Jazz Piano and Thoughts

Connecting with listeners both many and few...

2011-05-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

A huge problem I have is watching live piano recitals where the pianist seems to be in a world of his own. Some might say this is a good thing, because he is 'channeling' his ideas and will be distracted if he keeps thinking about his audience. Whilst this is true in itself, it's not exactly what I am referring to. Having ways to play your best is one thing... having an awareness of your audience's emotions and expectations is another. It makes no sense to play a wonderfully passionate piece of music, techncially brilliant with all the most complicated fingerwork that took you years to learn, only to find that your audience are falling alseep; impressing must be done at the right moment. You need to create a musical rollercoaster for them. Rollercoasters do not begin as utterly vomit-inducing thrills and spills, they begin with an increase in altitude, a sudden drop and increase in speed, a sharp turn, a spin, a bit of straight-line travelling with the much anticipated sudden turn skywards. They usually finish with a somewhat 'gentle' deceleration before the thrill-seekers disembark. Let's apply this to more humanistic performance.

1. Be aware of what kind of emotions your music evokes. If you are improvising, you have more control over how the music sounds; play lots of Major 9 chords for romance and even tear-jerking responses, maybe some 13ths for happy-sounding bouncy Jazz. You could bring in the mM9's for slower movements to really grab their attention (Cry Me a River, for example)

2. Be aware of your repertoire and its components' powers. My Jazz repertoire is quite large, so I have a lot to choose from. Why would I go to a café in the summer where people are sitting outside enjoying themselves, and play a slow, sad version of Moonlight in Vermont, or Somewhere Over the Rainbow? The audience do not want this and will not appreciate the emotional chord changes involved - you will become invisible and pointless for 5-10 minutes whilst you play such music. Why not a nice bouncy version with a little bit of blues scale thrown in with a nice rendition of Ain't Misbehavin'... or A Fooggy Day? It makes much more sense.

3. Be aware of who is watching you and what they represent in musical terms. When I play, I look around (if I can). When I finish or am about to close a song, I eye up as many people as possible. I learn who is paying more attention and begin to build a profile about those people. Are they young couples? Is the girl dressed beautifully, representing a special evening with her partner? Is there a birthday party for a 90 year-old lady? Indeed, I once eyed up a gentlemen with his wife who had clearly just come out for a nice evening meal after sundown (cue lushious jazz chords and Moonlight in Vermont/Somewhere Over the Rainbow!) and who was enjoying me by leaning on his elbow, somewhat mystified by my melodies. Catching his glance whilst not making it too obvious, I got out the more 40's sounding Gershwin sound; block chords, not so much effort on keeping time, rather, playing how the feeling took me, not too many complicated chords; just nice 7's and m7's and not too hard on the blues scales - just the occasional minor 3rd to 3rd grace note. Some more elegantly melodic songs came out which were not too romantic but just pleasant to listen to: Misty, The Nearness of You, April in Paris, etc... middle-of-the-road numbers. He was so thrilled at the end and thanked me greatly - I wonder if he would have done the same if I had bashed out some stronger-sounding numbers or more heavy jazz chord-style songs? Perhaps, but not as much as with my carefully selected numbers.

4. Think about how to introduce and end your song. Going straight into a song is quite unprofessional and very simple. You're a Jazz pianist - or at least a performing pianist with a good repertoire - show your skill! All you need to do to get an idea of introducing a song is listening to absolutely anything that Oscar Peterson plays. Head on over to YT and you'll see what I mean. The same goes for endings. On a more personal note, however, listeners do appreciate a nice introduction. For the more attentive listeners, it keeps them interested, wondering what you will play next. Ending a song must be an extension of what you just played. Granted, some songs require a somewhat sudden ending, but where possible, try to embellish the chords and mix the melody of the song into broken arpeggio chords. It may only be a 6 2 5 1 turn-around, but mixing in a double-time version of the melody as you play such a left-hand broken chord ascending pattern sounds very pleasant.

