25 Easy Ii

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Revision as of 23:55, 18 December 2024

All set to improve your jazz improvisation skills for the piano? Much more simply, if you're playing a tune that remains in swing time, then you're currently playing to a triplet feeling (you're envisioning that each beat is split right into 3 8th note triplets - and every off-beat you play is delayed and played on the 3rd triplet note (so you're not also playing 2 uniformly spaced 8th notes to start with).

So rather than playing two 8 notes straight, which would last one quarter note ('one' - 'and'), you can split that quarter note into 3 'eighth note triplet' notes - where each note of the triplet is the same length. The initial improvisation strategy is 'chord tone soloing', which suggests to compose melodies using the 4 chord tones of the chord (1 3 5 7).

I usually play natural 9ths over the majority of chords - including all 3 chords of the significant ii-V-I. This 'chordal structure' sounds ideal if you play your right-hand man noisally, and left hand (chord) a bit quieter - to make sure that the listener hears the melody note ahead.

It's great for these rooms to find out of range, as long as they end up fixing to the 'target note' - which will typically be among the chord tones. The 'chord range above' strategy - precede any type of chord tone (1 3 5 7) with the note above. In music, a 'triplet' is when you play 3 equally spaced notes in the area of two.

Now you could play this 5 note scale (the incorrect notes) over the same C minor 7 chord in your left hand. With this strategy you simply play the same notes that you're currently playing in the chord. Chord scale over - half-step below - target note (e.g. E - C# - D).

A lot of jazz piano solos include a section where the melody stops, and the pianist plays a collection of chord expressions, to an interesting rhythm. These consist of chord tone soloing, technique patterns, triplet rhythms, 'chordal structures', Bookmarks 'playing out' and more.