LearnJazzPiano.com archives: yesterdays (kern) in stride
ayolt -- 02/02/2007, 11:02:53 -- #32833
Hi all,

I am trying a little stride on yesterdays by jerome kern. Do you have any suggestions for which bass notes to hit when you get ot the cycle of dominant 5ths? For some reason, when i hit the root of the dominant on beat 1, and the 5th on beat 3, it seems off (that is sounding not right) I've also tried tritone subs, for example on a A7 chord, hitting A on beat 1 and Eb on beat 3, but this also sounds a bit funny... What am i doing wrong...? plz help

Jazz+ -- 02/02/2007, 11:33:44 -- #32833
you are talking about the section:

| E7 | A7#5 | D9 | G13  |  C9  |

Maybe you need to consider when to use b5 and when to use 5 in your bass notes. According to the melody and what my ears prefer, I consider E7 and A7 rather altered so I like Root and b5 bass notes under them. The D9, G13 and C9 are pretty un-altered so I like Root and 5th bass notes under them. Try it that way.

ayolt -- 02/02/2007, 12:57:42 -- #32833
hmmm, that could work, although i usually play #5 for the a7 chord...

Another question.. when you play stride playing the root on 1 and the fifth on 3, should you play the fifth above the root you played... of below??? note that I am referring to the place on the pianowhere you should play the fifth...

ayolt -- 02/02/2007, 12:58:07 -- #32833
"of" sould be "or"

Jazz+ -- 02/02/2007, 13:03:52 -- #32833
There is no absolute, it can be above or below, it would depend on the range and your taste.

I wouldn't stride the #5 on A7#5. I would use b5 which leads to D7

ayolt -- 02/02/2007, 13:10:56 -- #32833
you can also think that like tritone sub..

dougmck -- 02/02/2007, 22:07:07 -- #32833
On Youtube, there are several solo versions including one by me. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naF325wAXUA). I have (as I usually do) added some comments on some of the things that I think that might be of interest to other jazz piano players. After a rubato type first chorus, the remaining bits are in tempo - and are in a kind of loose stride style. There is a midi file recorded at the same time that you can download at
http://www.bushgrafts.com/jazz/Movies%20(wmv)/Yesterdays1.mid
Of course this is all very ordinary when you compare it to the master - Art Tatum's version
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzj6Q61h3oA)
Doug

dougmck -- 02/02/2007, 22:34:33 -- #32833
Sorry - the links to Youtube don't work (I should not have added the bracket at the end) - these should work!
The first is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naF325wAXUA
and Art Tatum's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzj6Q61h3oA

Jazz+ -- 02/03/2007, 00:07:05 -- #32833
Doug,

What bass notes do you like on beat three when playing stride over the
| E7 | A7#5 | D9 | G13  |  C9  |

J+

dougmck -- 02/03/2007, 00:40:05 -- #32833
Its been a while since I played this - but I think that I fairly freely mix and match these chords with their tri-tone equivalents - possibly using both the 5th and the b5th at times. I just ran the midi file of the video, and because the style is very loose, I don't often play the Root / chord / fifth / chord. Instead the option of playing a chord (or another voicing or inversion of the chord) on beat 3 then the b5 on beat 4 - is a common choice.

Doug

Jazz+ -- 02/03/2007, 00:49:52 -- #32833
That'a nice, more modern way to play stride. I call it modified stride.

Jazz+ -- 02/03/2007, 00:51:38 -- #32833
playing a chord (or another voicing or inversion of the chord) on beat 3 then the b5 on beat 4

Sometimes I like to do as little as change only the top note of the voicing on beat three (or maybe play the next inversion above)

Jazz+ -- 02/03/2007, 00:54:40 -- #32833
You can hear Herbie do it on the Eb chord in his solo version of Green Dolphin Street.

He plays the Eb Root on beat one, G Bb D on beat two, G Bb D F on beat three, G Bb D on beat four.

So he plays a three note voicing on beat two, extends it to a four note voicing on beat three, and then returns back to the original three note voicing on beat four.

Gordon -- 02/03/2007, 07:04:13 -- #32833
Thanks a million for the brilliant videos you've got there Doug. What a great resource to have videos with a clear view of the hands, written commentary, and even midi files.

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