You comment about the historical context of even the modal playing of Miles and Co is super important in that 1: you don't need the modes AT ALL to play anything and everything before that era and 2: you shouldn't bother with them until you have worked up to it in your own history. The way one learns and uses them will then be filtered through an entirely different lens than the Chord/Scale method teaches.....IF folks even decide that they need to learn them at all.
Fantastic! Glad you took the time to write a book. Just bought the PDF at your web site. IMO your method is more approachable and logical than the chord scales of other educators. I have banged my head against those books too for years and glad I found your channel.
Thanks! I played those chord scales for years, but I always knew in the back of my mind that something was off about them. When I started working on this stuff instead (and then after that, the Barry Harris methods,) my playing immediately got way better and more authentic.
I've been loving this videos, man! Gonna pick up your book. One quick question: Would one (potentially oversimplified) way of thinking about the concepts in this video along with your Barry Harris videos together be to use his half steps rules throughout the measure of a particular chord, but as a new chord is coming up, just insert these approach note ideas you mention here? I've been practicing the half step rules a lot and I think this is my missing piece. As an example if I had a C7 for two bars, leading to a G7, could I just use the half step rules/scales to fill 1.75 bars and then use two eighth note approach tone ideas (like maybe one above, one below) to connect to a a chord tone of G7? At least as a means of practicing to get these sounds in my ears/fingers? Thanks in advance!
The missing link.....forgotten by all the professors...except a few like you. TYG. Modes are for cocktail parties when the records are on, as a conversational weapon. Those sexy greek names....
I love this video! I love this perspective. I've been looking at the Barry Harris stuff lately. How do his ideas intersect with this chord tone approch perspective?
Thanks so much! I'd say that Barry's ideas are very closely related to this. Are you familiar with his extra half step rules? I'm planning on dong a video on that topic soon. To me, those extra half step rules are just different 1, 2, and 3 note approaches into chord tones (for that matter, if you're thinking that way, all a scale even is is chord tones connected with approach notes.)
It’s seems that the Barry Harris approach intersects with every other approach. I’m on the verge of using the phrase “one-stop-shopping”. It feels like joining a cult; but I’m in. Just have to find a way to simplify the 1/2 step rules.
I totally agree Ron. It does feel almost like being in a cult. I'd heard Barry's name for years, and heard that he used different nomenclature from everybody else, and sort of avoided him because I was so invested in already knowing and using the mainstream theory/terminology. Out of curiosity I watched some of the videos of Barry teaching his class, and pretty much instantly felt like what he was saying made so much more sense, and the things he was playing were so much better, than any teacher or theory I'd ever run across, I just knew that he war right, and that was that, I started thinking in his terms, and haven't looked back.
@@billgrahammusic I think the BH stuff seems cultish simply because it is the minority position, but the masses are generally asses anyway. ;) It is funny how much sunk cost affects people even being able to consider different methods of doing things, even if the method they have sunk all this time and effort is getting them nowhere.
"A Certain Jazz Piano Book", and "A Certain Jazz Theory Book" also held me back for years. In the past 2 months, having discovered Barry Harris, I have made more progress towards authentic jazz language than in the past 20 years. So sad that those two books seem to be standard curriculum in many jazz programs, confusing generations of players. Thank you Bill for taking the time to share your knowledge, it has helped me tremendously in terms of clarifying things that I've struggled with for years. You have a gift for teaching.
barry harris says that thinking about chords takes you away from music, I'm confused, why would I say this, barry? help me please take me out of that doubt. Here I leave the video link ua-cam.com/video/uTTNL-RHEMs/v-deo.html where barry comments. Please look at it, I hope your answer thank you very much
Just had your book delivered, bought through watching your excellent videos, thanks Bill. Looks to be full of invaluable "musical" explanations, best regards from Wales UK
It's good to learn from people who actually know what they're talking about. I'm finishing a Jazz BA and i'm so burned out from all of the esoteric information that I'm responsible for, knowing that the music (while complicated) isn't THAT complicated lmao woo Barry Harris
...CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BA - OK - NOW YOU'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THE PAPER FOR CERTIFICATION... - NOW TO SUCCESSFULLY APPLY IT... - COLLEGES DON'T TEACH THE THINGS THAT THEY SHOULD... - NOW TO GET YOUR #D.M.A./PH.D - FROM THE SCHOOL OF - #HARDKNOCKS -
I’ve got your book and love it. I’m keen for the sequel if it ever comes out. Another thing that helped my improvising was to think in terms of creating melodic call and response, statement and answer phrases. Before I realised this I was just noodling.
