ToneGym Hero: Valerio Gherardi
A pianist, composer, and curious mind, Valerio blends hip-hop roots, jazz language, and mathematical precision into his music.

From melody transcription on ToneGym to composing genre-bending pieces, @Valerio Gherardi is this month’s ToneGym Hero!

Meet Valerio: https://www.tonegym.co/blog/item?id=valerio-gherardi
profile
Cuantas Vacas
Jan 30, 21:53
Great interview! Nice to learn a bit more about you.
profile
Kathy Anderson
Jan 30, 22:22
@Valerio Gherardi. Thanks for sharing your musical journey with us I get the feeling that there is an intuitive component to your music - which I find interesting because that is true of me also. Wishing you everything good going forward!!
profile
Valerio Gherardi
Jan 31, 17:11
Thank you guys for the kind words! @Kathy Anderson then I need to check out your songs!
profile
ToneGym
Jan 31, 16:56 in ToneGym Official
Congrats @Brendan K for winning the Silver Ears Award!
Keyboard = Creativity Killer?
Do keys unlock ideas… or shut them down?

The Debate: “Keyboards limit creativity for non-pianists.” → False vs True for some.

Why It Matters: If the tool blocks you, your writing + ear training stall.

Team False or Team True for some, and why (workflow, theory, feel, intimidation)?
profile
Another poorly-designed question. A better survey question would be: Have you found this to be true for YOU?

I can't say if it's true for some. I can only say it's not true for me. I do have a hard time seeing how it could be true for anyone, unless you are being forced to use piano as your only composition platform. As one tool among many it could only INCREASE your idea-generation opportunities, it seems to me. But I also know there are people out there who don't think like me.

I will say that, because of my limitations on piano, the ideas I generate on piano often have certain characteristics (e.g. it's great for exploring line cliches, moving one note while the rest of the chord stays the same, stuff like that). But 1) Those are cool types of ideas! and 2) It is only ONE of the composition tools I use.

Sometimes I noodle on piano, sometimes I noodle on guitar. Sometimes a lyric line will come to me complete with a rough idea of melody and I will flesh out from there. Sometimes I just get an idea of things I want to try and I experiment within a scoring program like MuseScore. Or all of that in combination and iteration.

In my view, adding tools to your repertoire will only stifle you if you let them. (And, BTW, often deliberately constraining yourself is a great wat to be creative! It can certainly be an interesting exercise.)
profile
Dmitriy I
Jan 31, 04:46
Incorrect, with the exception of one instrument. The question here is whether a person can play the piano or not, not whether the keyboard limits creativity.
1) The keyboard allows one to visualize all aspects of musical theory. It's no wonder that all music schools have a shared piano in their instrumental departments. I remember once discussing theoretical issues with our guitarist, who was incredibly proficient on the instrument but had no basic musical education – it was fun.))
2) Correct me if I'm wrong – all vst instruments require a MIDI keyboard. It's much easier to play a part than to click squares on the piano roll.) This is true for all instruments except the guitar. Why is another question.
3) Any process moves faster, from working on melody and harmony to searching and synthesizing tones.
I agree, the question is incorrect. However, everyone decides for themselves what is closer to them.;)
profile
Cuantas Vacas
Jan 31, 16:50
I voted for 'True for Some', although I'm not one of them.
Congrats @Tommaso Noce for winning the Golden Ears Award!
profile
Colin Aiken
Jan 31, 07:46
Fantastic!
profile
Lavelle Romain
Jan 31, 14:16
What about golden mouth award ?
profile
Cuantas Vacas
Jan 31, 16:48
This one?
profile
Joshua Houle
Jan 31, 15:08 in ToneGym Cafe
It's pretty annoying that the solfègiator game does not give you feedback on what direction you are missing a note in.
profile
Victor Wilburn
Jan 31, 16:03
Not sure what you mean. It tells you what it thinks the pitch is.
profile
Daniel Barth
Jan 31, 16:38
It's generally annoying that many of the exercises do you not give you the opportunity to hear both the wrong and the correct answer. Testing only works as part of learning when you receive immediate correction afterwards. I do like this platform, otherwise I wouldn't pay for it, but it's an issue with many of the exercises here...
Congrats @Chano Kim for winning the Silver Ears Award!
profile
Kathy Anderson
Jan 30, 22:24
Congratulations!!!
profile
Colin Aiken
Jan 31, 07:45
Superb!
OMG...Rust never sleeps!
Congrats @Jace Noson for winning the Golden Ears Award!
profile
Colin Aiken
Jan 30
Fantastic!
profile
Kathy Anderson
Jan 30, 22:26
Congratulations!! Good for you!!
Congrats @Jaehoon Kim for winning the Silver Ears Award!
profile
Colin Aiken
Jan 30
Congrats!
profile
Kathy Anderson
Jan 30, 22:25
Congratulations!!!
Congrats @Andrey Karpov for winning the Golden Ears Award!
profile
Colin Aiken
Jan 30
Fabulous!
profile
Kathy Anderson
Jan 30, 22:25
Congratulations!! Good for you!!
Hi everybody! I am new to ToneGym and so far I'm having fun! I take ear training classes with my teacher and I learned about this on a Youtube video. Sometimes the chords are confusing to me. Do you have any advice on how I can improve?
profile
lele Hot
Jan 29
maybe practice and - I love spy x family great anime
profile
Sing the notes you're able to identify. If you're able to accurately sing them all, then you're doing great!
rate my song out of ten/

