After Christmas, I got the obligatory flu, from TJs no less, despite my flu shot, and while under the weather I didn't feel up to practicing bass, but, piano... sitting down... very low expectations... been going on for nearly a month. I've been back on the bass, but, I gotta say, my piano chops are progressing far more rapidly than my bass chops... so, a thread for jazz bassists picking up piano... because... you know, we REALLY need to (if you don't agree, please feel free to read the next thread because you're not interested but some others may be)
As usual, I'm a masochist, so I'll start with my story, because we all know, no one can resist being a critic... starting a thread after all, hoping to learn something and contribute to music ed.
I started very basically on piano many decades ago. I didn't get beyond what a young child could play. About 3 years ago, I started sitting at the piano and trying to work out the harmony to tunes I was learning. I quickly graduated to rootless right hand voicings with bass notes in my left hand. That led me to singing the melody while playing my rootless one-hand voicings. I also played the voicings with my left hand and the melody with my right which is really helpful for difficult to read tunes like bop and great for my piano chops.
@Chris Fitzgerald hipped me to 3rd+7th single hand voicings based on his great handout - on his website - and I explored those for some time; more than a year. All good.
Now, I want to be able to comp. Not just comp, but comp competently like a piano player would because I want to learn to hear the subtle differences in their voicings. Single hand, okay, but not enough - Lynn Seaton "Go deeper!" echoing in my ear. Right hand 3rd-based voicings, 7th-based voicings, voice leading, static high note, static low note, chromatic chordal movement... you get the idea. All good. I sound better on piano, IMO, below 180 bpm than many piano players I've played with. Truly sad because no one should ever confuse me with a pianist.
The latest, two-handed voicings... single hand with two hands over two octaves - 3rd+7th or 7th+3rd and a triad in the right hand... or just break up the single-handed voicing? or... both!
So, that's where I'm at, exploring two handed voicings. Listening to recordings to hear what was done, hacking at the piano while singing the melody or the bass. And, so much has been done - McCoy, Herbie, Chick, it's exhausting!
Where'd you go? How did you progress differently? What would you do next? How would you advise inexperienced bassists working on their piano chops?
Disclaimer... I love playing with guitarists but... I play guitar and for exploring tunes I think piano is where it's at, with a few exceptions, like bossa nova.
As usual, I'm a masochist, so I'll start with my story, because we all know, no one can resist being a critic... starting a thread after all, hoping to learn something and contribute to music ed.
I started very basically on piano many decades ago. I didn't get beyond what a young child could play. About 3 years ago, I started sitting at the piano and trying to work out the harmony to tunes I was learning. I quickly graduated to rootless right hand voicings with bass notes in my left hand. That led me to singing the melody while playing my rootless one-hand voicings. I also played the voicings with my left hand and the melody with my right which is really helpful for difficult to read tunes like bop and great for my piano chops.
@Chris Fitzgerald hipped me to 3rd+7th single hand voicings based on his great handout - on his website - and I explored those for some time; more than a year. All good.
Now, I want to be able to comp. Not just comp, but comp competently like a piano player would because I want to learn to hear the subtle differences in their voicings. Single hand, okay, but not enough - Lynn Seaton "Go deeper!" echoing in my ear. Right hand 3rd-based voicings, 7th-based voicings, voice leading, static high note, static low note, chromatic chordal movement... you get the idea. All good. I sound better on piano, IMO, below 180 bpm than many piano players I've played with. Truly sad because no one should ever confuse me with a pianist.
The latest, two-handed voicings... single hand with two hands over two octaves - 3rd+7th or 7th+3rd and a triad in the right hand... or just break up the single-handed voicing? or... both!
So, that's where I'm at, exploring two handed voicings. Listening to recordings to hear what was done, hacking at the piano while singing the melody or the bass. And, so much has been done - McCoy, Herbie, Chick, it's exhausting!
Where'd you go? How did you progress differently? What would you do next? How would you advise inexperienced bassists working on their piano chops?
Disclaimer... I love playing with guitarists but... I play guitar and for exploring tunes I think piano is where it's at, with a few exceptions, like bossa nova.
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