ii-V-I in Major

Take a look at the example below. This is a ii-V-I progression in the key of C. You’ll see from this example that we can use the C Major scale over the entire progression. This makes it easier when improvising. We can simply think “O.K. I have a ii-V-I in the key of C so I can use my C Major scale to improvise.”

ii-V-I in minor

Now, take a look at the example below. This is a ii-V-i in minor. You’ll notice that the chords are changed to reflect the minor tonality. The G7alt has a flatted 9th and would normally have a flat 13 as well, but I am simplifying the voicings here. However, pay close attention to the scale…C melodic minor. The scale just downright does not work over the D-7b5 chord. It is not bad, but certainly not great over the G7alt chord. It would work wonderfully over the C-Major7 chord though.

What scale should I use over a minor ii-V?

You will want to use (3) different scales over a minor ii-V. Let’s take a look at the ii-7b5 chord. You’ll see from the example below that it is derived from the melodic minor scale. It is the 6th mode of the melodic minor scale.

If we play the C melodic minor scale from A to A, we get this:

You might hear musicians or theorists refer to the 6th mode of the melodic minor scale as being the “2 chord” within the key. This can be confusing, but now you should see that 6th mode of the melodic minor scale is the only mode of the scale that gives you a ii-7 sound. In this case, it is a ii-7 with a flatted fifth.

Here’s a trick. When playing a minor 7 flat 5 chord, think about the melodic minor scale built on the minor 3rd. This is the scale that you want to use for improvisation. So….

• A-7b5 = C melodic minor
• D-7b5 = F melodic minor
• F-7b5 = Ab melodic minor
• Bb-7b5 = Db melodic minor
• …and so on

V7 Altered

We will cover this in more detail in our upcoming Melodic Minor Harmony lesson (available to members later this week and on DVD next month), but for now let’s just talk about the “tricks” that you can use on the V7alt chord.

When you see a V7 chord with or without tension alterations. So, with the fancy flatted 9ths and 13ths or without, you can often use the altered scale. The altered scale is derived from the melodic minor scale.

The 7th mode of the melodic minor scale gives us an altered sound. Take a look at the Ab melodic minor scale below. You’ll see that on the 7th note (G), if we use notes from that scale to create a chord on that note G, we get a very cool sound. You’ll also notice that it creates a lot of tension on this note.

Here is another way to look at it. If we break this chord into 2 hands, we can play a R7 in the left hand and super-impose an Ab-Maj7 chord on top of the G7 chord shell.

Now, let’s reduce that G7 chord into a left-hand voicing. You’ll see here that the voicing has the 3rd and 7th of the chord, but also the b9 and b13 (#5). If we play the Ab melodic minor scale in the right hand, we get the G altered scale.

Where do we go from here

Later this week, a Melodic Minor Harmony lesson will be released which will go into much more detail about melodic minor. If you are a member, login to see that lesson. We will also release this new lesson on DVD next month.

A few years ago my family and I were on a summer vacation in Rhode Island. It was raining one morning, a morning that I had to drive to my brother’s house a few miles away. The car I was operating was a rental, probably a 2010 model, with very few miles on it. Renting a car is a little like staying in a hotel; you get to try out something for a short period of time without ever feeling any pressure to buy. Usually, however nice the hotel or car, I’m reminded of what I like about the home or car I already have. Usually.

On this particular day, the rain was coming down in sheets. Thunder rippled through the grey and lightning flashed out over the ocean as I crossed the bridge from the island to the mainland, loud and dark the trip that would’ve been exacerbated by the effects on the car, itself, if there were any. There were not. Where were the effects?

Growing up I had become accustomed to what it meant to get caught in the car in a thunderstorm. In the old family vehicle, the windows would fog up and the defrost (we had no air conditioner) would seem to make things worse, and inevitably, either the heat would have to go on or the window would have to be rolled down (or both) just to clear the windshield enough to see. Rain spitting on you or forced hot air drenching you in sweat on an otherwise 85-degree day seemed like a choice with no winner.

And the radio? Turning the knob to find a station clear enough to discern music was a chore, but even when one was discovered and actually was playing a song I wanted to hear, it was rudely and routinely interrupted by the crackle of the overriding lighting dancing through the airwaves like a ghost in the machine, to mix a metaphor.

