Blues Series – Part 4 (The IV Chord) [LOTW #49]
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Here is a nice arrpeggiated run you can use over the four chord. Not much to it with the notes, but technically there are some cross over that are a little bit tough. The nice texture note we are targeting in this one is the 9, the note C, in the Bb7 chord. We throw […]
Blues Series – Part 3 (LOTW #48)
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Alright so this lick is a little bit more complicated rhythmically but if you practice these triplets and one grouping of 5 you will start to have a lot more in your repertoire bank. Theres also a nice two note combination in the first measure that I love using. Melodically not too much going on […]
Blues Series – Part 2 [LOTW #47]
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Here is a nice blues lick over the first four bars. The stand out characteristic in this is the reharm of the second measure. Instead of just making it a dominant IV7 chord or keeping it a I chord. We make it Bb7 then go to a Bb- chord and reflect this change in our […]
Jazz Piano School Ep 30 : How To Use Diatonic Harmony
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So you may be wondering how can you start putting these diatonic chords to use now. Well there are a number of different ways you can do it. The first benefit we now have is we can transpose music easily, and effectively. When I analyze a tune and understand what the progression is, meaning I know if the chords are serving as a II-7 chord of a V7 chord, I can now take that progression and easily move it into another key using those same roman numerals. Learning progressions is the other big benefit we have. If someone calls out a quick progression or you see me type a set of numbers such as ( 2-4-6-2-3-5-1), you can go to the piano and work on that progression. Composition is another biggie that comes from diatonic harmony. You can put numbers together yourself in any order you’d like and see what comes out. This is the foundation for all our future harmony and theory to come!
Ten Reasons Why Jazz Piano Lessons Will Change Your Life Forever
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ianists can pretty much play anything they want. A solid jazz pianists is by far the most versatile musician out there. Where did they start? By taking jazz piano lessons. In case you had any doubt, I wanted to list my top ten reasons on how and why jazz piano lessons will change your life […]
Blues Series – Part 1 (LOTW #46)
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Everyone plays the blues. It is a great structure to learn improvisation over. In this lick I’m adding more rhythmic qualities as you might see. Rhythmic ideas and phrases can really improve your playing. The notes I’m using in this are simple blues scale notes. ( If you are unsure as to what the blues […]
Jazz Piano School Ep 29 : How To Use Modes
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I don’t use modes. Who needs modes? What good are modes anyway? Modes are the building blocks of improv. Modes are the notes that correspond with a chord. Not using modes is like misspelling words.
Ballad Series – Part 5 (LOTW #45)
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Here is more of a cliche line you here a lot over the D-7. The outline of the chord tones and chromatic resolution to the third of G7. I do really enjoy the augmented sound over the G7. Going up from the third and using the #5(b13) sound. We resolve to the fifth of Cmaj7 […]
Ballad Series – Part 4 (LOTW #44)
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I really like this one. We start off with a nice rhythm here with a 6 note phrase to one beat. We are arpeggiating chord tones, (again), and continuing up until we slide into the root of the G7 chord an drop down an octave. We resolve into the Cmaj7 chord by playing the b13 […]
Ballad Series – Part 3 (LOTW #43)
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A nice outline of chord tones over the D-7 then making our way up to the #9 and b9 of the G7. There are our extensions again over our dominant chord. We resolve down to the third of our Cmaj7 chord and finish with a nice little chromatic line starting on the 5th of Cmaj7 […]