Jazz piano Totally Explained

Everything about Jazz Piano totally explained

Jazz piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. The instrument is also a vital tool in the understanding of jazz theory and arranging, because of its combined melodic and harmonic nature. Along with jazz guitar, piano is one of the few instruments in a jazz combo which can play chords, rather than single notes only, as with the saxophone or trumpet.

Technique

Role in ensembles

The role of the piano in the context of ensemble accompaniment has gradually changed from a time-keeping role consisting of repetitive left-hand figures to a more flexible one where the pianist is free to choose to interact with the soloist using both short and sustained chordal and melodic fragments. This form of accompaniment is known as comping

How jazz piano is played

The jazz pianist requires a unique set of skills. The extended range of the piano as an instrument offers soloists an exhaustive number of choices. One could use the bass register to play an ostinato pattern, such as those found in boogie-woogie, or a melodic counterline emulating the walking of an upright bass. In a style known as Stride piano the left hand alternates positions rapidly playing notes in the bass register and chords in the tenor register. This is also done in more syncopated variants. The right hand will often play melodic lines, but might also play harmonic content, chordally or in octaves, sometimes in lockstep with the Left Hand using a technique called "Block Voicing."

Solo Jazz Piano

The most important thing in jazz piano is keeping good time, and knowing the form of a tune so well that it becomes second nature. But solo jazz piano presents another basic problem. The problem is essentially that the pianist has to accomplish three basic objectives:
1) Provide a clear, swinging pulse. This might be attempted by striking a beat with the right hand just after a weaker beat with the left hand. The aim of this is to imitate a ride cymbal, or a walking bass, or both.
   While many jazz players do this habitually, it can also be accomplished in the left hand alone, by imitating the weaker beat preparatory swing note that's played by a bass player just before he strikes some of the notes of the bassline. At faster tempos, the weaker notes may not be present in the bassline, while still being constantly played by the drummer's ride cymbal.
   2) State the harmony or "guide tones" of the chord changes.
   3) Play the melody or melodic solo material with the right hand.
   It is challenging but possible to meet all these demands simultaneously, and in addition there can be brief intervals where they're not quite being met (Art Tatum for example didn't stride as constantly as he could have). For example, tasks 2) and 3) often merge into one where the guide tones (the third and seventh of each change) are played in the right hand, in a harmonized melody or solo line.
   One commonly used method for solving the tripartite problem is to hold the hands together in a shape like a "fork," with the fingers nearest the thumbs joining the thumbs to form a central group, while the fourth and fifth fingers spread outward to form branches on either side. Many jazz pianists play by placing this shape on the keyboard, and using the left branch to play bass notes, the middle to attend to guide tones and the right branch for upper lines.
   If this method doesn't prove feasible, however, it's also possible, and simpler, to elaborate the bassline, while taking over all the guide-tone and melodic tasks with the right hand alone.

The Circle of Fifths

The circle of fifths is very important in jazz piano as it provides harmonic diversity through a harmonic movement in fifths (or fourths). Usually during the last four bars of a jazz melody or melodic section, the chord progression is "III, VI, II, V, I." 3, 6, 2, and 5 as scale degrees correspond to the last four steps in the cycle leading to the tonic.
To any listener, a well-placed transitional harmony sounds correct, whereas a skilled piano player recognizes it as a step in the circle of fifths. In jazz music often there's one chord change per bar. In the simplest example, two bars of the same tonic chord would be played instead as "I - V / I." This same back-and-forth example is often applied, where a pause or shift of direction is evident in the tune. Further use of the circle is a matter of counting several steps ahead, or backwards from the tonic chord as a goal, perhaps like a runner counting steps toward a long jump. After some practice it becomes second nature. In chord "planing" or shifting a chord, often voiced in fourths, up the scale, there's often a repeated harmonic pattern of one-five-one-five (tonic-dominant-tonic-dominant). One can use the circle of fifths to harmonize a tune, such as Autumn Leaves or Summertime, tunes without complex melodic lines or lines having a few repeated shapes. This doesn't mean arranging new chords according to the circle for the entire tune. Rather, it means the insertion periodically of one-five progressions that are fragments of the circle of fifths, where it makes an appropriate transition, or for several bars. In many jazz standards, this technique can be applied more continuously and makes for excellent reharmonization. In tunes such as Stella By Starlight, the circle of fifths is at least useful between most changes.

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