The experience was memorable and certainly far from painful, but made traveling anywhere in the summer rain that much more undesirable. While snow posed much more hazardous conditions outside, internally it was a pleasure cruise by comparison.

Yet, it wasn’t until I was in this rental car, with its air conditioning, satellite radio, and power windows that it occurred to me that I hadn’t been caught in a car in the rain in the summer in Rhode Island in 20 years. It wasn’t anything like I remembered. The windshield was clear. The interior set to a temperature-controlled comfortable. The radio, tuned to a classic rock station of my choosing, played with the clarity of my home stereo. It was so much without incident that I noticed how much it was without incident. I almost wished the drive was longer or the rain was heavier, just to see if it would last.

It was at this moment that I realized my daughter, five at the time, likely would never know a world I knew. That it was true; I could tell stories of things like unyieldingly foggy windows, and crackling radio, and the heater on in the summertime, and between laughs, she might not even believe me. Technology had passed me by and had eliminated what was memorable about a ride in the car on a day like today. Now it was pretty much like any other day.

Maybe it’s a stretch to equate this with my Ipod but I’m going to try anyway. Like a lot of people, my Ipod is filled with songs that I like. In fact, when programming it, I cherry-picked my favorites from every CD I own so that all 1,500 tunes are the top 1,500. One after another. Favorite after favorite.

Clearly a contradiction in terms, as there can be only one favorite, by definition. Conceding that point, whatever is playing at the moment is my favorite, with 1,499 others a close second. Not a dud in the bunch. To amplify the feeling of surprise, I utilize the ‘shuffle’ feature that randomly chooses the next song for me creating, in essence, the greatest, commercial-and-dee-jay-free radio station on the planet.

So, why am I not happier?

Please don’t misunderstand. The ability to program the soundtrack to my life with 100%, A+ material sounded like the best thing for the music lover that I am, and it is.

It just isn’t as great as I thought. Sometimes I wonder if I should pepper my Ipod with some songs that I don’t really enjoy at all. I think, and this is very difficult to explain, let alone admit, but I think I miss the…,

No.

I can’t do it.

I can’t say I miss the foggy windows or crackling radio, and I can’t say I miss the songs that I don’t like, wouldn’t buy, and would, if I could, always avoid.

Everything is easier now than it was then, and everything is better, because easier is better. If something is easy to do, it is always better than something hard to do. Perfectly logical, right?

Maybe not.

Making music is not easy. Playing an instrument is not easy. So much of our lives isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be.

What I really have decided is that variety is not the spice of life. Contrast is. The difficult things in life need to be just as much a part as the easy things.

If everything is easy, can anything be appreciated for how really great it is?

How much of an accomplishment is it?

How special can a song make you feel unless so many of the others don’t?

It just seems that whenever someone devises a way to make life easier, someone else is right behind them, trying to make it even easier than that.

So maybe the scratchy vinyl records and static-ridden radio, hard-to-tune acoustic guitar, and parents’ old AMC Hornet of my childhood made life seem more difficult to enjoy than MP3s, Guitar Hero, and any car on the road today do for the children of this century, but only having seen and heard the difference can I appreciate then and now.

I wonder if all we do with our lives these days is eliminate what we don’t like or someone deems difficult, eliminate what we think we don’t need to experience, if all we do is play favorites, then what possible technology will need to come along and replace the current model to remind my daughter when she’s an adult of the good old days.

Recommended listening: Paul Weller- Time Passes

Larson Sutton, 38,
is a writer/musician
living in Los Angeles.

Picture By Brian Gimmel

This month we will be bringing back the $99 sale by popular demand. It will again feature the option of either a 3 Month (non-recurring) Gold Membership or a 3 DVD Bundle of this month’s new DVDs.

Last year many students truly enjoyed our monthly $99 DVD bundles that feature three new DVDs that generally span across multiple lesson styles

This Month the 3 DVDs have some really fun variety to them:

1. You’ve Got A Friend Vol. 2: Improvisation & Groove – This is a gospel version of the classic song done by Carole King. You will learn how to create the ending groove section, how the harmony works and how to create a groove step-by-step. MIDI files will also help you to see exactly what Willie is playing.

