If you want to adapt popular music to jazz, the best approach is to think of the harmonic functions (rather than just the chords) and then use techniques of tonal harmony. In the following video we show how to turn a very basic piano version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" into a jazz... Continue Reading →
There are many ways to expand and develop a chord-voicings vocabulary. A standard approach is to stack simple structures (triads, quartals, dyads) on top of other simple ones, thus creating a richer color palette for your voicings. These structures are usually called Upper Structures. In the Upper Structures over complete Jazz Standards Progressions book collection... Continue Reading →
For a piano player, knowing how to voice chords is an essential skill, not only for comping (accompanying or laying the chord progression for others player to improvise over), but also to use those voicings as an improvisational aid. All piano players get many melodic ideas or lines from their voicings. Other instrumentalists also take... Continue Reading →
What's new in version 7.8.8 (soon to be available)The new version 7.8.8 (already waiting for review on the App Store) will offer four AMAZING ADD-ONS:1000+ Jazz Standard ProgressionsBird Bebop ProgressionsUpper StructuresTarget NotesNow you can import progressions with hand-made full analyses created specifically for Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro. There are two add-ons with progressions: The 1000+ Jazz Standards... Continue Reading →
After The Jazz Standard Progressions Book series was published it was only natural to take a closer look at the harmonic vocabulary used in Bebop repertoire. In the mid-1940s Bebop musicians revolutionized jazz with the use of complex harmonies, thrilling fast tempos and virtuosic instrumental technique. Charlie Parker, also known as “Bird”, would become... Continue Reading →
Here's the complete lesson in video format https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8NmmG08M-k In this series we are going to talk about Piano Voicings, specifically voicings that use upper structures. It’s said that the average piano player spends 2 to 3 hours daily, searching for cool voicings over different chords and harmonic progressions. Finding new voicings, cataloguing, memorizing and... Continue Reading →
Every Jazz Musician knows what a Fake-book is. We've all played songs based on lead-sheets, where the chords are just an approximation of what really is going on in the song's progression. Although Jazz harmony is very similar to Traditional Tonal Harmony, it is also packed with functions borrowed from modes other than the standard source... Continue Reading →
