On The Alternative Chords Improvised Piano Accompaniment

Piano improvising accompaniment is among the most common and practical technique in all musical activities. As one of the essential techniques for students majoring in music education, it has earned much more attention from universities with music education major. However, the overall education and research on Piano improvising accompaniment still need further improving. The lack of in-depth analysis and research on the harmony techniques for modern music, especially pop music has resulted in the fact that some music education majors are not capable of performing qualified Piano improvising accompaniment and consequently, fail to meet the musical requirements of modern society.By studying traditional harmony theories and modern jazz harmony theories, this paper analyzes the harmony phenomena as well as harmony elements and summarizes the most common and key harmony techniques, namely, chord substitution. Meanwhile, with the author's personal experience in piano improvising accompaniment, the paper explores how to apply chord substitution in improvising accompaniment to meet the aesthetic standard of modern music.Chapter one introduces the current situation in universities with music education and points out the major issues in piano improvising accompaniment; chapter two presents the significance of chord substitution by analyzing common harmony elements in modern pop music; chapter three studies the principles and techniques for chord substitution based on the classical harmony theories; chapter four probes into the principles, techniques, availability as well as the similarities and differences between jazz chord substitution and classical chord substitution; chapter five explores the practical chord substitution methods and techniques in piano improvising accompaniment practices.