Harmonizing a One-Chord Progression: "I'll Remember April", Jazz Tutorial
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- How to harmonize a one-chord progression using a variety of jazz theory techniques. Using II-V I, Scale tone 7ths, Spread voicings, Ostinato Bass, Locked Hands, and Drop 2 Techniques, this videos utilizes all these style to illustrate how to harmonize a one chord progression.
KH: "God bless the 9 people who gave thumbs down...we have to get rid of this cat: the Altered Dominant Ego Man!"
They can't possibly have meant you! Thank you for all your great teaching, Kent and for sharing your knowledge with us! PS- go feed the cat! haha
Great tutorials as always! Thanks for doing this KH!
So much valuable information in such a short amount of time - thanks so much Kent, it's always a pleasure to watch you play!(:
I appreciate the compliment and I'm glad you enjoyed the new video!
I don't want to keep writing comments here, but God man, this is just so beautiful. I can't stop listening to it. I love how it just soars with joy and pain, and drips with nostalgia. If I can someday express myself a fraction of what Kent can, I'll die a happy man.
I have so many favorite pianists that I wish I could play like. If I could never play again ...listening would still give me great joy.
I took a lot of jazz piano lessons but many italian teachers only love speaking about theory. Thank you Kent for giving us these lessons. I finally learned how to play some jazz simply watching the hands.
Thanks for telling me, Roberto, you just made me happy today!
I have spent years of my life taking piano lessons, and I think I've learned more from one of your videos then in all that time combined. I wish there were a Nobel Prize for piano teaching because I would submit your name for nomination. Thanks Kent, you are a treasure.
Al, that's a great comment...and you honor me!...and it does my heart good..so please keep in touch!.
Thanks; a lifetime of study in 20 minutes!
Much Appreciated!
Just when I thought it couldn't get better... the new website format appeared. It's terrific. I've been following you and learning for a long time. I'm a lifetime away from absorbing it all, but I've greatly improved my playing and knowledge base. I can't thank you enough.
Thanks...One Note....I'm really glad to hear the new website is working....I have a lot to do to bring it up to standard... but I'm glad to hear that you liked it.!
your videos continue to inspire me and help me. i am 15 years old and im a alto and soprano sax player, and whenever my group rehearses i always look to you for ideas. thank you for continuing the jazz tradition!
Thank you for writing. I was your age when I started to get into jazz. Please be sure to listen to the recordings of the greats: Miles, Monk, Parker, Dizzy, Bill Evans, Ellington, Brubeck, Louise Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Coltrane, Garner, Hampton, Cannonball, Prez, to name just a few.
Kent Hewitt i love all of those cats! on top of all of them i am very fond of cannonball, kenny garrett, and chet baker
Hey Kent. As a young aspiring jazz pianist, I just wanna thank you for putting the effort into making these sublime videos. I wish you nothing but the best :)
-Liam
Thank you!! Much appreciated...a compliment from a true gentleman from...?
All the way over in Denmark. Ever been?
I started off as a wind player (flute, alto sax) in school and my teenage years, but I've taken to piano (and guitar to a lesser extent) recently as it's such an amazing way to understand harmony on a visual level. These videos are great for all instruments; thank you for producing them!
That's a great affirmation...because you are right...while I'm really focused on jazz piano...I believe these concepts are useful for all types of players (and singers).. so thank you...for saying that. All the best, KH
I like your clarity. Some other videos are too complicated and unclear. This is exactly what I need at this point in my playing.
Joe....Thanks for telling me...really helps out!
I've been playing "April" since the 50s - one of my favorites. Thank you for your input and ideas. That sounds like Ahmad Jamal at the beginning. He was one of my favorites in the fifties as I was getting started.
Thanks, John. The beginning sounds like Ahmad because it's his famous arrangement from Live at the Pershing, being played by my trio. We did an Ahmad Jamal Tribute for about 5 years in the late 90-'s.Thanks for commenting.
