How To Play Body and Soul

The song, Body and Soul is a slow ballad. It was written in 1930 by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The music by John Green is quite popular and has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1953. Plus, other great artists like Sarah Vaughn and fRank Sinatra have recorded it.

Chords and Lyrics to Body and Soul

Intro:

Ebm7
Ab13  Adim7
Bbm  Ebm7  Ab7
Db  Gb6  Db  Bb7#5  Bb7

Ebm7
Ddim7/Eb
Ebm7
Ddim7/Eb

Verse:

Ebm7  Ddim7/Eb  Ebm7
Life's dreary for me,
Ddim7/Eb     Ebm7  Ddim7/Eb Ebm7 Bb7#5  Bb7
days seem to be long as years

Key Change (3 flats) - Key of Eb

Eb6 Ddim7/Eb  Eb6
I look for the sun,
Ddim7/Eb  Eb6  Bb7#5  Ebmaj7
but I see none through my tears
D7sus D7 Gm                    Gm(maj7)
Your heart must be like a stone
Gm                            C9
to leave me here all alone
Bb                       Gm7                        Cm
when you could make my life worth living
F9                                      Fm7    Bb7  bb7#5
by simply taking what I'm set on giving

Key Change (4 flats) - Key of Ab
Expressively

Ebm         Ebm(maj7)   Ebm7 Ab7sus Ab7
My heart is sad and lonely;

D6        Ab7#5     Db/F     Edim7
For you I sigh, for you dear on - ly.

Ebm7            Ab13  Adim7
Why haven't you seen it?

Bbm          Ebm7 Ab7      Db  Bb7#5 Bb7
I'm all for you  body and soul.

Ebm        Ebm(maj7)  Ebm7   Ab7sus Ab7
I   spend my days in long - ing
Db               Ab7#5    Db/F      Edim7
And won - d'ring why it's me you're wrong - ing;

Ebm7          Ab13 Adim7
I  tell you I mean it,

Bbm         Ebm7 Ab7     Db  A7
I'm all for you body and soul.



Bridge: (Key of D)

D       A7/E             D/F#         G
I can't believe it, it's hard to conceive it,

     D/A       A7         D
That you turn away ro - mance.

Key Change: (Key of C)

Dm7        G7sus G7     Cmaj7          C/E
Are you pretending?  It looks like the ending,

  Dm7          G7            C7    B7  Bb7         
Unless I could have one more dance to prove, dear,

Key Change: (Key of Db)


Ebm       Ebm(maj7)      Ebm7  Ab7sus Ab7
My  life a wreck you're ma - king;

Db           Ab7#5     Db/F     Edim7
You know I'm yours for just the ta - king

Ebm7       Ab13  Adim7
I'd gladly surrender 

Bbm        Ebm7 Ab7    Db  Dmaj7  Db6  Db6/9   
Myself to you body and soul.

There's a couple of chords to know throughout the song:

Ab7#5 = Ab/CEBb
Ab7 = AbGb/CAb
Adim7 = AGb/CEb
Ab13 = AbGb/CF
A7 = AG/C#B and A/GBE

Bb = BbF/DFBb
Bb7#5 = BbAb/DGbBb
Bb7 = BbAb/DF
Bbm = BbF/BbDb

Ddim7/Eb = Eb/FAbCbD
Db/F = FDb/AbEb
D7sus = DA/DGA
Db6 = DbAb/FBbDb
D/F# = F#A/DAD
D/A = A/ADF#

Ebm7 = Eb/EbGbBb
Ebm(maj7) = Bb/GBbDF
Eb6 = Eb/DbFAbB
Edim7 = E/GC

F9 = FAE/G
Fm7 = F/CEbBb

Gm(maj7) = GD/BbDF#Bb
Gm7 = GF/DFC
G7sus = GF/CFA

See Jazz 201 for more resources from Hear and Play.

Happy piano playing!






"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

I'm Just A Lucky So And So by Duke Ellington

I'm Just A Lucky So And So by Duke Ellington

From the album, Miscellaneous. Genre: Jazz. Written in 1945, renewed in 1973.

