Q. Hey im having trouble on deciding on choosing a jazz song for music so I decided to change a song that I already know into a jazz song. I play piano and I'm going to sing to it but I dont know how to go about changing it as I've never played a jazz song before :O
Could someone point me in the direction of some jazz scales or how to go about creating the style?
Thanks heaps!
A. The cliche piano/voice duet sound usually revolves around adding extensions to chords, and adding subs, and extra leading chords into the progression.
Lets say for example you have a chord progression C Am Em G, which isn't an extremely uncommon chord progression in Pop tunes.
I would start by choosing some more interesting chords.
I would start by adding extensions to the chords: I would likely choose at first glance, Cmaj7#11, (C,E,G,B,F#), Am9 (A,C,E,G,B), Em7, (E,G,B,D), G7add13, (G,B,D,F,E). These are a little more colourful chords. Further still, lets say this progression repeats, so the G, goes back to C. Another colourful, and hip thing to do is to sub the dominant chord, (in this case G), with the Dominant chord, a tritone away from the fifth, G, so in C, this is a Db. It creates chromatic movement back to C, So I would like play G7, and then push a Db7 back to C.
Harmonizing the notes of the major scale introduces some more colourful chords, as well as an interesting harmonic idea, the functions of these chords. I find this chart helps me organize the function of chords in relation to tonic (T), sub dominant(SD), and dominant chords(D), in the key of C major,
Cmaj7 = T
Em7= T
Fmaj7 = SD
G7 = D
Am7 = SD
Bm7b5 = D
You now have potentially a whole tonne of possible harmonic substitutions to try:
Instead of Em7, you could try a Cmaj7 type chord with an E in the bass, (Cmaj7/E). Or instead of Am, you could try and squeeze in a Fmaj7 type chord. The possibilities are endless. With all this in mind, you must also consider voice leading.
A good arrangement might include a 'secondary dominant, (when functioning, leads to a chord other than the tonic' approach.
A good example would be to push a E7 sound (the fifth of Am) near the end of the measure in C, into the Am.
If you use some of these tricks, you might be able to get something good out of it, I find that if you are making a solo arrangement it is important to not be too 'floaty' with the changes, you can be more liberal in the sense that there is no rhythm section to contend with, but you still want people to hear the movement, and contrary to what some may think, sometimes it is better to play simple things right in the pocket, than to go nuts and try making something sound hip.
A good arrangement will also take into consideration the melody line. When you write it out, make sure that none of you chords clash with the melody notes.
The only real rule in jazz harmony I can think of is to 'avoid' the interval of a minor 9. Its not that you can't do it, it's just generally better if you don't. Exceptions to the m9 rule obviously include the use of chords like G7b9. But it is still considered the the most dissonant of all intervals.
You may also want to learn the Charleston Rhythm, depending on if you are arranging a ballad or a swing tune.
How did Thelonious Monk become known as the "High Priest" of bebop?
Q.
A. Admitted to Peter Stuyvesant, one of the cityâs best high schools, Monk dropped out at the end of his sophomore year to pursue music and around 1935 took a job as a pianist for a traveling evangelist and faith healer. Returning after two years, he formed his own quartet and played local bars and small clubs until the spring of 1941, when drummer Kenny Clarke hired him as the house pianist at Mintonâs Playhouse in Harlem.
Mintonâs, legend has it, was where the âbebop revolutionâ began. The after-hours jam sessions at Mintonâs, along with similar musical gatherings at Monroeâs Uptown House, Dan Wallâs Chili Shack, among others, attracted a new generation of musicians brimming with fresh ideas about harmony and rhythmânotably Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Kenny Clarke, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Tadd Dameron, and Monkâs close friend and fellow pianist, Bud Powell.
Monkâs harmonic innovations proved fundamental to the development of modern jazz in this period. Anointed by some critics as the âHigh Priest of Bebop,â several of his compositions (â52nd Street Theme,â âRound Midnight,â âEpistrophyâ [co-written with Kenny Clarke and originally titled âFly Rightâ and then âIambic Pentameterâ], âI Mean Youâ) were favorites among his contemporaries.
Yet, as much as Monk helped usher in the bebop revolution, he also charted a new course for modern music few were willing to follow. Whereas most pianists of the bebop era played sparse chords in the left hand and emphasized fast, even eighth and sixteenth notes in the right hand, Monk combined an active right hand with an equally active left hand, fusing stride and angular rhythms that utilized the entire keyboard.
And in an era when fast, dense, virtuosic solos were the order of the day, Monk was famous for his use of space and silence. In addition to his unique phrasing and economy of notes, Monk would âlay outâ pretty regularly, enabling his sidemen to experiment free of the pianoâs fixed pitches. As a composer, Monk was less interested in writing new melodic lines over popular chord progressions than in creating a whole new architecture for his music, one in which harmony and rhythm melded seamlessly with the melody.
âEverything I play is different,â Monk once explained, âdifferent melody, different harmony, different structure. Each piece is different from the other. . . . [W]hen the song tells a story, when it gets a certain sound, then itâs through . . . completed.â
how do you teach an adult piano beginner?
Q. how do you motivate them and what do you teach in the first lesson? what is their motivation to learn? thanks
A. Try learn and master piano, its a DVD course and is aimed at adults. There are 20 DVDs with a set program from lesson 1 which is for the complete beginner.
Here are some of the topics covered.
Layout of the Keyboard
Good Practice Habits
Playing Chords and Melodies Within the First Two Sessions
Major & Minor Chords
Reading Music & Chord Charts
Major, Minor, Pentatonic & Blues Scales
Tips to Piano Accompanying
Learning Chords by Numbers & Chord Shapes
Learning Chord Progressions & Melodies by Ear
Chord Inversions
Reading Rhythms & Syncopation
Keys & Key Signatures
Playing on the Black Keys
Reading Sharps & Flats
Connecting Chords in Chord Progressions
Left Hand Accompaniment
Alternate Bass Chords
Arpeggios
Chord Cadences
Rhythmic Rockinâ Piano Playing
Melodic Phrasing & Flow
Seventh Chords
Creative Chord Voicings
The Sound of the Blues
Blues Licks
Boogie-Woogie Piano
Transposing
Vital Musical Concepts
Tips of the Pros
Harmonizing a Melody with Chords
Advanced Chords
Country Piano Playing
Modern Pop Piano Playing
Walking Bass Lines
Ragtime
Jazz Piano Voicings
Improvising
Latin Piano
Classical Piano Concepts
Read Learn and Master Piano Complete Review Here:
http://www.the-piano-lessons-software-expert.co.uk/learn-master-piano-complete-review
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