Chunks, Shapes, and Sounds

Dr. Bob Lawrence  0:32  
Welcome to jazz piano skills. I'm Dr. Bob Lawrence. It's time to discover, learn and play jazz piano. It's been a busy month, we've been hanging out with primary and altered sounds for a flat. And last week, we had some fun with Charlie Parker's Billy's bounce. If you have been faithfully tackling the various patterns we've been using since the start of the year, to improve our hand mobility for improvising, then you are fully aware of the intensity, perseverance, and determination needed to gain a physical command of the skill. Because of this, I always like to extend the time you have with these exercises by taking a week to interview a special guest, or to present a lecture. So today, I thought I would do just that give you all some more time to practice the hand mobility exercises for the primary and altered sounds for a flat by presenting the second lecture of the recently launched the jazz piano skills Lecture Series. I'm excited to present today's lecture, which I call chunks, shapes, and sounds. And yes, you heard that correctly. chunks, shapes and sounds. With today's lecture, I will share with you how to approach thinking about and practicing improvisation. I know there is a ton of information floating around out there regarding this topic, and honestly, I feel a lot of it is pretty wide and shallow information. And I'm sure you do too. In other words, a lot of what you should practice followed by not so convincing reasons as to why you should practice it. Followed by very little, if any outline or ideas of how you should practice. Frustrating, right. It's actually very frustrating. I get it. So today, I hope to give you a very clear what, why and how to practice your creativity, your improvisation. So today you're going to discover a sequential thought process for practicing improvisation, a what you're going to learn how essential it is to have a clear approach to govern your improvisation practice. Why? And you're going to play your improvisational ideas within a well defined boundary to spawn creativity, a how. So as I always like to say regardless of where you are in your jazz journey, a beginner intermediate player, an advanced player or even if you are a seasoned and experienced professional, you're going to find this jazz panel skills podcast lesson exploring chunks, shapes and sounds to be very beneficial. But before we dig in, I want to as I always do, welcome first time listeners to jazz panel skills. And if you are indeed new to jazz panel skills, you're a new listener to the jazz panel skills podcast. I want to invite you to become a jazz panel skills member. And there are various membership plans to choose from so visit jazz panel skills.com To learn more about all of the perks for each membership plan. There are educational weekly podcast packets, illustrations, lead sheets and play alongs sequential jazz piano curriculum which is loaded with comprehensive courses, an online weekly master class online interactive Fakebook and there's a professional jazz panel skills community, which hosts a variety of engaging forums available for you as well. And on top of all that, unlimited private, personal and professional educational support All of these perks are waiting for you wanting to help you discover, learn and play jazz piano. So when you have a moment, visit jazz piano skills.com Check it out, become a member. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I'm always happy to spend some time with you, and help you in any way that I can. Okay, let's discover, learn and play jazz piano. Let's discover, learn and play chunks, shapes and sounds. When I begin working with a new student, I say to them, so you want to study music, you want to study jazz. Of course, they immediately smile and begin shaking their head up and down with total agreement. So then I say to them, Well, if you want to study jazz, then you must have a clear unsteady understanding of what jazz is the study of the smile quickly disappears. And the head nodding immediately stops. Interesting, right? You would think that if you want to study something, you would have a clear understanding of what it is the study of. Now, I would suspect that this is indeed the case when it comes to just about every discipline, but not music. In fact, I have yet to have a student in my 30 plus years of teaching, who could tell me what music is the study of with any sense of confidence and certainty. And herein lies the problem. A big problem hits a big problem because your understanding of music is the very thing that governs how you structure and execute your day to day practicing. Therefore, if your understanding of music, if your understanding of jazz is off, or even slightly skewed, then so will your day to day approach be off your practice approach will suffer. And if you're a practice approach is off, then progress is restricted if not completely prevented. So it is vitally important. vitally important that you have a very clear and accurate understanding as to what the study of Jazz, Jazz Piano is all about. So let me begin by telling you what the study of jazz is not. The study of jazz is not the study of dots, and buttons. In other words, jazz is not about reading notes, placed on a piece of paper, and then pressing the appropriate buttons on the on the piano that correspond with those notes. This would be called reading music, which is a skill. But it is not. The study of jazz. Learning tunes is an important skill as well. But it is not the study of jazz music theory. Music Theory is an important skill. But it is not the study of jazz. So now that you know that jazz is not the study of notes, or dots and buttons, it's not the study of towns, it's not the study of music theory. Then let me tell you what jazz is the study of jazz is the study of sound. Pick music is the study of sound. So what do I mean when I say sound? What are the sounds of music? Now if you are a regular listener to jazz panel skills, then you know the sounds of music. There are five major dominant, minor, half diminished and diminished.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  9:59  
