Lesson 1: Moderate sing q q n azz Piano Left Hand Techniques = q e b by Ron Drotos One of the biggest questions that aspiring azz pianists ask me is, "What do I do ith my left hand" Once you get a sense of hat's possible for the left hand, you can then decide hich technique to use on each tune you play A lot of this ill depend on your on approach to each song and also on the style of the musicians you're playing ith as ell as the particular playing situation you're in To give you a good sense of this, I've arranged the great azz classic "Oh, Lady Be Good" using the 5 most popular left hand styles in azz piano Learn each one thoroughly and analyze ho the particular technique relates to the underlying chords Then choose the one or to techniques you like best and use them on your favorite azz standards Lesson 1 shos a "stride piano" technique typical of early azz and the sing era of the 190s and early 0s The right hand is reminiscent of Count Basie's great 196 recording of the tune Have fun! 1 Stride piano Copyright 2016 Ron Drotos E m7 "Oh, Lady Be Good" Music by George Gershin Lyrics by Ira Gershin (192 - Public Domain) Arranged by Ron Drotos G o 7 n
C 6 A 7 n n b b C o 7 b b b b b n n n b " "Basie" ending G 7 b - G o 7 n n n! G o 7 n n > 2
Lesson 2: No let's learn a alking bass line This technique can be used in many types of azz, from sing to post-bop styles You can alk bass lines hen playing solo piano, or if you're accompanying a vocalist or instrumentalist and no bass player is present I've added a fe chord substitutions that are commonly played during the middle section, or "bridge" Moderate sing q q = q e b 2 Walking bass b b G o 7 n b n E 7 n n b b b b G o 7 b b b b n n! G 7 n
C 6 E m7 n C o 7 b A 7 b b b b n n n n n! F m7(b 5 ) B 7! n n G o 7 > >
5 Lesson : My piano teacher Billy Taylor told me that hen he as playing in the early 190s, bass players ere developing a melodic ay of playing alking bass lines (similar to the bass line I rote in Lesson 2) Dr Taylor vividly remembered bass players asking him to stop playing stride and to voice his LH chords higher up on the piano, to stay out of their ay The "shell" voicings I sho here ere very common during the bebop era By including the root and either rd or 7th of each chord, they give enough to indicate the basic tonality hile letting the bass player and soloist (or right hand) use any melodic notes they prefer Notice ho I've added some bebop-style embellishments to the RH melody I've also changed many of the 6th chords to Ma7, and added an ending that's typical of the bebop era Moderate sing q q G Ma7 = q e "Shell" voicings G Ma7 G o 7 n 5 G Ma7 E 7 n n n 9 G Ma7 G Ma7 G o 7 b n
1 b n b b G Ma7 D m7 G 7 6 n 17 C 6 C o 7 n F m7(b 5 ) B 7 b 21 E m7 n A 7 n n ẇ n 25 G Ma7 G Ma7 G o 7 n 29 C m7(b 5 ) C m7 B m7 B b m7 A b 7 G Ma7 b b b n b b b
7 Lesson : LH voicings ith the root, rd, and 7th of each chord can give a surprisingly full sound sound Even Bill Evans, ho popularized the rich A and B voicings found in our next lesson, often used these more basic voicings hen playing solo piano Don't orry if your hands aren't large enough to stretch the 10th that some of these require You can simply re-arrange those voicings to be root, rd and 7th, as in the second measure here The RH part is exactly the same as in lesson, so you can compare the difference in the LH sound beteen the 2 and -note voicings Moderate sing q q G Ma7 LH voicings containing the Root, rd, 7th = q e G Ma7 G o 7 b n 5 G Ma7 E 7 n n n 9 G Ma7 G Ma7 o G 7 b b n
1 b n b b G Ma7 D m7 G 7 8 n 17 C Ma7 C o 7 n F m7(b 5 ) B 7 21 E m7 b n A 7 n n ẇ n n 25 G Ma7 G Ma7 G o 7 b n 29 C m7(b 5 ) C m7 B m7 B b m7 A b 7 G Ma7 b b b n b b b
9 Lesson 5: Here are the famous left hand 'A and B' voicings, popularized by Bill Evans Even though these voicings are the basis of much contemporary azz playing, you'll learn a lot more as a player is you ork through all 5 of these lessons in order, so you understand here ho these rootless voicings developed historically (And as a bonus, you'll kno 5 great LH techniques hereas a lot of azz pianists noadays only kno one ay to play!) Notice ho I've moved the RH up an octave in spots to keep it out of the left hand's ay Have fun learning these LH techniques and applying them to your favorite azz standards! If you ant a step-by-step method of learning more about azz piano, visit me at KeyboardImprovcom Enoy! Moderate sing q q G Ma7 5 n = q e G Ma7 b 5 A and B rootless voicings n E 7 G Ma7 G o 7 n G Ma7 9 G Ma7 o G 7 b n n
1 b - G Ma7 G 7 n b D m7 10 n n 17 C 6 n C o 7 F m7(b 5 ) B 7 b b n 21 E m7 A 7 n n 25 G Ma7 G Ma7 G o 7 b n 29 G Ma7 b A b 9( 11 ) b b GMa1(11) n
About Ron Drotos Ron Drotos has orked as a pianist, arranger, composer, and teacher in Ne York City since 1989 His career has brought him to Carnegie Hall, both as pianist and arranger for the NY Pops, and to the Broaday stage, here he has both conducted and played for shos such as Smokey oe s Cafe, Singing On A Star (Tony nomination for Best Musical), and Fosse Ron has played piano ith azz greats Chris Brubeck and Giacomo Gates, and composes choral music that is heard in universities across the United States Ron has orchestrated over 19 shos for the legendary Princeton Triangle Club, and particularly enoys his time spent teaching and performing at the Fairbanks (Alaska) Summer Arts Festival As a teacher of piano improvisation, he loves that magic moment hen everything clicks for the student, and the music begins flo!