Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

What's a lick? Licks are part of the language of music. Classical music has licks, rock, country, pop, and jazz
music have licks in them. Licks are like phrases that you hear every day. For example, if you see someone you
know and you say, "How's it going?" or, "Hey, what's up?", you are saying a phrase that has already been said
a million times, but it's still an OK phrase. You just have to know where and when to say it. Same with licks.
Oscar Peterson is the master of the jazz piano lick. He has a library of licks that jazz piano players around the
world have been copying for years, and as long as you play the licks in the right place, they are OK.

This is what a lick is. A musical statement that has been played a million times by everyone, but is still OK to
use when appropriate. In fact, sometimes you NEED to use them. If you are on a session or a gig and you are
playing Nat Cole's version of "Route 66", the people you are playing with are going to put in some basic licks
that Nat Cole used and you'll need to know them. The ending licks of blues tunes, the "Count Basie Ending",
licks that lead into different sections, bebop licks, latin licks- the list is endless.

Just remember- licks are a basic part of the jazz vocabulary and no matter how original you want to be, if you
want to work, gig, and session, you better know them.

The licks below are just a brief touch upon the ocean of what is available, and more will be put here as time
goes on. If you have some licks that should be included,

submit

them to me and I'll put them up.

Note: Please listen to the MIDI file before playing these licks. The transcribing capability of my software did not
allow for some the exactness that I would have liked so the sheet music is slightly different than what I played.

Lick 1

file:///D|/SONJA%20&%20GUIDO/Learn%20Jazz%20Piano,%20by%20Scot%20Ranney.htm (1 of 4)10/04/2004 23.50.18

Artist

Don Grolnick

Find it !

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

Are you a piano teacher or looking
for one?

Click Here

for our free

international piano teacher database.

Forums:

Create a New Account

or login -- username:

password:

Forgot Your Login?

The only Jazz Jam Session in Bellingham, Washington:

Tuesdays at Boundary Bay Brewery-

hosted by Scot Ranney

Main Page

<< Go to the Forums >>

Newest Threads:
• My own philosophy on reading
music (11) - 1/4
• Why jazz is losing the race (45) -
1/4
• 90s jazz (7) - 1/4
• Fake Book (2) - 1/4
• National Book Tokens Grrrrrrrrrrr ,
- 1/4

Newest Files:
• Alice's Wonderland, 02/21
• Bluesology, 02/21
• Fascinated, 02/21
• On Green Flipper Street, 02/21
• Improvisation, Jan 2001, 02/21

Some quick links:
•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Salsa and Latin Piano

•

Jazz Books and Jazz Piano Books

Lots more inside!

The Basics

Are you one of those people who have put down a book on how to learn jazz in disgust because of how difficult it was to deal with
the countless chord inversions, voicings, symbols, and pages of stuff that you were expected to understand before you went to the
bathroom again? It doesn't have to be that difficult, and it shouldn't be that difficult. In this lesson we'll explore:

1. Chord Symbols
2. The Almighty 2-5-1
3. 2-5-1 Exercise
4. Learning a Tune

Now, some of you might say, "But, the BLUES is the root of jazz! Shouldn't that come first?" You would be correct. However,
before we get to the blues you need to know a few basic fundamentals that will be used throughout the journey to jazz.

Chord Symbols

It's important that we are eye to eye on chord symbols. Everyone has their favorite chord symbol style, and I'm no different. Here is
a little graphic that will show you the main symbols we'll be using for now. When you play them, play the chord letter in your left
hand as a bass note.

(midi link)

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=basics.txt (1 of 4)05.01.2005 04:06:30

Go!

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

Chico's Paradise

Online Real Estate Training:

Train Agents, Inc. Real Estate School

Now, those of you with some previous study in jazz or classical harmony will say, "But, those chords have extra notes in them!"
And you know what? You would be right. But here's the thing:

IT DOESN'T MATTER

What matters is how the chord sounds. Professional jazz pianists see chords as if they are shimmering mirages, always changing,
always dynamic. Sometimes a C7 might literally be a C7, and sometimes it might be a C7 with a 13, and sometimes it might be
something altogether different. The choice of what to play at any given time depends on how experienced the player is, what is
going on in the music, how the player feels that night, and any number of other reasons. It all boils down to, "Does this sound good,
or does this sound BAD?"

When trying out the chords above, keep in mind that you shouldn't play the root (the letter of the chord symbol) in your right hand
because you are either playing it in your left hand already, or if you are in a group the bass player is taking care of that duty.

NO ROOTS IN THE RIGHT HAND

Most of what we work on here should be done in all 12 keys. That will mean practice on your part as you figure out how to play
everything in 12 keys. Yes, that's right, you won't become a real player without heavy practice. Does an hour a day sound like too
much? If you want to learn, be prepared to put in twice that.

The Almighty 2-5-1

One of the most basic of all chord progressions is the 2-5-1. Take a look at the following graphic.

