Stumbled upon a way to instantly get better at improvising
||: gm7 c7 | am7 d7#9 ::|
and realized i was playing a lot of bb's for some reason. so i decided not to play any bb's for a while but keep it at tempo, which
was around 220.
what a way to bend my brain!
after plowing through that for a while, i decided not to play any bb or d notes which was doubly mind bending. every time i altered the situation there was a learning curve, but after a while the heightened concentration started to seem normal. i feel like i just discovered something.
there are however many variations of this you want. change the chord progression, leave different notes and different numbers of notes out, change which notes get left out every four bars, etc...
the benefit of an exercise like this is that it forced me to focus on each note i played and how i played it rhythmically. it also forced me to alter my lines in ways i might not have thought of before. the first minute of trying this was very eye opening.
anyway, give it a shot, let me know what happens.
.........
what sets apart the greatest players is not the notes they play, but the rhythms they use to play them.
think about it, when you choose a note to play, that's it, no more choices. the way you play that note, that's where all the choices lie. like classical music, with practice anyone can play the notes, but how they are played is what puts you on stage or in a pizza kitchen washing dishes.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
There are 2 comments, leave a comment.
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