i've heard about stepwise motion. what is it and how is it used in jazz piano?

thanks a bunch.

andrew
There are 3 comments, leave a comment.
although the term itself is used in a lot of musical contexts with different meanings,re-jazz,off the top of my head it seems to be used most when talking about chord progressions;i.e.ebmaj-fmaj-gmaj would be an example of chords moving in stepwise motion,with the underlying assumption about the term being that it refers to movement by whole steps,as opposed to movement by chromatic degrees,thirds,etc....
stepwise means either certain notes, chords or even key centers (chord groups) move up or down, by half or whole step. there are dozens of examples.

- how high the moon - key centers move down in whole steps:
       gmaj7  gm7 c7 fmaj7  fm7 bb7 ebmaj7...

- little boat - changes move down by half steps:
       cmaj7  b7  bbmaj7 a7  abmaj7  g7....

_ funny valentine - bass notes move by half step under static chord:
       cm  cm/b   cm/bb   cm/a   cm/ab...

- progressions that move by 5ths (circle of fifts) often are reharmonized stepwise by using substitute v7 chords:
          
           original: fm7  bb7  ebm7  ab7  dm7  g7  cmaj
        substitutes: fm7  e7   ebm7  d7   dm7  db7 cmaj

and on and on and on.
stepwise motion or diatonic stepwise patterns, refers to progression of chords through the diatonic scale steps, ascending or descending, as smg has explained here.

so you may do progressions by stepwise motion, or by whole tones, or by half  tones, or by diatonic circles, or by perfect circle.
Please sign in to post.

Are you in the Pacific Northwest looking for a jazz jam? Check out our weekly Bellingham Jazz Jam!


Jazz Piano Notebook Series
Scot Ranney's Jazz Piano Notebook, Volume 1 - jazz piano tricks of the trade

Volume 1 of this educational jazz piano book contains 15 jazz piano exercises, tricks, and other interesting jazz piano techniques, voicings, grooves, and ideas Scot Ranney has picked up over decades of playing on stage.

Being a pro jazz pianist requires good ears, experience, and a bag of tricks that create the kinds of sounds people expect to hear from a jazz pianist. The entries in this book will give you some of those tricks.

buy pdf version - buy coil binding version - videos

Scot Ranney's Jazz Piano Notebook, Volume 2 - jazz piano tricks of the trade you can use today
"Latinesque"

Volume 2 has 14 jazz piano exercises and tricks of the trade, and quite a bit of it is Calypso jazz piano related material, including some Monty Alexander and Michel Camilo style grooves. Jazz piano education is through the ears, and books like this help connect what you're hearing to what you want to play.

buy pdf version - buy coil binding version

Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Notebook - jazz piano tricks of the trade

Volume 3 contains 12 jazz piano exercises and explorations by the acclaimed jazz piano educator, pianist, author, and recording artist Tim Richards.

Tim wrote the well known "Exploring Jazz Piano" and "Improvising Blues Piano" books and has several others to his name.

Tim has a new book out Beginning Jazz Piano (Pts 1 and 2)

Many of Tim's books now come with free access to interactive sheet music ONLINE, which permits slowing down of the backing and performance tracks, as well as the option to loop passages for practice purposes.

Tim now also has online VIDEO courses for his books, including Beginning Jazz Piano, Improvising Blues Piano and Exploring Jazz Piano Vol 1:

buy pdf version Tim Richards' Jazz Piano Notebook Volume 3 -

Jeff Brent's Jazz Piano Notebook - jazz piano tricks of the trade

Volume 4 is by Jeff Brent, a jazz pianist, composer, teacher, and author of "Modalogy" and other acclaimed jazz theory and education books. In this book Jeff shares detailed analysis of transcriptions of live performances. He covers everything from the shape of the songs to the tricks and licks he uses in improvised lines to the ideas behind his lush chord voicings.

buy pdf version - buy coil binding version

Most Recent Discussions
Great Resource for Jazz Pianists
Scale in Calderazzo solo
analyzing Someone To Watch Over Me
Site updates
Korg SV-1 vs Nord Electro
Brad Brad Mehldau's independant left hand
more...
Articles

Piano for Adoption Scam
Aprender Jazz en Piano
BEWARE: FREE BABY GRAND PIANO SCAM
Oh Tannenbaum for Jazz Piano
Volume 5 of the "Jazz Piano Notebook Series" is Available!
LearnJazzPiano.com File Downloads News
more...

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazzy Christmas Arrangements
Cocktail Piano
Best Songs Ever, 6th Edition
Christmas Medley
Moana Songbook
Late Night Jazz Piano

Jazz piano education is cool.

be the main character in your own story

Rock on. Follow your passion.

Sign In

privacy policy • terms of service • about • 50,655 messages 63,069 accounts 57,329 logins
LearnJazzPiano.com Copyright © 1995-2026 by Scot Ranney • website software and design by scot's scripts
LearnJazzPiano.com is For Sale - Serious Inquiries Only
▲