Play very slow with 4/4/ time signature.

Intro

(Key of G)

G6/9  Cmaj7  G/B  Em  Eb7  D7

(Key of Bb)

Gm(maj7) Gm7  Gm6  Gm+  Gm  Em7b5

Some people need a lot of money

       Eb7      D7         Gm7

and nothin' else but money

                       G9        C9

to make their life complete.

      Gm/D Cm6/D  Gm

Not me, not me.

Gm (maj7) Gm7 Gm6 Gm+ Gm Em7b5

I haven't got a lot of money

       Eb7    D7         Gm7

but life is milk and honey.

                   G9       C9            Gm/Bb

Yes, life is mighty sweet you see

          A7              Am7/D  D7

this is my philosophy.

(Key of G)

G            
As I walk down the street
C
Seems everyone I meet
G                                    G9  c7
Gives me a friendly hello
Gm6/Bb A7 Am7/D  D9       G6    Fmaj7   Eb     D7
I guess I'm just a lucky so and so


G                           C
The birds in every tree

Are all so neighborly
G                               G9    C7
They sing wherever I go
Gm6/Bb  A7  C/D  Am7  D9         G  Fmaj7  Eb  D7b9
I guess I'm just a lucky so and so

G                   C13
If you should ask me the amount
Gmaj7
In my bank account
      C13                                      Gmaj7
I'd have to confess that I'm slippin'
      F#m7b5              B7   em         G#m7b5
But that don't worry me, confidentially
                D/A     A7b9     Am7/D  D9
I've got a dream that's a-pippin'

G                               
And when the day is through
C                          
Each night I hurry to
G                                         G9        C7
A home where love waits, I know
Gm6/Bb  A7  Am7/D   D9  G6  Fmaj7  Eb  D7
I guess I'm just a lucky so and so

G
And when the day is through
C
Each night I hurry to
G                                          G9      C7
A home where love waits, I know
Gm6/Bb  Am7/D  D9                G  C/G  G6/9
I guess I'm just a lucky so and so


Hear Diana Krall play from the album, Stepping Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz9W1oyoRyw

What the chords look like:

LH / RH

Intro

G6/9 = GDB/EAD

Cmaj7 = CB/EGB

G/B = BG/DGD

Em = EB/GDG

Eb7 = EbBb/GDbF

D7 = DA/F#CF

Verse

Gm (maj7) = GF#/BbF#Bb

Gm7 = F/BbFBb

Gm6 = E/BbEBb

Gm+ = Eb/BbEbBb

Gm = GD/BbDG

Em7b5 = EB/GD

Eb7 = EbBb/GDbF

D7 = DA/F#CF

Gm7 = G/GBF

G9 = GDB/DFAD

C9 = CBb/DEBb

Gm/D = D/BbDG

Cm6/D = D/ACEbG

Gm

Gm (maj7)

Gm7

Gm6

Gm

Em7b5

Eb7

D7

Gm7

G9

C9

Gm/Bb = BbG/DG

A7 = AG/C#EA

Am7/D = DG/CEA

D7

Chorus

G = GD/BDEG

C = CGE/CEG

G

G9

C7 = CG/BbE

Gm6/Bb = BbG/DEG

A7

Am7/D

D9 = D/CEF#B

G6 = G/BDEG

Fmaj7 = FC/AE

Eb = EbBb/GD

D7

G

C

G

G9

C7

Gm6/Bb

A7

C/D = DC/EGE

Am7

D9

G

Fmaj7

Eb = EbBb/GD

D7b9dA/F#CEb

G

C13 = C/BbDEA

Gmaj7 = GD/BDF#

C13

Gmaj7

F#m7b5 = F3/CEF#A
B7 = B/BD#F#A
Em
G#m7b5
D/A = A/AF#A
A7b9 = A/GBbCF#
Am7/D
D9
G
C
G
G9
C7
Gm6/Bb
A7
Am7/D
D9
G
C/G
G6/9 = GD/BEA

Song Lyrics


Chord Sheet

You may be interested in learning from these platforms:

Gospel Music Training Center

Jazz Intensive Training Center


  
"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Related articles

• The History of Seventh Chords (ladydpiano.blogspot.com)
• Piano By Ear Chart (pianodiana.blogspot.com)

A Blossom Fell: Diana Krall

     


In 1954, words and music were written to the song, A Blossom Fell by Howard Barnes, 

Harold Cornelius and Dominic John. It was recorded by Nat "King" Cole in 1955. 