This is a great video for bringing together the many techniques you show in your other videos. Thanks again for the excellent lesson. Still hanging in there at 80!
Hang in there...brother! ...I hope I can, too....Thanks, God bless you.
These videos keep getting better and better.
Kiam...That's a great comment and compliment...keeps me going. Thanks!
I agree
absolutely!
Silence Please.............Genius at work. Great lesson Kent. Thanks.
Silence is golden.. thanks, DrDee....you are a bro!
I like the format you present in many of your videos.
1. Perform the song
2. post the transcribed score
It's a great inspiration, target, with a study document... even if I'll never be able to get through the full advanced performances myself. I can still simplify and learn excerpts and have a great time.
3. Your follow up tutorial explanation segments with theory and techniques are extremely valuable and can be taken away to other songs too.
4. When I take advantage of the whole package I also end up with another song for my performance inventory and have a great time learning it.
p.s. Bill Evans (and style of) is a special favorite of mine.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have used that format in a number of my videos, but I like to mix it up so they are not all the same. Lately I've been doing just the performance part and at the end add a link to the formal tutorial and score. That way you only have to watch a 3 minute video and later decide if you want to download the score and/or watch the tutorial. Bill Evans videos; czcams.com/play/PLFuMibnl_h5ZNh3QHMhPJ5COU7lswpwYa.html
Crucial information, made crystal clear! You are a gentleman and a scholar!
Great comment and I'm sure I would say the same to you!
Thanks for taking the time to share your valuable knowledge. God continue to bless you in all ways of your life.
Thanks, Kent. I've. been following your videos for sometime now and they have been really filling in some major gaps in my jazz knowledge.
Glad I could help out. Many of these things I had to work out and discover for myself...but I guess my years of teaching and writing a book...helped me to pass them on with some clarity. Thank you!
Wow, I really love your playing. It feels like a fresh breeze has moved into the room when you play. It reminds me of my early youth for some reason. Very beautiful playing.
That's a great comment, Fred...much appreciated!
Thanks Kent for another great tutorial.It´s always amazing to see how much useful information you can provide in a short time.
Very nice comment and much apprecaited!
thanks! most of my trio does head arrangements of many simple pop songs. these tricks will keep me entertained for some time. I often have to be the harmony robot and I get shuffled between bass, keys, and rhythm guitar and these tricks will help me steer the melody and keep order when the band leader decides to take a solo. please keep up the great work, and thanks for the inspiration .
Thanks for telling me about your experiences ...it's challenging being in a band w/ different personalities, egos, likes, dislikes , and musical knowledge ....and time concepts. Good luck!
Great performance.Hello from Italy
Thank you very much!
Best Channel ever. And your free Material is awesome as well. I cant afford much lessons at the moment so this is pure Gold for me. Thank you Kent!! Btw: Great Teacher, Great Player
Thank you for telling me...it's a great affirmation for what I'm doing.
Great tips Kent. Awesome playing Thanks 👍
Kent, I hope that you know how truly helpful and inspiring your courses are to people. I’ve been sitting at my piano (which I recently bought) and have been playing after a very long hiatus (a busy career at Disney and a few other life consuming things). The freedom of playing and creating at the piano is something that is so very special. Your exercises are giving me an important structure and stretching. Thank you Sir. 🙏
That's a fantastic comment, Fred....I'm very appreciative and I hope you know how much you help me!
what absolute delight, good to hear from you.
Thank you so much!
Kent - this is chocked full of great information - wonderful job!!!
Thanks so much for the compliment!
Thank you I will try to learn and listen.
Thanks for the comment and encouragement.
I'm learning so much!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I will watch this a thousand times...
Oh my gosh this is beyond helpful.
Great to hear...thanks!
Great Lesson Ken...You picked a great tune to as an example!
Thanks for the affirmation!
You are always there Best !!
great tutorial and performance !!
Much appreciated!...please keep watching.