man, just discovered your channel and i love it! awesome videos, i needed something like this for a loooong time, you're my hero. good luck with all your stuff, please keep making videos
@@billgrahammusic I'm so happy you've said that. I've been sat on chapter 9, Scale Theory for a while now and I think I'm just gonna give it a miss. The previous chapters about left hand voicings I have found very useful though. Having said that, your video on the Family Of Four Dominants has done far more for my playing than that book. Thanks again and please keep creating lots of wonderful content! Just bought your book.
@Liam Brown...Perhaps we might also add the John Mehegan books to that list of jazz theory books that confuse rather than enlighten ? If you don´t know who I´m talking about, don´t worry. You haven´t missed anything.
Finding Bill, Barry, and Conner (my current trinity) was honestly a godsend for me, no pun intended. My private lesson teacher had told me to get both of Mark Levine's books and that we would be working through them each week. I did so and quickly lost inspiration and cancelled lessons with my teacher, haha, even before our first lesson. I wanted jazz to be as fun to learn as it was to listen to. Magically (and I wish I knew what I was searching for) I came across Bill's channel, as well as Conner, and Barry himself, all which shared these ideas that brought the fun and joy back into my practice. Now it's all I can think about. I even stopped playing video games (was quite addicted) because I knew video games leave the public sphere quickly but I can rely on a piano being in someone's living room many decades from now =)
@@@LokeyeMC...Do you mind me asking you who is Conner. I´d like to look him up on your recommendation. I assume you mean Barry Harris himself when you refer to "Barry" ?
To me this is so much simpler to grasp and also better sounding than the boring "play this mode over that chord" approach. I instinctively use this sort of approach as well as moving chromatically or diatonically with patterns of broken intervals to get to the next chord. Not sure what that is called. Great video!
As much as I admire, respect and follow and benefit from your classes as a way of framing the teachings of our dear master (B. Harris) I fail to see the benefits of teaching Jazz. We should be teaching composition and for "live" improvisation the best tool I can remember was learning "solfège" and transcribing songs as to avoid the Real Book and trying to emulate my favorite musicians. For me learning "how" to Improvise is like building the roof before having the walls, if you can't sing what you want to play, knowing what you should play isn't going to help. But your lessons are some of the best as far as I can tell, so, keep it up.
How many jazz greats learned solfège? It is silly to add another layer of translation to singing melodies that is utterly useless in any other jazz context. Why sing "do" when you really mean "1"? . And with this type of method your ears learn how to hear intervals and think in that way.
It is 2020 why did this video turn up two years ago. It would have saved me an enormous lot of trouble, Now Jazz seems to be doable. Thank you, Sir! It will simplify my exercises a lot
Just found this channel. Fantastic. Very approachable and easy to follow, even for a novice like me. Big support for the positive comments below. I've got the Levine book, and it is a bear :(. I believe that you should not lock yourself into a particular "school of thought" on music theory, and this content works for me. Thanks so much!
Thanks. Just got your book and here you are on UA-cam! Thanks for your explaining. This approach feels right to me which is why I got the book. But like you said, Im not giving up scale studies, just not depending on them. I just didn't make sense to me to "think" 6th mode of melodic minor for two beats and then "think" whole tone diminished for the other two beats.
Great video, very well explained. I do have one question about your use of diatonic approach notes. As an example, starting at 9:30, we're at the end of bar 2 with D7 about to change to G7. The last note of bar 2 is an E, which you describe as a "diatonic approach note" (to the D chord tone of G7). My question is "diatonic with what?" E is not diatonic with our overall key (Bb), but is diatonic with D7 (D mixo) and also G7 (G mixo), so presumably you mean diatonic with one of these--since we're in the midst of the chord transition, which one are you thinking? Correct me if you think there's a better way to look at it, but if one has decided to play a diatonic approach note, doesn't that mean that at least temporarily, one would need to be thinking in terms of the relevant scale? Thanks!