2. El Manisero : The Peanut Vendor – This fun song has been played by many and is a very popular and famous Cuban song. In this lesson Willie will teach you several different left-hand accompaniment patterns and how to create an arrangement. The song was broken into modules, making it easier to create your own arrangement. You will enjoy moving between modules, creating your own improvisation (which Willie discusses) and “jamming” on this groove.

3. Jerry Lee Lewis Style – Get ready for some rocking piano! This lesson will show you how to create the exciting piano style of Jerry Lee Lewis. You will use the progression of Great Balls of Fire to create a blues arrangement with many of Jerry’s classic licks. Willie will also show you some of Jerry’s keyboard “stunts”.

Get the January Bundle Now > >

I thought it would be apropos to tell you a little bit about a creative side-project of mine that Willie and I have resolved to herald to the JAZZEDGE community in 2012. 

Without a doubt, I love and am challenged by the job that I do for JAZZEDGE and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be running a business with my talented, entrepreneurial husband.  But the field of interest that is nearest and dearest to my heart is now, and always has been, the theater. I spent most of my childhood finding ways to perform – at school, at home and at my church – and by the time I got into high school I had set my sights set on a degree in theater and a life in New York City.

In light of my relentless drive to go out and make my dreams come true, the loving support of my parents along the most valuable gift they have ever given me – a work ethic – I managed to go out and get a degree in theater and, subsequently, work in the theater!  In New York City, no less.  

For a number of reasons – some intellectual, some visceral – I chose to return to my roots in Rhode Island after a few years of city life.  I have continued to work in the theater but I have definitely evolved into a teacher of theater.  Willingly.  Well, part of it was probably genetics.  My father and grandfather were teachers. But I certainly don’t feel I got to where I am by default.  I gush over my students and I get sappy with pride when they achieve something grand in their work.  I want my students to do well and I get on their case when I can see they are capable of more than they are offering up in rehearsals.    

Before I was the VP of JAZZEDGE CORP, I maintained a local sole-proprietorship called Experiments in Theater.  Under the heading of “Experiments in Theater,” I directed and produced semi-professional and amateur theater productions and taught a wide range of theater enrichment programs to a wide range of students in and around Rhode Island.  Then, when Willie’s online piano lessons started getting more and more attention, I began to help him a little here and there.  One or two hours a day eventually gave way to twenty hours a week, then 40, then 50, then we had to start hiring additional staff and, eventually, Experiments in Theater took a backseat to my responsibilities as a mother, partner and owner of a successful business.  You gotta’ feed that which is feeding you, right?

Well, it has always been our intention that, when the time is right, Willie and I would actualize a website that would share my tools and curriculum with fellow students, teachers and theater enthusiasts all over the world.  Through my 17+ years of teaching theater, I have a lot of experience working with unique venues, managing casts of 100 or more, finding low cost solutions for high cost endeavors and, much like my husband, I have a talent for isolating challenging obstacles and breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps.  

The website is ExperimentsinTheater.com and Willie will be announcing its debut in his State of the Community address on February 2, 2012. 

If you would like to know more about our plans for ExperimentsinTheater.com, visit the site today for a sneak preview!  Experiments in Theater will have it’s own articles, newsletter, an entirely unique series of lessons that will cover directing tips, Dance for the Actor, monologue suggestions for all ages, building an acting resume and much, much more.

As always, thanks for your support of PianoWithWillie.com and JAZZEDGE!  As long as you’re with us, we’ll continue coming up with new ways to keep everyone connected to their creative spirit!  Even in a challenging economy, it’s so important that we don’t forget about the importance of music, theater and ALL the arts in both our individual lives and especially in our culture. 

Enjoy this month’s new lessons!


