| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: voicing melody | |
| elwapo -- 10/04/2004, 14:09:48 -- #7726 | |
| Hi everyone and i appreciate all your help with everything...I,m under a bit of pressure in jazz college at the monent in that my teacher gave me a jazz standard called "I should care" and wants me to voice the piece with root note at the bottom of the voicing and melody note on top but most of what I am trying sounds lame to me and I,m bit lost as to how I should do this so as make it sound hip. Does anybody have any advice as to any techniques there may be to voice a song for solo piano like this. Thanks again.....ew | |
| jbl81 -- 10/04/2004, 15:18:21 -- #7727 | |
| One really simple way is to use your LH pinky for the root, your right hand pinky for the melody and one other finger from each hand to hit the 3rd and 7th. On a ii-V-I, for instance, the 3 will stay on the same note and become the 7 of the next chord, and the 7 will move down and become the 3th of the next chord. | |
| Scot -- 10/04/2004, 16:09:18 -- #7728 | |
| What jbl81 said is very good advice. Often if your working out a piece where you are doing melody on top and root at the bass, the most simple, and hip sounding, harmonies to try are your basic 3rd and 7th. Is your left hand big enough to reach some 10ths, like E-G and D-F? let's look at this tune. The first measure has a Dm7 to a G chord. As a simple voicing like you are doing, here's what I'd do with the first few melody notes- I like full voicings for this tune, plus I always try to think about voice leading: RH: C B | B--B | A B C B A | B A F | F# F | F G F F E | G F C | D C# | D E D D B | E C | C | | B LH: F F | G G | F--F F--F--F | E A G | E A | D--D G--G--G | G D | | | C So, that's the first four measure. I'm keeping the notes simple- 3rds, 7ths, some 9ths and maybe a 13th during the melody in measure 3. But it still sounds full and keeps it fairly simple. Give it a shot and try to do the same sort of thing with the rest of the tune- I think you'll have some good luck. | |
| Scot -- 10/05/2004, 13:11:54 -- #7761 | |
| Ack, I forgot to format the last one so it's impossible to play. Try this: RH: C B | B--B | A B C B A | B A F | F# F | F G F F E | G F C | D C# | D E D D B | E C | C | | B LH: F F | G G | F--F F--F--F | E A G | E A | D--D G--G--G | G D | | | C | |
| elwapo -- 10/05/2004, 15:19:25 -- #7765 | |
| Scot and jbl81! thanks a million for that advice, I cant wait to try it out (not near a piano at the moment). This site has really been a great help to me....ew | |
| albetan -- 10/05/2004, 15:25:17 -- #7766 | |
| Please see files "melodic voicings 1, 2". Look for it in search engine. | |
| elwapo -- 10/06/2004, 15:29:54 -- #7822 | |
| I see what you mean albetan. That exercise in melodic voicings one (playing root in left and third and seventh in right) is something I,m going to work on from now on. I,ll steer clear of block chords for the moment though.....thanks a million....ew Oh! and scot! I had a good play through what you suggested and it sounded really nice. Can you do this instantaneously when reading a lead sheet? You must have put alot of long hours behind the piano! Thanks again....ew | |
| Scot -- 10/06/2004, 16:32:18 -- #7827 | |
| Yep, I can do what I wrote in the message on the spot. For me, those voicings are really simple. However, when I first started - and it should be noted that my teacher back then, Marc Seales, had me do "I Should Care" as one of my very first songs - I couldn't do anything but play the melody and the bass note. Don't worry about what you can do on the spot or not, just work on those 3rds and 7ths until you can do those on the spot. Once you can do those, work out a few more. What will happen is that as you work out lots of chord voicings (in 12 keys of course!) pretty soon your mind and fingers will be able to put things together without you really thinking about them. That's why it is SO IMPORTANT to practice scales!!!! Your hands NEED to know what a Bb key signature feels like, what an E key signature feels like, etc. When your hands know the "feel" of difference key signatures, it becomes much easier to put chords together. Why? Because if you see a Dm7 chord, and if you notice that it's in a 2-5-1 for the key of C, then you KNOW what notes you can play automatically. You can play any note in the key of C major. You can combine any notes in the key of C major as long as they have that D minor sound. So, if I see a D minor chord of some kind, and I know I'm basically in the key of C major, I can do any of the following (assume you are playing D in the left hand): F-A-C-E F-A-B-E G-A-C-E A-C-E-G F-B-C-E There are lots more. See, each of those chords is kind of a D minor chord. I don't care what kind of chord it is, it sounds like a D minor chord of some kind. So when I see that Dm7, sometimes I'll just lay down a bunch of notes that are in the right key signature. Now, obviously you have to pay attention to what sounds good. There are some notes you dont want to play and they are obvious when you play them. So, even though it's important to practice all your voicings in all keys, don't get too caught up in thinking hard about them while you are playing. Let your hands do what they know with help from your ears. Bottom line- knowing your key signatures, and I mean knowing them so well that you could easily whip out scales and arpeggios with your eyes closed, will help you play the chords you need on the spot just because you've burned the FEEL of keys into your brain. Ok, so I went off on a tangent, but it's important information. | |
| elwapo -- 10/07/2004, 04:32:27 -- #7839 | |
| I dont think you went off in a tangent at all, its information that I could really do with at the moment. I have been working alot with scales over the past year or so and I,m confident in playing them but I,ve neglected arpeggios so I better get playing them too. Something I,ve come to believe about improvisation also is that I should really get to know the colour of each note in ...say a dorian scale over a minor seventh chord and get to know how each note sounds and be able to hum that note before I play it and that this will help in improv as you could play what you hear in your mind etc. It all sounds fascinating realy.....thanks again Scot..ew | |
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