Love your style. Been playing ideas like these on bass for 30 years and didn’t know this is how the early masters did it. I’m not a jazz player but these concepts really do free you from thinking ‘scales’. Thank you
@@billgrahammusic ok, thanks for the reply. Liked your recent video on standards we should know but had similar issues because I have some hearing difficulties. Looking forward to your future videos! Stay well
Hi, What a great method! I'm getting the book. One comment on Example 3. The 3rd full measure with the 1st G7. The analysis looks like it left out part of that measure . It jumped ahead in there to the 2nd measure of G7.
Thanks Mike! Thanks for pointing that out. Looks like when I was editing the video together I somehow left that clip out. Coming from the previous measure, there's a 2 note diatonic approach down to the 3rd of G7, which dips down to it's chromatic lower neighbor and back before jumping up to the root and then down to the fifth.
Question: At that same spot - On the 2nd measure of 3rd example (2nd D7 measure)...starting on the and of 4. Is there a term you would give the four notes: C,B,A#,B? Seems like a common type of enclosure where the chord tone (B) is repeated. I sure like the way that pattern sounds and it seems like it could be deserving of its own name. Note: It also happens on the and of 2 in the same measure where the chord tone (D) is repeated.
Good video - I'm very much with you 'philosophically' about thinking of chord tones and how to get to them (rather than modally). Some constructive feedback (I hope) I wonder if the video format would work better if you showed your hands (as you are) but with the sheet music above, rather than the video of you talking? We could still hear you - but this way it would be easier to see what's going on and why. Just ordered your Pdf from your site - look forward to working through it :) Edit obviously you are already doing this a bit, just think it would be better if the sheet music stayed there :)
@@billgrahammusic Following up on Stuart's suggestion, I would recommend checking out the software used to show the keyboard on the "Jazz Piano School" channel. I've seen some channels where the graphic of the music shows the note(s) you're talking about in a different color. I don't play the piano (I know I should :-) ), so I'm more interested in seeing the music on screen. Very good explanations...
How should one incorporate and practice this over time? Would it be good to start with one approach concept, and do it for one tone in each chord, then the other tones? Then use more approach concepts etc?
I love your videos bill, thanks for posting this. One thing that confuses me a little bit with diatonic approaches to chord tones is that you still have to think about chord scales for those, so it’s not possible to entirely discard chord scale theory ?
I'm not Bill, but I study and studied with teachers who studied with Barry Harris and I think I got the hang of their way of thinking. You'd be surprised by how similar the methods are theoretically and how much they overlap with slight differences, but also how at the same time they lead to completely different sounds. Basically, chord scale theory strips everything you can play on a specific chord down to a specific scale/mode that starts on the root of said chord - for example, if a pianist played a C7#11 they'll simply say you should play a lydian dominant over that, because that's a simple scale which starts from the root of the chord and includes the notes of the chord. It's a method that's simple to teach and understand, but when it comes to actually... You know, sounding good? Well, you're just gonna end up "playing the right notes", with none of the instruments clashing with each other, but the changes won't flow at all and you'll be very restricted in terms of self expression. Someone who studies the traditional way of thinking about this stuff (for example, someone who studied with Barry Harris) would say that the C7#11 chord really comes from the G melodic minor scale (think about G as the ii leading to the V which is C, but you play G-maj7 instead of G-7), and you can play G melodic minor or G minor 6th dim licks over it - these are still scales that you are "confined" to, but unlike the modal way of thinking it's really focused on a small selection of scales, and those are scales that have a familiar sound to us - scales that make sense to our ears. C lydian dominant and G melodic minor may have the same notes, but if you think about G melodic minor you can really understand the sounds you're trying to play much more clearly, without just running up and down these weird and fancy modes. That way you really understand the meaning of these notes and let them flow much more clearly between chords. Man, sorry for the long comment, I hope it answered your question.
