Jazz piano the left hand riccardo scales pdf

Im really interested in the content of this book, so even a link with a. At first there is a basic exercise, with the left hand and right hand playing the same notes in unison. A book like exotic scales would have been a great timesaver in my own musical journey. For the sake of completeness, most of these lefthand applications are integrated with sample righthand parts that validate the efficacy and concrete application of the left hand figures. Jazz piano the left hand the steinway library of piano. Most jazz piano books give a couple of pages to this important skill so this dedicated book fills a real need.

Complete transcription and analysis andre, 2011, p. Riccardo scivales jazz piano the left hand 2005 free download as pdf file. They provide a pool of notes for you to choose from when improvising and set the foundations for further modal scale study. This book is designed for students who know how to read music and want to improve their knowledge of jazz technique and theory. The pianist can improvise also with the left hand or left and right hand together. Stylegroove usesf e e l main patte rn s imp le v ariat io n s single notes, blocked chords the simples t lh pat ter n is just sing le not es or chords. To summarize, the most important scales to learn first are the major, dorian, and mixolydian scales because they help you navigate major 7th, minor 7th, and dominant b7 chords, respectively. Covering a span of time and styles ranging from jazz beginnings to some of the most recent developments, this book collects and analyzes many of the most frequently used jazz, blues, and latin jazz lefthand piano techniques. Jazz piano college latin jazz cuban dance ricardo scivales.

This is an extraordinary treatise that traces, demonstrates, and puts into practice the techniques of the left hand in popular and jazz piano styles from ragtime to the present day. Piano fingerings for improvisation trumpet players have it so easy just three fingers to worry about. The left hand from the steinway library of piano music, published by ekay music in 2005. The reason for this is to train the often neglected left hand. In playing flexible scales on piano, you need to plan ahead using neighborhood thinking and. To finish this course, we apply the theory concepts to 4 famous jazz standards. Piano chord voicings for jazz combo the pianist has a few functions in a jazz combo. Here is a pdf of the 36 important scales major, dorian, and. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. A number of basic left hand devices for playing jazz piano, especially useful if you play solo and want to create a solid beat on which you can improvise. More than any other ingredient, the jazz tradition is based on listening.

This pdf will be a big help to many jazz pianists and other instrumentalists who want to get better at voicing chords in their left hand. 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. I use to improvise with a walking bass, funky or latin accompaniment. All of these are chord tones ct, and therefore, these are not tensions.

Recently i did a post about the 3 most important jazz scales for beginning improvisers. Always strike the keys from the knuckle joints when playing scales, raise the fingers as high as possible, and let them descend perpendicularly upon the middle of the keys. The voicings are typically comprised of 4 notes, usually excluding the root. Write down your commitment to practice jazz piano, tell it to others, and. The left hand, by riccardo scivales there is a book called jazz piano. Detailed notation of hundreds of amazing jazz piano chords, formulas, and songs.

An easy to follow action plan that will help you go from zero to playing songs you love in 3060 days. Riccardo scivales jazz piano the left hand 2005 scribd. Left hand chord hits for soloing jazz piano lessons. In jazz often the terms scale and mode are used interchangeably. All seven modal scales, five of the seven melodic minor modal scales, all whole tone scales, diminished scales, pentatonic and. Selfaccompaniment and improvisation in solo jazz piano. Please help me understand what lynne is doing in this. When your thumb gets to the d key, move your fourth finger over to the e sharp and continue finger by finger until your thumb lands on the a key.

The left hand plays a simple accompaniment, as usual in a musical setting. Jazz piano basics dan davey tensions are non chord tones that are added to a chord to change the colortexture of the chord. Piano is a complete instrument that can substitute an entire group or orchestra. Commitment and practice making a commitment to do something and then following thru on it is very empowering. Be able to play major and minor triads in all keys and use the damper pedal effectively. Generally, each proposed technique is first introduced by a model figure derived from original. The next step is learning to improvise melodic lines using scales and chord tones. One of the most important tools for your piano playing bag of tricks is a good supply of lefthand accompaniment patterns. Technical exercises for improving keyboard technique. It is possible to use minor, diminished, and augmented triads but i am going to. Walking bass with the left hand is very fun to play. Jazz piano education is through the ears, but books like this can help. Great lefthand accompaniment patterns for the piano or. This just means that your left hand plays a simple shell voicing or even just the guide tones third and seventh and your right hand plays a triad that contains colorful notes.

