• Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect
  • Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Piano & Voice With Brenda

Piano and Voice Training that WORKS.

  • Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect
  • Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect

Kiss Piano Tutorial

In this Kiss Piano Tutorial, I teach you this iconic funky song by Prince.  You'll be singing and playing before you know it!  

Kiss is one of the many iconic songs by singer, songwriter and producer Prince.  It was originally released on Prince and the Revolution’s 1986 studio album Parade.  Kiss became an number one hit and is ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as number 85 on the the 500 Greatest Songs for All Time.

Kiss is a perfect example of a male-identifying singer singing in head register, or falsetto.  I often use this song to get my tenor and baritone students to explore their head register and it is always a huge hit!

I always think of that scene in Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts’ character sings this in the bathtub while listening on her Walkman tape player.  Anyone else remember that?

The complete tutorial plus a downloadable printable is available exclusively on The Versatile Musician.  Learn more here.

Simple process to learn Kiss by Prince on Piano

Step #1: Learn the chords

This song uses only three chords:  A7, E7 and D7.  In many ways, this song is very similar to the blues.

To find a chord chart that includes the lyrics, I recommend using Ultimate Guitar, which I think has the best quality arrangements.

Need to learn chords?

Sign up and get my free Ultimate Chord cheat sheets!  Perfect for mastering your chords on piano.

Step #2: Let's play some jazz piano voicings

For my arrangement of Kiss, I chose to use some cool jazz piano voicings.  In this case, I use 7-3-13.

Screen Shot 2023-01-27 at 9.55.04 AM

Step #3: Figure out the groove for Kiss

In this tutorial, I decided to use the Charleston Rhythme to approximate what Prince plays on his recording.  This sounds really cool and isn't terribly difficult to sing and play.

This rhythm turns up everywhere:  throughout the gambit of jazz styles and in a diverse range of pop songs.  You'll be glad to have added this one to your tool kit!

Charleston figure

How to practice The Charleston Rhythm

  1. Clap and count the rhythm
  2. Clap the rhythm and sing Kiss
  3. Put the rhythm on the piano, adding the metronome as needed
  4. Play and sing.

 

Step #4:  Put it all together

Now is the time to learn the guitar introduction and put the entire song together.  Take your time and make sure that you are practicing with the metronome, or better yet a band-in-a-box app like the  iReal Pro.

That is a great way to make sure that you are really honoring the time and playing the song with the best groove possible.

The Versatile Musician All-Inclusive Virtual Membership

The Versatile Musician is an all-in-one membership that combines video lessons, print material and live support to help you level up your skills and thrive as a musician and music teacher. 

The Versatile Musician Membership includes:

50 hours of high-quality video lessons

500+ pages of meticulously notated downloadable print material

Live support via monthly live calls and a private member’s forum

Complete access to all of the courses, including

  1. Piano Skills for Singers Levels 1&2
  2. Jazz Piano Accompaniment 
  3. Piano Improvisation for Everyone!
  4. Crash Course in Solfege
  5. The newly released Rhythm Workout

 

Ready to up your piano game?

The Versatile Musician is for YOU.

 

Screen Shot 2022-11-08 at 4.44.01 PM

To learn more, check out https://pianoandvoicewithbrenda.com/membership/

Category: Piano for Singers, Piano Lessons, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Previous Post: « How to play Auld Lang Syne on Piano
Next Post: Free Fallin’ Tom Petty Piano Tutorial Turquoise background with piano keyboard graphic on the bottom. Photo of Tom Petty in a red shirt holding a guitar with Brenda Earle Stokes pointing at him. Red and yellow lettering reads "Free Falliin' Tom Petty sing and play tutorial"»

© Piano & Voice with Brenda | Michigan Web Design by Ellanyze
Privacy Policy | Terms & Condition