Best wishes,


Valerie

As many of you already know, in 2011, Willie and I moved the JAZZEDGE offices out of our home and into traditional office space. We are renting space in a building that we share with a real estate firm, a massage therapist, a tutoring service, a jewelry store and an appraisal company. For the most part, we all pretty much keep to ourselves and do our work. But, every now and then, we get the occasional passer by that pokes their head into our open door and says something like, “What do you guys actually DO here? What is JAZZEDGE?” We have all had an opportunity to explain the “online lessons” concept to our office neighbors and each time we have this discussion the listener will invariably nod his or her head and respond, “Huh. That’s very interesting. Piano lessons on the internet? I would never have thought of that.”

Whenever the subject of “What do you do?” comes up at parties and get togethers, Willie and I naturally tell people “we offer online piano lessons,” then there’s always a brief processing delay — like maybe they didn’t hear us properly — followed by the echo, “Online piano lessons?” and then “How does THAT work?”

We get it all the time.

Despite the fact that the internet is as conventional as television and cable, despite the fact that institutions of higher education have been utilizing the internet for over 20 years and despite the fact that google has made it possible for us to have instant answers to almost any question imaginable, there are still lots of people out there who don’t fully recognize the vast opportunities that are available online.

The maintenance guy in our new office space was the most recent person who engaged us in the “What do you do? How do you do that?” exchange. After Grace and Joel gave him the run down of who we are, what we do and how we do it, his closing words were, “I used to play the piano when I was younger, but not for a long time. I’ve been meaning to get back to it. It’s on my bucket list.”

This time of year is traditionally a time of resolutions, fresh starts and dreaming of all that is possible in the year ahead. If you’re receiving this newsletter, it’s because either now, or at some point in your internet travels, it occurred to you that you would like to play the piano or improve your playing. In either case, we can help. PianoWithWillie.com is convenient, affordable way to learn the piano online and you’re not going to find a better teacher than Willie Myette anywhere on the web!

I know that we can help you with your piano-playing resolutions in 2012.

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that the new year brings you good health, good fortune and the chance for you to check a thing or two off of your bucket list.

As always, if there’s any way that we can enhance your online learning experience now, or in the years to come, please let us know.

In my first six months here at JAZZEDGE I noticed a common beginner student question:

“I am a beginner, can these lessons bring me to a professional or almost professional playing level?”

Our answer has always been of course our lessons will guide you in that direction, you just have to work hard. Then one of Willie’s former students contacted us recently to update us on his new “professional” status. He had come to Willie with this same question 6 years ago.

This months Student Spotlight is on Kyle P. Jameson of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He has known Willie for 6 years and studied with him for a year before becoming a more independent student. Kyle’s determination and motivation is primarily what lead him down a fast track for success at the piano and organ.

Kyle began as a Head Server/Sacristan at St. Leo the Great Church locally, and after a lot of hard work is now the Music Director/Organist/Choirmaster at the Church of Saint Timothy (another local church).

What originally brought Kyle to JAZZEDGE and PianoWithWillie.com was Willie himself. He had been picking Willie’s musical knowledge for weeks when finally Willie realized that having an entire library of lessons to work with during his down time might be more beneficial for a student as eager as Kyle. He got a Gold Membership while also continuing his private coaching with Willie.

His favorite lesson is “O Come All Ye Faithful” which he even reviewed again this year in preparation for the holiday season at Church.

Kyle’s main motivation to play is the fact that there is always something else to learn, you can always learn a new piece or technique. This is one of his keys to success. His constant drive to learn something new keeps him growing as a musician.

Kyle is now the founder of the “Music at Saint Timothy Church” Concert Series and says there is nothing he would change about our services at JAZZEDGE.

Thank you for being our student Kyle, and we hope in the new year after the release of COREPIANO we can bring more beginners onto the same path.

What is Studio Work?

First off, anytime you are offered studio work, I suggest you take it. Working in a recording studio is a valuable learning experience and it makes you a better player, musician and listener!

When I refer to studio work, I’m not talking about working a mixer or setting up mics — although that’s fun and rewarding as well. In fact, I almost went to school for recording production and engineering! No, when I speak about studio work, I’m talking about being a pianist/keyboardist on a recording session and laying down your own tracks.

Can you see how this can be a rewarding creative experience that can literally pay off?