Gai Lukatch Thanks a lot for your thoughtful and detailed answer, I hadn’t thought about it this way but makes total sense and feels reassuring that this way of thinking is entirely self contained. Barry Harris’s approach seems more and more like the holy grail of musical understanding that I’d been groping for for years.
Fantastic info! My question is, how to you practice this stuff ? I’m having a hell of a time trying to get chord tones of a tune in my head after playing vaguely for a long time! What’s incredible is that i have been to a formal school of music and I can spell out all the chords on my horn, it’s just that applying it to really playing clearly on the changes, I’m not! I get the feeling that it doesn’t sound like music! any suggestions?
im going to start practicing this after thinking in modes for so long. If it's any help, I plan to go key by key, and pick somewhat random chord progressions, and apply one or two of the enclosures at a time, at a really basic level. until I can move freely based on what I hear, not the rules I set.
@@Jazzmarcel update: I found that since it's not a large concept it's better to practice this with tunes you're working on. It's just you know a half step or two or diatonic movement so it doesn't require much time to think about. What's important to focus on is not so much getting it ur fingers (yes that's important) but listening. I've found that the more consecutive approaches I incorporate, the more of a tense chromatic sound I get. If I want it to sound a little softer on the ear I'll do an arpeggiation with maybe just one enclosure or something. You'll get a feel for the difference in sounds and you can then used them where it's appropriate. Mess around with it and remember to have fun and keep it musical, that is the best way to develop your personal sound as well as your actually connection to what your playing. Happy practicing!
Beating a dead horse here and preaching to the choir, but another drawback to Chord Scale Theory is that it gets you thinking of chords as separate islands of sound instead of as connected progressions that are part of a song. On one of my own low-fi videos, I even argued that one could think of a tune in a single home key and consider the chord tones (harmony) as a means to create tension and release--movement--over that home key. I think that thinking in one key helps you think big picture and be more aware of melodic cohesion on a more macro level. Once I get my piano chops up to snuff, I'll post some more. That said, you've got some really solid and clear videos on the bebop idiom. Playing bop in a convincing manner is challenging, but your videos give us a means to get there:)
really I think the conception of the theory is the problem and not the theory itself. chord scale theory is just a shortcut to help you think faster. The key signature was always there
So once I can play through a tune with chord tones pretty solid it might be a good idea to start playing through the changes using this approach as a sort of exercise?
Just discovered you today. Truly a no-nonsense approach to wrestling with Jazz.
You comment about the historical context of even the modal playing of Miles and Co is super important in that 1: you don't need the modes AT ALL to play anything and everything before that era and 2: you shouldn't bother with them until you have worked up to it in your own history.
The way one learns and uses them will then be filtered through an entirely different lens than the Chord/Scale method teaches.....IF folks even decide that they need to learn them at all.
I like your approach to building on chord tones with approach notes. Very valuable. Very good presentation. Thanks for these great nuggets.
I just respect your great job, nobody explains like you do, God bless you.
Fantastic! Glad you took the time to write a book. Just bought the PDF at your web site. IMO your method is more approachable and logical than the chord scales of other educators. I have banged my head against those books too for years and glad I found your channel.
Thanks! I played those chord scales for years, but I always knew in the back of my mind that something was off about them. When I started working on this stuff instead (and then after that, the Barry Harris methods,) my playing immediately got way better and more authentic.
WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I STARTED???? seriously though, trying to think in modes has not been working great, thanks so much for sharing
Hoping for improv volume 2!
Love your work
when's book 2 coming out?
I've been loving this videos, man! Gonna pick up your book. One quick question:
Would one (potentially oversimplified) way of thinking about the concepts in this video along with your Barry Harris videos together be to use his half steps rules throughout the measure of a particular chord, but as a new chord is coming up, just insert these approach note ideas you mention here? I've been practicing the half step rules a lot and I think this is my missing piece.
As an example if I had a C7 for two bars, leading to a G7, could I just use the half step rules/scales to fill 1.75 bars and then use two eighth note approach tone ideas (like maybe one above, one below) to connect to a a chord tone of G7? At least as a means of practicing to get these sounds in my ears/fingers? Thanks in advance!
