I have been thinking about a remark Bill Evans made on a Utube video. In the video (which I have lost track of) he talked about the importance of having a 'structure' to work from. I notice that he did not say a 'set of chord changes' though in some sense there must be some chords. I don't think that the interviewer grasped the point, or at least she did not elaborate on it, so Bill did not get a chance to enlarge.
What I interpret this to mean is having 'one' way to play through a set of changes that suits the tune; something that is deeply ingrained in the memory which one can then use to work away from, to alter and to modify.
Thinking of changes one by one, can I think, lead to playing chords in some kind of standard format - maybe up from the root or stuff like that. Thinking of a 'structure' gives room for decorative devices.
I've heard that video and have read about what Bill had to say concerning his methodology or approach in books.
Here's what I think this great improvising pianist meant by that statement:
The "structure" of a song consists of those same things we must know when setting up a song inside Band in a Box:
The number of bars of the whole chorus in total.
The number of bars for any possible A section, B section, etc.
How many of those A, B, C, etc. sections there are in the chorus and their locations within one chorus.
The Melody.
To some certain extent, the feel of the original.
Bill's knowledge of chord theory and his incredible ear, it likely was not necessary for him to think of any of the Standards as a series of specified chords.
Matter of fact, one of the most intriguing parts of his performances comes about due to the marvelous ways he could substitute chords and entire chord change sequences on the fly. Some of which require us mere mortals to have to painstakingly transcribe the passage onto paper and then analyze what really took place. Lots to learn by doing that with the playing of Mr. Evans.
I have one Bill Evans album "Everybody Digs Bill Evans - Keepnews Collection".
Here's one thing I appreciate about that collection - the songs are all pretty short. Most of them are under 5 minutes. The 'Epilogue' track is only about 30 seconds long, but it is complete.
I've heard that video and have read about what Bill had to say concerning his methodology or approach in books.
Here's what I think this great improvising pianist meant by that statement:
The "structure" of a song consists of those same things we must know when setting up a song inside Band in a Box:
The number of bars of the whole chorus in total.
The number of bars for any possible A section, B section, etc.
How many of those A, B, C, etc. sections there are in the chorus and their locations within one chorus.
The Melody.
To some certain extent, the feel of the original.
.....
So in this instance, "structure" = "foundation".
--Mac
I was thinking about after this process. OK, one needs to know what chords go where, what the form is and the melody, but after this....?
Lets say you are learning some song and you know all of the above, its memorised. What is memorised? Yes the melody, but the chords still need voicing and the timing and tempo used to place those fingers just so, is what makes a song.
So, what I mean by working from a structure (leaving aside what Bill meant in this off the cuff remark), is getting some specific patterns of playing that are compatible with the chords, with suitable voicings and the like and using this structure as a springboard for your playing.
This way instead of plonking out those same old root position C7's whilst learning you start with more interesting material.
In my mind I am thinking this is a better way to go, find a 'structure' internalise that, then work of that for impro.
Guitarists do this all the time as the limitations of their instrument compels them to use voicings from day 1
I think you are referring to Style, and the style of accompaniment is also part of the Structure thing.
But all the Styles won't do a player any good if they don't have the underlying Structure locked in first.
Part of the fun of both listening to and playing jazz music is the way different players will invoke a different style to the same basic piece.
Was just thinking about that today, wife broke out the Christmas music CDs, and had Vince Guaraldi's wonderful interpretation of "The Little Drummer Boy", the later recording with the Flugelhorn on lead. While it is not the actual Carol in the sense that one could sing the original lyrics along with it, the framework still states that particular song. Wonderful interpretation. Love those chromatics here.
The way chords are voiced are important to Evans's style. He was one of the first to think in terms of rootless voicings, upper structures, alternating close seconds and thirds, harmonic planing using 4ths etc..all these devices came from his superior knowledge of 19th century piano Impressionism. Nowadays of course this is as much of a modern jazz cliche as anything else but it was revolutionary at the time and paved the way for Keith Jarrett and the style of music known simply as 'ECM' (one if the few occasions a record label gives its name to a type of music).
In many ways Evans and the Guaraldi example are the opposite of thinking in terms of one chord at a time. The affecting example Mac posted to above is a classic case of what is essentially 're-composition'or 're-harmony'. Structural awareness in that sense is the ability to avoid a literal interpretation of the original. That involves knowing the essential features of the melody, where the strong points of harmonic resolution are and then being able to take a different route to that resolution from the original.
But Vince did not play the actual Melody of Little Drummer Boy, Alan.