Studio Terminology

Before walking into a studio, it is good to know some “studio terms.” You might already know some of these, or you might have heard them used in a different way, but here are a few terms that are good to know:

1. Session – short for recording session. Sometimes musicians use this term for a recording session, or a jam session. Basically think of it as an organized date that you should be ready to play.
2. Tracks – recordings (CDs, etc…) are done in what’s called a multi-track system. This means that you record every instrument on its own individual track so that when you mix the instruments together you have a lot more control over the sound. In this format you can raise the volume of the vocals while making the bass softer. Today. 99% of studios use digital systems which means that the recording is done on a hard-disk system. This gives the recording engineer the ability to record practically an unlimited number of takes per song. (Wiki link)
3. Takes – think of this as a “try” or a “once through.” Every time you go through the song and record your part…it’s a take. This might happen as a group or as an individual. For example, when recording with my group Katahdin’s Edge, we would rehearse the material outside of the studio, then record live in the studio. This means we all played at the same time…no over dubs. We would do 3-5 takes of a song. Then we would pick the best take and use that one on the CD. Now, in the session I recently did, I was the only one laying down tracks, so I did multiple takes of only my part while the rest of the band was untouched.
4. Engineer – This is the head honcho. They will make you sound great or sound bad. Always be respectful to the engineer. They are the ones who normally setup the mics, run the recording session and actually run the equipment. If you show the engineer respect…they will be of great help and value to you. I sometimes hear guys in the studio treat the engineer like a lackey and bark orders at them like “I need more bass” or “My monitor sounds like #!@#, can’t you do anything about it?” Needless to say, being polite goes a long way in the studio. Please and thank you go a long way. Moral: treat the engineer with respect and they’ll do the same in return.
5. The “booth” can refer to where the engineer sits (where the mixing board is, though often this is called the control room) or a vocal or drum booth where the vocalist or drummer might record.

Getting Ready For The Studio

Before going to a session, always do your homework. I like to get a rough recording of the song in advance (especially if it is an original) before walking into the session. This gives me an opportunity to create a basic “cheat sheet” of the chord structure and form of the song. You can see an example on this page.

Now, there are musicians that like to spend 5 days in a studio and let the music come together organically by rehearsing and recording all at the same time. You have probably heard stories of how the classic rock bands would spend all week in the studio, sleep there, party there, etc. Well, I can tell you that for the most part, those days are gone. Studios are expensive to run, and even more expensive to rent. A typical recording session costs about $50/hr. There are many other costs that could be involved as well — like a producer, hard drives, backups, etc. So, time is money in the studio!

Here are some good tips to help you prepare for the studio:

1. Practice BEFORE the session! Do not practice your parts in the session. If it takes you an hour to “get down” your part, you just spent $50 or more of studio time.
2. I’ve said it before — be quiet and listen! Do not “yammer on” about the game or what not, especially if you are a hired musician and not the one paying the bill. If you want to socialize, do it after the session.
3. Get your equipment in order before you walk into the studio. You don’t want to be fiddling with your strings or keyboard settings while the clock is ticking.

Trust Yourself

Now let’s now talk about studio performance. Let me start with a story…

The last session I did was in a very small studio (see the picture on this page). After all the equipment, there was only about a 6×8 section in the control room where I was recording that was uncluttered. Bear in mind, I had never met this engineer, or the singer! There were also 3-4 other random people who came in and out of the room to hear what was going on. Now, if I was new to the studio, this would have been somewhat distracting, maybe even intimidating. Studio work is hard enough without having a bunch of by-standers looking on to see what you are doing. Personally…I love it. I like the challenge and I had a secret weapon…I was prepared. Since a lot of musicians go into the studio and perform on the spot, you look like a hero when you come in and just lay down your tracks.

This brings me to trusting yourself. If you’re in the studio it is because someone asked you to be there or you booked the studio time yourself. This means that others have faith in your abilities or you have personally amassed the resources from your work to provide this forum for your music. Trust in your ability, trust in the time and practice that you have put into your instrument and trust your ears.