Great tutorials!
The missing link.....forgotten by all the professors...except a few like you. TYG. Modes are for cocktail parties when the records are on, as a conversational weapon. Those sexy greek names....
I love this video! I love this perspective. I've been looking at the Barry Harris stuff lately. How do his ideas intersect with this chord tone approch perspective?
Thanks so much! I'd say that Barry's ideas are very closely related to this. Are you familiar with his extra half step rules? I'm planning on dong a video on that topic soon. To me, those extra half step rules are just different 1, 2, and 3 note approaches into chord tones (for that matter, if you're thinking that way, all a scale even is is chord tones connected with approach notes.)
It’s seems that the Barry Harris approach intersects with every other approach. I’m on the verge of using the phrase “one-stop-shopping”. It feels like joining a cult; but I’m in. Just have to find a way to simplify the 1/2 step rules.
I totally agree Ron. It does feel almost like being in a cult. I'd heard Barry's name for years, and heard that he used different nomenclature from everybody else, and sort of avoided him because I was so invested in already knowing and using the mainstream theory/terminology. Out of curiosity I watched some of the videos of Barry teaching his class, and pretty much instantly felt like what he was saying made so much more sense, and the things he was playing were so much better, than any teacher or theory I'd ever run across, I just knew that he war right, and that was that, I started thinking in his terms, and haven't looked back.
Bill. What impressed me most deeply and immediately, was that the BH clan produced more melodic, interesting and less mechanical lines.
@@billgrahammusic I think the BH stuff seems cultish simply because it is the minority position, but the masses are generally asses anyway. ;)
It is funny how much sunk cost affects people even being able to consider different methods of doing things, even if the method they have sunk all this time and effort is getting them nowhere.
"A Certain Jazz Piano Book", and "A Certain Jazz Theory Book" also held me back for years. In the past 2 months, having discovered Barry Harris, I have made more progress towards authentic jazz language than in the past 20 years. So sad that those two books seem to be standard curriculum in many jazz programs, confusing generations of players. Thank you Bill for taking the time to share your knowledge, it has helped me tremendously in terms of clarifying things that I've struggled with for years. You have a gift for teaching.
What are the books? I would like to know to avoid them in the future
Exactly, just name them, please
barry harris says that thinking about chords takes you away from music, I'm confused, why would I say this, barry? help me please take me out of that doubt. Here I leave the video link ua-cam.com/video/uTTNL-RHEMs/v-deo.html where barry comments. Please look at it, I hope your answer thank you very much
Came here from Reddit. Good job mate. Really informative this one. Thanks. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much!
Just had your book delivered, bought through watching your excellent videos, thanks Bill. Looks to be full of invaluable "musical" explanations, best regards from Wales UK
Amen on the misconceptions of modal thinking in jazz ed.
I was confused for 30 years, and thanks to this, "I'm beginning To See The Light." I ordered his book halfway into watching this.
Which book?
It's good to learn from people who actually know what they're talking about. I'm finishing a Jazz BA and i'm so burned out from all of the esoteric information that I'm responsible for, knowing that the music (while complicated) isn't THAT complicated lmao woo Barry Harris
...CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BA - OK - NOW YOU'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THE PAPER FOR CERTIFICATION... - NOW TO SUCCESSFULLY APPLY IT... - COLLEGES DON'T TEACH THE THINGS THAT THEY SHOULD... - NOW TO GET YOUR #D.M.A./PH.D - FROM THE SCHOOL OF - #HARDKNOCKS -
To me Barry over complicates things
I’ve got your book and love it. I’m keen for the sequel if it ever comes out. Another thing that helped my improvising was to think in terms of creating melodic call and response, statement and answer phrases. Before I realised this I was just noodling.
man, just discovered your channel and i love it! awesome videos, i needed something like this for a loooong time, you're my hero. good luck with all your stuff, please keep making videos
Thanks so much! Happy to help! More videos coming soon.
None of the greats never thought about modes. This is the failure of the education in music schools.
what…all those musicians and you did not mention arguably the biggest jazz pianist- Oscar Peterson?