No Only these five primary sounds intellectually, orally and physically is the study of jazz. And everything. Everything you do when practicing should be centered around developing an intimate understanding of each of these sounds. You know them, you hear them, you feel them. If the skills you are wanting to discover learning play, or not consciously being applied to the sounds of jazz, then not only are you not practicing correctly, you are not studying jazz. Here is a quick test to make my point to see how well you are studying jazz. And how well you know the sounds. I'm going to give you a list of sounds. And let's see if you hear them. Okay. Big Dog barking. Do you hear big dog barking? Little Dog barking? Police Car siren. Helicopter. Rain. Thunder car horn. See, these are all sounds all I do. I just mentioned those labels. And you hear them. We do not need to hear a police car siren. In order to hear the siren. We do not need to hear the helicopter in order in order to hear the helicopter. This is being very familiar with and comfortable with those sounds. Now what about the sounds? Major seven? half diminished seven. dominant seven dominant flat nine flat 13? minor seven, minor 11. I could go on. But I think you get my point. Did you hear those sounds? I bet you had no problem at all. Hearing the first list. But how did you do with this second list? If you did not do well, it's not because you have horrible ears. In fact, I would bet that the reason you had difficulty with the second list is that you are unfamiliar with the sounds of jazz. I bet your practice isn't centered around these sounds with an acute awareness of applying jazz sounds to each skill that you practice to each skill that you are tackling. Why do I say this? Because your answer until today to the question what is jazz the study of has been wrong or skewed. Therefore your progress has been limited and your familiarity with sound has been practically non existent. Okay, so now that you know that sound is the cornerstone of the study of jazz, let's talk about how sound is played. In other words, the shapes of sounds there are two categories of shapes that exist in music, harmonic shapes and melodic shapes. Harmonic shapes are what are commonly referred to as chords. melodic shapes are referred to as scales or arpeggios. I am going to focus primarily on the harmonic shapes today because they are the starting point. When it comes to improv, improvising and improvisation. There are two sets of harmonic shapes that you need to be familiar with. Again, when I say familiar, I'm speaking conceptually, orally and physically. Okay, so the two sets of harmonic shapes set one and by the way, I'm going to use the minor sound today model everything using The minor sound C minor for today's examples, so set one, for shapes within set one root position, first inversion, second inversion, third inversion. So root position C minor is going to be root, third, fifth and seventh. First Inversion C minor is going to be third fifth seventh through second inversion is the next shape, which is going to be fifth seventh root third. And the fourth shape within set one is going to be third inversion, seventh root third fifth. So, we have four shapes and set one root position, first inversion, second inversion, third inversion. Okay, now set two uses route the route to the seventh as the first shape, just as set one did. So, you're going to have your C, E flat G, B flat or root third, fifth seventh, the second shape and set to is going to be third to the ninth. So it's going to be third, fifth seventh and the third shape is going to be fifth, seventh, ninth and the 11th.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  16:29  
And then the fourth shape and set to is going to be seven 911 13. Right, so you get the entire minor sound from the root to 13. It sounds like this. Root the 739 five to 11. Seven to 13k. Two sets. Both sets are fantastic to explore and you should explore and utilize when practicing your improvisation. So how do you do that? Now, each one of these harmonic shapes, right, whether it comes from set one or set to each of these harmonic shapes is made up of what I like to call chunks. Now the official academic theory name would be harmonic thirds intervals. Personally I prefer chunks easier. Sounds better to write would you agree? Certainly more user friendly for sure. Regardless, once you have the ability to drill down to each chunk of a harmonic shape, you are ready to begin improvising. The key to learning how to improvise. begins at the chunk level. Not the entire chord level. Not the entire scale level. Not the chord scale relationship level, not the tune level, but rather the chunk level the smallest harmonic unit that exists in all of music. Who knew