JEFFREY CHAPPELL - PIANIST classical and jazz pianist logo

QUICK TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY JAZZ BETTER

Dear Mr. Chappell:

I just got asked to play in a jazz band although I don’t have a lot of prior experience. They want me to take solos [improvise melodic material over a chord progression] and to comp [accompany other players as they improvise], and I want to sound really good. What can I do to become a better jazz pianist really quickly?

— Quick Learner

Dear Quick Learner:

I. For improvising a melodic line over a chord, these are the improviser’s three best friends:

  1. The notes of the chord itself. These notes match the chord, and therefore they sound good with it. If the chord, for example, is C major 7, then create a melodic line that contains only the notes C, E, G, and B.
  2. The chromatic scale. This works with every chord, because it contains the notes of all chords (derived from our 12-note system).
  3. The opposite of the chromatic scale (everything), which is silence (nothing). Just don’t play at all. It will work. And the audience will wait trustingly while you think.

II. There are a couple of little things that you can throw in when improvising a solo line that make it more hip.

  1. A "blue" note here and there, maybe just 1% of the time. When you’re in a major key, play the flat third (example: in C major, play Eb), and when you’re in a minor key, play the flat fifth (example: in A Minor, play Eb). [Notice that it’s the same note against the two keys that are relative major and minor.] For an example of how a "blue" note immediately transforms a tune into something jazzy, play "Happy Birthday" in C major (in other words, starting on the note G) and finish the fourth phrase using an Eb (F-F-Eb-C-D-C).
  2. A grace note here and there that goes up a half step to your target note.
  3. Even better than this is for the grace note to be the bottom note of two simultaneous notes, with the top note tied to the target note. Examples:
    • Play Eb (bottom) and G (top) together; slide from the Eb up to E natural while you continue holding the G. You would do this on a C major harmony with E and G as the 3rd and 5th of the chord, or on an A minor 7 with E and G as the 5th and 7th of the chord.
    • Play D (bottom) and G (top) together; go up to Eb from D while you continue holding the G. You would do this on a C minor harmony with Eb and G as the 3rd and 5th of the chord, or on an F dominant 7 with Eb and G as the 7th and 9th of the chord.
    • Play Db (bottom) and G (top) together; slide up to D from Db while you continue holding the G. You would do this on a G dominant 7 harmony with D and G as the 5th and 7th of the chord.
    • Play C (bottom) and G (top) together; go up to Db from C while you continue holding the G. You would do this on an Eb dominant 7 with Db and G as the 7th and 3rd of the chord.

III. Another slick trick is, in your left hand, to play one of the following 3-note voicings:

  1. From the bottom up, a tritone plus a perfect 4th (example: G-C#-F#). Let’s call this the Blues version.
  2. From the bottom up (or top down, doesn’t matter), a perfect 4th plus a perfect 4th (example: G-C-F). Let’s call this the McCoy version (after McCoy Tyner).
  3. From the bottom up, a tritone plus a major 3rd (example: G-Db-F). Let’s call this the Gershwin version. Now transpose the chord down chromatically (example using Blues version: G-C#-F#, Gb-C-F, F-B-E, etc.). Now play any melody (example: Happy Birthday) and with each successive note of the melody (and with no regard for matching the chord with the melody) play the voiced chord down another half step (example: RH + LH: G + G-C#-F#, A + Gb-C-F, G + F-B-E, C + E-A#-D#, B + Eb-A-D, etc.). You have just re-harmonized the melody in a jazzy way.

IV. Another slick trick is to do a half-step slide, i.e., play a chord a half step above (usually) or below (also happens) the one you are playing or are approaching. Easy to find but sounds complex to the listener!

  1. Let’s say you’re comping on a C major 7 chord for a couple of measures. Slide up to a Db major 7 chord once and then go back to the C major 7 chord, or slide down to a B major 7 chord once and then go back to the C major 7 chord.
  2. Let’s say you’re coming from some other chord and are going to play a C major 7 chord next. Instead, play a Db major 7 chord first and then slide down to the C major 7 chord, or play a B major 7 chord first and then slide up to the C major 7 chord.

V. A very jazzy and easy-to-find voicing for comp chords can be generated using this method:

  • Take the root of a chord (example: C major 7, take C) and play it with the right 5th finger (2 octaves above middle C for this example).
    • Add the fourth below that (G in this case) with the right second finger.
    • Add the fourth below that (D in this case) with the right thumb.
    • Add the fourth below that (A in this case) with the left thumb.
    • Add the fourth below that (E in this case) with the left second finger.
    • Add the fourth below that (B in this case) with the left fifth finger.
  • Now you have a quartal (by fourths) voicing of the chord and you are hitting the (reading from the top down) root, fifth, ninth, thirteenth, third, and seventh of the chord. Pedal the chord and strike a C in the bass to hear it all together.
  • Now change the B to a Bb and you have the quartal voicing for C dominant 7.
  • Now change the E to an Eb (keep the Bb from the previous step) and you have the quartal voicing for C minor 7.
  • This voicing is easy to find because you just think of the root of the chord as the top note and then come down by fourths.
  • You can leave off the top or bottom notes and still have a nice quartal voicing that will sound good, especially with the root in the bass.
  • You can do this with any major 7, dominant 7, or minor 7 chord.

Footnote to item V: A good piano-playing tip is to notice the color combinations of the piano keys for quartal voicings, which can help you locate them more quickly.

Note that in eight cases there are three notes spaced a fourth apart which are all the same color (all white keys or all black keys) on the keyboard. All white: GCF, ADE, BEA, DGC, EAD; all black: AbDbGb, BbEbAb, EbAbDb. You can find these chromatically as GCF, AbDbGb, ADE, BbEbAb, BEA and DGC, EbAbDb, EAD.

Up to 7 (all of the) white notes can be spaced a fourth apart: BEADGCF. Up to 5 (all of the) black notes can be spaced a fourth apart: BbEbAbDbGb.

In fact, this means that you can play the top 4 notes of the examples above for any of the three chord qualities--major, dominant, and minor--and it will work, and especially if the guitarist or somebody else is sounding the third and/or seventh of the chord. You won’t even have to differentiate for the various types of chords. (Example: C major 7, C dominant 7, C minor 7 all can be voiced from the top down as C-G-D-A.)

Enjoy!

— JC