It would be illuminating to discuss how masters like Bach or Chopin approached improvisation. A big topic.
I wonder if the unnamed author of the jazz theory books is perhaps Mark Levine?
It is indeed.
@@billgrahammusic I'm so happy you've said that. I've been sat on chapter 9, Scale Theory for a while now and I think I'm just gonna give it a miss. The previous chapters about left hand voicings I have found very useful though.
Having said that, your video on the Family Of Four Dominants has done far more for my playing than that book. Thanks again and please keep creating lots of wonderful content! Just bought your book.
@Liam Brown...Perhaps we might also add the John Mehegan books to that list of jazz theory books that confuse rather than enlighten ? If you don´t know who I´m talking about, don´t worry. You haven´t missed anything.
Finding Bill, Barry, and Conner (my current trinity) was honestly a godsend for me, no pun intended. My private lesson teacher had told me to get both of Mark Levine's books and that we would be working through them each week. I did so and quickly lost inspiration and cancelled lessons with my teacher, haha, even before our first lesson. I wanted jazz to be as fun to learn as it was to listen to. Magically (and I wish I knew what I was searching for) I came across Bill's channel, as well as Conner, and Barry himself, all which shared these ideas that brought the fun and joy back into my practice. Now it's all I can think about. I even stopped playing video games (was quite addicted) because I knew video games leave the public sphere quickly but I can rely on a piano being in someone's living room many decades from now =)
@@@LokeyeMC...Do you mind me asking you who is Conner. I´d like to look him up on your recommendation. I assume you mean Barry Harris himself when you refer to "Barry" ?
Thanks! Your explanations are great. Have learned a lot from your other videos, too!
Thanks so much!
To me this is so much simpler to grasp and also better sounding than the boring "play this mode over that chord" approach. I instinctively use this sort of approach as well as moving chromatically or diatonically with patterns of broken intervals to get to the next chord. Not sure what that is called. Great video!
Hi Bill. Where can we find volume 2 of your book ?
It should be added. These melodic ideas are reflected in plenty of famous and familiar works of classical music.
As much as I admire, respect and follow and benefit from your classes as a way of framing the teachings of our dear master (B. Harris) I fail to see the benefits of teaching Jazz. We should be teaching composition and for "live" improvisation the best tool I can remember was learning "solfège" and transcribing songs as to avoid the Real Book and trying to emulate my favorite musicians. For me learning "how" to Improvise is like building the roof before having the walls, if you can't sing what you want to play, knowing what you should play isn't going to help. But your lessons are some of the best as far as I can tell, so, keep it up.
How many jazz greats learned solfège?
It is silly to add another layer of translation to singing melodies that is utterly useless in any other jazz context. Why sing "do" when you really mean "1"?
. And with this type of method your ears learn how to hear intervals and think in that way.
It is 2020 why did this video turn up two years ago. It would have saved me an enormous lot of trouble, Now Jazz seems to be doable. Thank you, Sir! It will simplify my exercises a lot
Thanks Leo, happy to help!
Hey Bill are we getting a Volume 2 anytime soon?
Just found this channel. Fantastic. Very approachable and easy to follow, even for a novice like me. Big support for the positive comments below. I've got the Levine book, and it is a bear :(. I believe that you should not lock yourself into a particular "school of thought" on music theory, and this content works for me. Thanks so much!
Thanks Ed! I appreciate it!
Invaluable for us budding improvisers, Bill. Keep it coming like this with real world (e.g. Standards) examples. Thanks, man.
As someone who picked up paino specifically to play jazz, this is great for organizing my learning approach! thank you!
Personal Bookmark. 3:50
The book is recommended.
Wow! Thank you! Your vid os are exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for your job!
Thanks. Just got your book and here you are on UA-cam! Thanks for your explaining. This approach feels right to me which is why I got the book. But like you said, Im not giving up scale studies, just not depending on them. I just didn't make sense to me to "think" 6th mode of melodic minor for two beats and then "think" whole tone diminished for the other two beats.