Of course !! Everytime I check youtube your channel is my first watching !!
I just watched one of your videos, about the diminished scale, whilst using dominant chords, Im hooked ill watch a lot more of your videos, and try and grasp what your talking about, you can make quite complex things accessible, thankyou
Thanks for the affirmation. Pleas go to my playlists on my channel page to see more videos on dim.chords and scales.
Many many thanks. It is increadible how you manage to put so much valuable information into one single video.
Really great and very, very enjoyable, too.
very important stuff to me, helps a lot to fill the gaps i am still missing, so thx a lot as always!
J, Charles...thanks for confirming a point of view that I thought was a good subscriber request! Keep in touch!
I'm a guitarist and recently found your videos. Great techniques applicable on other instruments too. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
I always am happy when I hear from guitarists, because I work w/ guitarists, some of my best friends, and I love the guitar. So I wish you the best with your jazz studies.
this is gold, thank you, Mr. Hewitt.
Wow! Great comment and much appreciated!
Thank you so much for this magnificent tutorial. You bring even more to this song that i thought was possible; including an uplifting, joyous energy, which emphasizes the hopeful, positive side of this bittersweet experience expressed by the lyrics. (As a musician, though, i usually don't think too much about the lyrics... but these are pretty good!) As a horn player, i've been struggling with how to expand all those G measures you talked about, and your ideas are absolutely terrific-- so informative, and so well laid out with increasing complexity. And thanks for the whole tune, too; wow... that was phenomenal!... a stone gas!
Totally cool...you are my brother and a true cat!!! A wonderful comment.....million thanks!
Thanks again, Kent. Your tutorials are both practical and fun.
Practical and fun...that's about the best 2 words I could have thought of...thank you, Tim!
Wow ! That's some useful advice right here ! Thanks a lot !
Thanks for the comment and enthusiasm...very helpful to me!
Another great video from the KH. Thanks, Kent.
Hey, BTW, I'm really digging the looks of the updated website. Way coooool, man.
George...you are truly the coolest cat, yet...thanks so much, bud!
Great, thank you so much!
Many thanks to you!
Another great lesson . So incredible to watch and listen to you play at the end . Awesome 👏
Oh boy , I feel I have a lot of work to do ! So much to learn . One day at a time ~ right ?
Thank you again ~ you're going to keep me busy learning piano and music theory for a very long time to come I think . I'll never be bored again ! 😂😁 Patience & perseverance may be more of my challenge !
I like your inspirational quotes to help keep us focused . 👌
'Hang loose & keep swingin' Kent ' 👍😊
bravo- you give one so many possibilities
Gert, yes...there are many possibilities and that will make your music and playing better! Thank you!
Another great lesson. I love the pacing and style of your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge (and sense of humor!)
Thank, Joe...especially for the humor part!
Kent good harmony technics i like it
You're back! As always a wicked video, Kent. Every time I watch you play I'm inspired to do more.
Thanks! I'm back and so is the ADEM...but with the piano freshly tuned and a new hopeful year ahead, I'm glad you're back too!
your channel is so amazing, I used to not know what to do with a piano, but now I'm starting to get into jazz and the lead sheets and so on, thank you! very inspiring!
Thanks for the affirmation and keep watching!
Most swell, dear Sir.
Much appreciated, sir!
I live in Newark, NJ. Wish I knew you were in town. Love your channel.
That was EDEM, not me. But years ago I had a girlfriend originally from Newark and we'd go there on the holidays...so I guess there's some nostalgia there for me. My comment was intended to be humorous but if you're from Newark you might not like that.
Fantastic! So inspirational.
Thanks, David...much appreciated!
a neat intro Mr. gentleman and good content as always.
Love your comment...many thanks!
Loved this! Such great information and good reminder to include all the different techniques.. thanks a lot
Hey EmilysEscape- All the techniques are what makes a well-rounded player...and if you want to be a pro...that's necessary!
