Learn to improvise. 2003-2004. Lesson 16: how you can learn to play jazz.
My advice is to follow the history of the jazz. It started with
the ragtime and the blues. If you feel the ragtime, you can
understand that the wind bands in the street made the New
Orleans (and Dixieland) style out of it. When you try to
play that indoors with other instruments, like the
vibraphone, you will automatically come to the swing style.
A piano in a train or a boat was played to the rhythm of the
machine, speeding up the blues to the boogie-woogie.
During World War II big bands took care of the morale of
the troops (also in the planes via the radio). After the war
the air of the jazz became quite different. I will not go into
that.
To learn playing jazz, firstly you'll have to love it and to
listen to it much!
(Unless otherwise specified I will suppose the initial key to be C)
Blues: the primeval blues has a fixed chord scheme of 12
measures:
C C C C7 F F7 C C G7 F7 C C.
Click to hear a primeval blues
Click to hear a blues I played
on the beat of the measures (see footnote).
The first 4 measures often are played as a break. During the first 4
chords (C) the seventh note (b-flat) is often used in the melody.
During the whole blues the blue note (fooling around in the
neighborhood of e-flat ) is most important. It can't be played on the
piano, but has to be approached artificially with combination of
notes, riffs, etc. Characteristic is the mixture of major and minor
chords with the same root, e.g. the left hand plays the chord C-
major and the right hand makes the melody with notes of the chord
C-minor.
Click to hear what I mean
The original blues has developed into many forms with extra
chords and temporary keys. They will be sensed easily once the
original blues is understood.
Click to hear a blues with extra
temporary modulations
Boogie-woogie: a fast piano blues with many riffs (short melodies
repeated over and over again, preferably during changing of
chords). The left hand is a walking bass. Think of a machine
during playing! Keep the rhythm driving and steady (not
necessarily loud). Don't learn too many walking basses. Choose
one and stick to it. Play it endlessly. Only then you will be able to
give it the drive, which is the soul of the boogie-woogie. Use often
the note e-flat (in combination with notes and riffs to make up for
the missing real blue note on the piano).
Click to hear a boogie-woogie I played on the beat
of the measures (see footnote)
Ragtime: most characteristic is the way the melody repeats the
rhythm of three notes. Many seventh chords are used and common
modulations (steps of fifths).
Click to hear a ragtime (in G) I played on the
beat of the measures (see footnote)
Click to hear a ragtime (in C) I played
on the beat of the measures (see footnote).
New Orleans en Dixieland: these styles are typically polyphonic:
every wind musician plays his own melody, but as everyone keeps
to the same chord scheme, it is possible to get a good harmony. It
contains many elements of the ragtime and blues.
Swing: suppose you like the previous style and have only the
availability of a piano, a vibraphone, clarinet and drum, you
automatically will come to the swing style.
Click to hear swing (scheme of I got rhythm) (in Eb)
Click to hear swing in Eb I played
on the beat of the measures (see footnote)
Click to hear swing in C I played on the
beat of the measures (see footnote)
Rule of thumb to play jazz:
Play a normal song in a rhythmic 4/4
measure with ragtime syncopes and put many times the blue note (e-flat in C)
in it! You will be embarrassed by the effect. Get along with it by
solving it to something acceptable.
Click to hear Happy Birthday to You as jazz
Click to hear Happy Birthday to You
I played as jazz on the beat of the measures (see footnote).
HOMEWORK:
-play a blues,
-play a song you know and make jazz out of it, among others by
using the note e-flat in it and solving the result to something
normal.
Footnote:
Sometimes people ask for sheet music. This time I have used my
computer for that. I followed the metronome to get the measure
bars correctly. You need a sequencer program to see the score. Even then
I don't expect it to be very helpful as my inaccuracy is also written
in the score.
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