Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
This is the most useful exercise for playing Neo-soul piano and getting to grips with those progressions that never seem to make sense.
I call it the 'Cover Note' exercise. The concept is simple but you can make it as complicated as you want. Just keep the top note the same across different chords. As the harmony becomes more complex and random, that top note acts like a melodic glue, holding everything together and forcing you to use good voice leading.
You can make any group of chords work together, no matter how harmonically unrelated, if you use this technique.
It's often what creates that 'neo-soul' sound.
Grab a free trial to PianoPig Academy: go.pianopig.com/yt233
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:33 - Understanding Cover Notes
00:55 - Example Over a 251 Progression
02:15 - Learn The #1 Exercise
04:13 - Demonstration
Let's connect...
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/PianoPigLessons
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/Piano_Pig
This is the most useful exercise for playing Neo-soul piano and getting to grips with those progressions that never seem to make sense.
I call it the 'Cover Note' exercise. The concept is simple but you can make it as complicated as you want. Just keep the top note the same across different chords. As the harmony becomes more complex and random, that top note acts like a melodic glue, holding everything together and forcing you to use good voice leading.
You can make any group of chords work together, no matter how harmonically unrelated, if you use this technique.
It's often what creates that 'neo-soul' sound.
Grab a free trial to PianoPig Academy: go.pianopig.com/yt233
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:33 - Understanding Cover Notes
00:55 - Example Over a 251 Progression
02:15 - Learn The #1 Exercise
04:13 - Demonstration
Let's connect...
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/PianoPigLessons
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/Piano_Pig
