In this week's free jazz piano lesson, we revisit two-part shell voicings. We'll explore how to take these basic voicings and make them fuller sounding for when you're playing in a solo or duo situation. This style of jazz piano voicing is very commonly used by solo pianists (especially stride pianists of the '20s and '30's). Some great examples of this style of voicing can be found in the solo playing of Bill Evans, Bud Powell and even McCoy Tyner!
I hope you enjoy this lesson. Please leave a comment with any questions or suggestions and feel free to share this lesson with your friends.
Try out some of these voicings on your favorite standards! In our next lesson, we'll take a look at how to practice shell voicings (or any voicing) in a more melodic fashion.
In this week's lesson, we take our pattern from Lesson #8 and transpose (invert) it one octave. Unlike, the patterns from the previous two lessons, this pattern is not very common. In fact, I'm not sure I've heard it before on a recording and I certainly don't remember transcribing it.
Whether you like this pattern or not, I recommend at least trying to give it a couple days of working out. Transposing patterns (or "mental gymnastics" as I tell my students") is a one of the best ways of preparing your brain for more meaningful improvising. Good luck!
In next week's lesson we are going to learn (review?) some basic left hand voicings for piano.
I first discovered Hexatonic scales a couple years back while playing through Jerry Bergonzi's Inside Improvisation series. I didn't spend much time on the subject until recently when I began revisiting the series. The scale concepts he presents in the book have certainly opened my ears up to new sounds. However, the book falls a little short with me in it's discussion of practical application of the scales. In an effort to sound less patternistic, I wrote what I feel to be more melodic ideas over ii-V-I progressions. In lesson #6, we will be discussing one of the more successful of those attempts.
Here's Herbie Hancock's solo off the classic Miles Davis record "Miles Smiles." I transcribed this in one week and learned it over the course of a couple weeks. This was probably the most challenging solo I have attempted. The chromaticism and the up-tempo was a recipe for many weeks of painstakingly slow practice with the recording.
Oribts is a great example of the "time, no changes" approach to improvising. The improvised sections were free, meaning there were no written chords. Although the harmony was free, the tempo and feel stayed constant. It was up to the individual improvisor to listen and direct the harmony.
I was inspired to write out this melody after watching Kenny Werner's DVD Living Effortless Mastery. The idea is to write out a melody inspired by ideas or concepts you would like to have come out in your improvising. By practicing the melody (in 12 keys), you're solidifying the concepts you're working on as well as the technique required to perform the them.
I usually try to write out a new melody each week or borrow one from a transcription I'm working on. It helps me stay creative with my improvising and is a great way to keep things interesting in the practice room. Just think of all the great ideas you would have if you did this exercise every week for a year!
Check out the FREE .pdf in the link below the video.
Here's Kansas City beloved Lennie Tristano tribute band Crosscurrent playing our arrangement of All the Things You Are. The first tune Ablution was written by Lennie Tristano. The second tune Dixie's Dilemma was written by one of best disciples, tenor saxophonists Warne Marsh.
Sam Wisman - Drums Matt Otto - Tenor
Steve Lambert - Flute/Tenor T.J. Martley - Piano
Ben Leifer - Drums
Here's an excellent Herbie Hancock line I transcribed from his solo on Orbits by Wayne Shorter. The four measure line really epitomizes the chromatic style of Herbie during his time with Miles Quintet in the 60's. Orbit's is a free "time no changes" composition. Although there are technically no written changes, it sounded to me like Herbie was implying some sort of altered C7 sound in this part of the solo.
The free .pdf below list the transcription in all 12 keys. There are 3 groups which represent each line's relation to the diminished scale it is based on. You should technically be able to substitute any chord for any other within a group. However, keep in mind that the line selected for each chord is the best representation of the sound for that particular chord.
Here's my transcription of Charlie Parker's solo on Ornithology. I learned it completely by ear and did not write any of it down first. I used the program Transcribe to help me slow down parts I had trouble with. A great way to learn solos is to first slowly sing them with the recording, then gradually learn to sing them without it. I learned this from Lennie Tristano's teachings and have learned every solo similarly since. Enjoy my transcription of Charlie Parker's solo on Ornithology!
Crosscurrent is a local Kansas City band dedicated to playing music by or inspired by the great Lennie Tristano. We recently performed at JCCC's Jazz Winterlude and will be periodically uploading videos of the hour long performance. Here is our take on Mark Turner's "Lennie Groove."
