Questions tagged [jazz]
An original American music style that originated in the early 20th century by improvisation and syncopation.
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Rhythmically bound?
I'm wondering how bound I am to the (let's say in this case) 4/4 time in blues/jazz. Let's use the first two bars of Summertime in A minor (playing from a lead sheet). The notes are E C E. The last E ...
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Is it better or even possible to use one syllable for vocal improv (scatting) or is there a benefit to using multiple syllables?
I really want to be able to focus on just the pitch instead of lyrics of changing syllables when I do vocal improv. I’ve noticed that certain rhythms do not seem to flow as smoothly with one syllable ...
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Diminished/Half diminished
In jazz notation, the degree sign means a diminished chord, for instance CEbGb. A diminished 7 chord would be CEbGbBb? A half diminished chord, a degree sign with a slash, would be what?
How do you ...
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Does the melody of famous gypsy jazz standard Minor Swing start ON or BEFORE the beat?
I am referring to the 1937 version of the song.
Lead sheets say the melody starts on the first beat of the first bar (the A). And subsequent identical phrases also start on the first beat of the bar.
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Improvising if I don't hear anything in my "mind's ear"?
Ever since I recently discovered my total aphantasia, I've been really curious as to whether or not I can achieve musical success. Part of this, at least to me, is creating music. So far I've learned (...
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Can I Learn Ear Training Without the Ability to Audiate?
I asked a question a couple days ago along the lines of "can I become a pro musician if I can't audiate?", which was rightly met with some opposition. I appreciate the responses I got on ...
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What is this pointy curved ornament? [duplicate]
I don’t know what the pointy curved thing is; I’ve never seen it before until now.
If anyone could give me any advice that would be great.
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LilyPond – mark chords style
How can I get LilyPond to have colored chords frames in a handwritten style?
I think this is a known style but I have not found any more info about it. Very cool, very jazzy!
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Is secondary dominant in fact resolving V chord of major scale with I chord of different mode?
I just saw the chord scale of five of four.
It used C mixolydian chord scale.
So 'IV' of five of four is the F Major scale, and the target chord is F Lydian chord scale.
Does that mean I chord from F ...
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How to play over add 11, 9 etc chords
How do u approach improvising. Over extended chords like c 11 chords eg. I ask because I struggle soloing over them on jazz tunes
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What tension(s) do we usually use for i (minor of 1st) in a major-scale modern song?
I am a beginner in modern (Jazz?) piano and I am wondering how I should add tension(s) for "i" (minor of 1st) in a major-scale song.
I am aware that, e.g., for I and IV (major of 1st and 4th)...
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What happened to Jazz in 1980?
In this great interview by Rick Beato (around 01:13h) Pat Metheny says that in 1980 something happened - "we all know what it was" - and young musicians suddenly started to play for their ...
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Is the B major chord in the given progression(in key of A major) a secondary dominant?
This is a popular Indian film song composed by Amit Trivedi in key of A major
I was analysing this and need help verifying the same.
In the 8th bar there is B Major chord resolving the C#min7 in ...
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Is it Bad Technique to Use One Finger for Two Keys in Sequence?
I was curious about how a pro might finger a jazz solo, so I paid someone on Fiver to write out the fingering labels. Not a lot of surprises, but there are few spots where they play two different ...
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F#m7 chord in “Misty” in C major
I'm analyzing the accompaniment for 'Misty' in C major. In measure 16 (“how hopelessly I am lost”) there's an F#m7 chord accompanying the B in the melody. Although F#m7 seems unusual in C major, it ...
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Babylon Sisters intro . Harmony?
in the Babylon sister intro,
What is going on with the F#/E- A7b5-Ebmin7 ? ( my sheet music says Ebmajsus4 )
Just wanted advice on how to label
The chord functions.
I’ve circled the part in blue on ...
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When to use Blues scales in jazz
I looked it up and found that the key shows you what blues to use during solos. But I find songs with a key of C but using A blues. Does this mean the key doesn't show when to use specific blues ...
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Strange chord notations in piano sheet: Twisted by Annie Ross
I have to play Twisted with a jazz singer and I came found this lead sheet where the chords are written strangely. Is this the standard notation? Eg., is B'6 = Bbmaj7?
Does anyone know where I can get ...
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When do you include the bass note of a chord if the bass is the b9?
I'm writing chords for a pop piano part (so definitely want to follow what is more intuitive for pop/jazz players rather than sticking hard to the music theory books). The chord in the right hand is a ...
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What should I play over this rhythmic slash notation?
(I'll work on getting a better picture)
I'm playing as the pianist for a jazz ensemble and Ive encountered a specified rhythm in slash notation, however there are no specified chords.
This is a ...
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What does the phrase “a bar for nothing” mean?
I’ve heard this phrase most commonly used when counting off a song in a jazz context. The MD will say “I’ll give you a bar for nothing” and then count off the song.
What does it mean?
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How should I start studying jazz standards? [closed]
I am beginning to learn guitar itself.
I can read music sheet, have studied music theory well enough to understand chord progressions.
But I have not played much other than Bach's Bourree and some ...
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Can saxophones be in orchestras, not just like the symphonic jazz orchestras/big band?
I'm arranging a game piece from Minecraft called "Alpha" (aka end credits theme).
I thought the idea of merging school band and orchestra would be a cool idea, but I don't know if writing ...
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Help me to understand more interesting improv techniques [duplicate]
Question for all, doesn't have to be specific to jazz.
I love to improvise, and I'm definitely not new to it. This is something that I have been doing for many years.
I'm in a bit of a rut at the ...
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How do I memorize the jazz music as just a listener?
I want to get into jazz but I have a small (?) problem: most of the jazz music sounds same to me. How do I learn to distinguish different songs? With salsa it was easier as songs had some lyrics there....