Great video, very well explained. I do have one question about your use of diatonic approach notes. As an example, starting at 9:30, we're at the end of bar 2 with D7 about to change to G7. The last note of bar 2 is an E, which you describe as a "diatonic approach note" (to the D chord tone of G7). My question is "diatonic with what?" E is not diatonic with our overall key (Bb), but is diatonic with D7 (D mixo) and also G7 (G mixo), so presumably you mean diatonic with one of these--since we're in the midst of the chord transition, which one are you thinking? Correct me if you think there's a better way to look at it, but if one has decided to play a diatonic approach note, doesn't that mean that at least temporarily, one would need to be thinking in terms of the relevant scale? Thanks!
Mark Holladay I’m thinking of that E as being diatonic to G7. Thanks!
Love your style. Been playing ideas like these on bass for 30 years and didn’t know this is how the early masters did it. I’m not a jazz player but these concepts really do free you from thinking ‘scales’. Thank you
Very well educated! Find myself coming back. Great work
Like your content 👍🏻 but please fix your audio ⬆️ coz I ‘m struggling
Thanks Nick. This is one of my first videos from a few years ago. I’ve changed some things around audio wise since then to (hopefully) improve things.
@@billgrahammusic ok, thanks for the reply. Liked your recent video on standards we should know but had similar issues because I have some hearing difficulties. Looking forward to your future videos! Stay well
Hi, What a great method! I'm getting the book. One comment on Example 3. The 3rd full measure with the 1st G7. The analysis looks like it left out part of that measure . It jumped ahead in there to the 2nd measure of G7.
Thanks Mike! Thanks for pointing that out. Looks like when I was editing the video together I somehow left that clip out. Coming from the previous measure, there's a 2 note diatonic approach down to the 3rd of G7, which dips down to it's chromatic lower neighbor and back before jumping up to the root and then down to the fifth.
Question: At that same spot - On the 2nd measure of 3rd example (2nd D7 measure)...starting on the and of 4. Is there a term you would give the four notes: C,B,A#,B? Seems like a common type of enclosure where the chord tone (B) is repeated. I sure like the way that pattern sounds and it seems like it could be deserving of its own name. Note: It also happens on the and of 2 in the same measure where the chord tone (D) is repeated.
you are the man! thanks a lot for your time.
Good video - I'm very much with you 'philosophically' about thinking of chord tones and how to get to them (rather than modally).
Some constructive feedback (I hope) I wonder if the video format would work better if you showed your hands (as you are) but with the sheet music above, rather than the video of you talking? We could still hear you - but this way it would be easier to see what's going on and why.
Just ordered your Pdf from your site - look forward to working through it :)
Edit obviously you are already doing this a bit, just think it would be better if the sheet music stayed there :)
Thanks for the feedback. I'm still pretty new to making videos, and I'm always looking for ways to make them better.
@@billgrahammusic Following up on Stuart's suggestion, I would recommend checking out the software used to show the keyboard on the "Jazz Piano School" channel. I've seen some channels where the graphic of the music shows the note(s) you're talking about in a different color. I don't play the piano (I know I should :-) ), so I'm more interested in seeing the music on screen. Very good explanations...
Finally bought your book. Hope its the motivation for me to sit down and focus..Thanks for all you do here.
This is mind boggling incredible. Thank you so much .
How should one incorporate and practice this over time? Would it be good to start with one approach concept, and do it for one tone in each chord, then the other tones? Then use more approach concepts etc?
Does your book tell the ways to practice?
Good stuff, thanks Bill.
Have you read Forward Motion by Hal Galper?
PayPal doesn't work in Ghana so how do I get a copy of the book?
I’d like to buy it as the pdf file. Is it available?
Amazing video, and I watch a lot of videos by so many different youtubers. Great job!!!
Great lesson. Nice one
Thanks Andrew, I appreciate it!
Awesome book. Learning a lot. Can’t wait for part 2
Is there a PDF of the music?
Very nice, very clear. Thanks.
but how come you don't blink
Got any vids of you playing Bop?
I love your videos bill, thanks for posting this.
One thing that confuses me a little bit with diatonic approaches to chord tones is that you still have to think about chord scales for those, so it’s not possible to entirely discard chord scale theory ?
