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Now specifically as far as my gig is concerned, I'm looking for more uptempo (no Ballads), Jazz Swing/Latin/Bossa that are good for blowing over. The crowd in this gig doesn't handle ballads well (maybe because they're so noisy).
For example, Have Yourself a Merry Christmas is fantastic for chord changes (like My Romance) but I'd have to come up with some idea to make it more energetic.
If you've got a tune with I IV V, or some other progression that isn't too exciting, use it as an exercise to see how many II-Vs you can add, before the IV, V or any other chord. Or, how many times can you add a dominant chord a half step up before the target chord. You can make more complex progressions. Not sure I could do this at anything other than a moderate tempo, so that may be a problem.
I think a good example of what you're talking about is Let it Snow. The jazz changes are fast moving and difficult. Played it last night and I've never seen the changes before. Lots of dominant chords (not enough time for the ii chord). But in my ear, it's just a simple I-IV-V tune.
I'd probably never take this reharm step live though. I'd have to practice it first. Thanks for forcing me to think about it.
...It's got to be jazz sounding and great to blow over. Unfortunately most tunes are I-IV-V...
Anyway, I'd love to hear some ideas.
Hmm, what music isn't really just I V I dressed up a bit? The trick is to treat each chord as potential movement within the stability. So, for Frosty the Snowman which is basically only those three chords, why not play ( in C for instance) C, Dm G7, C Gm7 C7 F F#m7b5 B7 Em Gm7 C7 over the lyrics 'Frosty the Snowman was a Jolly Happy Soul' effectively changing the C to F to C into something more jazz friendly. Many other additions and subs can be added too of course, but those are the most easy and obvious.
edit: oh...I see all the NPR stuff Chris posted. Some stellar stuff there!
Last edited by scepticalforumguy; 12/13/1303:33 AM. Reason: recordings found
Recordings of my recent solo piano and piano/keyboard trio jazz standards.
long story short--changed jobs, was practicing guitar, violin and cello for about 4 months-- no time for anything. Getting a bit fat too... But now I have some time again! Man, will this thread ever die?
Recordings of my recent solo piano and piano/keyboard trio jazz standards.
This is how we'll be playing it next week. Anyone wants to try it out?
I tried the first two lines. When you say this is a reharm, does this mean that the basic chordal structure dismissed? The first four chords are usually I, or based upon I, then lead to V, or things based on V leading back to I. From what I heard in this reharm, this is taking another approach. Maybe using the ii and v subs, but never resolving to any of the structure chords? It's interesting stuff. I'd love to hear a recording of it.
Recordings of my recent solo piano and piano/keyboard trio jazz standards.
Made a slight modification above on the last line. Mainly I'm changing to make sure the Singer doesn't get lost so I made the harmony closer.
So as a reharm, it's basically completely different harmonically but the original melody fits in it.
We will be performing this on Thursday but in the meantime I've been playing with it solo piano to tweak it. I wouldn't even think to analyze this since the idea is to come up with something completely different. The only guide here is the melody.
Sloppy but we played it for the first time and only once. And I didn't even expect the singer to actually come in. We were prepared for an instrumental head. I learned a few things here. It's very hard to do a Reharm with a singer because they have to stick to melody and ignore the harmony.
The other thing is that strong melodies (like Silent Night) can easily be understood with a reharm.
Also with a singer, we could have played it straight on the head and then switch to the reharm.
Anyway, a fresh experience for me doing a reharm in such a major way.
hey wee, had a listen to your Silent night. couldn't really hear the reharm, as the sound quality was a bit muffled. and the singer's voice dominates so I can't hear your chords.
I liked this version with Kenny Barron. wouldn't call it a full reharm but he throws in the some nice chords.
