Jazz piano improvisation.?
Hi. I really really like jazz and want to learn how to improvise. I can figure out the chords and melody quite easily but I don't know how the runs an...
Hi. I really really like jazz and want to learn how to improvise. I can figure out the chords and melody quite easily but I don’t know how the runs and licks go. I know that you have to have a good understanding of music theory, but I don’t, obviously. So, if anyone out there has the time, would you please take the time to tell me all you know?
Actually I have 6 years of music theory from classical but I don’t know which chords are the ‘jazz’ chords. And I think I have quite a good sense of jazz rhythm.=[ lol. Is there any book that can cover everything?
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You don’t learn to play jazz by learning licks any more than you learn to read by learning sentances. You should learn the theory so you can learn how to make your own licks. There are certain characteristic phrases in jazz (particularly in bebop) and certain standard jazz endings (such as the basie ending). Knowing these is always handy, but they’re not very important in the grand scheme of things.
Jazz theory can get INCREDIBLY complicated (probably more so than any classical music up until the 20th century). The very basics are invaluable if you wish to learn the more complex things.
There are many websites out there which can give you hints and tips on how to improvise. Very basically you need to take a basic chord sequence such as a 12 bar blues. The chords of a 12 bar blues are as follows:
Chord I for 4 bars
Chord IV for 2 bars
Chord I for 2 bars
Chord V for 1 bar
Chord IV for 1 bar
Chord I for 2 bars.
I use numerical figures for chords because that means you can put it in any key. If you’re in C major the chords are
C for 4
F for 2
C for 2
G for 1
F for 1
C for 2
You work this out because C is the first note in the scale of C major – meaning the chord of C is chord I in C. F is the fourth note, meaning it’s triad is chord IV and so on.
Each chord has a scale which goes with it. You can use lots of extra notes (and lots of different scales), but VERY basically you will want to use the following notes for your improvisation. 1 2 b3 3 4 b5 5 6 b7 – you want to stick clear of the major 7 in blues. b3 and b5 are your blue notes. So in C the notes would be C D Eb E F Gb G A Bb.
One of the hardest things to teach in jazz is good use of rhythm and phrase. You can know all the right notes, even to a very high standard, but if you don’t play good rhythms and phrases then you will still sound rubbish. A good way to learn rhythm is by listening to jazz and trying to replicate the feel. It’s hard to do this on your own – which is why it’s great to have a band! However, as a pianist you’re at a slight advantage because you can accompany yourself.
It is very hard to explain all of this in a forum, with no way to show you what to do – and no score to show you what to play. Hopefully you can find places out there to show you what to do – or even better, get some lessons!
*Edit – classical theory is a great thing to have – but it is not enough. I played 2 years of classical piano at university, and changed to jazz in my third year (having played some jazz beforehand); it was unbelievable the amount of stuff I had to pick up. A very good book for jazz theory is "the jazz theory book" (original title!) – it’s pretty expensive though, and sometimes you do need someone to help explain the things better. It covers a huge amount of theory, right from the basics (though not from scratch I don’t believe) up to things my jazz lecturer struggled to get his head around. You can buy it on amazon or musicroom.
If you’re wanting to know some "jazz chords" in the mean time I’ll give you some voicings for a 12 bar in C. These are known as 13th voicings and are designed to be played with a bass player, as they are rootless chords.
C chord voicing – Bb D E A
F chord voicing – A D Eb G
G chord voicing – F A B E
These are voiced in a way that you have to move around the keyboard as little as possible, whilst having the important "jazz" notes in them – 3 and 7 (most important) and 11 and 13 (outside notes). Try playing the 12 bar sequence with just those notes making up your chord (played every beat), with a melody/improvisation on top. Once you’ve got the hang of that then try playing the left hand with a more interesting rhythm.
Listen to a lot of jazz piano and see what you can learn:
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?stream=53386&genre=&site=live365&tm=6387
It would take me more than a little time to teach music theory. But if you just want to get general basics check out:
http://www.musictheory.net/
Or check out a book The text book my class uses is called Tonal Harmony.
These will help you to learn basic music theory. There are also programs lie practica musica which help.
Hope this helped at least a little bit.