious that creates something big just by playing around and then be like "hey look at what i made" [emoji16]

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His chords and melodies really are spot on. Especially his chords. I think that will be what Coldplay will be remembered for.

 

The way he fills his chords to, with transition notes, rhythms, different way he plays things. It is just something else! That is why I want to learn how he plays things exactly, it sounds so much better than the chords themselves

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His chords and melodies really are spot on. Especially his chords. I think that will be what Coldplay will be remembered for.

 

The way he fills his chords to, with transition notes, rhythms, different way he plays things. It is just something else! That is why I want to learn how he plays things exactly, it sounds so much better than the chords themselves

Agreed, his style is crazy beautiful, he uses his thumbs a lot lol

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WOWOWOW I might try this, never heard this version, it's soooo beautiful. Thanks for sharing, I'll definitely try to transcribe it :)

No probelm.. and that would be awesome! I am dying to know how to play it... especially the ending

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Agreed, his style is crazy beautiful, he uses his thumbs a lot lol

What do you mean? I know he uses his thumb all the time on guitar .. but are you talking about using his thumb on the piano? on the right hand? if you could explain that

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WOWOWOW I might try this, never heard this version, it's soooo beautiful. Thanks for sharing, I'll definitely try to transcribe it :)

btw your tutorial for moving to mars and miracles are really good. did you do that by ear? thanks for sharing them

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What do you mean? I know he uses his thumb all the time on guitar .. but are you talking about using his thumb on the piano? on the right hand? if you could explain that

Yes, on the piano! I have been learning his style of playing, he likes to do a lot of arpeggios within a chord. Almost everytime when you hear a key being played very hardly compared to other notes, it's most likely his thumbs. He likes to keep his thumb on the root note on either the key OR the chord being played most of the times and likes to hit it before the chord changes. You can see this in Up in Flames, Everglow, AICTAIY, Trouble, Up n Up, Gravity, The hardest part (live), The Scientist (Unstaged), We all fall in love sometimes and many more! Another thing I have noticed is he likes to foreshadow the melody in some way :) He is inspired by Elton John's piano playing style I suppose. His sense of rhythm is very unique. He relies on his instincts a lot of time and hence, hitting the root note will almost never make him sound bad. Most of the live shows, he is always up there playing songs in a different way than before..

 

These are just my observations, I'm sure he has lots of other amazing tricks and attributes

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btw your tutorial for moving to mars and miracles are really good. did you do that by ear? thanks for sharing them

Thanks man! Moving to mars was around 60% by ear. I learned Miracles on Flowkey, it is arranged by Katherine Cordova.

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Yes, on the piano! I have been learning his style of playing, he likes to do a lot of arpeggios within a chord. Almost everytime when you hear a key being played very hardly compared to other notes, it's most likely his thumbs. He likes to keep his thumb on the root note on either the key OR the chord being played most of the times and likes to hit it before the chord changes. You can see this in Up in Flames, Everglow, AICTAIY, Trouble, Up n Up, Gravity, The hardest part (live), The Scientist (Unstaged), We all fall in love sometimes and many more! Another thing I have noticed is he likes to foreshadow the melody in some way :) He is inspired by Elton John's piano playing style I suppose. His sense of rhythm is very unique. He relies on his instincts a lot of time and hence, hitting the root note will almost never make him sound bad. Most of the live shows, he is always up there playing songs in a different way than before..

 

These are just my observations, I'm sure he has lots of other amazing tricks and attributes

Also, most of the arpeggios begin with the left-most note of the left hand and end on the right-most note of the right hand. It's so hard to explain it by text!

His cover of Life on Mars is the best example. At 0:53, 1:09 or so, watch his left hand, he is playing an arpeggio of the chord. He does this a loottttttt. Also note how he uses his thumb before almost every chord change. Specially at the chorus (1:30) It's fucking beautiful man, I can't explain it

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Yes, on the piano! I have been learning his style of playing, he likes to do a lot of arpeggios within a chord. Almost everytime when you hear a key being played very hardly compared to other notes, it's most likely his thumbs. He likes to keep his thumb on the root note on either the key OR the chord being played most of the times and likes to hit it before the chord changes. You can see this in Up in Flames, Everglow, AICTAIY, Trouble, Up n Up, Gravity, The hardest part (live), The Scientist (Unstaged), We all fall in love sometimes and many more! Another thing I have noticed is he likes to foreshadow the melody in some way :) He is inspired by Elton John's piano playing style I suppose. His sense of rhythm is very unique. He relies on his instincts a lot of time and hence, hitting the root note will almost never make him sound bad. Most of the live shows, he is always up there playing songs in a different way than before..