A Blossom Fell (Key of Bb) 

Play slowly with 4/4 time signature

Intro

Bb/F  Edim7  Bb/F  A/E  Bb/F  F/A  Eb/G  Dm/F

Eb6  E13 F13

          Bb6       Bdim7  Cm7  F7
A blossom fell from off a tree;

    Cm7    F7                     F7#5      Bb        
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me.

                   Bb/D Dbdim7 Cm F7
The gypsies say, and I know why, 

           Cm7     F7 F7#5 Bb6 Bdim7      F7/C 

 A falling blossom only touches lips that lie.


[ Tab from: http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/n/nat_king_cole/a_blossom_fell_crd.html ]
  F7      Bb6       Bdim7 Cm7 F7
A blossom fell, and very soon

  Cm7     F7                     F7#5     Bb
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon.

  Bb7#5       Eb                        Bb/D          
I thought you loved me;    you said you loved me,

             Cm7 F7             Bbdim7 Bb
We planned together   to dream forever,

    Bb7#5     Eb             Ebm       Bb/D Dbdim7
The dream has ended,     for true love died

            Cm7     Bdim7    F7/C        F7        Bb Ebm/Bb Bb
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied.

 Slash Chords for The Song

L.H. / R.H.

Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AbF
Cm7 = C/CEbG
F7 = A/CEbG
Cm7 = C/BbG
F7 = F/AA
F7#5 = FEb/AA
Bb = Bb/DBb
Bb/D = D/BbF
Dbdim7 = Db/BbEA
Cm = C/EbG
F7 = F/AEbG
Cm7 = C/BbEbBb
F7 = F/AEb
F7#5 = F/C#FA

Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AG
F7/C = C/AEbF
F7 = FEb/AF
Bb6 = Bb/BbDG
Bdim7 = B/AbF
Cm7 = C/CEBG
F7 = A/CEbG
Cm7 = C/BbG
F7 = F/AA
F7#5 = FEb/C#G

Bb = Bb/DD
Bb7#5 = BbAb/DF#D
Eb = Eb/EbGD
Bb/D = D/DFC
Cm7 = C/BbEbBb
F7 = A/AEbA
Bbdim7 = Bb/BbC#G
Bb = BbF/BbDF
Bb7#5 = BbAb/DF#D
Eb = Eb/EbGD
Ebm = Eb/EbGbD

Bb/D = D/BbFBb
Dbdim7 = Db/BbEBb
Cm7 = C/BbEbG
Bdim7 = B/AbDG
F7/C = C/AEbG
F7 = F/EbAC
Bb = BbF/DFBb
Ebm/Bb = BbGb/EbBbD
Bb = BbFD/FBbCF

Diana Krall: Video

Play Piano With Diana Krall (Backup Tracks)

The Very Best of Diana Krall: Piano/Vocal/Chords

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!

"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

5 Best Blogs To Follow About Jazz

Source: TopMastersinHealthcare.com



I just wanted to give a shout out to Elly Brown for contacting PianoDiana regarding their new infographic (JAZZ BENEFITS). I found it to be a great resource and very informative. It's true that music, especially Jazz,  does effect the brain. Presently I am teaching an adult student who received a brain injury from a golf ball. She is making remarkable progress and is so inspiring. Children with autism are responding to rhythm with boom whackers and simple piano patterns.

