![]() ![]() If you want to become a competent jazz pianist, you have to know your keys – yes all 12 of them! The wonderful pianist Jacques Loussier has demonstrated this throughout his musical career!Ĭycles, cycles and more cycles… study cycles and YOU will understand the internal motor of jazz! The II V I progression is derived from the cycle of fourth progression through the tone center! The chord progressions and movements of Johann Sebastian Bach is also very similar to jazz compositions. The II V I is the most important progression, and knowing how to improvise and use this progression intimately is of paramount importance to your jazz piano playing! Most of the progressions in jazz moves in the cycle of fourths. So within a predictive and ‘set’ framework, we have the freedom to make things less predictive and more colourful! Jazz is a style of music that moves in cycles and is quite predictable from a harmonic point of view.Įven though chord movements in jazz are predictive and reasonably straightforward, many melodic and harmonic variations can be created on the spot. ![]() Simply click below.The II V I progression is the harmonic motor of jazz music! Jazz harmony is based on the cycle of fourths and II V Is are the king of fourths… Understand the II V I and you understand jazz! When you can do both structures through out all keys without thinking then you will be in great shape to improving your playing!įeel free to subscribe to our email tips and bonus content. You will want to be able to go through all your 2-5-1’s in every key with your RH alone then LH alone, hands together, then finally, RH with LH playing the bass notes. Here are the degrees and pattern for this one. Our second rootless voicing structure will start on the 7th of our minor chord in our 2-5-1. It’s best to think in degrees from the root of the chord, this way you can transpose easily to any key. The first one will start on the third of the minor chord in our 2-5-1. ![]() There will be two different rootless voicing structures we will use. So here is how we play them over a 2-5-1. There are certain extensions we can use over a minor 7th chord, a dominant 7th chord and a major 7th chord. These notes can be placed on top of a chord to add color. If we continue to count up the scale we get numbers such as 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16. If we count the degrees of our scale we reach the octave at 8. What are extensions?Įxtensions are going to be notes on top the our chord that provide us with colors! Just like a painter uses colors, and a chef uses spices, a jazz pianist uses extensions to add flavor and beauty to the harmonies. When a bass player is playing a tune, they will be walking on the roots a lot, so you will want to add in other voices to contrast and blend what they are doing. This holds true when playing with bass players as well. If you have the root in the bass, then playing it again in your voicing will muddy up the sound and become redundant. They provide the support necessary for the rest of the chord. Normally our roots are going to sound best at the bottom of the chord. Rootless voicings are simply voicings that reflect the quality of the chord, yet do not contain the root of the chord in them. We’ve talked a lot about 7th chords and inversions to use a voicings, but, as you become more advanced in your playing you will want to learn these voicings that do NOT include the root of the chord in them. Anyway, on to the rootless voicings!! What are rootless voicings? His son just got into the Brubeck institute in Stockton for jazz sax, so he knows music very well and will be the best person to help create my vision for Jazz Piano School. The owner and leader of this business is actually a student of mine. I’m very excited about this because I’ll be working with a great branding and marketing company by the name of Dreambox Creative. I’ve been extremely busy gigging, teaching and trying to raise money to upgrade this site in the coming months. Wow! Well it’s been quite a while since my last blog post. ![]()
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