Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we're learning the "Imperial March" from Star Wars.
Some people call it the Darth Vader theme. Let's take a listen.
To help you learn the rhythm of "Imperial March" I've invited a special guest.
I'll go invite him in now.
I am Darth Vader. But you may call me Lord Vader.
Mr. Hoffman has requested that I train you in the ways of the rhythm.
So join me at the heartbeat mat.
This is the rhythm for "Imperial March."
Observe the dotted eighth sixteenth note rhythm.
It will make a sound like this: TIM-KI TIM-KI.
Now observe the sound of this rhythm.
TA TA TA TIM-KI TA TIM-KI TWO.
Now you will attempt to say the rhythm with me. Ready begin.
TA TA TA TIM-KI TA TIM-KI TWO.
Impressive. Most impressive.
Once you have mastered this song, you must remember to practice it every day.
Do not fail me.
Mr. Hoffman will now complete your training.
Thanks Lord Vader.
Okay let's practice moving our fingers how we'll need to for this song.
Please hold up your right hand with me.
Now I'm going to use finger numbers so let's review quickly.
We have finger one, two, three, four and five.
For starters we'll go with three finger threes like this.
Three three three. Now your turn.
Good. Now my turn.
After that we go one, five, three. Your turn.
Good now that one is actually the rhythm that Lord Vader showed us
where it goes TIM-KI TA.
So it kind of goes quickly with this finger five.
One five three.
So let's practice that a few times.
Ready go. One, five, three.
Again. One, five, three.
One more time. One, five, three.
Now let's put it together like this.
Three, three, three, one, five, three, one, five, three.
Good one more time. Ready go.
Three, three, three, one, five, three, one, five, three.
Good. Now let's try that on the piano.
So for this song we're going to use the C major pentascale
which means you'll put fingers one, two, three, four, five
on C, D, E, F and G on the piano.
Okay I'll play it once, then it will be your turn.
Now you try.
Good.
Now let's go back to holding our fingers in the air so I can show you the next part.
Okay for the next section our right hand is actually going to slide up
to a higher position which I'll show you in a second.
And then we'll have three finger threes again.
Three, three, three, four, one.
Your turn.
So these three finger threes are quarter notes so it will be TA TA TA TIM-KI.
So we have TIM-KI.
Let's try it together. Ready go.
TA TA TA TIM-KI.
And at that point our hand shifts back down to the C pentascale
and I'll show you the rest in a minute.
Let's try that on the piano.
So here is our original position to play the beginning of the song like this.
For the next phrase we slide up to the G major pentascale
and again we're going to start on finger three but now our thumb
or finger one is on G.
So now we have three, three, three, four, one.
Now your turn to try that.
Good and after we do three, three, three, four, one
then we're going to slide our finger three over our thumb
kind of like this and land on this E Flat for a quarter note.
So watch that once.
Notice how I played the G with my thumb finger one
and then finger three kind of glides across my thumb to land on E flat.
And then we end with TIM-KI TA.
The same three notes we started with.
One, five, three.
So watch that whole thing again from the second phrase.
Now press pause and practice the whole thing on your own.
Press play when you're ready to watch the entire "Imperial March."
All right here is "Imperial March" with the right hand playing.
Now let's add some extra challenge.
We're going to add some chords in the left hand.
For the chords we'll use an E chord with just E and B
and we'll use fingers one and five in the left hand.
And then the other chord we'll use is a C chord.
We're going to shift down from E and B down to C and G.
And our left hand will play that chord.
So we have E and B sometimes, and C and G.
But I'll call that an E chord or a C chord.
And here's how they go together.
So now I'll say the chords out loud as I play them so you can hear the sequence.
We have E, E, E
C, E, C, E.
E, E, E, C, C, E.
Now if that's too complicated to add in the chords,
just keep practicing the right hand and when you're ready
later on you can add the chords of the left hand.
Great job working on "Imperial March" today.
And now it's time to get back to light saber practice.
Mr. Hoffman, I am your father.
No! That's not possible!
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Okay I'll give it a try.
Searching feelings. Nope! That's not possible!
I actually know who my parents are, and they're not you.
Join me and together we can teach piano throughout the galaxy as father and son.
Lord Vader, you need to calm down now.
Let's do a little deep breathing together.
Come on join me. Breathe in, breathe out.
Good. Breathe in, breathe out.
Nice breath. Continue.