right? Your ability to roam around on your instrument with ease in order to freely express yourself musically begins with the very smallest of parameters. The chunk This is precisely why I believe that the development of improvisational skills is a bottom up process chunks to tones and not a top down process tunes to chunks. So today I'm going to model for you how to begin developing improvisational skills using the chunks of the shapes of the sounds of music. Let me say that again, developing improvisational skills using the chunks of the shapes of the sounds of music. So I'm going to use set one. Set one today. The very first harmonic shape of set one which is the root, third, fifth and seventh, a C minor and so we have three chunks within this shape right we have the root to third chunk 1/3 to the fifth, chunk two, and fifth to the seventh chunk, three. So I'm going to begin with chunk one C and E flat. And I'm going to begin improvising using only those two notes, the two notes of the chunk, right, the outer part of the chunk, the C in the E flat. So I'm going to bring the ensemble Lin, and you're going to hear me improvise using those two notes. So I have to be thinking rhythmically, right all last year, we devoted the entire year to rhythmic development. So I'm going to be drawing upon my rhythm vocabulary when using these two notes to create some musical interest. So let's just bring the ensemble in I'll play C minor up top for about four measures about 140 Straight ahead swing groove. And then I will begin improvising using the first chunk of C minor seventh, the C and the E flat. Okay, let's check it out. And then we'll talk about it here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  22:12  
Interesting, right, I make a lot of music with two notes, two notes of a chunk. Now, again, I'm playing everything today at 140. Just for the sake of time, I would begin this process of exploring chunks and improvising at slower temples to get used to it, as always play at temples that are going to allow you to succeed and then move from there. So chunk, one, root and third only. So now, there are notes in between the root and third, or they're not, of course there are, so we have seen a flat the outer notes of our chunk, but then there's also a C sharp or D flat and a D natural in there as well. So we have four notes. Altogether, we have the two outer notes of the chunk, and there's two inner notes of the chunk. So now I'm going to bring the ensemble back in. And now that I have my chunk under control that I have everything properly in focus and framed correctly with the route and third being my anchors. I'm going to start including the passing tones in between my third route and my third as well. Okay, so I'm going to bring the ensemble back in, same chunk, but now I'm giving myself the freedom to include the passing tones between my root and my third. So now let's see what this sounds like. Here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  24:51  
Very very cool, right? So, it's interesting. You can play notes that are outside Right harmony, right? We're dealing with C minor seven. So we're thinking, C, E flat, G, B flat, we're dealing with the first chunk of that sound, that of that shape. And we're using notes that technically, fall outside or passing notes, especially that C sharp that fall outside the harmony. But when I have everything framed correctly, that I actually see my route, and my third, and I'm working, those are my primary notes. And I'm using the others as passing tones, or approach tones, or notes provide some tension in my improvisational idea, then I'm using them correctly. So I'm just not throwing darts at the dartboard hoping to hit something correctly. I hit hitting a note that sounds good. I'm actually have everything in proper focus, right? There's a proper order, it's not disordered, there's a proper order to it, which allows me to freely create freely improvise with great confidence that what I'm going to play is going to sound very good, because it is in proper order, it is framed correctly. Okay. So guess what, if I can do that same process for chunk one, I can walk through that very same process for chunk to chunk two is going to be the third and the fifth. And of course, what I want to do as always, is I want to get comfortable, improvising, creating being creative with my third and my fifth before I even entertain any thoughts of using the notes in between that the inner notes of my chunk, okay, so I want to bring the ensemble back in, I'm going to go through this process again, I'm going to improvise, but only within the second chunk using the notes, E flat, and G the outer notes of the chunk. Okay, so here we go, let's check it out, and then we'll talk about it.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  28:17  
I tell students all the time. Creativity isn't a prize is not a product of abundance, it does not come from abundance. Creativity is born from limitation. So when you limit yourself to very specific geographical region, when you limit yourself to a chunk, when you limit yourself to two notes. Now you must be creative. So do not underestimate the importance of practicing improvisation in this way. Do not write it off as being too simple or too fundamental. In fact, it is the most important thing that you will do in developing your skills, your improvisational skills in your creativity. So now, let's take that second chunk again with the E flat and the G. But of course we have our inner notes. We have an E natural, we have an F, and we have an F sharp. So we have some notes that definitely clearly fall outside the harmony of C minor that we can use to create some tension within our second chunk. So let's bring the ensemble in. And let's see what I can do with the second chunk, the outer notes of the chunk the E flat and the G plus the three enter notes. The E, F and F sharp. Again tempo 140 Straight ahead bebop groove. So here we go. Check it out.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  30:58  
