Just wondered if anyone had any exams coming up, in jazz, this session? I have just received my date for my grade 3 jazz piano, I still need to do quite a bit of work, but I feel that the pieces are coming together better now each time I practice.

If anyone is doing piano, what pieces are you playing?


Joy

Hi Joy,

Im no where near taking any exams at the moment but Ive got the grade 3 book, grade 1-5 scales book, and aural test book - Ive learnt "I wish I knew how it would feel to be free" which I love but it falls apart at the solo because I have no idea how to improvise with the right hand on piano - ie one finger tune, chords or what? - Im having trouble finding a teacher for classical let alone jazz.

I can improvise jazz with my flute as its all one note (I go to a jazz workshop) but Im lost on the piano! Ive had a go at a couple of the blues pieces too. I've started playing again a year ago after 30 years, so am battling along on my own at the moment. Ive got the pink AB theory grade 1 - 5 book which Im hoping will be quite helpful for the jazz as well.

what pieces are you doing? how do you improvise just out of interest ? are you expected to use chords ?

Lorna

i have got the clarinet book grade 3 and really enjoy it, i think is good book to get even not taking exams.

I am doing BarrelHouse Blues, I Wish I knew How It Would Feel To Be Free and Spanish Sketch. I started with just playing the chords with LH (as written in the solo sections) and then improvising a simple RH over the top. Then eventually, I changed some of the LH, rather then being just chords all the way through and it just went from there. I think it's up to you how you do it really, but I think to get a higher mark they would expect the LH to be improvised on the written patterns - set out in the solo section.

Joy

Hey! I have a degree in jazz and I still find it hard to come up with a good improvisation that i am happy with. I think the biggest problem about trying to improvise is that we tend to be too critical of ourselves even before we have finished the first 8 bars!!

Maybe you could listen to the accompanying ABRSM grade 3 CD - it has an example solo for each of the songs - that helps you get an idea of what you can potentially play over it. You should also check out the recommended CD listening at the bottom of the page for each of the songs - for 'I wish I knew how it feels to be free' the album I recommend is 'Jazz on A Summers Day' - which is a compilation of several great songs, and has Billy Taylor playing this song on it.

That song is very gospel-blues in style with a jazz-rock tinge - check out lots of bluesy oscar peterson for ideas. If you look at the score, there are lots of chords in the RH part - this could be a starting point for a theme and style for the improvisation. Or you could contrast it by being more single notes rather than chords - but I recon staying with the chunky chords is cool and very gospelly.

You could try transcribing simple blues licks in the key of F to give you a starting place as the F blues scale will work on almost the whole piece with good effect. When you feel comfortable with that, you could then try playing the major third of the dominant seventh chords (eg when it goes to the A7 chord, play a C# as that is not found in the F blues scale - so it's a good target note to add colour and interest to a solo).

Try to always imagine you are playing with a really grooving drummer who swings real hard - and make your solo groove even hotter than him!! Rhythm is the key for these types of groovey songs - so it doesnt really matter what notes or scale you play, but rather how you add rhythm and rhythmic attack and dynamic to the notes.

Space is also a very good tool... Try playing one simple driving phrase (of only 4 or so notes) and then stop for a bar or more. Its use makes good effect on the groove and the change for interplay and conversational sparks to fly (when playing with a band) - not to mention allows you to actually think about how you can develop your idea.

You should also try WRITING OUT a few choruses over the chord changes - why not getyour LH to play a little bit of the solo - do a phrase that ends in the LH going down the piano... What would happen if you just kept refining your written solo so that it were like a theme and variation with the song? Improvisation is just a spontaneous form of composition - so if you work on your understanding and skills for composition, that DOES help your improvisation skills!!

anyway, enough of my ranting. If you want more ideas, let me know.

thanks segedy

I will try and apply your suggestions.

I know what you mean about space being a good tool - our workshop tutor always says this - so the audience anticipates the next phrase and it makes the solo more dynamic - if you just keep playing fancy fast fingerwork over the whole solo without a break then its too much - less is more I suppose!

Ive quite a good ear (better than my sight reading thats for sure - in fact it spoils my piano playing because once I know a piece I forget to read the music and then I go wrong !!) and on the flute I can phrase and harmonise quite naturally and dont have a problem soloing over tunes I know but I struggle when working from lead sheets on pieces I dont know - but I am beginning to understand and apply the theory that Im learning ("Stella by Starlight" has so many chord changes and I dont know it very well yet so am having to try to play using the theory - arrgghhh!!!)

With the piano there is much more to think of at the same time - all going on at once!! But I'll keep plugging away!!

thanks again