Studio Rules

Here are a few good rules to live by in the studio:

1. The equipment is not yours, it is very expensive and can break…so don’t touch it! Most engineers will get, understandably, very sensitive if you start moving mics or touching knobs. If you’re new to the studio, you may feel a lot like a kid in a candy store. There is a lot of cool stuff to touch…but don’t.
2. Don’t pop the speakers. Always ask if it is o.k. to unplug or turn on your equipment. You get nasty pops if you unplug while the speakers (which are called monitors in a studio) are on.
3. Be respectful and do a lot of listening. Tensions can run pretty high in a studio because it’s usually a small space and time and money are on the line. If you are hired as a musician to work on the session, be quiet, do as your told, get paid and go home. This has worked well for me and has landed me other studio work. Musicians, engineers and producers like working with musicians that are easy-going and do their job.

Conclusion

As you do more studio work and learn to listen to what is happening around you in the studio, you will get a much better understanding of how music is made and the people that make it.

Staring down the end of the year, I’m debating the deployment of one of several tried, perhaps tired, and true formats for this column; the Best Of list, the Recap, the Resolutions, the Remembrance, and so on.

I’ve decided that it’s going to be like a plate at Christmas dinner. A little bit of everything. A proper medley of topics and tallies.

Beginning with this column and any of the previous entries, I wish to say thank-you to any and all that have taken the time to read it. It is a pleasure to have a forum to express myself about something I have enjoyed my entire life- the art of music. I hope that you continue to read and continue to comment as you see fit. I will continue to try and make it worth your time.

Some random updates regarding past columns:

Vol. 1- The Rolling Stones are rumored possibly to launch a 50th anniversary tour in 2012. Meanwhile, record stores do whatever they can to survive, sadly, with one of Los Angeles’ most venerable vinyl shops , Music Man Murray, looking for a buyer. Hard to imagine, but the Stones may have a longer lifespan than the stores that carried their music for so many years.

Vol. 3- The Monkees had one of the summer’s most successful tours and are also rumored to perhaps hit the road again in the new year. Regardless, a Monkees-inspired musical, Monkee Business, will premiere in Great Britain this spring.

Vol. 4- Elvis Costello’s record label recently released a boxed set of his work with a retail price tag in excess of $200. This prompted the bespectacled Costello to urge his fans, via his website, to avoid its purchase until the cost comes down. The punk band Fugazi, long a champion of all-ages shows and $5 tickets, turned loose online 130 of a potential 800 concerts recorded during their heyday, available for download for $5 each or, and this is why their fans love them, for whatever the consumer wishes to pay. Phish, the road-warrior quartet of improvisational wizardry, also made available another live compilation free for download as part of their Live Bait series.

Vol. 5- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their inductees for the Class of 2012. They are Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys, Donovan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Laura Nyro and the Faces. Deserving? Does it matter?

The Grammy nominations were handed out a few weeks back and out of curiosity, I decided to see of the 100+ nominations, which albums I acquired this past year. The answer? One. It was a nomination for best reggae album, Ziggy Marley’s Wild and Free. One album out of hundreds. I’m not sure what this says. For starters, when I listen to the radio, I tune in to KUSC, a Los Angeles public station operated out of the University of Southern California that plays classical music exclusively. My wife and daughter do their best to keep me aware of the latest pop and alternative fare. Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, (that single and her album are multiple Grammy nominees) was on a loop at our house for a few weeks last spring. Beyond that, I’m somewhat oblivious. Maybe, as a music writer I shouldn’t be admitting that.

What I do notice is that during my above recap, other than Adele, not a single artist mentioned has a career shorter than 25 years, and that most peaked before the turn of the century.

I wonder if I even have an open mind or ears for what’s new in music. Usually something comes along that gets my attention, but there haven’t been many. Derek Trucks and M. Ward are two that have produced some incredible things lately, but after that, not much.

Do I need to forget my auld acquaintances, at least temporarily, and get with the times? A question for the new year.

Lastly, as with every year, the world loses some talented musicians. One I wish to note is Amy Winehouse, a brilliant young woman with endless ability and style, who lost her fight with alcohol and drug addiction. Even before her passing, her death was mentioned by many as ‘inevitable,’ due to the severity of her addictions. It came as no surprise to some when she succumbed. It’s an incredibly unfortunate comment on society when one’s preventable death at 27 can be seen as inevitable and without disbelief.