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How to interpret this awkward runs and base chord? La La Land Mia & Sebastian's Theme runs
In the last section of Mia and Sebastian's Theme from La La Land, there were a lot of quick runs. Upon transcription I found the relationship of the scale and the base chord is rather unusual.
First ...
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Bass line and chord mismatch - Afternoon in Paris
In Lewis and Sacha Distel version of Afternoon in Paris, Distel only played section A and repeat when his solo ends at 4:41, then was the break. After the break, Lewis picked up the rest of the ...
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Invert open voice chords
when playing open voiced chords, do I still want to invert them so they fit each other? Or isn't open voiced chords as common to invert?
And when I play chords with my right hand, and bass note with ...
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Adequate chord progression for an intimate "bolero"-"jazz" song?
I am trying to compose an intimate song to be played by an acoustic guitar (and a piano at most) related to the genre of "bolero" or "jazz", perhaps with traces of "fado"....
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Chord change timing in lead sheet with two chords in a bar
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it all. In this example, and in general I wonder. Im not sure I can upload photo of the example due to copyright.
But in this bar there's an A ...
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Why do some of the chord choices in measures 18 through 20 of "Study #1 William Leavitt - Melodic Rhythms For Guitar" sound... "wrong"?
prior research: I was given this link by my guitar teacher. When I first raised the issue that this sounded funny I was told it was fine, and "there's no 'wrong' in music." But this still ...
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Has anyone attempted to study the history and evolution of specific jazz "licks"?
Has anyone attempted to study the history and evolution of specific jazz "licks" ? For example, Louis Armstrong played this phrase or snippet or riff. Here is how it evolved...here is how ...
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String/Strap attached to Christian McBride's bass?
I've seen some images/videos where his bass has a black string wrapped around it and was curious if anyone knows what its purpose is:
Video:
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How to get better at jazz quickly? [closed]
I play the piano and guitar and I'm learning to read sheet music. All I can do to make my playing sound more jazz is occasionally add flat and sharp notes that are outside the major/minor scale, play ...
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1 b3 4 Triad in A Love Supreme?
In the Acknowledgement of A Love Supreme, this motif seems to be two stacked 1 b3 4 triads—what would you call them? Super-diminished?? Or is there a better way to understand this motif chordally than ...
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Did anybody try to analyze Strange Meadow Lark by Dave Brubeck by functional analysis?
I was trying to understand the chord progression in Strange Meadow Lark, but it comes to a point where the changes are a little bit blurry of what is going on. Did anybody try to? Maybe we can discuss ...
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What is rude jazz?
In a lecture supporting his new book Stomp and Shout, Northwest rock historian Peter Blecha mentioned a genre from the 1940s or 50s called rude jazz. I have never heard of this before, and it might be ...
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Help in Understanding Modes
Just wanted some clarification and guidance in my attempt to understand the use of modes. I am a bass player involved in playing pop, rock, alt and indie genres; I am not a Jazz/Bebop bassist. My ...
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What is this descending riff of notes referred to as?
In this battle song from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed, between 1:09 and 1:13, there's a jazzy piano riff of notes that steadily descend. Something about it really sticks out to me, and ...
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How to transition back and forth between relative major and minor 2-5-1?
I'm experimenting with nicely transitioning between a major and minor 2-5-1, at this point I'm purely interested in harmony.
The 2 progression I'm trying to transition between (technically 1-2-5):
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Is there a transcription of the exact chords of this recording? [closed]
I've been listening to this recording of Dave McKenna for months now, and I've been stuck trying to learn/figure out the exact chords he's playing at around 40:30 to around 41:20. I have a very good ...
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Chords building blocks
Are chords the same building blocks as notes in a song? Like do every song consist of certain chord progressions? You can reharmonize a song by changing the chord progression can't you? But you can't ...
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Misty - Rupert Austin Fingering
I'm taking on the task of learning this piece and I'm not too familiar with jazz chords or fingerings. Can someone help with the following passage, or at least give tips on how to figure out proper ...
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What to play as auxillary percussion in "Take the A Train"?
I'm the auxiliary percussionist in my school's jazz band, and normally there's a part for me, or I double a melody on the vibraphone, if there isn't. Right now, we're doing the song "Take the A ...
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How do I play these chords? (Parentheses around chord symbols) [duplicate]
How do I play the chords I marked with red dots? First, in measure 4, can I alternatively play C#m7 and F#7? Why does it sound off with the melody then? Second, the chords in measures 8, 9 and 10, how ...
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How is augmented major seventh chord functioning? (Gadd9/B Ebmaj7#5/B Cadd9)
In this excerpt from a gospel arrangement of Amazing Grace, how is the Ebmaj7#5/B chord functioning? Is it a version of a tritone sub, but we've just decided to make it augmented major seventh? Seems ...
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piano jazz using rootless chords in common progressions
Can one use rootless chords along with rooted chords when constructing common chord progressions.
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In Jazz, on a minor chord symbol like "C-" - does one play the 6, the 7, or the major 7?
When I see a major chord symbol like C that does not specify the sixth/seventh, I mostly treat it as C6 or CMaj7 when accompanying.
I am however unsure about sixth/seventh-less minor chord symbols ...
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Is there a name of the stacked fourths melody which appears frequently in Jazz music?
E.g. in Paul Desmond's "Cecilia", around 0'48" (linked below) there is a brass melody consists of the notes C F Bb Eb Ab A, of which the first five notes are stacked fourths. I find ...
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How do I write down a suspended chord with a minor 6?
I have a chord with the notes G C D Eb. I wonder how I write it down in a jazz notation.
First, something like this comes to mind: G-6(sus4). But 2 things confuse me about this. First, I've never seen ...
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