That will be all for this blog. If you combine these words with my other posts, I see no reason why your playing, for large or small numbers, will not improve drastically. Just don't be one of those piano players who plays because they 'can' impress an audienc and not because they 'want' to impress an audience. It makes you a better musician on many, many levels.

Note value awareness: there are no notes, only numbers...

2011-03-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

"What?", I here you saying to your screen.

This entry will bring to your attention the concept of numbering notes rather than letterising them, such as is the traditional method. The purpose of numbering the notes is to make it easier to play in new or different keys than you might usually prefer, to help with improvising and finally, to make it easier to play nice tasty 'jazz' chords. With this ideology in your mind, you will see the piano as numbers 1-13, with the chosen key's root as number 1, rather than having to memorise confusing letters which all overlap in different keys and cause confusion. It is so much easier to play Jazz (or any jazzy-sounding music) on the piano if you apply this concept.

Let's take C as our chosen key. Everyone is familiar with it and it doesn't involve black notes, should you be more of a beginner. More advanced players can simply transpose the concept into their favourite key (mine being Eb - E flat).

The idea is built upon the foundation that Jazz comes from major scales. Yes, minor scales and other complicated scales exist, but just work with major scales and acknowledge that other scales are simply obtained by modifying the underlying primary major scale.

In the major scale of C, we have C D E F G A B and C again for the octave; number 8. We number these from C, 1, up to B, 7. Begin to see these notes as numbers when you look at the piano. See the F as number 4, not F. From this, we can add that a standard chord 'triad' is made from 1 3 5, so C E G. If we continue this triad ascension, we would continue up to 13, which is an A, before the final triad returns us to C. For example, number 11 would also be F if we continued numbering from 1 - 13 (C -> A).

This might seem complicated, but don't let it be. We're simply numbering a major scale's notes from 1, it's root which could be any of the 12 keys, up to 13 - and why 13? Because chords are built on thirds, so if we ascend from 1 (C), we get C - E - G - B - D - F - A ... then C which would be 15, but that's impossible because C is 1 again.

From this, we can ascertain that 3 notes (9, 11 and 13) are beyond the octave. These notes are D F and A. If you notice the spaces from 1 - 7, you will be surprised to realise that they are indeed the notes D, F and A! How can this be? Well, it simply proves to you that a major scale provides all the notes required for major-type chords (i.e; not minor). Just like I said! So, with this triad ascension, we actually cover all the major scale notes (this applies to any key, not just C), but it just so happens that the extensions, D, F and A or better - 9, 11 and 13, are the gaps between 1-7! So in the end, all the major scale notes are used when ascending in major triads until 15, where we start again at 1, C.

Now, imagine that we choose the key of F. This gives us F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E and F (octave, number 8). Most of these notes are in the key of C, only the Bb is not - but that isn't important - don't get confused for no reason. The point is that most of the letters are shared between keys, but it's the number value of the physical lettered note which changes.

Let's select a random letter: D. This is number 6 in the key of F. It is also number 13 if we count from F as 1, then go up in triads, which gives: F A C E (then the extensions 9, 11 and 13) -> G, Bb and D. Again, these 3 notes are the spaces between the F A C E notes, once again using all 7 notes of the major scale.

I selected D. It is number 6 or 13 (more on the differences or when to call it 6 or 13 in a later entry) in the key of F. However (!), it is also number 2 or 9 in the key of C. What does this mean? Theoretically, it's not very exciting, but when playing, to know that you are aware of every possible number value of every note, depending on your key or chord of the moment, you have an array of sounds and opportunities at your fingertips (pun duly intended).

In my next entry, I'll give musical examples for you to go and try, really opening the world of Jazz sounds up to you; it's really very exciting to have such knowledge and authority over the piano. For now, however, I'll leave you with a simple example but not before informing you of the following: Learn all 12 major keys like the back of your hand. This sounds boring and school-like, but I'm not demanding rapidity and correct fingerwork, just learn them by heart so you can see them in your mind and immediately at the piano.

