Tag: cool exercises

Piano day (1h 40m)

Jazz voicings + left hand

  • Dominant +13 to Major +9 w/ harmonic 6ths and 9ths in LH
  • Fourthy modal structures over blanket scale — “Jazz Improvisation for Keyboard Players”, Dan Haerle (Book 2, Lesson 7) ⭐️
    • Blocks
    • Arpeggiated
      • C Dorian
      • C Lydian
  • 7-3-5 modal structures over G Mixo blanket scale
  • Alternating modal voicings over constant phrase

Scale studies

  • Whole-tone — getting to know the scale / improv over augmented chords in C through Bb

Comping

  • Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) — C, Bb
    • RH — inversions: R, 1, 2
    • LH — broken 10ths, 1-5 shells

Piano day (1h 30m)

Modal studies + intervallic left hand patterns

  • Harmonic minor mode 1 (C, F)
    • Progression: i#7 — III+ — iv — V7
    • LH pattern: 1-5-10-#7-5i#7 | 1-#5-10-7-1’III+ | 1-5-10iv | 1-5-10V7

Shells + intervallic left hand patterns

  • Moving shells (same chord in 7-3-5 and then in 3-7-9 octave higher) + standard broken 10ths (1-5-10) with occasional 6ths ← another KILLER exercise!

Piano day (1h 40m)

Jazz voicings + Left hand

  • Combining cycling shells with left hand patterns
    • Minor to Dominant (Dan Haerle, Jazz Piano Voicing Skills, Skill 37c) + LH: [1-5][1-7][1-1’][1-4-5]i — 1-5-10-1’-5’-6’IV7

Scale studies + Left hand + Shells

  • Combining blues scale improv with moving extension shells
    • RH: minor blues scale, LH: 1 — [3’-7’-9’]
  • All Aeolian scales
  • All Locrian scales

Piano day (1h 30m)

Scale studies + Modes

  • Combining modes (4th apart)
    • Ionian into Lydian (1 octave scales)
      • C Ion →  F Lyd → Bb Ion → Eb Lyd → …
      • F Ion → Bb Lyd → Eb Ion → Ab Lyd → …
    • Dorian to Mixolydian (same approach)
  • Major blues scale recap (alternating blocks / broken 10ths in LH)

Left hand

  • Phrygian i — II — III7 in 5-1-10 + desc. arpeggios (F#)