Very nice. I love practicing this way, I still continue to practice this way. Regardless of the sound, regardless of the shape, I approach it the exact same way from bottom up, I always start with chunks. And then I continue to move on from there, which we'll do here a little later. So now chunk, three, which is the fifth and the seventh of C minor, the G and the B flat. So as I have done with the previous two chunks, the root and third and the third and fifth, I'm going to do the same here with this third chunk, I am going to begin improvising being creative with the two outer notes of this chunk, the fifth and the seventh. Okay, so let's bring the ensemble in. And let's see what I can do here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  32:54  
So challenging, so challenging, right? restrict yourself to two notes, you have to do something interesting. You know and this is not, by the way, this is not. This is not something new, right. Duke Ellington, C jam, blues, two notes, two notes. Alright. So, again, good enough for the Duke Hey, good enough for us. So now I'm going to play the third chunk again, which is the fifth and the seventh, right, the G and the B flat but clearly we have a couple passing tones in there we have a G sharp or a flat and we have an a natural. So now I'm going to improvise again. This time. I'm going to keep things properly aligned here and and ordered. I'm going to work off my G my fifth and my seventh. But I'm going to include the inner notes to my improvisational arsenal and see what I can come up with. Okay, so again 140 Straight ahead bebop groove. Let's bring the ensemble in and let's have a little fun. Here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  35:04  
All right, so we have taken the very first shape of set one, which is also the very first shape of set two of our minor sound, C minor sound. And we have explored the three chunks, the root, the third, third to the fifth and the fifth to the seventh, we explored those chunks using just the outer notes of the chunk, we explored those chunks using, including the inner notes of the chunk. Okay, so now what I want to do is I want to combine the three chunks, but first, first, I'm going to use just the outer notes of each chunk at the root and third, the third and fifth, in the fifth and seventh, right, which would be C minor seven, in root position, chord tones only. So I want to bring the ensemble in. And now I'm just opening the floodgates a little more by just combining my chunks, I'm not using the inner notes of the chunk, just the notes, the primary core tones, root, the third, third, fifth, fifth, the seventh. So now I'm going to improvise with these three chunks, and see what I can come up with. But I'm going to keep things pure, only those notes. So let's bring the ensemble and here we go.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  37:35  
Love it absolutely love it. So much. So much can be played so much, you can develop so much by just using individual chunks, and then chunks link together to create the chord tones of the sound. Just if we just stopped right there, you can create so much music in you could develop so many wonderful melodic ideas, and strengthen your improvisational language and vocabulary by just staying right there. But let's press forward. So now for my final exam for today, I'm going to use the core tones those chunks, the three chunks, chunk, one chunk to chunk three. And I'm going to allow myself the ability to use the passing notes in between each of the chunk notes between the root and third, third, and fifth, and the fifth and seventh. So I'm going to overplay a little bit, because I just want to kind of exaggerate all that you can do, once you have an understanding of the chunks are command of the chunks, the outer notes of the chunks, and then you gain a command of the inner notes of the chunk because you're capable of actually seeing the right notes, the outer notes of the chunk, the so called write notes, then including the passing tones, or the passing notes becomes a snap once you really clearly, conceptually, orally and physically see the individual chunks stacked together. Okay, so now I'm going to like I said, I'm going to have a little fun be a little crazy. overplay a little bit, because I'm trying to make a point. So here we go. Let's bring the ensemble in. And let's listen to the C minor sound using my three chunks, as well as the notes, the inner notes of the chunk. Here we go check it out.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  40:56  
So when you hear a jazz musician say that look, you know, you can play any note over any chord, right? Well, there's, that's true. But you have to be able to play any note oriented chord properly aligned in the proper context. Not disordered but ordered, right? So let me just play some stuff acapella just to draw this point home a little bit more right.