 I am passionate about this genre of music and if you missed some former posts on the subject of jazz piano, you might want to visit http://ladydpiano.com Music does stimulate the brain and provides better overall health to the individual!

More resources for Jazz Piano:

Jazz Sites

Pianowithwillie
Jazzwax
Wynton Marsalis
Scratchmybrain.
Jazz.com


5 Free Tools for Making an Infograph
How-to-make-an-infographic-online-five-essential-free-tools

List of 25 Jazz Blogs (LadyDpiano is #16)
http://www.blogmetrics.org/jazz

Hear and Play offers 3 Jazz Resources for Purchase

Jazz101
Jazz201
Jazz Intensive Training Center

*affiliate links in post*

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin' Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!

"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Monday Music Quote: Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 "Anything that cannot be defined cannot be taught. If you don't know what something is, then you can't teach it." -- Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, teacher, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, United States.

I think Wynton Marsalis occupies a singular position in popular culture and has to be the most well known jazz musician alive. I recently read an article about him and learned that he received his first trumpet from Al Hirt when he was five or six but really got started playing trumpet at twelve.  

Another key point I recall was that he first learned to play with love and feeling, plus having all the fundamental exercises down. Can you imagine being around eight years old and hanging out with your dad's friends like Dizzy and Art Blakey?

When Wynton was 13 he was in a funk band, The Creators and from then on... he played with a lot of groups, plus school bands. Later on, he attended Julliard to study classical. The rest is history!

What I enjoyed most from the article is Wynton's approach to teaching. He gauge's his methods with the student's interest level. If they're not serious and don't practice, then he would rather just play basketball with them and still like them.

So, the question needs to be asked... How serious are we with our music studies and practicing the piano/keys? As teachers, we're not beating our students over the head with "you have to" approach but rather we're trying to bring them into the feeling of the thing that we're teaching.

I'd like to end with a direct quote from this wonderful musician that I admire greatly.

"Anything that cannot be defined cannot be taught. That's just a fact. If you don't know what something is, then you can't teach it. So the question a band director has to ask himself is, "What will my students get the most use of?" - not "What will my students like? What will be the most beneficial - to learn the history of our people, to learn our culture, to become virtuosic on their instruments or play their instruments in a more individualistic style, to teach them how to play more together and in balance? You have to ask yourself certain key ensemble questions. What music will be most beneficial to my students and their development? Each band director should ask that question and also do the research, themselves, in order to figure out what's available for their students."

You may be interested in these music resources:

Jazz101
Jazz201
Jazz Intensive Training Center

*affiliate links in post*

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin'
Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!



 "Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Related articles

• 12 Rules of Practice, from Wynton Marsalis
• How To Play Love Me Tender
• A Brief History of Jazz
• Monday Music Quote: Duke Ellington
• Where's the Beat? (Part One)
• Great Performances: Wynton Marsalis - Johann Hummel Trumpet Concerto In Eb Major

The Power of Pentatonics

Minor pentatonic blues scale on A (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Last time we discussed the Pentatonic Scale and Pentatonic Patterns. Chaim Burstein said, "Your own ear will always be your best guide as to what works and what doesn't." Let's continue with his very informative article.

Chord Scale Relationships

 

Most heptatonic scales such as locrian and lydian are useful for only one type of chord or another. In contrast, pentatonic scales may be used for over a dozen different chord sounds. There are 12 different uses of the pentatonic scale. There are chord types, like Major, Minor, Dominant, Altered Dominant, Sus4, Half Diminished,etc. Then there are scale degrees from which to build the major pentatonic and then we have the chord tones and tensions that each chord/scale relationship will produce. Thus, when the improvisor is given the chord CMaj7, he has the option of playing a pentatonic from the root 9th or 5th  of the chord.

Generally, the easiest way to apply these new chord/scale options is by practicing them over modal or static chord progressions.

Modal/Free Playing

 

Many improvisors complain of feeling boxed in or trapped by modal tunes and free playing over ostinatos. Pentatonics can provide a tonal framework with which to create new sounds that are not only interesting but structurally coherent as well.

