Learn Jazz Piano: book 4: How to solo
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
This 4th book in the Learn Jazz Piano series, called How To Solo, focuses on soloing techniques, using jazz standards as your guide. Everything you have learned from books 1 – 3 is now brought together to turn your jazz solos into an expression of your individuality.
Read more from Paul Abrahams
In Search of Britain's Haunted Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Learn Jazz Piano
Titles in the series (4)
Learn Jazz Piano: book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Jazz Piano Book 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Jazz Piano Book 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Jazz Piano: book 4: How to solo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related ebooks
Jazz Piano Fundamentals (Book 2): Exercises, Explanations, Listening Guides and Practice Plans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJazz Piano Fundamentals – Book 1: Months 1-6: Listening Guides, and Practice Plans for the First Six Months of Study Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMelodic Exercises for Jazz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gospel Riffs God Would Love To Hear for Piano/Keyboards: Gospel Riffs God Would Love To Hear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5220 Chromatic Exercises + 1165 Jazz Lines Phrases for the Modern Improviser Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jazz Piano Ad-Lib Phrases Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Ultimate Soul, Funk and R&B Grooves for Piano/Keyboards: 100 Ultimate Soul, Funk and R&B Grooves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Improvisation Book I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFormation: Building a Personal Canon, Part I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Modern Piano: 20th Century, Jazz, Blues, Pop, Crossover, New Age, Meditation Music Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jazz Practice Ideas with Your Real Book: Jazz & Improvisation Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piano Chords One: A Beginner’s Guide To Simple Music Theory and Playing Chords To Any Song Quickly: Piano Authority Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Circle of Fifths: Visual Tools for Musicians, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Your Training Notebook On Pop Music Special Chord Progressions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Modalogy: Scales, Modes & Chords: The Primordial Building Blocks of Music Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultimate Latin Riffs for Piano/Keyboards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPop Ballad Piano for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5240 Chromatic Exercises + 1165 Jazz Lines Phrases for Bass Clef Instrument Players Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blues Scale for Piano/Keyboards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jazz Improvisation Basic Training Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rhythm Book: Studies in Rhythmic Reading and Principles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piano Walking Bass: From blues to jazz Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Play It Like You Mean It! Supercharge Your Playing and Let Your Piano Work for You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarmonic Exercises for Jazz Piano Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essential Techniques of Jazz and Contemporary Piano Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Quick Jazz Practice Tips: for all instruments: Jazz & Improvisation Series, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gospel Piano For Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self learning Jazz Harmony Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Music For You
Easy Piano Songs for Beginners: Simple Sheet Music of Famous Favorites: Easy Piano Songs for Beginners, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mixing Engineer's Handbook 5th Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piano For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Music Theory For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Claude Debussy Piano Music 1888-1905 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Circle of Fifths: Visual Tools for Musicians, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guitar For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Easyway to Play Piano: A Beginner's Best Piano Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guitar Theory For Dummies: Book + Online Video & Audio Instruction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/588 Piano Classics for Beginners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Jazz Piano: book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Guitar Practice Guide: A Practice Guide for Guitarists and other Musicians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Songwriting For Dummies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Learn Guitar A Beginner's Course Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hal Leonard Pocket Music Theory (Music Instruction): A Comprehensive and Convenient Source for All Musicians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Your Fretboard: The Essential Memorization Guide for Guitar (Book + Online Bonus) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & The Dark Heart Of The Hippie Dream Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Everything Songwriting Book: All You Need to Create and Market Hit Songs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming a Great Sight-Reader–or Not! Learn From My Quest for Piano Sight-Reading Nirvana Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure: Tools and Techniques for Writing Better Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Strange Loop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Learn Jazz Piano
11 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Learn Jazz Piano - Paul Abrahams
Learn Jazz Piano
Published by Paul Abrahams at Smashwords
www.learnjazzpianoonline.com
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
© Paul Abrahams
First published 2014
Revised 2016
Author’s note
Although this series of books can be read independently, I would recommend that certain sections be studied alongside my online video series Learn Jazz piano, which can be purchased here:
Learn Jazz Piano Online with Paul Abrahams
Each lesson package contains a 30-minute online video, together with downloadable backing tracks, sheet music and a quiz.
At the start of a chapter I have indicated which video lesson relates to the text.
===============
Playing the illustrations
Throughout this book I have provided many graphic examples. When playing these illustrations always assume that they are to be performed with swing eights, unless otherwise stated.
===============
Table of contents
Author’s note
Terminology
Naming chord symbols
Naming extensions & alterations
Glossary
Introduction
1: The trouble with 7th chords
2: Right hand / left hand
3: Chords and their scales
4: The Bebop scales
5: Putting scales to work
6: Rhythmic variation
7: All Of Me
8: 3s and 7s
9: A Berlin classic
10: Finding the sweet notes
11: Taking notes for a walk
12: Interlude
13: Danger Zones!
14: Too much information
15: Managing turnarounds
16: A final checklist
Links
Terminology
As in my three previous books, I will be using American terminology. So with apologies to my fellow countrymen and women, I’ll continue to speak of quarter notes and swing eights rather than crotchets and swing quavers.
===============
Naming chord symbols
As no two books use the same chord symbol names, I’m opting for the following:
Naming extensions & alterations
As the name suggests, extensions are notes played above the octave. They should therefore be referred to as 9ths, 11ths and 13ths and their respective flattened or sharpened versions as b9, #9, #11 and b13.
9, 11 and 13 are extensions.
b9, #9, #11 and b13 are alterations.
If these added notes occur within a chord they should, in theory, be referred to as 2nds, 4ths and 6ths etc.
Unfortunately, the world isn’t that simple and the same note can be described in a number of ways. For example, #11 will often be referred to as b5.
Here are the possibilities:
You will also encounter + and - signs instead of # and b. The good news is that 9ths don’t change.
If the 5th is being replaced within the chord, then C⁷(b5) is used to describe the note Gb. If a b13 is also required, then it must also be shown:
C⁷(b⁵#¹¹) = C + E + Gb + Bb + F#
So, even though Gb and F# are the same note enharmonically, they serve different functions and therefore need to be described individually. This also applies to b13 and #5.
Having said that, many chord charts use b5 and #11 (or b13 and #5) arbitrarily. So I suggest that you get used to seeing them as the same note.
===================
Glossary
Alteration The result of flattening or sharpening an extension.
Bridge The middle section in a song form, often the ‘B’ section contained within AABA. Also known as the middle 8.
Comp The accompaniment to another musician’s solo.
Extension Added note above the octave and not within the basic harmony of a chord.
Head The written melody before and after the solos.
Interval The space between two notes.
Key centre The key connecting a group of related chords.
Lead sheet Melody plus chords.
Mode Scale that begins on different steps of the major or melodic minor scale.
Pick-up One or more notes, (but usually less than the full measure) leading into the first complete bar of a tune or new section.
Rootless voicing A left-hand chord that removes the root note from the bottom of the chord. It is often replaced with a 3 or 7.
Secondary dominant A dominant 7 chord pointing to a tonic that is not in the primary key centre.
Standard A well-known song or tune favored by jazz musicians.
Tonic The first step of a diatonic scale.
Tritone substitution The replacement of one dominant 7 with another at a distance of three whole steps.
Turnaround A chord sequence that leads back to the start or on to the next section. A common turnaround is I – VI – II – V
Vertical improvisation Each new chord has an influence over the improvised notes.
Voicing The combination and placement