Improvisation, re-harmonization, rhythmic displacement/modulation, "jazz" chords

[creationrage]

I see that my students and a lot of people on these forums have the same questions, and I like to answer questions about music using specific musical examples that I create. My latest is a version of My Favorite Things/Pure Imagination (annotated, with a midi display keyboard and aerial view of hands).

Here are links in the video to specific things you may want to learn about:

0:00, 3:18 simple melodic improv using 1 scale
1:00 3:45 6:09 reharmonization of familiar tune
1:20 functional harmonic analysis (2 melodic voices)
2:00 5:08 more complex improv, focus on rhythm
2:24 4:25 5:30 improv over simple repeating harmony
2:49 functional harmony
5:00 6:00 metric modulation
5:13 rhythmic displacement
5:40 LH fast linear runs that replace chords

While this example may not answer all of your questions, it at least gives you a taste of specific examples of techniques/concepts that are better heard in practice than talked about without context. This, I believe, gives the student a more focused and motivated approach to learning how to use these concepts in their own explorations.

Some notes on this arrangement:

Everything I came up with was by ear originally and then analyzed theoretically. In other words, my approach to reharmonization/composition uses one rule: if it sounds good, it is good. I analyze it theoretically as an afterthought.

Melodic and harmonic improv are best studied in conjunction with a lot of ear training. It doesn't matter how technically sophisticated it is if it doesn't sound good. The most useful ear training is Solfege ear training (move-able do) as opposed to intervallic ear training. In this way, you are studying the function of each syllable and understanding the melodic content as a whole.

How to practice jazz (or improvisational) piano: Practice each small example (ie 2 to 4 bars, a short chord progression or new voicing, a short melodic segment) until you master it. This means it has to be played without thinking (it becomes muscle memory). Only then will you actually be learning something new and expanding your playing. Don't overwhelm yourself and only think of the task at hand.

Most people new to jazz piano think mainly of melody and harmony and neglect rhythm, while rhythm is actually the most important (and hardest to develop) element. Start with rhythmic exercises by playing small melodic fragments of 8th notes and playing them in different parts of a 4-bar phrase. Think of your fingers as 10 little drummers.

Please don't hesitate to ask me questions! I am developing new instructional material and would love your input on what to include.

Visit my website to see more examples like this.

Download the wav and midi files for this example and others here.

[eldergeek]

Hmm ... not sure I have seen very many questions here about:

 - reharmonization of familiar tune
 - functional harmonic analysis (2 melodic voices)

or even

 - metric modulation

Do I detect a whiff of spam?