Chord / Scale Options

 

CMaj7

C, D, E, G... D, E, G, A / D, E, F#, A... E, F, A, B / G, A, B, D... A, B, D, E / D, C, A, G, A

There are three possible chord/scale options for the chord CMaj7. (See above example) Notice how the  scalar pattern (from the last lesson) creates a consistency that links each new chord sound to the previous one.

Side Sweeping

 

CMaj7

C, D, E, G... D, E, G, A / Db, Eb, F, Ab... Eb, F, Ab, Bb / C, A, G, E... A, G, E, D / G, E, D, C, A

A technique known as 'side-stepping' is shown above. In this example the improvisor defines the tonal center by clearly outlining a C major pentatonic scale in the first measure. Upon reaching the second measure, you play the same pattern a 1/2 step above from Db, thus taking the listener 'outside' of the prescribed harmony. Measures 3-4 bring the listener back 'inside' the changes by playing the descending version of the original C major pentatonic sequence.

You can combine the concept of alternative chord/scale options with side-stepping. Try playing the examples below and creating a few of your own. Notice how your ear recognizes the sequence and thus accepts each transposition of the pentatonic scale as a development of the previous idea.

Chord / Scale Options & Side Stepping Combined

 

CMaj7

C, D, E, G...Ab, F, Eb, Db / D, E, F#, A... Bb, G, F, Eb / E, F#, G#, B... C, A, G, E / D, C, D, E, G

To be continued... more later.

You may be interested in Jazz Intensive Training Center

If you enjoyed this blog post, please consider following on Bloglovin'
Keep in touch with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest, too!


"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Related articles

• The Power of Altered Pentatonics
• Improvising with pentatonic scale
• Pentatonic Scale in Oriental Video
• Melody Improvising- Pentatonic Scale

Pentatonics Power

                                                        Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhoto.net

 Awhile back, I wrote a post on The power of altered pentatonics. My husband plays the guitar and I always hear him playing pentatonic scales. I recently read an article by Chaim Burstein and thought I would share some of the highlights with my readers. This is good stuff to know.

The Pentatonic Scale

Technically, a pentatonic scale is any scale with five notes per octave. In practice however, there are only a handful of useful pentatonic scales. There are two common forms of the pentatonic scale: the major pentatonic and its relative minor pentatonic. Pentatonic scales can help musicians achieve a more structurally focused intervallic approach to their lines.

The major and minor pentatonics are made up of five notes and can be used interchangeably. 

Example: C Major Pentatonic Scale

C, D, E, G... A, C, D, E... G, A, C,  rest. (play 4 sets of notes as eighth notes).

Example: A Minor Pentatonic Scale

A, C, D, E... G, A, C, D... E, G, A, rest.

Some musicians prefer to think of the scale as a major pentatonic, while others tend to think of the scale in its minor form. Personally, I'd rather think of the scale as a major pentatonic; so from now on, the term "pentatonic" will refer only to the major form of the pentatonic scale. If you prefer to think of these scales as minor, you may convert to minor simply by starting the scale on the last note of the major pentatonic.

Pentatonic Patterns

Pentatonics can assist students with assimilating new scales and sounds into their repertoire. Pentatonic patterns can be categorized as either scalar or intervallic. In general, scalar patterns tend to use adjacent notes, whereas intervallic patterns tend to skip around the scale.

Example: Scalar Pattern (play 4 sets of notes as 16th notes)

C, D, E, G... D, E, G, A... E, G, A, C... G, A, C, D /

A, C, D, E... C, D, E, G... G, E, D, C... E, D, C, A /

D, C, A, G... C, A, G, E... A, G, E, D... G, E, D, C /

Example: Intervallic Pattern

A, D, E, C... D, G, A, E... G, C, D, A... C, E, G, D /

E, A, C, G, A, rest /

C, G, E, A... G, D, C, E... D, A, G, C... A, E, D, G /

E, C, A, d, C, rest /

To simplify the explanation of these patterns, I will refer to steps and skips. A step will occur when the next note is an adjacent note, and a skip will occur when we skip over a note in the scale to play the next available note. Thus, we would describe the scalar pattern as step up, step up, step up, skip down. To play the same pattern in reverse, we simply invert the formula. Thus, we have step down, step down, step down, skip up. An intervallic pattern is based upon 4ths and 2nds. The formula for this pattern would read: skip up, step up, skip down, step up. The revers pattern would read: skip down, step down, skip up, step down.