 

These are just my observations, I'm sure he has lots of other amazing tricks and attributes

Those a really good observations. I can see what your saying about his arpeggios, like in everglow and life on mars.

 

I always wondered what specific key he hits when he hits a key much harder than the others, he does that a lot and I know what you are talking about. You say he uses his thumbs... do you think mostly his right thumb, or left thumb, or both? I am not good with music theory, but does he usually hit the left most note in the chord he plays with his right hand? And is that usually the root note?

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Those a really good observations. I can see what your saying about his arpeggios, like in everglow and life on mars.

 

I always wondered what specific key he hits when he hits a key much harder than the others, he does that a lot and I know what you are talking about. You say he uses his thumbs... do you think mostly his right thumb, or left thumb, or both? I am not good with music theory, but does he usually hit the left most note in the chord he plays with his right hand? And is that usually the root note?

That's a great question. I think when he tries to mimic the bass notes, he hits the octaves with his left hand really hard. Although when he is changing to a different chord, he likes to hit both right and left thumb. I think his right thumb is stronger and mostly dominates in terms of tonality. When he is playing an arpeggio, he increases the force as the arpeggio moves from left hand to the right hand. Once the arpeggio is coming to an end, he likes to play the chord softly with his right hand. This technique actually needs practice but once you get it, it sounds so beautiful!

 

So the root note is basically the defining note of a chord. For example C would be the root note for C major. Sometimes, when he plays augmented or diminished chords, he likes to play octaves of the key. If the song is played in C# minor key for example and the root note doesn't end on his thumb, he hits C# :) He does this with guitar tunings too. Best example would be Violet Hill. The higher strings are tuned to C# to give the ringing effect, it always sounds nice in verses! Another example would be Oceans.

 

Look at this video of christmas lights, his right hand almost never leaves the D note in the verses. Which is interesting because the song's key is G major. Although, G major triad is basically G-B-D. Since D is a naturally harmonic to G, he plays D repeatedly... So there are exceptions and a formula cannot be derived for his insane talent! Also from 2:04, again he plays both left and right thumbs before moving to a different chord... right thumb is more intense.

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That's a great question. I think when he tries to mimic the bass notes, he hits the octaves with his left hand really hard. Although when he is changing to a different chord, he likes to hit both right and left thumb. I think his right thumb is stronger and mostly dominates in terms of tonality. When he is playing an arpeggio, he increases the force as the arpeggio moves from left hand to the right hand. Once the arpeggio is coming to an end, he likes to play the chord softly with his right hand. This technique actually needs practice but once you get it, it sounds so beautiful!

 

So the root note is basically the defining note of a chord. For example C would be the root note for C major. Sometimes, when he plays augmented or diminished chords, he likes to play octaves of the key. If the song is played in C# minor key for example and the root note doesn't end on his thumb, he hits C# :) He does this with guitar tunings too. Best example would be Violet Hill. The higher strings are tuned to C# to give the ringing effect, it always sounds nice in verses! Another example would be Oceans.

 

Look at this video of christmas lights, his right hand almost never leaves the D note in the verses. Which is interesting because the song's key is G major. Although, G major triad is basically G-B-D. Since D is a naturally harmonic to G, he plays D repeatedly... So there are exceptions and a formula cannot be derived for his insane talent! Also from 2:04, again he plays both left and right thumbs before moving to a different chord... right thumb is more intense.

Thanks for your insight. It is hard to figure out exactly how he plays, but it always sounds like the right way!

 

Seems like the loud note he plays is the root note. And this could really be any of his fingers, not just the thumb, but often is. In live versions of the hardest part, for example, he just strikes one note loud (guessing the root note). But when he changes chords, for example in the scientist, it sounds like his two thumbs and he strikes two notes soft. And that is what I play. So it can vary I guess. But I think one thing we can agree on is that it is usually the root note being hit loudly. That will certainly help in my playing, thanks!

 

I have no music theory and play everything by ear or tutorial. I there anyway to you figure out what the root note of a chord is without knowing the chord name? Does is have anything to do with the key of the chord/song?

