Tag: left hand

Piano day (1h 40m)

Modal studies

  • Lydian DNA in 7th arpeggios
    • LH only
    • LH + alternating shells in RH (gave up pretty quickly, need to approach it slowly)
  • Harmonising Lydian scale in chord pairs around the cycle in growing gaps (Imaj7 — II7, Imaj7 — iii, Imaj7 — #IV, etc. — e. g. C — D, F — A-, Bb — Eø, etc.) — extra cool exercise!

Arpeggios + combined LH & RH melodic studies

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This badass workout achieves three goals:

  • Improve LH technique by drilling the 2-octave arpeggios along with harmonic intervals
  • Think in chord tones and improve key fluency
  • Enjoy the non-boring exercise that actually sounds nice even though you’re still just playing a diatonic pattern around the cycle of goddam fourths

Improv

  • Major blues scale improv in all keys (recap)
    • LH: harmonic 5ths & 6ths
    • Broken 10ths + blocks

Just for the hell of it

  • All Lydian scales (similar & contrary motion)

Piano day (2h)

Left hand + shells

  • Descending major 10ths workout (10-5-1 + 6-7)
    • Only LH
    • With RH: 7-3-5 shells
    • With RH: alternating shells of same chord (7-3-5 to 3-6-9 or 3-7-9) — octave jump
    • With RH: connecting descending shells (cycling 7-3-5 to 3-7-9)

Left hand + modal studies

  • Lydian DNA (Imaj7 — II7) in all keys
    • Blocks
    • LH: 1-5-10-6’-7’ | 1-1’, RH: 7-3-5 shell | 1 octave scale run

Left hand + scale studies

  • Major blues scale recap (LH: broken 10ths, harmonic 5ths and 6ths)

Reading + analysis

  • Fascinating Rhythm by George Gershwin  (first 4 bars, then quick improv over LH pattern) — Exercise #14 from Jazz Piano: The Left Hand book

Observations
I haven’t been practicing too much bass during the last months, as I’m trying to focus in on left hand on piano, but recently I picked it up late at night and simply did some walking over a jazz standard. Then some inversions. Some permutations. Some arpeggios. All that stuff that I though I’ve had enough of. One big takeaway from that? Wanna get excited about seemingly boring material like scales, arpeggios and reading on your instrument? Simply practice another one for a month or so (completely ignoring the first one), and I swear you’ll start CRAVING it! 😂

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 30m)

Left hand + moving shells

  • Combining moving shells with LH patterns
    • Minor to Dominant (skill 37c from Jazz Piano Voicing Skills) + LH: [1-5][1-7][1-1’][1-4-5]i — 1-5-10-1’-5’-6’IV7
    • Dominant to Major (skill 38a from Jazz Piano Voicing Skills) + LH: 1-5-10-6 to 1‘-1I7 + desc arpeggio + 6IV

Scale studies

  • Concurrent Ion + Lyd 1-octave scales (in 2 forms)

Soloing + comping

  • All Love is Fair Focus on 3-7-9 shells in LH and major / minor scales in RH

Observations

Try constructing 3-7-9 voicing in LH from 9 down!