Scot Ranney's LearnJazzPiano.com archive: Peace Piece

LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Peace Piece
Brotherdavies -- 11/01/2004, 01:31:10 -- #8508
Hi Could some kind person please tell me what Bill Evans plays in his left hand for Peace Piece (from the Everybody Dig's B.E.album). It sounds like he plays the same LH pattern for the whole tune and improvises with the Lydian mode in his right hand. I would like to play the left hand from Peace Piece and use this as a base on which to improvise modes. Any help would be very gratefully received! Bro' Bristol England
dougmck -- 11/01/2004, 02:28:23 -- #8510
I use this as almost the first piece that I have students learn who are doing piano/keyboard as their second study in an Advanced Diploma of Jazz course. You are right - the ostinato LH figure repeats for as long as the improv. lasts, so it is first a matter of learning this, and then this will support lots of experimental stuff in the R hand. The LH figure is (quarter notes on each beat of the bar - very regular and very slow: Beat 1 - C3 (the C that is 2 octaves below middle C) Beat 2 - a CMaj7 'cluster' chord (B4,C5(middle C) and E5) Beat 3 - a G9sus chord (G$,A4,C5(middle C)and F5) Beat 4 - G3 I find this to be a good exercise for a relative beginner on piano: It is slow It is in the key of white notes for piano(C)- all of the other notes (the black ones) are 'tension' notes. Once the first bar Left Hand is learnt, then all bars in the L hand are the same. It requires the use of the sustain pedal which for most second study students is new. Since each bar is the same, pedalling needs only to be learnt once. It has a very simple single note melody that is easy to play as the 'head' before improv. begins. I understand that this piece had its beginnings in the studio when Bill Evans was due to record Leonard Bernstein's 'Some Other Time'. Sitting at the piano, he really didn't get past the first bar! (If you don't know it, check this great tune out in one of the fake books) 'Peace Piece' was later recorded as a separate song on 'Bill Evans - Peace Pieces'. There is a transcription of the 'head' in the music album 'Bill Evans 3' published by TRO music. It has been covered by lots of people. I have copied below the info sheet that I give to students who are tackling this for the first time. PEACE PIECE - Bill Evans – from “Everybody Digs Bill Evans” Ideas for Improvisation 1. Use the C Major Scale · The most ‘important’ notes melodically in this scale are the notes of the C Major triad – C,E,G. Play around with just these 3 notes. · Put a leading tone on each of the main notes of the C triad. (a leading tone is a note a semitone beneath the target tone). · Try to ‘surround’each of these notes of the C major triad with a note above, then a note below then the chord tone. · Play the whole scale - beginning on any note – but chose a ‘good’ note to finish on! · Just fragments of the whole scale – 2, 3 or 4 notes repeated a number of times · Use triads or scale tone 7th chords or fourths from the scale as arpeggios or broken chords · Use pentatonic scales (pentatonic = 5 tones = these steps from the major scale – 1,2,3,5,6. That is the major scale without the 4th or 7th degrees of the scale). Use perhaps the C Major Pentatonic – (C,D,E,G,A), or the G Major pentatonic scale – (G,A,B,D,E) · Play 2 notes played together – 3rds or 6ths sound best – set your thumb and little finger the appropriate distance apart and harmonize a little melody using the white notes – you will hear the top note as being the melody, while the lower note is the harmony. · Use trills – 2 notes rapidly repeated – or other ornaments. · Use glissando – turn your hand over and run your fingernail(s) up or down the keyboard rapidly. Try to finish on a ‘strong’ note – the root, 3rd or 5th. 2. Quote from other well known songs 3. Briefly move the melody to another key - try G Major – which will give the melody a lydian sound. 4. Transpose the Left hand into another key and play 8/16 bars in a totally different key – maybe to a key that is up or down from the original key by a semitone (to Db) , or a minor 3rd (to Eb). 5. Use appogiatura – (non scale tones that occur on a strong beat – and resolve by ½ step to a chord tone.) 6. Use lots of dynamic range ppp - fff
Brotherdavies -- 11/01/2004, 03:31:48 -- #8511
Thank you for such a speedy and very informative reply. I can't wait to get home from work to try these ideas out. I'm really glad I asked the question! Many thanks Bro'
7 -- 11/01/2004, 22:54:35 -- #8539
RE: piano tab Please don't think me nitpicky, but in order to avoid confusion in the cases of C2 (C D G), C5 (C G), C6 (C E G A) and C7 (C E G Bb), I find it preferable to put the octave indicator first: 2C = C two octaves below middle C, 5C = C one octave above middle C, 6C = C two octaves above middle C and 7C = C three octaves above middle C.
dougmck -- 11/02/2004, 00:09:17 -- #8540
I agree that there could be some confusion with describing notes within chords in this way, but the convention in 'midi-speak' is to label a note first with its note name then a number representing its octave. If you watch a stream of midi data as it appears in 'readable' language in most(?) sequencers, this is the way it appears. But I do agree that there could be some problem/confusion!
Bert -- 11/02/2004, 11:50:33 -- #8553
I'll have to admit my ignorance but I did find this all very fascinating and informative except - what is the note - that is, the one note melody used for the head?
Jazz+ -- 11/03/2004, 11:31:20 -- #8584
Excellant tips, dougmck. Thanks!
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