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Pivot Chords

tonymiceli 22 February 2010
Pivot Chords are a great way to work on key stuff. I got the idea from Bill Evans. I liked the way he modulated different tunes and tried to make my own up. Here's how he changes key at the end of Here's that Rainy Day.

So Instead of going to G he puts what I call a pivot chord and modulates to Eb. I think of this as the Anti-Mack-The-Knife modulation. It fits with the melody and moves you to a new key seamlessly.

 

A Blues Bass Line

tonymiceli 22 February 2010

The best thing about a jazz swing bass line is it does 2 things. The first is it is supposed to outline the chord changes very clearly. The second is in it's main function it insists on being played on each beat. A great way to study chords and improvisation is to play bass lines.

This doesn't have to be strict for our purposes. By this I mean you don't have to stick to the low end of your instrument. If you're not a bass player just play quarter notes and outline the chords. Below is an example of a simple blues bass line.

Jazz Waltz No. 1 (Simon Kanzler ) Bass and Drums by Band In A Box

BarryK 21 February 2010

Here is a Bass and Drum Play-Along track (generated from BIAB) to go along with Jazz Waltz No. 1 by Simon Kanzler. See Check This Out for the PDF and Simon's version.

If you want to change the tempo, the free program, Audacity, has a plug-in, called "Change Tempo" that changes the tempo without changing the pitch (which would happen if you just changed the playback speed).

Barry

Meet Mike Blake

tonymiceli 20 February 2010

Meet Mike Blake. He's a subscriber on the site, and great percussionist, drummer and vibe player who teaches out at University of North Dakota.

He's really well respected and loved in the vibe world. I know that from just mentioning his name to Ed and Joe.

Here he talks about himself and the vibraphone a little.

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