As you work your way back down the scale, when your thumb get to the e sharp, bring the fourth finger under and finish the scale. Welcome to this practice guide for the jazz piano foundations course. There are lots of possibilities for using more adventurous slash chords in a jazz context, but arguably the two most useful are. The right hand can play the to allow the left hand more freedom to play bass lines. But there are typical scales used in jazz and here is an overview. As well as the creation of accompaniment patterns for solo jazz piano. Jazz pianists in the decades prior to the 1950s generally played more block chords andor shell voicings like roots and 7ths and put the root in their voicings most of the time. In this etude scales are practiced with the right hand and in one octave only. Then we have the improvisation exercises, applying the study into a musical context. Concerning keys, f, bb, eb and ab are all common in jazz since they works well for brass instrument. Just because you practice scales, chords, patterns, and exercises doesnt mean you will sound stiff and mechanical, or that you will become a jazz great. In one sense, it must have been easy for early jazz pianists to figure out what to do with their left hand.

Jazz piano basics practice guide pdf practice plans. Many players could benefit from having this reference sheet, which has most of the chords jazz musicians are likely to encounter. Amazing jazz improvisation exercise jazz piano concepts. This pdf of stock lefthand voicings, when combined with the expansion technique, gives you the tools to be able to voice 75% of the chords you will encounter as a jazz pianist at a functional level, that is. This is an extraordinary treatise that traces, demonstrates, and puts into practice the techniques of the left hand in popular and jazz piano styles from. Jazz piano college chords, scales, 251 days of wine and roses duration. Below this video you can download these pdf practice plans, which cover all of the important exercises and drills to master the theory in this course. It not only presents the use of modes other than the seven basic diatonic modes used in jazz, but also presents a basic introduction to the use of modes that would be valuable for a beginner with little music theory and for.

Scales, chords, and exercises to help improve jazz improvisation and theory. The diminished chord is built out of minor 3rds 3 semitones. International music dealers can order by phone 818 8915999 or by fax 818 8935560. Jazz pianists favor this approach because it allows the right hand more freedom when improvising lines. Im so sorry to have left this blog in the free flight mode for over a month now. Left hand rootless voicings are closely associated with the piano style of pianist bill evans 19291980. Before using this guide, pleas e r ef er to my not es a t ti mtopham. To create piano bass lines can be trickier than it first. We start with duke ellingtons in a sentimental mood which is a great tune to work on the minor line cliche.

For this reason it is an important tool of jazz musicians and composers for teaching and. Because an octave is 12 semitones, stacking further minor 3rd above the top note of a diminished chord just repeats the same existing notes d f a. Jazz piano teacher recommendations in san francisco. We work on left hand voicings and demonstrate how useful these voicings can be.

Rhythmic variations using triplets and 116 notes part 6. Numerous styles of jazz piano are taught, including. Basic rootless piano voicings by chris fitzgerald ex. This cleancut triadic sound may seem tame to jazz ears, but dont dismiss it out of hand it has its uses. Basic rootless piano voicings chris fitzgerald jazz. There is not a single group of scales that can be called jazz scales a jazz pianist uses lots of different scales. Encyclopedia of lefthand jazz piano voicings learn jazz. Notice that the only differences between these scales relate to alterations of the 3rd and 7th scale degrees, as all other degrees are common to. A step by step exploration of tons of jazz piano skills and shortcuts.

If you played jazz piano in the 20s, the default lh technique was stride. This is a very elementary 12bar blues pattern showing the most common lefthand voicings for c9, f, and g chords in the key of c major. Add simple 18 note based rhythms using skips, holds and rests part 5. In the example below you will notice that the left hand plays the harmony. Note that scale degrees 10 is the same as 3, 12 the same as 5, 14 the same as 7, and 15 the same as and root. However, standard music analysis calls the major scale a scale, while all sequence of pitches that can be derived from the scale, including the minor mode, are not called scales but modes. This isnt an allencompassing resource, as a resource that. All others pitch sequences such as whole tone, diminished and blues scales are called. In addition, you should of course exercise scales with your right hand, but in that case you use some other fingerings. Listening to jazz recordstapes should be part of every musicians daily routine. Therefore, he needs two different types of voicings.

The 12 major scales provide the foundation for further scales study. Any time youre faced with playing straight chords or even playing melodies from a fake book which pretty much just gives the chord names. The left hand fingering starts with the third finger on the a. Piano four hands is the same as piano duet 2 players at one piano if you looking for 2 players each playing a separate piano, please search for piano duo of 3 free jazz piano four hands piano duet sheet music. Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. It is available as pdf and is included in the downloads of both my ep and the. Cheat sheet for iivi lefthand piano voicings learn. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instruments combined melodic and harmonic capabilities.