So appreciated! I love the idea of knowing how to create movement. Thank you for sharing!!
Hey Steve....Thanks!.....it was fun for me to do this video...and I wish I knew this stuff 50 years ago! Glad to "lay it on you, bro".
Great video, thanks Kent!
Thanks for watching!
brilliant! and such a joy to listen! now getting it into my own hands...
Yes, sir...and I wish you the best ...and be sure to have fun with it!
Hi Kent. a bottle balanced on the edge of a plastic bucket of water with cheese in the top of the bottle and petrolium jelly around the neck of the bottle is excellent for dealing with mice. Wheat farmers use 40 gallon drums.
Thanks for the video.
Michael, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Thanks for the tip...I'll pass that on to the boss...and please keep watching!
Thanks!🙏🙏🙏
My pleasure!
Thanks for another great lesson Kent. Always very inspiring for my solo guitar work!
Thanks Robert...I love to hear from you and guitarist!
Bravo, Ken. You're an inspiration. Now if I can just get my hands worked on to do that 10th thing.
I ve enjoyed this video a lot Krnt, so fruitful, always grateful to you!
Thanks, Vivi, it's always great to hear from you and I appreciate the affirmation. A subscriber requested this...I get a lot of requests and I try to honor them... if I can, in time.
gorgeous stuff
Thank you!!
this is very helpful to make something of all that realbook stuff!!
I always wished I could write the Unreal Book!
Hi Kent I have a suggestion for a tube: say you start a song in the key of F a 6-2-5-1 progression and then going to another root say Bflat and do a 251 and then return to F. Which cords will I use (inversements?) and how to go from one root to another?
what a valuable lesson Kent, and every style has it's own charm. So generous of you to share your secrets with us.....thanks to your videos, i'm finding it more enticing to return to jazz instead of just sticking to the blues. Could you give us some tips on 'Dream a little dream of me?" It's one of my favorites. The chord changes are too fast on it to really know what to do with the improv or lead side of it. Thanks a million. Your fan club, one can see is constantly expanding. So many blessings must be headed your way. Wishing you all the best for 2017 too. i'm giving you my Grammy award for the best Jazz Pianist.
What can I say to you, Angeli, other than "will you please be my Valentine?!".....sorry...I'm already taken...but if I and you were not......?
well Kent my heart would certainly go straight to you. Though I might not want to be in your lady's shoes with all those other ladies hanging around your piano, while you play, heh heh! I'll be wise and keep my mind and hands on the piano keys and stay happy listening to your zany intros and learning what I can from you!
broken 10ths is very interesting technique: left hand looks like playing most of the frequencies from the base of the harmonic series: 2nd, 3rd and 5th. this covers quite a spectrum of frequencies bringing natural and deep sound. neat.
Hey, Manfred...you may have to hip me to those frequency concepts...we'll make it an equal trade, right?. Neat is a cool word ...so it would be great if we could dialog...okay?
No problem. The POV comes from acoustics and maths: (a harmonic series - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(mathematics) ), and basically understands the sound as a sum of individual sinewaves of different (specific) frequencies (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform). That's the very basis to the concept of the defined intervals (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)) and on top of'em: accords. Summing up: this is one of the very foundations of tonality in music (i hope i get the "tonality" right, right?).
Great video! Your artistry is inspiring
Many thanks and keep watching!
5:30 sneaking that James Bond theme in there I see
love your videos
Thanks so much!
So great! Appreciate it!
Good solo at the end of the video Kent...
Great compliment...thanks!
Hi Kent,
Can't believe I only just found your channel a few weeks ago. Love everything that you do here, the time and effort that goes into these videos is unmatched on the Internet for learning the varying aspects of Jazz. I would love to see more of Bill Evans, and I noticed you said he was your greatest inspiration (correct me if I'm wrong). More content perhaps on how Bill played beyond things like the rootless chord voicings which you've covered already.
