Hiromi's solo and chord changes on "Sakura"
here are the changes for the solo section, it's basic slow stride:
part 1 (many times)
||: abmaj7 | bb7/ab :||
left hand plays low single note ab octave and then strides up to a 2nd inversion abmaj7 followed by a 2nd inversion bb7
part 2 (many times)
||: c-7 | b7alt | bbmi7 | a7b13 |
| abmaj | eb/g | f-7 (11) | g7 alt :||
during the first section of her solo she plays mostly with the bb and ab major pentatonic scales which are among the easiest pentatonic of all to play fast. hiromi also uses a lot of g mi blues scale. she also adds occasional chromatic passing tones and continuous patterns.
during the second half of her solo, where the changes descend chromatically, she plays mostly with the c mi blues scale and also some chromatic passing tones, some continuous patterns, and fragments of the various jazz scales associated with the changes going by. it gets slightly rough at times as she gets so excited and carried away during her solo!
note:
for that eb/g voicing i think she plays root = g and then the stride voicing for eb as perfect 4ths: f bb eb.
here is the traditional melody for the japanese folk song "sakura" :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image:sakura.song.png
and here is a more traditional piano performance of sakura. the melody is based on a five note a minor scale (a b c e f) (chords are ami, dmi and e7)(intro is e7(b9) or the 5th mode of a harmonic minor and rather phrygian sounding ):
&mode=related&search=
hiromi plays sakura in c minor. she recasts the melody in in relative ab major lydian during part 1. the top notes of hiromi's chords in part 1 also state the first three notes of the melody. she never really plays the melody she just hints at it by repeating the first three notes many times. i think many japanese who know the song would not be able to recognize hiromi's rendition since she never really states the melody nor does she set it in a minor mode.
There are 5 comments, leave a comment.
f g bb, c d
1 2 3, 1 2
Jazz Piano Notebook Series
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 enjoys playing.
"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, but books like this can help.
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.
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.
Most Recent Discussions
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.
Rock on. Follow your passion.
Sign In
LearnJazzPiano.com Copyright © 1995-2024 by Scot Ranney • website software and design by scot's scripts
LearnJazzPiano.com is For Sale - Serious Inquiries Only