The Sound of Jazz: The Importance of Articulation and Feel
The sound of jazz. Where does it come from? Some might say “the blues.” They would be right, but when people talk about playing the blues, there is often an important ingredient missing from the conversation: FEEL. What does it mean when we’re talking about feel? We’re talking about time feel. The feeling of the […]
What is a Bebop Scale? And Why Is It Important?
Are Bebop Scales the secret to unlocking the mystery of bebop improvisation for you? No. In order to truly sound authentic with bebop improvisation, you must develop a solid bebop vocabulary and incorporate staples of bebop phraseology such as: enclosures, chromaticism, triplets in between a string of eighth notes, and particular sounds like the altered […]
How to Be a Great Modern Improviser
Part I: Understanding What “Modern” Improv Is First, let’s take a broad look at where improvisation started, and how we’ve ended up where we are today. Many people are unaware of the fact that improvisation began long before jazz ever existed. There was a time when the great composers could sit at the piano and […]
How To Play Block Chords Like Bill Evans
In this blog we are going to examine how to play block chords, ala Bill Evans. Block chord soloing is when you harmonize a melody where all 4 or 5 voices are in rhythmic unison. The two most common forms of block chord soloing that we are going to examine are “locked-hands/double lead” and “drop […]
The Creativity of Jelly Roll Morton – “The Father of Jazz”
When people talk about the origins of jazz, the name on everyone’s mind is the creator of ragtime piano, Scott Joplin. With such standbys as “The Entertainer,” “Sugar Cane Rag,” and “Maple Leaf Rag,” he came up with the makings of blues and swing which would eventually become jazz as we know it today. But […]
Accompanying Singers – Hillary Kole “Duets”: How To Set Up A Solid Intro
Hillary Kole’s You Are There (Duets) is a fascinating study in how to accompany a jazz singer in a vocal-piano duo setting. The record contains 13 vocal-piano duets with many different pianists, including Kenny Barron, Dave Brubeck, Benny Green, Hank Jones, Steve Kuhn, Freddy Cole, Cedar Walton, Alan Broadbent, Monty Alexander, Michel Legrand, and Mike […]
Finding Your Voice with Voicings
Some people ask us jazz pianists: “How do you know what notes to play?” Other times, I am reading a lead sheet and they ask, “If there’s only one line on the page, where do the other notes come from?” This is where our secrets lay. With all […]
The Secrets to Learning Tunes Quickly and Bulking Up Your Repertoire
Building up your repertoire by learning standards is a crucial part of being a professional jazz musician. In fact, you have to learn potentially hundreds of songs just to be able to get by at a jam session without embarrassing yourself. But you already know this. Chances are, you’ve sat down to play at a […]
Funk: The Infectious and Pungent Cousin of Jazz
The great jazz educator and drummer Justin DiCioccio has one simple motto: “make everything in life feel like a groove.” This is actually a deceptively simple token of advice, commenting on finding peace and stability in the hardest of times. But, taken on a surface level, this philosophy also happens to be a pretty spot-on […]
Comping – What is it? Why is it important?
People talk of the great jazz pianists: Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau, and what do they remember? Most often it is their lines and soloing ability. What most people don’t think about when it comes to these great musicians is their ability to accompany or play within a group. What is […]