Also, and this is kind of an odd request, but maybe a video on your career and some stories on how you came in contact or to know some of the jazz greats? I see you post comments about your past every so often, and to have a perspective like yours is rare to say the least. If you don't want to do a full video then maybe you could begin some videos with a story from your life or something.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Hi, thanks for the suggestions. I did tell a story about playing with Clark Terry and also Chet Baker. They were at the beginning of certain videos. I'd have to go through them to find those intros. I do have 4-5 videos on Bill Evans as well as his style and techniques.(see link) I'll keep your ideas in mind. czcams.com/play/PLFuMibnl_h5ZNh3QHMhPJ5COU7lswpwYa.html
Another cool video! Thanks. Could you do a video on lounge (bar/cocktail) jazz piano please?
Thanks!...I've done a few...I think of lounge piano as sort of a Hollywood piano concept... because we always hear a piano in the background of nightclub scenes in the old movies (also in Woody Allen movies) So I have a category on that: czcams.com/play/PLFuMibnl_h5YhoyXP4QNF4a48BOWxT7VQ.html
Thank you so much, Kent! I really appreciate it.
I’m eating this up!..........feed me more jazz food!😁👍🏾
Cool....man!
The haunting ego man is funny 😂- I haven't watched the video yet ~ just love the dominant ego man , when he pops up . Hilarious .
That's great...someone likes him...I usually accuse him of the thumbs down.
Thank you!!!
Same to you!!
Just a comment: Lovely solo you played in the end of this video! :)
Thanks a great comment and keeps me going...thanks!
Hello from Michigan / I just had my piano tuned this week. No mice, just some dust on the hammers. Gary 🚂
Hi, Gary!...We just had our Mason and Hamlin tuned, so that's why I was able to do this new video. Maybe there's not so many mice in Michigan. I was there once (years ago) ...and visited a gal in Kalamazoo
Hi Kent / Famous tune. Cool. ♬♬♬
...freshly tuned sounds great!
Nothing better! thanks!
fascinating stuff as usual Kent, happy new year :)
Thanks so much and Happy New Year!
the alter dominant ego man always cheers me up!
In a way...me too! I'm glad to hear that someone likes him.....after all...we all have alter egos.
great
SWEET!!
THANKS!
Thanks!
Thank you!!
I think you surpassed the techniques described in this video at the last improv session haha
You're right...I'm sure and thanks for telling me!
Hey KH, could you do a tutorial on Jimmy Van Heusen's "I thought About You"? Thanks!
Thanks for the request...it's on my list!
Have you ever listened to the version by the Keith Jarrett Trio from their Tokyo 96 concert? It's my favorite. Great video too.
I'll have to check that out...Keith is the greatest living jazz pianist...I'm a Bill Evans guy but think about what Bill taught Keith. He's the modern day interpretation.
It will be nice if you breakdown some Barry Harris idea of comping on his version with dexter Gordon !
Wow...awesome request....I might have to go back to jazz classes for that one!
Great video, I would love to have a transcription of your interpretation at the end of the video. Some really cool moves/scales you played there. Do you happen to have one ? ;) If not, still enjoying your fantastic work. Keep going.
Sorry...if I had to write a transcription of everything I do, I probably would be able to do only 1/3 of the videos I have available. These videos require a lot of work. However... your question is very perceptive, because.... one might ask ...is it better to have more choices or less variety of subjects.... yet with more detail...anyway...what do you think?
Well, actually i think due to the educational intention of your channel
its better to do more videos with more choices.... since jazz is more
about improvisation than transcription. just loved this interpretation
so much that i couldnt hold myself back to ask for it.. dont get me
wrong, i do appreciate the work you do!
Hi Kent, i wonder if you can answer me a question. How do you choose the scales while improvising?.Awesome videos by the way
Wonderful tutorial...Is there a Mental-Shortcut to developing Drop-2 chord mastery? It seems that, when adding subsitutions and reharminizing, especially with lots of color tones, it starts to become a skill, that is only achievable when the instrument is fully under the fingers. You're passed tutorials explain the Drop-2's perfectly, however, do you have any practice techniques that can speed up the process so I can grab them faster? Thanks again for the inspiration and help...Swing loose, Ronald
Whole song at 16:04
Thanks!
