Q. All right. I've been playing piano for about 8 years now. Mostly classical stuff. My high school is looking for a 2nd jazz pianist and I'm auditioning. Haven't played much jazz at all. Although, I have been composing seriously for about 3 years. I am a little less than okay at improvising. Any advice?
A. Most of jazz piano is style. Listen to a lot of jazz to understand what they are doing. Artists like Chick Corea have incredible comping styles, which would really give you a feel for what you are trying to do.
I would say your chord voicings and rhythmic variation as a rhythm section player would be more important than your ability to improvise.
Using 9ths and other extensions really add color to the chords you are using.
So, just try to listen a lot, and start working on voicings. Try to see if you can find anything on piano grips, which provide very hip chord structure for beginning jazz pianists. Once you have those down, start experimenting with other sounds of your own.
Just remember, space is your friend. Don't play too much, but rather try to play in reaction to what is going on around you. I am a saxophone player, and I can tell you that nothing is worse than a pianist that plays too many notes. lol
Good luck!
How do I form chord progressions?
Q. I know how to form scales fine i guess. But however I do not understand how chord progressions are formed, or where they are derived from as a matter of fact.
Can someone please help me ? I'm quite confused about chord progressions
A. Since you know your major scales, go to a piano and do the following:
1) Play a C major scale.
2) Play a C (major) triad, i.e. C - E - G.
3) After that, play a G (major) triad G - B - D (just move two of the fingers).
4) Play the C major triad.
Notice how the G major triad wants to lead to the C? The relation is a descending fifth interval (G - F - E - D - C --> 5 notes down). So if you want to find what naturally leads to G, you go five up from G.
This would be:
G - A - B - C - D, meaning the triad is D - F - A, which is ii (a "minor two triad") in C major.
D - E - F - G - A, meaning the triad is A - C - E, which is vi (minor six) in C major.
A - B - C - D - E, meaning the triad is E - G - B, which is iii (minor three) in C major.
E - F - G - A - B, meaning the triad is B - D - F, which is vii° (diminished seven triad) in C major.
B - C - D - E - F, meaning the triad is F - A - C, which is IV (major four) in C major.
F - G - A - B - C, meaning the triad is C - E - G, which is back to I (or the tonic triad) in C major.
So the naturally descending fifth progression is:
I -> IV -> vii° -> iii -> vi -> ii -> V -> I.
Of course, in minor key, the qualities differ (the minor, major, and diminished triads are switched around), but the roman numerals remain the same.
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Here's a further extension if you want to read this:
Notice how the IV and ii chord have a one-note difference.
IV in C major: F - A - C
ii in C major: D - F - A.
The same applies to the vii° and the V chord.
V in C: G - B - D
vii° in C: B - D - F.
These chords therefore function the same way. We want to start by choosing the chord that functions the farthest from I, which is iii, because you notice how the vii° wants to move to I? We would then create what is called the "Theory of Chord Classification," which can be found here: http://i55.tinypic.com/2a5du2g.png . "Rare" is written right next to VII in the minor mode, because it's usually used as a chord to modulate to the major mode.
The arrows denote paths that "naturally" occur by descending fifths after playing the chord before it.
What is the chord progression for this song?
Q. I'm trying to figure out this song on piano but I can't find sheet music or tabs anywhere and I'm having trouble figuring it out by ear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djR-MEB6foE
Can anyone help me out with at least the chord progression for the main piano riff starting 5 seconds into the song? Thanks.
A. the chord progression is i--iv--v--i-v in the key of eminor.
More specifically including the extensions I think the progression is Emin7-Amin7-Bmin7-Emin-Bmin7 and the pianist embellishes the chords so ultimately the chord progression may be this:
Emin7-E9sus4-Emin7
Amin7-A7sus4-Amin7-A7sus4
B7susb2-B7no3rd-Bmin7-B7susb2
Emin-Bmin7
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Title : Jazz Piano Help. New to Jazz. Played piano for 8 years though. Advice?
Description : Q. All right. I've been playing piano for about 8 years now. Mostly classical stuff. My high school is looking for a 2nd jazz pianist a...