I'm not Bill, but I study and studied with teachers who studied with Barry Harris and I think I got the hang of their way of thinking. You'd be surprised by how similar the methods are theoretically and how much they overlap with slight differences, but also how at the same time they lead to completely different sounds. Basically, chord scale theory strips everything you can play on a specific chord down to a specific scale/mode that starts on the root of said chord - for example, if a pianist played a C7#11 they'll simply say you should play a lydian dominant over that, because that's a simple scale which starts from the root of the chord and includes the notes of the chord. It's a method that's simple to teach and understand, but when it comes to actually... You know, sounding good? Well, you're just gonna end up "playing the right notes", with none of the instruments clashing with each other, but the changes won't flow at all and you'll be very restricted in terms of self expression.
Someone who studies the traditional way of thinking about this stuff (for example, someone who studied with Barry Harris) would say that the C7#11 chord really comes from the G melodic minor scale (think about G as the ii leading to the V which is C, but you play G-maj7 instead of G-7), and you can play G melodic minor or G minor 6th dim licks over it - these are still scales that you are "confined" to, but unlike the modal way of thinking it's really focused on a small selection of scales, and those are scales that have a familiar sound to us - scales that make sense to our ears. C lydian dominant and G melodic minor may have the same notes, but if you think about G melodic minor you can really understand the sounds you're trying to play much more clearly, without just running up and down these weird and fancy modes. That way you really understand the meaning of these notes and let them flow much more clearly between chords.
Man, sorry for the long comment, I hope it answered your question.
Gai Lukatch Thanks a lot for your thoughtful and detailed answer, I hadn’t thought about it this way but makes total sense and feels reassuring that this way of thinking is entirely self contained. Barry Harris’s approach seems more and more like the holy grail of musical understanding that I’d been groping for for years.
Fantastic info! My question is, how to you practice this stuff ? I’m having a hell of a time trying to get chord tones of a tune in my head after playing vaguely for a long time! What’s incredible is that i have been to a formal school of music and I can spell out all the chords on my horn, it’s just that applying it to really playing clearly on the changes, I’m not! I get the feeling that it doesn’t sound like music! any suggestions?
im going to start practicing this after thinking in modes for so long. If it's any help, I plan to go key by key, and pick somewhat random chord progressions, and apply one or two of the enclosures at a time, at a really basic level. until I can move freely based on what I hear, not the rules I set.
alistair Cornacchio thanks 🙏🏾........I will try your advice!
@@Jazzmarcel update: I found that since it's not a large concept it's better to practice this with tunes you're working on. It's just you know a half step or two or diatonic movement so it doesn't require much time to think about. What's important to focus on is not so much getting it ur fingers (yes that's important) but listening. I've found that the more consecutive approaches I incorporate, the more of a tense chromatic sound I get. If I want it to sound a little softer on the ear I'll do an arpeggiation with maybe just one enclosure or something. You'll get a feel for the difference in sounds and you can then used them where it's appropriate. Mess around with it and remember to have fun and keep it musical, that is the best way to develop your personal sound as well as your actually connection to what your playing. Happy practicing!
Beating a dead horse here and preaching to the choir, but another drawback to Chord Scale Theory is that it gets you thinking of chords as separate islands of sound instead of as connected progressions that are part of a song. On one of my own low-fi videos, I even argued that one could think of a tune in a single home key and consider the chord tones (harmony) as a means to create tension and release--movement--over that home key. I think that thinking in one key helps you think big picture and be more aware of melodic cohesion on a more macro level. Once I get my piano chops up to snuff, I'll post some more. That said, you've got some really solid and clear videos on the bebop idiom. Playing bop in a convincing manner is challenging, but your videos give us a means to get there:)
So well said! That is how i think about it. What is you UA-cam channel
really I think the conception of the theory is the problem and not the theory itself. chord scale theory is just a shortcut to help you think faster. The key signature was always there
So once I can play through a tune with chord tones pretty solid it might be a good idea to start playing through the changes using this approach as a sort of exercise?
Lot of information but not one of the best teachers on You Tube 😱
Jazz Piano? Jazz Theory books? Mark Levine's books changed my life drastically. I can't thank him enough.