| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Nat's left hand | |
| Brotherdavies -- 09/07/2004, 02:04:24 -- #6979 | |
| Thank you for the responses to my message about the NKC trio. I have been busy listening to the trio and enjoying Nat's treatment of standards. I always wonder what Nat and Oscar do with their left hand to keep a song swingin'. Walking bass? Stride? Chords? It's relatively easy to hear solo's and licks but the left hand work is a bit harder to figure out. Cheers! Brother Davies Bristol, England | |
| 7 -- 09/11/2004, 14:13:50 -- #7112 | |
| During my online search for the MP3 of the original "Frim Fram Sauce" by Nat King Cole, I downloaded a bunch of interesting stuff of his (but couldn't find "Frim Fram" - oh well...). So I've been recently listening to a lot of NKC. The only number that I have of his in a small combo setting is one of his recordings of "Route 66". I listened to it several times with an ear specifically towards his left hand and here is what I heard: Straightforward four note chords punched rhythmically as a guitarist would. No walking bass. No stride. (There was a pretty cool bass run stuck in there though.) To me, the chords sounded fairly vanilla and they did not have the feel or sound of our beloved rootless chords (which is to be expected because rootless chords hadn't been "invented" yet). Bottom line: In that recording of "Route 66" Nat's left hand is doing tasteful spare rhythmic chord punches in the mid-register and often his left hand drops out altogether. However I won't speculate on what he might be have been doing in his LH in any other small combo situations. | |
| Brotherdavies -- 09/13/2004, 02:42:19 -- #7136 | |
| 7P Thanks very much for the info. "tasteful spare rhythmic chord punches" - This was to be the subject of my next post! This technique crops up on other Trio recordings, Only a Paper Moon for example. I have also heard other swing players use these punchy bass chords (eg Diana Krall). I only play solo piano but I will try and use this trick. I think the rhythm is key to getting a similar sound to NKC trio. In the piano bar where I play for fun from time to time the trio sound would go down a treat! You mentioned rootless voicings - this is only relevant when you have a bass player hitting the roots? Many thanks Bro' Davies, Bristol, England | |
| 7 -- 09/13/2004, 22:37:15 -- #7162 | |
| You ask "rootless voicings - this is only relevant when you have a bass player hitting the roots?" Ideally but not necessarily. The rootless chords have exactly the same harmonic tendencies as their rooted counterparts, so there is still a very satisfying feeling of chord resolutions along with interesting lines formed due to the progression's inner motions. Therefore it's perfectly possible to get a very lush sound using only rootless chords punched tastefully and no bass line at all. You might not want to do that on every single song, but you can sure can get a lot of mileage out of 'em. | |
| Jazz+ -- 09/13/2004, 22:54:01 -- #7163 | |
| I realy like rootles chords laid down as long notes (whole and half notes), it's a nice effect and can sound moders and impressionistic like Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, with maybe only an occasional rhythmic kick. And why do left hand rootles voicings need to be kicked all the time all the time? It can sound nervous and you end up sounding like every other player in town. Rootles voicings were used by Errol Garner so I suppose Nat King Cole also used them at times, they are obvious extensions of the chords and those old timers were smart enough see that! I think they were more like popularized rather than "discovered" by Ahmad Jamal in the late 1950s and "rootless voicings" had been around earlier. | |
| Jazz+ -- 09/13/2004, 22:54:29 -- #7164 | |
| spelled "rootless" | |
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