BARS!” – 1ceeH0T

[Intro]
POW! I step in, beat go bang
1ceeH0T drip, make the room goin to hang
Ice in my veins, fire in my slang
Every bar hit hard feel the pang!
(ad-libs: “woo… pow… icy… ayy!”)

[Hook / Chorus]
BARS! POW! I spit ’em fast
Every single line? Yeah, hit it it’ll last
Drip so sick, make the haters gasp
1ceeH0T flame, I blow the past
BARS! SNAP! Punch like a blast
Ice and fire, I’m built to outlast
Step in my zone? Better move fast
I drop POW bars leave ’em aghast
(ad-libs: “pow! skrrt! woo! ayy!”)

[Verse 1 – POW Flex]
Step on the track, BOOM, I explode
Lines hit hard, yeah, they overload
Cold-hot mix, my style’s code
1ceeH0T boss, I own the road
Flow so sharp, like a dagger strike
Bars cut deep, like a lightning spike
Chaos queen, I take what I like
POW in your chest feel the psych!
(ad-libs: “pow! woo! icy! hot!”)

[Pre-Chorus]
Bars hit quick, straight to your chest
Flow so clean, put the rest to the test
I shine brighter than all the rest
1ceeH0T reign, never second-best
(ad-libs: “pow! ayy! woo!”)

[Hook / Chorus]
BARS! POW! I spit ’em fast
Every single line? Yeah, it’ll last
Drip so sick, make the haters gasp
1ceeH0T flame, I blow the past
BARS! SNAP! Punch like a blast
Ice and fire, I’m built to outlast
Step in my zone? Better move fast
I drop POW bars leave ’em aghast
(ad-libs: “pow! skrrt! woo! ayy!”)

[Verse 2 – Chaotic POW]
Clap-clap, BAM! I own the floor
Lines hit heavy, leave ’em wanting more
Punchline king, POW, hear the roar
1ceeH0T flex can’t ignore
Step in my lane, feel the quake
Bars so hot, they make the ground shake
Cute but lethal, style wide awake
POW! Hit ’em all no mistake
(ad-libs: “BAM! pow! woo! icy!”)

[Bridge]
POW! Pop it, drop it, let the beat bite
Bars so cold, I freeze the night
Small but mighty, I own my height
1ceeH0T reign my flow’s tight
(ad-libs: “woo… pow… icy… ayy!”)

[Final Hook / Outro]
BARS! POW! I spit ’em fast
Every single line? Yeah, it’ll last
Drip so sick, make the haters gasp
1ceeH0T flame, I blow the past
BARS! SNAP! Punch like a blast
Ice and fire, I’m built to outlast
Step in my zone? Better move fast
I drop POW bars leave ’em aghast
(ad-libs: “1ceeH0T! POW! woo! bars-bars!”)
profile
Chantal Ortiz
Jan 28
ts wasnt tuff
profile
Needa Jobsoon
Jan 29
😘
profile
lele Hot (author)
Jan 29
ts wasnt tuff pls no hateful comments