 

Hardest part:

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Thanks for your insight. It is hard to figure out exactly how he plays, but it always sounds like the right way!

 

Seems like the loud note he plays is the root note. And this could really be any of his fingers, not just the thumb, but often is. In live versions of the hardest part, for example, he just strikes one note loud (guessing the root note). But when he changes chords, for example in the scientist, it sounds like his two thumbs and he strikes two notes soft. And that is what I play. So it can vary I guess. But I think one thing we can agree on is that it is usually the root note being hit loudly. That will certainly help in my playing, thanks!

 

I have no music theory and play everything by ear or tutorial. I there anyway to you figure out what the root note of a chord is without knowing the chord name? Does is have anything to do with the key of the chord/song?

 

Hardest part:

Chris doesnt know music theory either, when youre playing the chords just put your right thumb on the lower note of the right chord, and in the left thumb on the higher note of the left chord. Then dont think about how you should do it, just go with the flow and do what seems natural. Thats how i do it.
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I learned this acoustic version of AIMH a long time ago. The right hand is pretty simple throughout most of it because he just does a constant G minor chord. He does G Bb and D, but runs down the D to a C and Bb while sometimes landing on an E instead of the D. It's hard to explain. I'll try to make a video on it soon. If you guys check out my Instagram, I have a short video of it that I uploaded a few weeks ago. It's rece_w

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I learned this acoustic version of AIMH a long time ago. The right hand is pretty simple throughout most of it because he just does a constant G minor chord. He does G Bb and D, but runs down the D to a C and Bb while sometimes landing on an E instead of the D. It's hard to explain. I'll try to make a video on it soon. If you guys check out my Instagram, I have a short video of it that I uploaded a few weeks ago. It's rece_w

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey, I just checked out your instagram. So cool that you played with the band at Levi's stadium! I was actually there watching you. Very well done on the piano :) How did you end up getting the chance to do that? That is something us Coldplayers dream of

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Hey, I just checked out your instagram. So cool that you played with the band at Levi's stadium! I was actually there watching you. Very well done on the piano :) How did you end up getting the chance to do that? That is something us Coldplayers dream of

 

Performing "Fly On" AMA

 

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=5644&share_tid=110483&url=https://www.coldplaying.com/forum/index.php?threads/Performing-%22Fly-On%22-AMA.110483/&share_type=t

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hey, I just checked out your instagram. So cool that you played with the band at Levi's stadium! I was actually there watching you. Very well done on the piano :) How did you end up getting the chance to do that? That is something us Coldplayers dream of

I just read your AMA.

Brilliant!

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Thanks for your insight. It is hard to figure out exactly how he plays, but it always sounds like the right way!

 

Seems like the loud note he plays is the root note. And this could really be any of his fingers, not just the thumb, but often is. In live versions of the hardest part, for example, he just strikes one note loud (guessing the root note). But when he changes chords, for example in the scientist, it sounds like his two thumbs and he strikes two notes soft. And that is what I play. So it can vary I guess. But I think one thing we can agree on is that it is usually the root note being hit loudly. That will certainly help in my playing, thanks!

 

I have no music theory and play everything by ear or tutorial. I there anyway to you figure out what the root note of a chord is without knowing the chord name? Does is have anything to do with the key of the chord/song?

 

Hardest part:

 

Yes you're right! It can vary and goes with the rhythm on the song. It is usually the root note. Gsilva is right too. Chris didn't learn the theory initially but he eventually learned scales and chords and stuff. I don't know music theory completely, but to know the root note you would have to know what chord you are playing.. I would recommend watching

 

A lot of times artists like Chris like to change the key here and there which makes the beautiful and melancholic melodies

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Yes you're right! It can vary and goes with the rhythm on the song. It is usually the root note. Gsilva is right too. Chris didn't learn the theory initially but he eventually learned scales and chords and stuff. I don't know music theory completely, but to know the root note you would have to know what chord you are playing.. I would recommend watching

 

A lot of times artists like Chris like to change the key here and there which makes the beautiful and melancholic melodies

Thanks KaranShah. I will definitely watch the video. I'm going to study root notes and chord names.

 

You mentioned that Chris likes to change the key. Is there a specific song that comes to mind that changes key? For example, would the bridge of Umbrella with Chris Martin and Rihanna be a key change? Or maybe the third chord of the chorus for up and up?

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