Now, the little example to give you a teaser of what is to come: Imagine you're playing a nice jazz piece. You are improvising a little over the melody or even completely improvising. How do you know what will work? What will sound good? What won't clash? What gives sound variety? It is this concept of note value awareness. You play one note against one chord, so for our example it is D. We play this against a C major chord. It has a particular sound, this 9th. It sounds open and gives way to many possible feelings. However, when we continue to play this D as we change to an F major chord, the physical note of D becomes a 6th or 13th (like I said, I'll explain in another entry when to call it a 6th or 13th) - but the point is, it sounds a particular way, this D against an F major chord.

This results in one physical note having two possible sounds and thus emotions tied to it. With this knowledge, imagine in all keys and all chords, you really have a world of sounds to play with, more often than not, without really having to move your fingers all over the place to aim for different sounds!

I'll let the dust settle on this before writing my next entry. Good luck!

Playing fluently

2011-02-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

Isn't it wonderful, language. It provides us with the ability to express ourselves in great deal so that others know exactly how we feel. To produce this language, we have at our disposition a great number of tools and devices which, as we grow up, we learn to use both by listening to others and naturally. After a number of years, we have mastered enough of them to express ourselves very well, but of course always short of perfection due to our lack of more sophisticated vocabulary and specific delivery methods (such as those used by professional comedians, public speakers or teachers). Such techniques require a specialised training or effort to acquire because they're outside the norms of regular, daily communication.

If we home in on this particular concept, we can notice that, just like I am doing right now on the keyboard (which could be considered my piano), I am producing my thoughts fluently by interpreting my feelings linguistically, finding the correct buttons to press to spell my linguistic discoveries and thus enabling you to read this. It happens fluently; very fluently in my case, becuase I type for a living!

Go to the piano in your mind. You have your devices, techniques and understanding of scales, notes and chords (to whichever level this may be). You have your song that you'd like to play and you know it quite well. Play it, in your mind, and you will notice that you can imagine yourself playing it without faulting. Isn't that amazing? But if you go to the piano and play it, you might have a hiccup in a few areas or be playing with too much concentration, worrying about fingerwork or not making mistakes and where to go next.

So, to play fluently, you must know your piece perfectly so that you can close your eyes and see yourself playing it from start to finish. If you can do this, you have proof that it is inside you well enough to be able to not have to concentrate too much on unncessary things which will interfere with your performance when you are playing it for real. Fluency is also the product of self-control and purpose. If you have not read my blog entry on not playing fast, the one before this one, do read it next. You will see that self-control and purpose are of utmost important when playing. A combination of these and being at one with the piece, will enable you to play with greater fluency.

The biggest problem for Jazz pianists in playing solo piano fluently is what chords come next and what on earth shall I improvise. I don't want to get into specific Jazz improvisation techniques in this particular entry, prefering a more dedicated post in a few days or weeks on this matter alongside other points.

So please, for the time being, understand that playing your piano fluently comes from a complete connection with your piece where you can imagine yourself playing it without fault. This fantasy-like notion can then be applied to the real world in the knowledge that you have proved to yourself that you know the piece, so wasting energy on unnecessary things will only impede your already perfect understanding of the structure of the piece. If you play your piece with purpose, combine this with the knowledge that you know the piece perfectly and then employ a little self-control, pace and intent, you will no doubt produce a wonderful piece of music.

As you can see, teaching (not only Jazz) piano is not always about fingerwork, sight-reading or repetitive practice of scales. It is about understanding and being aware of what goes on behind the scenes. This way, you will play well no matter what your technical ability and complex scale/key knowledge.

Best of luck to you all.

Rhythm, not speed, is what it's about...