(midi link)

Play the roots in your left hand, and the chords in your right until the sound you are hearing seems natural. This progression is used
in 99% of all tunes that jazz musicians play, in some way or the other. Here are a few more examples in different keys. You should
play them, learn them, and then learn them in all the keys.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=basics.txt (2 of 4)05.01.2005 04:06:30

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

Learning a Tune

So you are on your way to mastering these wonderful new ideas and wonder what practical application it all has, right? Well, right
now you should think about learning how to play a tune while we are going through these lessons. You can apply the things you
pick up from these lessons in a song that you choose to learn.

●

Autumn Leaves

●

All The Things You Are

●

Lullaby of Birdland

●

On Green Dolphin Street

●

Speak Low

I don't think I am allowed to have lead sheets available for download due to copyright laws, but I will have chord sheets available so
you can work on these songs with hip chords instead of horrible common fake book chords. Let me know if you need a chord sheet
before they are available on this site.

As far as learning a new tune goes, there are a couple of important steps involved, and none of them involve sheet music:

1. Learn the melody
2. Learn the bass
3. Learn to play the melody and bass together
4. Memorize
5. Expand your arrangement as you learn the tune until it so good that you are hired to play in the Starlight Lobby Lounge at

your local Holiday Inn

3,265,641

No portion of this site may be reproduced without the express written permission of Scot Ranney. LearnJazzPiano.com and Scot Ranney take no responsibility for third-party material
appearing in any bulletin board, chat sections, or user page of this site.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=basics.txt (4 of 4)05.01.2005 04:06:30

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

Are you a piano teacher or looking
for one?

Click Here

for our free

international piano teacher database.

Forums:

Create a New Account

or login -- username:

password:

Forgot Your Login?

The only Jazz Jam Session in Bellingham, Washington:

Tuesdays at Boundary Bay Brewery-

hosted by Scot Ranney

Main Page

<< Go to the Forums >>

Newest Files:
• Alice's Wonderland, 02/21
• Bluesology, 02/21
• Fascinated, 02/21
• On Green Flipper Street, 02/21
• Improvisation, Jan 2001, 02/21

Some quick links:
•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Salsa and Latin Piano

•

Jazz Books and Jazz Piano Books

Lots more inside!

Simple Blues

The roots of jazz and most other popular music grow deep within the blues tradition. When Africans were kidnapped
and brought here to be sold as slaves, they were accompanied by a deep heritige where music and rhythm were
fundamental to life in their society. A small, simplistic five note scale that didn't even fit into western tonality found
itself as the seed of almost everything we hear.

1. The Blues Scale
2. Blues Chords
3. The Basic 12 Bar Blues Form
4. Simple Blues Song

The blues is something you should know in all twelve keys because the blues IS the cornerstone of jazz. Knowing the
blues in 12 keys is such a universal jazz law that people don't even have to mention it.

The Blues Scale

The blues scale, shown here in the key of F, is a rather simple scale, encompassing all of five notes.

(midi link)

Some people might add what is often called the "blues" note, and it would be the B natural in the following example.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=lesson2.txt (1 of 4)05.01.2005 04:08:29

Go!

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

Chico's Paradise

Online Real Estate Training:

Train Agents, Inc. Real Estate School

(midi link)

This "blues" note is our attempt at playing a note that doesn't exactly fit into western tonality. It lies somewhere
between the 4th and the flat 5th. Africans didn't know about western tonality back in the 1700's, so they didn't consider
that anything might have been wrong with their music (thank goodness!)

Blues Chords

Before we go on to a simple blues form, you need to know what to do when you see a chord symbol. When you play
these examples, try to learn these chords in all the keys. It may take a while, but learning in all the keys is important.
Keep in mind that the chord voicings are not set in stone- if you come up with something on your own that you like
better, learn it in all the keys and then use it! For this lesson we will be keeping out examples in the key of F blues.

(midi link)

Play the root in your left hand as you play the chords. Now, as we look at the basic 12 bar blues form, you can play the
chords above wherever they are called for in the following form.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=lesson2.txt (2 of 4)05.01.2005 04:08:29

Learn Jazz Piano, by Scot Ranney

(midi link)

Blues Song

Now let's play a simple blues song. The tune below shows the usage of the blues scale as well as another very important
aspect of the blues - call and response. You will notice that for the first four bars, a melody is played. In the second
four bars, the melody is repeated. In the last four bars, there is something else, a response. For more information on this
style, you need to listen to some of the old blues guitar masters from the early part of the century. I will try to get some
links in here soon for you to check them out.

One other thing that you will notice when you listen to the midi file is that the notes are "swung". That means that
eighth notes are not played as literally as they are written. If you want to think about swing as being notated, the closest
you can come is by writing triplets and then tying the first two (which is how I notated the music to get the illusion of
"swing" for the midi file). But, it's better just to "feel" swing rather than trying to think logically about it. We'll get into
swing more later on.

http://www.learnjazzpiano.com/index.mv?menu=lessons&page=lesson2.txt (3 of 4)05.01.2005 04:08:29

Document Outline