What a fun scat version by Marc Thomas. Actually I thought I was listening to Norm hehe.

hi custard, I know you asked knotty, but I'll answer because I've been noticing a lot lately about tension. I'll start the hanon slow and controlled, very relaxed. Stay relaxed as I get faster. Once I reach a speed that is really challenging, or a key that is challenging, that's where the tension starts to creep in, and it's a job keeping it at bay. It starts in my right calf, goes from there to the shoulders and then all the way down.

I suppose the message is, if you want to work on speed, you need to stay relaxed, and that is easier said than done.

The other thing that has changed in my practice recently, I used to play a section slow if it was tripping me up. Get it slow, really slow, get it right, then speed it up. But somehow in the process of speeding it up, or putting it in the context of the rest of the tune, it would still trip me up.

So, now my slow practice is different. I don't move on till I can do it correct, slow, and completely relaxed, mind and body. No panic, no confusion, right calf completely relaxed. Then I'm much more likely to get it right at speed.



As for Bill, I'm using this book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mastery-Bill-Evans/dp/1423410246

There are a couple of versions of each tune, I'm doing the simplest. Quite challenging. Once they're up to speed, I'll record.

Cus,

Yes, I meant it as a warning to stay relaxed, but once in a while push the tempo up to where you feel you start to lose it, and then bring it back down. This elastic technique is working good for me.

10,
I'm sure you'll enjoy that book.

I'm almost ready to record my own arrangement of It's you or noone.

Thank you 10 and Knotty.

10: I had to laugh when I heard about the pain in your right calf, sorry !

Knotty: Besides Hanons, to what else do you apply the elastic method ?

Actually all the Hanons I record are at a speed where I've already lost it, you don't know how hard I've had to work to get it up to the challenge speed

10 re the Bill Evans transcriptions:
I haven't heard of Pascal Wetzel, but it sounds like a good detailed book. Are there explanations of the voicings ?

Cus,
I do thelastic anytime I want to work on speed. I'm doing it now with basslines and it's really working great. When you go down one click, it suddenly feels so relaxed. And then more and more relaxed. I do one chorus at each tempo, up, then down.

Drives the family crazy :-) e

ok so here we go:
https://www.box.com/s/671e620d65aa4c131276

https://www.box.com/s/8d8edf5157bb7953532c

Superb knotty! That wants light drums and a bass.

Custard: Pascal gives a one-page intro for each tune, but he doesn't go into great detail. It's snippets of interesting features about the different recordings. The music is written out fully, also with chords, so while one can work it all out, I honestly find I can't really follow the main gist of where Bill is taking the harmonic progressions. It's easy enough to notice how he likes to voice the chords, however.

Hey Knotty
Thanks so much for posting your very nice arrangement and for your pdf. I can learn a lot from this. Your solo technique sounds beautiful as does your piano.
I especially liked your altered chords.
After I learn ATTYA, maybe I will have a break from improv and do an arrangement, perhaps on There is No Greater Love.

Hi 10
Yeah I could study Bill forever. The big picture of how he moves harmonically, I've been studying on and off for over one and a half years, it's so profound and still baffles me.
Then the detail of his individual chord choices, his alterations seem so wacky but they still work e.g. I had never heard of a maj 7 #5 but Bill uses them in all the right places.

Thanks cus and 10, glad you liked it!

The arrangements are kind of time suckers, you have to be able to allocate a good chunk of time uninterrupted.
Maybe 20 mihs on that and 20 on improv...

hehe time sucker is the right word !
Do you think "There is No Greater Love" or "When I Fall in Love" lends itself better to arrangement ?

Which would you rather do?

When I Fall In Love is a more beautiful tune and it's a ballad.

Thanks Jazz +. I agree that "When I Fall in Love" is beautiful. And it seems to be always played as a ballad.
Whereas for "There is No Greater Love", it seems like half of the masters swing it mid-up tempo, and half of them play it as a ballad.

When I play the 2nd half of ATTYA A2 section, the RH melody is so low that it has resulted in my LH chords being too low and muddy.
The problem with starting the whole song up an octave is that the high notes end up being too high.
Any suggestions on what I should do ?

Cus,
When you play the melody solo, it's nice to play the roots, so your lefy hand can go down quite low. There are many options:

2+2, or 2+3 as J+ describes
Shell in the LH and full chords in the RH
Arrangement, as simple as it might be, that usually involves broken chords, passing chords, drop 2s etc...
Stride
Walk the bass

If you simulate playing with a bass player, you can play chords in the LH. They don't always have to be full. The bass player and melody already do most of the harmonies so a simple note can sometimes be enough.

Many thanks for your great answer Knotty.

1. For 2+2/ 2+3, I initially learnt ATTYA with LH as 1,5 as I thought that was what Mark Levine was illustrating. I'm in the process of relearning with LH as 1,7 or 1,3.

