Author: Jason
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Finding Your G Spot
No, it’s not that kind of article. But it’ll probably drive up the hit count a bit… So set spam filters to maximum and we’re going in… Go to your instrument and play a single simple G, nothing more. Listen to it, really listen to it. Listen to the attack and the way it rings.…
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A Shaw Thing – Connecting Pentatonic Scales
Mention pentatonics in jazz and people will probably immediately think of Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. They might also think of trumpeter Woody Shaw, who developed pentatonic playing to an incredible level. Woody’s kaleidoscopic approach involved zipping across multiple tonalities on each chord by using collections of pentatonics. First things first though – for now, we’ll…
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Geronimo! …and Thoughts from New Chief Sitting Bull’s Head
Let’s hope that the Evening Standard gossip column rumours about conversion of the Bull’s Head in Barnes into a ghastro pub aren’t true. It’s a great venue in a beautiful part of London, with one of the best maintained pianos in town. This just in from www.thebullshead.com : “Geronimo Inns & The Bulls Head Geronimo…
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My First Jazz Teachers
A trip down memory lane. I grew up in ‘70s London (well, to reference the old gag, I grew up as much as a musician ever can). I learned the piano from the age of about five, and it was classical tuition, which was the way it was for kids in those days. No problem,…
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Rootless Voicings from Scratch
You simply can’t play modern jazz without knowing these voicings in all the keys. It’s a bit like getting the hang of the clutch when you’re learning to drive. While they’re not the only voicings used, they are the backbone of jazz piano and you need them so instinctively programmed into your hands that you can play…
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Four-Note Scales from Melodic Minor
Well, can we call a four-note scale a scale at all? Possibly not, particularly the ones we’ll be looking at, since the even spread of four notes is more reminiscent of an arpeggio than a scale. But conceptualising them as scales can be very useful as a device for soloing. What’s more, there are ways of expanding these…
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You’ve Been Taught the Wrong Chord Tones
Hold it right there – if you’ve learned jazz within the past twenty years or so, it’s likely you’ve been taught the wrong chord tones on tonic chords. People tend to teach from the perspective of chord-scales. Which is fine. Pretty much the first thing we’re taught is to stack our chord tones in thirds.…
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Modern Merengue Piano Basics
If you’ve found this article, you probably don’t need to be told what merengue is. But let’s run things down very briefly to start us off. Merengue, the Latin-American musical style originating on the island of Hispaniola (comprising the Dominican Republic and Haiti), has over the past three or four decades become one of the most…
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Some Thoughts from the Piano Chair of a Jam Session
Jam sessions are a fantastic tradition, and I don’t think I know any decent jazz player that hasn’t frequented them, or even run one. These sessions fulfil so many different functions and needs. They are social events. If you’re new to town, jams are where you go to check out the scene and make contacts.…
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Coltrane’s Substitution Tunes
On two groundbreaking albums, Blue Train (1957) and Giant Steps (1960), John Coltrane presented a group of original tunes that stretched to breaking point the possibilities of functional harmony. Shortly after these albums he began increasingly to turn his back on the traditional use of chord changes. Of the 11 tunes on these two albums…
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