And I still contend that Bill would have had to have known each target song inside and out as to its structure in order to be able to do what he did with them. Otherwise, he would not know if he hadn't just repeated what the original did.
He would have had to apply his marvelous sense and viewpoint of harmony to something, after all.
I was interested in what you had to say Alan, I am thinking about the process one goes through after one has learnt the chords. It seems to me that learning chords/form is just the very first step. Here is my take on this tonight, thinking of real book standards. but its an evolving thing..
First base is just to be able to play the chords in root positions
This of course wont really do.
Second is to voice the chords using inversions, thinking about voice leading.
Third base is to voice chords using inversions and adding and subtracting different notes, extensions
Fourth, create melodic forms using all of the above
Fifth consider the direction of the harmony and the kind of 'intent' the piece has, echo the melody and use the structure in a meaningful way to make a statement
Of course one does not really go through each and every phase ad nasueam (although it might be a good leanring curve), but if one can use all of these methods... its effective playing..
I am just getting all this together, I have done my chores on chords and scales and the theory is there, its now about interpretation... and getting there in an instant at will..
A couple of years hard graft to get 'there' I think..
When its jazz and realbooks, first thing for the pianist or other chord comping instrumentalist to learn is to drop the 5th out of any chord forms.
Second thing to learn is the simple Tritone for each of the 12 Dom7 chords. This one is cool and there really are only 6 tritone two-noters that cover all 12 chords, since one Tritone reverses for its sister key. Ex: Tritone of C7 chord is E and Bb, the 3 and b7, but the same two notes are the Tritone for the flatted fifth note of the C scale, F#, only their number positions are now reversed, E is the b7 and Bb is now the 3.
Practice your 2-5-1 drills using only Tritone comping in the LH whenever there's a dom7, then practice adding the 9 quickly to all two-note Tritone patterns.
Also very important to work those chords in both "open" as well as the closed positions. That can get even less fingers involved, but the yield can sound like more piano. For example, try playing two of the notes of a chord with LH and two an octave or more above with RH.
And avoid that rock 'n roll 5th like the plague.
The reason to avoid the 5th is that playing the root and the 5th together creates a tone exactly one octave lower than the root but at half amplitude. "Power Chord" may be cool when playing alone, not so cool when playing jazz, for the most part.
It is important to not think that you've "got it" when you can grab those triads in any of the three inversions, then.
The concept involves only playing the most important notes that give a certain chord its character and identity, throw away all others.
Save the triads for the autoaccompaniment keyboardist stuff. Those keyboards only need 'em to identify the chord, the chosen style controls the used notes vs the throw-aways.
Bill Evans, played some of his tunes by "retrogressing" the chords from a point he was going to. For instance, the song "I Should Care", the first two bars are Dm7/G7/| Cmaj7///| he would play; F#m7b5/B13/ | Em7/A13/ | . Pianist Jack Reilly is an expert on Bill's playing. He has written a lot about Bill Evans. Check it out. Later, Ray
...the first two bars are Dm7/G7/| Cmaj7///| he would play; F#m7b5/B13/ | Em7/A13/ | .
An old school pianist once told me when I was a lot younger his interpretation of the retrogression theories.
IIRC I asked him how he could appear to be following a fake chart yet wasn't playin' too many of the chords on the chart, yet his playing was always fantastic, always behind the beat, always had the blooz underlying everything.
He simply said, "Look, if the chord you choose shares two or mo' of the same notes, give it a shot."
Took me years to work on that, though. Still am. heh.
...the first two bars are Dm7/G7/| Cmaj7///| he would play; F#m7b5/B13/ | Em7/A13/ | .
An old school pianist once told me when I was a lot younger his interpretation of the retrogression theories.
IIRC I asked him how he could appear to be following a fake chart yet wasn't playin' too many of the chords on the chart, yet his playing was always fantastic, always behind the beat, always had the blooz underlying everything.
He simply said, "Look, if the chord you choose shares two or mo' of the same notes, give it a shot."
Took me years to work on that, though. Still am. heh.
--Mac
Ha, that's a great line Mac, and just further identifies the greatness of Jazz, (you know the one, start by throwing the rule book away)
OK, Seriously, Horst Jankowski did exactly what you and 'Later Ray' mentioned with "A Walk In The Black Forest" back in 1965.
The way he used inversions provided sensational tension and therefore created the opportunity for resolution that was absolutely amazing, while it was the string section that held the chord structure of the song.
Many average listeners probably don't completely comprehend why they like what they hear. Those hidden nuances are what contributed to the greatness of musicians such as Jankowski, Bill Evans and many more.
I think we all can agree: it's not always "what you play", it's "how you play it"
Trevor
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