Sam Wisman - Drums Matt Otto - Tenor Sax
Steve Lambert - Tenor Sax
Ben Leifer - Bass
T.J. Martley - Piano
I bought my current doublebass last year on Christmas Eve as a gift for myself. I took lessons for around 6 months with the Kansas City legend Gerald Spaits. We worked on the fundamentals of holding the instrument, sound, bowing, and simple walking bass lines. Since then, I've been transcribing and reading various classical method books.
My goal for 2011 was to dedicate 1 hour each day to the bass. My friend Matt Otto's hypothesis was that just one hour a day of practice would yield great results over the long run. I would say on average I was able to get in around 4-5 hours each week depending on my schedule.
My practice schedule is quite simple. 30 min of technique, 30 min of walking and improvising my "tune of the week." I'm hoping for a productive 2012 and have many ideas for posting new duet and instructional videos. Cheers!
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Recorded this one a couple months ago. I laid down my track while soloing and comping for a non existent partner. Then L2L filled in the holes after I sent him my recording. This is "Solar" by Miles Davis.
BM: Do you remember the first thing that you heard by Sonny on record? WS: I can’t remember. But I was about 15 going on 16 when I
first heard him. I heard Sonny and then Ike Quebec and then Charlie
Rouse...but I wasn’t analyzing anything then. All I can remember was
hearing them and then knowing that Sonny had something that was really
happening. He had a lot of rhythm and all this stuff, and he would leap
out at things and take it and express something. So you would see the
actual force, you’d feel that statement that Sonny made; in a certain
way like Charlie Parker did too. BM: So you didn’t really analyze his playing? WS: No, I never really analyzed it. I never hardly even talked
about it but it was just a feeling. Like right now I have a cd of
Coltrane talking and playing. And I also have a cd of Charlie Parker
giving music lessons to a young student. And what Charlie Parker says to
the young student -- Charlie plays and then the young student plays,
and he’s playing scales and everything. And the student says, “You mean,
Mr. Parker, I have to memorize all these scales, all these things? And
Bird -- he had that deep voice -- says, “Yes, but if you can play within
your mind! With Sonny, I never really met him until that time at Sugar
Hill shortly after Clifford Brown died, but I was listening to him all
through the years. He was always there; he had that excitement and that
full sound. In other words, what I liked about Sonny was he had that
full sound all the way up and down the horn. The high range and the low
range of his horn was full -- as full as you can be, you know? And only a
few people had that -- Trane and a lot of the old guys had that.
Nowadays guys are whistling on the tenor, playing the high register
notes and overtones on the tenor. And that’s getting up in the soprano
range. But Sonny’s content was alway like a full meal -- the meat and
potatoes and salad and everything there. BM: Any techniques or musical devices that he uses to create this distinctive sound? WS: No, I think he just worked at it from a young age. Someone
asked Trane what was it like when he played with Monk at the Five Spot
and he would go out of the form of what Monk’s music was...Misterioso or
“Straight No Chaser or whatever it was. And Trane said Monk would leave
the bandstand and go sit in the audience and enjoy himself listening to
Trane going out with Wilbur Ware playing bass. And then the question
was asked, “Is it legitimate to go off on your own tangent or something
like that? They asked Trane, “What is it like when you do that, when you
go away? How do you feel about that? And he said, “You know when it’s
the truth. And that’s why Monk was sitting out there having himself a
good time. He said, “Now I get a chance to hear some music. I used to
say this all the time: “Nobody entertains the entertainer. As Red
Buttons used to say at the Friars Club Roast...he’d say, “Moses. He
parted the Red Sea. Never had a dinner! And he goes on with all these
great people...Never had a dinner! Now Red Buttons got some rhythm. BM: Timing is everything...laying back just a bit before he delivers the punch line. WS: Yeah! BM: Do you have any favorite Sonny Rollins records? WS: No, I don’t...just the whole total of Sonny Rollins. I
don’t have many records in my house. I have Sonny’s music in my pores,
in my body, in my entity. It’s like when people fight about the word
‘jazz’ and what jazz is supposed to sound like and everything. I know
what jazz is supposed to sound like. To me, the word ‘jazz’ means going
ahead....the whole development of democracy. Jazz is democracy in
progress. It’s a work in progress. And what jazz is supposed to sound
like...people are getting tied up with and involved with formality
rather than substance...formality and familiarity.
This is from the classic Wayne Shorter album "Speak No Evil." Enjoy!