These patterns are useful in a number of ways. First, it familiarizes the student with the scale and forces them to internalize the notes involved. second, when developing as intervallic approach, these patterns will tie together two seemingly disparate tonal centers through their structural consistency. In order to have enough material to generate interesting lines, I have my students create several intervallic and scalar patterns of their own.

Next time, we'll talk about chord scale relationships and modal/ free playing.

How would you like to improve your improvising, sight reading, piano accompaniment, and other piano playing skills?

Sign up for our free piano tutorials now!
http://www.learnpianotechnique.com
 

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"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

Related articles

• The Power of Altered Pentatonics
• Melody Improvising- Pentatonic Scale
• Pentatonic Scale in Oriental Video
• Aural Awareness by Miles Donahue

Dave Brubeck: Changing Times

Take 5 is one of my favorite songs. The catchy melody remains popular with multitudes of Dave Brubeck fans. Here is an earlier post I did on the chord breakdown for Take 5.

I recently looked at an interview with Dave Brubeck and his wife as part of the NAMM Oral History  Program by Eliahu Sussman and Christian Wissmuller. Here are a few snippets.

• Dave Brubeck: Changing Times

With the insatiable musical curiosity and ingenuity, Dave Brubeck helped legitimize jazz as an art form in the 1940s and '50s. Brubeck is also widely credited with bringing jazz into the public eye, popularizing the genre without sacrificing his own musical integrity or his music's dazzling complexity. Time Out, released by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959, was a landmark recording and remains one of the top selling jazz albums of all time. From the very beginning, it was evident that Brubeck had a special gift.

• Dave Brubeck: Childhood

His first music lessons came at a very early age from his mother Bessie, who was a pianist. "She could see that I wasn't a typical student," says Brubeck, "so she started teaching me more from the harmonic side of things. I always tried to write things - of course, I couldn't write when I was 4 or 5 years old, but she'd write them for me. I was always interested in making my own music, so I never became a classical pianist."

• When Jazz was "Evil"

Apart from his musical family, some of Brubeck's most important influences were his professors who taught counterpoint... But you couldn't even practice jazz in the practice rooms. That's how strict it was. It was that way in every school, just frowned upon. 

"The crossover that we've seen at the University of the Pacific - at first, it was like, "What are these jazz kids doing on campus? But it's at the point now where one might say, "Who's your best piano piano student?" and the answer is, "Well, the one who is in the jazz band."

Brubeck recounts how jazz faced an uphill battle for acceptance. "My wife remembers a copy of The Etude magazine where it said something about the evils of jazz." On cue, Iola Brubeck, Dave's wife for over 60 years, adds, "Etude was a magazine for music teachers, and this was in the twenties. It had quotes from various very well known teachers to keep jazz out of the classroom."

(PianoDiana) I wanted to add that in 1937, Dave's mother heard Art Tatum play Humoresque on the radio and was so impressed that somebody could play that and then improvise on it.

• Dave Brubeck: Mentors

Darius Milhaud was really the greatest influence on me in classical music and composition... One of the ways in which Milhaud influenced Mr. Brubeck was by encouraging originality. "He liked what I did harmonically. He could see that there was a tendency to go towards polytonality...

Joe Gilman is one teacher that I admire so much. He teaches theory and arranging, but he's a great pianist. He teaches them and coaches the combos...

Final Thoughts

Brubeck speaks of the amazing synergy he had with saxophonist Paul Desmond... The ease at which they were able to play together, says Brubeck, came from having an appreciation of the same kinds of music. "We both liked Bach and Stravinsky and Ravel, and show tunes. We had the same taste in what we liked in music. When we improvised, we would both draw on the same kinds of music to incorporate that approach, especially Bach.