I really love this channel and I want to say thank you,Kent for all of the great music you make. Although explanations are pretty hard for me... I wonder if jazz/blues beginners can understand Kent's book?
Thanks...if you check out the table on contents, you will see that the book starts with beginner jazz and tells you most everything you need to know as a beginner. It includes the theory, practical examples, and songs to learn with drills/exercises in an optional appendix. Check it out and thanks!www.kenthewitt.com/my-book
Love your videos. Maybe it's time for a piano tuning though.
Hi Bill, thanks for the comment. However we had the piano expertly tuned recently ( 2 pianists live and play everyday here), so it may be that the out- of- tune sound is possible on your end or something in the transmission. It sounds perfect on our end..... and we are very critical about this issue. So I'm sorry if it doesn't sound good to you.
Hi Kent! I was wondering if you will do couple pieces from "lalaland". It's a musical movie inspired by Jazz era. Cheers!
We saw the movie and thought it was good, but not great. The music was not memorable, but that was just our opinion...I'd like to hear the soundtrack to get a better impression.
I don’t see ways to harmonize one chord in music downloads?? I don’t see the tune - I’ll remember April
Bruce. write to my email.
@@KentHewittpiano88 ok Kent. I will look up your email address in the morning. Not sleeping well so I’m reading at 3-4 am. Haha 😛
Any method you recommend for studying jazz and blues, harmony in general?
Please study all my videos and order my book and it will be a complete course on what you are interested in. Write to me for a special deal on the book. Thanks! kenthewitt.net
How do you mic the piano and keep out external noise?
Nice vid as always
Besides Dick Hyman your the only person I know of that realizes Buckner was the first to use the locked hands technique on piano
Are you familiar with Buddy Cole?
He used that technique a lot
He was Bing Crosbys pianist for a while
Also had a state of the art studio in his LA home and recorded an album of Art Tatum called 20th century piano genius
Very rare but one of Art,s very best recordings
Hey, Joe! we are compadres, bro...same vintage. I don't use a mic, I'm only using a Canon Powershot S95 ...it's a vintage camera but great quality. It records the video and audio at the same time. I'm not high tech. I think I know of Buddy Cole. How do you know him? I guess Donn Trenner worked for Steve Allen after you... so maybe you don't know him ...he's back here in CT and leads a top notch big band in Hartford. Cheers!
Sounds great
Can't believe you get such good recording like that!!
Check out the Bing Crosby radio broadcasts from early 50s
Mosaic released them couple years back but I think u can stream them
Did u ever work with Sonny Costanza?
Sure!......, Sonny booked me on some of my early house-trio gigs in New Haven... backing up Phil Woods, Charles McPherson, Chet Baker, Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Frank Wess, etc. back in the 70's. When I think back on it ...what a great privilege and opportunity I had at very early age (wish I knew then... what I know now)........ will never happen again
Yes it's as good as a studio recording...such clarity and it catches the energy and movement so well
Thank you, Angeli!
Always " trés bon ". Merci beaucoup.
And why not sometimes an arrangement of a good pop song ?
I remember Eleonor Rigby with you.
Thank you...yes I have a Beatles tune in mind!
Kent i like this video thanks for sharing, the broken tenths sounds a bit like the Beatles song Here There And Everywhere to me anyway maybe I'm wrong.
Paul, you are exactly right...it's even the same key. That's a Beatles song I have always enjoyed playing so maybe I'll do a tutorial on it...someone else asked me to do something on a pop tune. Thanks!
Thanks Kent that would be a good song, another good song is Dear Prudence.
Hey Kent....the usual vamp in the beginning, would you use d7#9 to Cmaj or c7?