So many musicians have been lost to the demons of addiction. As I write this on a rainy Monday , I think of the Carpenters’ hit, Rainy Days and Mondays, and I think of another young woman lost too early to a different kind of addicted behavior.

In these cases it should be obvious to remember our auld acquaintances, honor their work, and hope that those at risk can get the help they need before it is too late.

Song of the Year- Midnight in Harlem The Tedeschi Trucks Band from their album Revelator
All the best in 2012.

Larson Sutton, 38,
is a writer/musician
living in Los Angeles.

Picture By Brian Gimmel

That is you have to like our Facebook page! www.facebook.com/PianoWithWillie

For every 100 likes we get on Facebook we will unlock the next chapter of Funky Jazz Gospel — an original song by Willie.

The lesson goes over how to create FULL chord voicings while also creating a progression with motion using tri-tone substitutions and other techniques. Funky Jazz Gospel has that “smooth jazz” contemporary sound. For this lesson Willie uses a Nord Electro keyboard which has very nice electric piano sounds. The last few chapters will include techniques to use in your soloing.

Since over 400 students have already liked our page, the first 4 Chapters are already unlocked! Check it out: www.pianowithwillie.com/facebook

Once all the Chapters have been unlocked we will put links up with the sheet music and midi files.

Like us now by going here: www.facebook.com/PianoWithWillie

Now, you probably already know that in order to create an arrangement from a lead sheet, you must know your chords. Knowing your chords on the piano is an important skill for all musicians. However, instead of just playing block chords, we will be using chord shells to create a more interesting arrangement.

Video Lesson:

Can’t see the video? View it here.

Step 1 – Finding & Playing The Roots

The first step in preparing our arrangement is to start with only the roots of the chords. The Root of the chord is the letter to the far left of the chord symbol. Let me explain….

Every chord symbol has (2) parts: 1) the root and 2) the symbol. Our new Holiday Quick Start lesson uses chords from the song Baby It’s Cold Outside. Here are the first four chords for the song: FΔ7, G-7, A-7 and Ab7. The roots of these chords would be: F, G, A and A flat. On the Ab7 chord, remember, it is NOT A…flat 7. It is A flat…7

Let’s take a look at the first four measures of the song to see how we can apply this technique. The melody has been changed a bit.

By playing only the roots of the chord, we are creating a simple arrangement that will work, but it is not very full. Let’s change that by adding our 7ths and thirds.

Step 2 – Root-7, Root-3 Chords

The third and seventh notes of our chord are important because they help define the type of chord that we are playing. Here is an example, if we play only C and G in our left hand, is this a Major 7th, minor 7th or Dominant 7th chord? Well…we don’t know, do we? However, if you play C and Bb in the left hand, now you have defined this chord as either a minor 7th chord or a dominant. This is what we are doing in step 2.

In the example below I’ve added the Root and 7th or Root and 3rd in the left hand. We can use the shorthand R7 and R3 to label the chords. What about the R6 you ask? Well, when playing a Major 7th chord, it is often advantageous to play a 6th instead of a Major 7th because the Major 7th sounds tense if the melody note is the root of the chord. In this example the melody is an A, G and C but the original has an F in it so I replaced the 7th with the 6th.

Step 3 – Adding Motion

Now that you can play the roots, R7 or R3 in the left-hand, it sounds nice to break up these chords to create more motion. In this example, we have taken the same chords in step 2 but now we are breaking them up into quarter notes. You can get fancier by altering the rhythm of the left-hand, but it sounds nice to just “keep it simple.” Remember, we are trying to get a ‘quick arrangement’ happening here, so simple is good!

Step 4 -Improvisation

The last step is to create a simple improvisation. I go into this in much more detail in the lesson, but here are some important points:

1. Look for diatonic chords – all of the chords (except 2) in the example below are diatonic. This means that the notes of the chord are all found within the F Major scale
2. Diatonic chords mean you can use your Major scale for improvisation
3. Pay attention to target notes. I’ve circled how the note of the improvisation works with the chord. You’ll see in the first measure the improv hits the Root of FΔ7, then the 3rd of G-7, then the root of A-7 and so on…

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