2. Won't the chords sound too thick ?
For example, 3 notes in the LH and 4 notes in the RH ?
Usually for me, my ear finds it hard to process any chord with more than a total of 6 notes.

3. I would like to do this option one day, but for now, I am memorising all of my tunes, so my arrangement might be a bit hard for me to remember.

1. it's probably better if LH is doing 1-3, 1-7

2. 1-3, 1-7 in the LH is enough. 3 or 4 notes in the RH.

3. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. If you write the arrangement down, there's no need to memorize it. And whether you want it it not, you are memorizing at least small parts of it. Learning some tricks and new voicings along the way. I agree that it takes time ....

Thanks for your clarification Knotty.
For arranging, last week I got up to the 2nd section of When I Fall in Love, but am finding I don't have enough time to work on 2 standards at once. So I've decided to park arranging yet again.
Maybe I should start arranging ATTYA instead.

I think anything you'll arrange will be good value. That's the best way to discover stuff on your own. What works, what doesn't...

OK I will arrange ATTYA and look at the head while I play it, but not look when I solo.

Hey everyone just want to let you know that I'm still here Today I finally finished #4 (uff). I hope every one is doing fine. Fooling around with some chords from #4 I suddenly stumbled over a few tones. I'm not sure how to develop the whole thing to make it work and fill 8 bars.

Here is what I got so far...
http://soundcloud.com/simou-pw/l120812006


The last part starting at bar #5 sounds more promising maybe 3/4 is ok?
http://soundcloud.com/simou-pw/l120813001

Sounds good and controlled simou!

Thanks 10,

here's the progression. I don't know if they make sense (theoretically).

Cmaj6 E G A C
Bbmaj7 F Ab b D
Cmaj6 E G A C
Fmin7 Eb G Ab C
Cmaj7 G B C E
Dbma7 Ab C Db F
Eb7 G C Db F
Abmaj7 Ab C Eb G

Comparing this with the circle of 5ths I couldn't discover any pattern that could give me a hint on what to do next .. do you know where I could look for chords that sound like the ones at the start of this video?

Hey Simou,

I agree with 10, It all sounds quite smooth, and I look forward to hearing more. The Jazzy Hip Hop sound has loads of (ex)tensions to play with. I don't know if this will really work, but here's my 2 cents. It sounds like you started in the key of F and modulated down to Ab. Here's one way to get there:

C7, Fmaj7,
Bbmaj7,
C7, Fmaj7,
Fmin7,
C7, Fmin7, Bb7, Eb7, Abmaj7,
Dbmaj7,
Eb7,
Abmaj7.

For the maj7 chords, throw in a 6th and/or a 9th.
For the dominant chords, try a 9th (flat, natural, or sharp), 11th (natural or sharp), and/or a 13th.
For the Fmin7 chord, just add a 9th.

If you're feeling kind of edgy, I guess you could substitute Gb7 for C7, and A7 for Eb7.
And you can always take the fifth -- out.

And now, back to Love Notes.

For some odd reason this tune took some time to get into my hands, and still it's a somewhat slippery fish.

It's far from perfect, with some missed beats and one beautifully and massively flubbed chord: "If you fail, fail splendidly!".

Still, it was the only one of twenty takes where I didn't stop near the end to shake my fist at the Fates, but went on to the bitter end. To release some tension, I capped it off with some frenetically pressurized scat singing.


So here are some LOVE NOTES


P.S. The southpaw sounds more heavy-handed than I recall -- Gotta watch it!

Hi Norm, You're playing really is coming on leaps and bounds! And as for the singing - I would so much love to see you on stage in a jazz group, singing. I can just see that.

Simou - apologies for not answering your query. I've just been rushed off my feet lately.

Hey Norm
You are definitely ready for Lesson 10 Just Friends.
As usual, your sung versions were great, my favorite was the 2nd one with the LH chords.
For your non-sung version, try to make the phrases which start on beat 3 the same swung-8th rhythm as your sung versions.

I agree with 10 that your improvement is phenomenal for each lesson.

Hey 10
Where are you up to with Lady Bird ?

Thanks for your merciful comments,

I can't help but sing when I play (you don't hear my voice or the metronome when I record through MIDI), but my fingers don't quite obey my voice (or vice versa). I'm hoping the two will eventually be in sync with this "inner ear" or "inner voice" or "inner hand" method. But I imagine it's a bit of a marathon. So I greatly appreciate the sideline cheers!

So on to the double digits! On to Lesson 10!

P.S. A by-product of this venture is that I'm actually learning to read music through the 4-star series. My musical illiteracy may eventually be a thing of the past. I imagine I could get through JOI not knowing how to read, but there's something just not right about that.

Hi custard, It's been a bit of a pointless summer. Kids around and all over the place, watching telly, making noise, and generally interrupting everything I do. In the end I just gave up on piano. Need to get back into it.

Hi guys:)

DF