LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Tenths

loveforJAZZ -- 01/20/2007, 07:43:23 -- #32566

Of all the great stride and jazz piano players out there in the 20's through the 40's, who were the jazz pianists that could not play major tenths?

loveforJAZZ -- 01/20/2007, 07:53:03 -- #32566

Let me rephrase that. Who wasn't able to stretch a full simultaneous tenth?

Jazz+ -- 03/21/2007, 00:29:53 -- #32566

I don't know, I play tenths but they make my tendond sore.

CynBad -- 03/21/2007, 13:05:02 -- #32566

That would be "strike a tenth" vs "stretch a tenth". And who cares.  Striking major tenths is not necessary to being a musician.  It's about the music.

charlp88 -- 03/22/2007, 06:56:22 -- #32566

they say oscar could reach a 14th

dalty52 -- 03/22/2007, 16:46:31 -- #32566

"Striking major tenths is not necessary to being a musician" Uh.......I dunno what musical planet you live on.  On mine, this is essential.

DoubleZ -- 03/22/2007, 16:55:20 -- #32566

I think Oscar could reach an 88th...

BumSmith -- 03/22/2007, 17:14:54 -- #32566

Art Tatum rolled his tenths...

AndyD -- 03/26/2007, 05:15:14 -- #32566

"Art Tatum rolled his tenths... " ...but only when he wanted to.  There are left hand 11ths in transcriptions of his music. I'm guessing some women jazz pianists would have had smallish spans.   Andy

marksdg -- 03/26/2007, 06:07:49 -- #32566

That reminds me, Didn't it used to be that pianos had smaller keys?   I suppose that if the keyboard were smaller, some pianists would have fingers that were too thick for playing.  Has anyone heard of pianos with non-standard key size?

CynBad -- 03/26/2007, 08:54:56 -- #32566

That would be THIS planet.  Music is about sound, what you hear, and being able to express what you hear in your head. It doesn't matter how you finger it.  It's not a sport.  You don't get points. It was never necessary for me to STRIKE 10ths to play the classical repertoire, for example.  It all depends on what you want to play.  If you want to be a great Stride player, it's necessary.  But that's not the same thing as being a musician.  There are all kinds of different ways to be a musician.  How bizarre of you, Dalty.

dalty52 -- 03/26/2007, 10:00:48 -- #32566

LOL.  Ok, this time I WAS joking :o)  And, actually, you don't need to be able to strike 10ths to play stride.  I usually roll them.  On faster tunes, I play more single note bass lines.  I can strike SOME of the 10ths, but not all.

JHMurray -- 03/26/2007, 11:10:30 -- #32566

Don't forget your hand-yoga exercises. It really works.

Copyright © 2005 by Scot Ranney. All rights reserved.

Click Here for more information about performances and clinics. Click Here to sign up for Scot's music announcements.