2011-02-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Why do some 'Jazz pianists' insist on playing fast? Maybe it's cool? They like to show-off perhaps? Maybe they are under the illusion that playing fast represents great skill and musicianship?

Well, it's all bollocks.

Playing fast means you can play fast. Well done, enjoy this cookie. What it also does is cloud our awareness of what music really means and what people have come to listen to you for.

Speed is like red wine; it's good in moderation, but too much makes you sound like a prat.

Constant speed is usually a technique employed by people who are unaware of the fact that music is just an audible representation of what we feel inside. To know this simple fact is one thing, but being aware of it is different. How can we sound really good without needing to hide our lack of passion and musical connection with speed?

Silence. Space. Self-control. Purpose.

Silence: Stop playing sometimes. Let the rhythm be the canvas onto which you strike your musical brush. An artist who never stops painting in the sense of never letting his brush leave the canvas but to re-ink his tip, will most likely be very unaware of his progress. He will miss little details, more than likely stumble or place an incorrect colour first when it should be second. His observational necessity will become clouded and he will no longer see his work for what it really is. At the piano, be aware that silence is also a note. A note of intent. You stopped playing because it felt right; because you are taking some time to process progressive internal feelings as the song passes and as your thoughts are churning over various aspects of your life that the song reminds you off. So, just stop sometimes. Allow your left hand to simply lay down the simple rhythm, or if in a trio, enjoy the bass and ride symbol for a few bars. Enjoy the ride instead of smothering it with endless nonsense.

Space: Similar to silence but more widespread and structural. Where silence refers to bars and momentary pauses, space refers to playing shorter passages (which could be fast or slow, depending on how you feel). Remember that filling a canvas with colour ends up black if you don't stop. A meaningful phrase here, an interesting melody there, a spot of block chords here and a bit of parallel hand melody there. Space is the breathing out of the lungs. Fill, release. Don't keep filling or it will become nasty and ridiculous. Whoever wanted to hear or see that?

Self-control: Put a nice sugary sweet in your mouth and don't bite into it. If you can do that, you have a good self-control. You had a goal set and you achieved it by, for want of a better word, 'forcing' your body to do what you tell it. Being at one with your body is very important for playing the piano well. Your fingers, you might think, are controlled by your muscles and voluntary actions. Biologically speaking, yes, but a deep understanding of music and improvisation knows, shows and proves otherwise. When in control of your thoughts and voluntary movements, art is produced in a much more natural, meaningful and more importantly, personal way. Sit at the piano and do not blast out scales. Take your time and understand that you're producing something special, personal and unique that nobody else could do in the same way as you. They could never reproduce something in exactly the same way as you because it would be unnatural and false; likewise, you could never copy another so don't bother trying.

Purpose: The most important of all, so the last thing you are reading, thus you should remember it most. When you sit at the piano, ask yourself this question: Why am I playing the piano right now? You might choose a particular song to play. Why this song? Did you hear it somewhere and wanted to play it (by sight or because you have it in your repertoire)? Play a song with purpose, and you will play well. Scaling down this concept, why are you playing this chord? Why did you choose to improvise using that scale? If your answers are "because I know them", or "because it's my favourite scale", then you are not playing for a purpose, you're just playing because "You can". So what? Lots of people Can play the piano or draw a wonderful picture. Why should anyone care that you can do it, too? Maybe that seems too heavy or blunt? Good, it should be. When you sit and play, having an understanding of why you are playing a song, a melody, a scale or a chord, or even using that particular fingering, is important. This doesn't necessarily mean that you are to analyse what you are playing at every moment, because thinking too much always blocks natural feelings and output, but understanding why you are to play it is so invaluable as to its purpose in your performance. An artist could explain the reason for using a particular brush or tone of colour, even though at the moment of brush-to-canvas, he was just following his natural purpose. Understanding such devices available to you enables you to produce more deep and meaningful music which people will hear in your performances.

Good luck.