The chord progression is based on the "Bird Blues," developed by saxophonist Charlie (Bird) Parker. The 12-bar blues form is significantly altered through chord substitution and the use of II-V progressions. The Belgian harp virtuoso Toots Thielemans (a must-listen!) transposed the Charlie Parker Blues into ¾ time, stretched it to 24 bars and added a "One"-chord to the II-V progressions in two places. He also wrote a beautiful head for this jazz waltz, which is not the focus of this lesson. We will first show you how to accompany the waltz with different rhythms in an exciting way.
Level
Easy peasy
Lessons
11 Lessons | min
Lesson 1Introduction
Duration: min
Let me introduce you to the topics covered in the course "Jazz waltz".
Lesson 2All the chords of "Bluesette"
Duration: min
Get to know the harmonious structure of the piece "Bluesette" like the back of your hand.
Lesson 3¾-Swing Rhythm 1
Duration: min
At first glance, this rhythm looks like a "2 against 3" pattern, but due to the delay of the swing, the second chord comes a triplet eighth note later. Thus, the first chord lasts five triplet eighth notes, the second only four. I'll show you exactly how to count this.
Lesson 4¾-Swing Rhythm 2
Duration: min
Here we reverse the pattern we just learned and play the three quarter notes as a chord with our fingers.
Lesson 5¾-Swing Rhythm 3
Duration: min
Here, the swing groove is made interesting by arpeggiating single and double notes.
Lesson 6¾-Swing Rhythm 4
Duration: min
Here, the strings are muted in time. The fingertips of the picking hand fall onto the strings, creating a percussive sound. I notate this technique with an x.
Lesson 7¾-Swing Rhythm 5
Duration: min
Now we rhythmically mask beat 1 of the second measure of this figure with a preparative muting. This pleasantly breaks the monotony of the habit to always play something on beat one.
Lesson 8¾-Swing Rhythm 6
Duration: min
Here, the bass plays quarter notes. These are played with the thumb of the plucking hand. Rhythmically against the bass voice, a broken chord is being played with the index-, middle- and ringfinger.
Lesson 9Ghost notes and dead notes
Duration: min
To add flow, you can use the techniques shown here. I also notate the dead note with an x. However, it's not muting with the picking hand; instead, the fretting hand is relaxed, and the string is plucked normally, producing the percussive sound.
Lesson 10Melodic Variations
Duration: min
To prevent the chords from following each other so statically, you can add color with melodic variations in the upper voice of the chords. Together with the dead and ghost notes, this creates beautiful rhythms that will make you sound like a pro!
Lesson 11Harmonic Analysis of Chord Connections
Duration: min
Don't worry if you don't yet understand my explanations of the theory behind this chord progression (which I briefly touch upon for the sake of completeness). In that case, simply play the exercises and learn intuitively from this comprehensive lesson!
