Hi guys, another question

I'm going to be playing Autumn Leaves with a band in week's time and I don't think I have the time to practise fancy left hand voicings for the improv. Is it acceptable just to play the tritones in the left hand (there will be a bass player and guitarist) whiling soloing?

Edit: sorry I don't know I'm specifically refering to tritones.. I meant generally playing the 3rd/7th + any added notes of the chord.

Thanks

yes you can get away with playing 3rds and 7th.. so for major and minor 7th chord the interval between the two notes would be 5th or 4th, on V7 chord the interval would be tritone

Cheers, just out of interest - what does the 'V' in V7 stand for (I know you mean dominant 7th..).

The V indicates the function as it relates to the key

so in key of C

C-I
d-ii
e-iii
F-IV
G-V
A-vi
B-vii diminished

In autumn leaves you have F7 which is the V chord of the Bb key, and D7 which is V chord of G minor.

V is roman numeral 5

With bass and guitar, it's quite acceptable to solo playing NOTHING in the LH. Preferable, even, unless you've got things very well worked out with the guitarist. What can you add there that won't get in his way?

Hi Wombat, I'm fairly new to jazz and I like to add something in the left hand otherwise I get lost very easily in the chord progression.

Fair enough! But do be sure what you play is there to be musically useful, not just to make your job easier :-)

Would a tritone in the left hand work in a bar in which the base player doesn't start with the root? For example, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the 12 bar blues base line (in C):

C E G A | Bflat A G E | etc.

It doesn't sound great when I do it on the piano, however with a base player/guitarist maybe it would be different?

The most basic left hand voicing to use when playing a solo is to play the third and seventh of the chord. You should stay away from the root, as that might interfere with the bass player (even when he/she is not playing the root). Third and seventh should always sound fine, whether the chord is major, minor or dominant.