In this series, we learn how to harmonize melodies by inverting the chords studied in the "Five Jazz Chord Types" to make full, four-note chords under melodies.
Study tunes in this lesson series are:
Lesson #1: Lady Be Good
Lesson #2: My Buddy
Lesson #3: Manhattan
The Five Jazz Chord Types
Check this out!
Slow down the videos to study them more closely with these helpful apps.
I have been hearing from a student of mine about an app he uses to slow my video lessons down so he can study them more closely. The App's retains the pitch while slowing the video itself down This way one can see more precisely where my hands are moving in case they are moving too fast for you. It's called, Transcribe+
Here's what he says about it. . .
Glen,
I used to use Amazing Slow Downer. I think it was with a CD player? Transcribe+ is on the iPad / iPhone and works so well on a tablet-touch interface. For me it has replaced Amazing Slow Downer..
Usually I don’t need it because you explain so clearly. Sometimes though I will loop and slow down a passage so I can be sure to repeat it enough to drill it into the hands. What the program does is to give users complete control over the video and audio speed. That way, you can slow down the performance as much as you want and learn to copy the performance note-by-note without changing the pitch. I learned from Transcribe+. for example, that in your Christmas Song performance you used 10ths a lot in the left hand. And you often skipped the 5th in the left hand and played only root and 10th. I also noticed where you timed the RH melody to coincide with the LH chords. I found this stuff out by applying Transcribe to your video.
Mike in Redondo
Chord players . . .
Play from a fake book by
matching chord inversions to melody
Some samples of my cocktail piano stylings
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
In this YouTube video I demonstrate eight different cocktail piano styles
In this three-lesson series, we transform simple jazz chords, as studied in the "Five Jazz Chord Types" piano lesson, into open-voiced chords so we can harmonize melodies with satisfying cocktail piano sound.
Play your favorite standards
with easy listening jazz chords
$112
Buy all six lessons
from both series
$100
Now read this!
$19.99
Seven Lesson Package $112
Play from a fake book with open voicings
Begin with the "Five Jazz Chord Types" lesson which provides the essential raw material for harmonization. Then, you can begin to study with either, or both, of the chord-method series above.
Here are some longer cocktail piano sets of my playing on Youtube
Click on the photo below to see excerpts from the one-hour lesson.
Study tunes in this lesson series are:
Lesson #1: What'll I Do?
Lesson #2: It Had to Be You
Lesson #3: The Man I Love
The term “cocktail music” conjures up a lot of images. Generally it is associated with that now bygone era of class, associated with high society from the 1920’s thru the early 1960’s. But cocktail still remains cool and enjoyed in certain social settings today. Cocktail piano means to play in a pleasant manor while people are enjoying evening cocktails and making conversation in a social setting anywhere, be it at a corner bar, cocktail lounge, private party, wedding, company event or restaurant. Playing for diners in a restaurant is also referred to as “dinner music’ and should be played quietly so as not to interfere with conversation or digestion. There are many ways to play cocktail style piano. I have been able to survive the ups and downs of my career by having multifaceted music skills. I play a wide variety of styles in classical, jazz, band and solo stage playing. I can incorporate a lot of this versatility into my playing when I’m on cocktail gigs. I have a few favorite or personal styles that I default into naturally. One of them is to play in a clean, soft, sensitive, classical jazz style that sounds quite controlled and arranged. Another is to open up and play in an uncontrolled, splashy style with a quasi stride effect at times. You’ll be able to hear some of what I’m trying to describe in the video recordings below and the CD following them. If you find my cocktail styles appealing you can get some inside details on what I am doing in my video lesson, “Cocktail Piano Arrangements“, where I attempt describe the voicings and techniques I use in various standards as I play them down.
The Five Jazz Chord Types
Let me play some relaxing cocktail piano for you.
If one of your goals is to learn how to play cocktail piano and understand how to read from a fake book, then this is the most important lesson to begin with. Knowing how to make the five basic jazz chord types from any given note is fundamental to your evolving understanding of playing piano by chord concept. Once you understand how the five basic chord qualities are made, then you can go on to harmonize melodies with the two different methods shown in the "Reading from a Fake Book Series" (above). Various exercises and study concepts are shown that will make your practice enjoyable and sound like music, not just practice. A 24-page PDF with practice charts is included.
"Be sure to begin with this lesson if you don't have it already"
Contact me : glenrose88@yahoo.com
How to harmonize melodies in fake books
using simple and satisfying jazz chords.
Begin with the "Five Jazz Chord Types" lesson which provides the essential raw material for harmonization. Then, you can begin to study with either, or both, of the chord-method series below. You will not only learn the songs studied in the lessons, you will learn concepts that can be applied to any other tunes you might want to play. For those who want to add variety and richness to their cocktail playing, I highly recommend learning both methods.
What is cocktail piano music?
Click on the video
VLC Media Player info
VLC can be downloaded for free. I highly recommend it to al my students. Get it at this link: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
Open voice students, check out these instructions and tips that Dave in Denver has provided for help with studying the lessons:
The app has multiple applications for a student trying to both listen to a teaching video and be able to actually see what is happening on the keyboard. Here are a few suggestions you may find very helpful:
1. With a video playing go to the top left go to: PLAYBACK, SPEED. There you’ll be able to suit the audio and visual aspects of the video to suit your own needs. Whichever speed you chose both the audio as well as the video will change to your selected speed.
2. With a video playing go to the bottom left go to the small “n” shaped icon. This is used to make a “loop” of anything you wish to have played over and over repetitively without your having to do more than define the stop and ending points. Thus with the video playing click on the icon at the point where you want the video to start the loop. Continue watching the video and click on the icon when you wish to define the end of the loop. The loop will now repeat until stopped by clicking on the icon third time.
3. If you are still puzzled and would like the video to slow down as much as possible, you can watch the video frame-by-frame. On the bottom left look at the top row of icons. The one on the far right is shaped like a triangle pointing to the right with a tiny bar just to its left. With the video playing click on the triangle. Each click will show a single frame of the recording. Keep clicking and eventually you will be able to minutely follow what the teacher is doing. To return to “normal” speed click on the black triangle at the far bottom left row of icons.
4. If you have a mouse that you can program to control movement up/down a page in a document, you can also use the mouse to vary volume up and down as well. To do this with the video playing put the mouse cursor on the upper right of the screen. You will see nothing happen, but as soon as you roll the mouse-wheel up/down you’ll see and hear the volume change accordingly. This can be especially useful when playing a “loop” as you can lower the volume of the loop to a level where the constant loud repetition will not drive you (or anyone in the near vicinity) absolutely nuts.
Dave in Denver
Get both of the "Playing from a Fake Book,"
chord-method series above plus the "Five Jazz Chord Types lesson
Playing from a fake book
and. . .
MP4 video will take
10-20 minutes to download
Includes 24-page PDF, study charts
Copyright © Glen Rose Jazz.