Finding the musical connection that Desmond and Brubeck had, that "click," is unpredictable at best. "You find 'it' if you are lucky or simpatico - in five minutes you might find 'it' with one musician, and you might work five years with another guy and never find 'it'."

(PianoDiana) I just wanted to say that whether you play on the worship team at your church or do local gigs in the community, practice listening to recordings over and over to improve your own personal playing and then indeed, you're very fortunate if you have the chemistry with one another. It's hard to put in words the magic of riding the sound waves together while performing. You just 'click'!

I hope some bits and pieces from the interview has helped you to get to know Dave Brubeck better. He is surely missed but his music legacy lives on... true greatness.

Take a look at the music program Hear and Play offers, Jazz Intensive Training Center

Plus, you don't want to miss these great sounding cds!

Gone With the Wind
Indian Summer
A Dave Brubeck Christmas
50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live At the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007

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A special thanks to all who serve in the military to keep our country safe on Veteran's Day.

All the best,






"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey

What Is Jazz?

Photo Credit: WeHeartIt.com

Mark Levine, the author of The Jazz Theory Book said, "A great jazz solo consists of:

1% magic

99% stuff that is

Explainable
Analyzable
Categorizable
Doable"

I think once you learn a lot of music theory, you'll get to the point where you no longer need to think about theory, if you know what I mean. Charlie Parker once said, "Learn the changes and then forget them." In other words, get beyond the theory.

• HOW JAZZ MUSIC WORKS 

Jazz is like a musical language. When the musicians play, it's as if they are talking to each other in jazz language. Most jazz music is based on a tune or a theme. The tune might be made up specifically or it might be based on a popular tune. A jazz group, or line-up has two parts: the rhythm section and the front line.

• THE FRONT LINE 

Front-line instruments are the ones that play solos during a jazz piece. They are given this name because the players usually stand in front of the rhythm section. Front-line instruments include the clarinet, trombone and the right-hand side of a piano.

• THE RHYTHM SECTION 

The rhythm section is a part that keeps a steady pulse. It also plays harmonies for the front-line instrument to improvise over. Rhythm section instruments include the bass guitar, double bass, drums, and the left-hand side of the piano.

• RHYTHM AND SYNCOPATION

Most rhythms have a regular pulse or beat. Normally the stress, or accent, comes on the first beat, in a measure. In Jazz, the stress sometimes comes on the second beat, or in between the main beats. This is called syncopation. A tension is created between the steady pulse and the syncopated rhythm.

• JAM SESSIONS

When musicians get together without an audience and experiment with tunes, it is known as a jam session. It is during sessions like these that most Jazz evolves.

• COMPOSING JAZZ 

Although jazz involves lots of improvisation, there are some fixed elements in a piece. Instead of writing down every note, jazz composers provide a rough outline, usually consisting of a tune and the chords that go with it. Chords are two or more notes played or sung together. They are usually written as chord symbols, which tell the musician which chords accompany a tune. The musicians improvise around this hotline. Most jazz composers base their work on music they come up with during jam sessions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1468872

• All You Need Is Seven

I love playing 7th and 6th chords. The changes in this tune are in the style of the standard tune Don't Blame Me, popularized by Charlie Parker. Give it a try!

CMaj 7 = C/GBCE

Fmin6 = E/BbDEG

Emin7b5 = E/BbDEG

A7 = A/AC#EG

Dmin7 = D/CDFA

G7 = G/DFGB

C6 = C/EGAC

Dmin7 = D/DFAC

D#dim7 = D#/D#F#AC

Emin7 = E/DEGB

A7 = A/AC#EG

Dmin7 = D/CDFA

G7 = G/GBDF

CMaj7 = C/BCEG

You may be interested in Tritone Xtravaganza

All the best,

"Jazz washes away the dust of every day life." -- Art Blakey