Dr. Bob Lawrence  42:00  
So I think it stepped up to the octave there for a second. But the point being I was playing all of that centered on my chunks, and the individual notes in between the chunks. So I did not even leave in Octave everything with in the octave. What a great way to develop your improvisational skills. Well, we have done it again, we've unpacked a ton of information in one very, very fast our very short, our, you know, at the beginning of this podcast episode, I made the point that I would put together for you a clear what, why and how to begin developing improvisational skills, I said you would discover a definitive thought process for practicing improvisation. And we certainly did that by establishing the fact that jazz is the study of sound. And that the sounds of jazz, major dominant minor, half diminished and diminished, should be intentionally placed at the very core of every skill that you practice. I said that we would learn a clear protocol to govern our improvisation practice. And we certainly did that, through realization that sounds are played using various harmonic and melodic shapes. And I said that we would begin to play to improvise within well defined boundaries to spawn creativity. And we certainly did that by drilling down from sound to shapes, to the most fundamental harmonic structure in music, the chunk now, I modeled everything today, using one shape, the first shape of both sets, set one and set two, which is the root of the sound, the seventh the sound, all the other shapes within set one, and within set two should be explored in the very same manner, which I presented today. Now, if you do that, for your major sounds, your minor, your dominant, your half diminished and diminished. Let me ask you what kind of jazz piano player do you think you'd be? I think you'd be a very good jazz piano player is what I think. Right? So I hope that it became apparent through this podcast episode that without a very methodical and intentional approach to developing improvisation skills, the hurdle is impossible to jump. And that is why a what? Without a clear why, and how will keep you chasing your tail for a very long time with little to no progress. One very important last but very important message I always include in every podcast episode Be patient. Alright be patient developing mature professional jazz piano skills of course takes time. So begin structuring your study. You're practicing after the plane demonstrations that I modeled for you today in this podcast episode, and I guarantee you will begin to see you'll begin to feel you'll begin to hear your progress. Well, I hope you found this jazz panel skills podcast lesson exploring chunks, shapes and sounds to be insightful and of course to be very beneficial. Don't forget if you are a jazz piano skills ensemble member I'll see you online Thursday evening at the jazz panel skills masterclass, which is going to be held at 8 pm Central time to discuss this podcast episode exploring chunks, shapes and sounds in greater detail. And to answer any questions that you may have about the study of jazz in general. Of course, you can always reach me by phone. My number here at the Dallas School of Music is 972-380-8050 my extension is 211. If you prefer email, my email address is Dr. Lawrence, drlawrence@jazzpianoskills.com. Or you can use the nifty little SpeakPipe widget that is found, I think, on every web web page within the website that jazz panel skills so 12 There is Mike here. That's it for now. And until next week, enjoy chunks, shapes and sounds. And most of all, have fun as you discover, learn and play jazz Piano!