Theory & Voicings

27 articles

• Bebop Scales for Jazz Piano: Adding Chromatic Passing Tones

  Bebop scales for jazz piano: major, dominant, and minor bebop scales, chromatic passing tones, and line construction on ii-V-I progressions.

• Diminished Chords for Jazz Piano: Function and Voice Leading

  Diminished chords for jazz piano: dim7 function, passing chords, Barry Harris concepts, voicings, and voice leading into dominants and tonics.

• Guide Tones for Jazz Piano: Connect Chords with Less Motion

  Learn jazz piano guide tones — the 3rd and 7th of each chord — and use them to create smooth voice leading through ii-V-I and standard progressions.

• How to Build Jazz Piano Voicings with Chord Tensions

  Learn how to build jazz piano voicings by identifying chord tones, choosing available tensions, avoiding clashes, and applying a diatonic practice formula.

• Jazz Chord Tensions Explained: 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths

  Understand jazz chord tensions, including natural and altered 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, available tensions, avoid notes, and practical piano examples.

• Jazz Piano Block Chords: Passing Diminished Chords and Drop 2 Voicings

  Learn jazz piano block chords with locked hands, passing diminished chords, bebop scale harmonization, Drop 2 voicings, and practical song examples.

• Jazz Piano Blues Progression: Learn a 12-Bar Foundation

  Learn the jazz piano blues progression: 12-bar form in F, dominant seventh chords, ii-V turnarounds, shell comping, mixolydian and blues scale soloing for beginners.

• Jazz Piano Chord Melody: Combine Harmony and Melody

  Jazz piano chord melody: harmonize single-note lines, spread voicings, bass-melody integration, and arrangement steps for solo jazz piano.

• Jazz Piano Chords for Beginners: What to Learn First

  Learn jazz piano chords for beginners in a practical order: intervals, triads, essential seventh chords, inversions, ii-V-I progressions, and chord practice.

• Jazz Piano Improvisation for Beginners: Start with Chord Tones

  Jazz piano improvisation for beginners using chord tones: arpeggios on maj7, 7, and m7, enclosure prep, ii-V-I lines, and blues solo exercises without scale overload.

• Jazz Piano Left-Hand Bass: Roots, Shells, and Simple Motion

  Jazz piano left-hand bass for beginners: root patterns, shell voicings, stride shells, walking bass outlines, and voice-leading over ii-V-I and blues progressions.

• Jazz Piano Left-Hand Voicings: Diatonic 7th Chords with Tensions

  Learn jazz piano left-hand voicings for diatonic seventh chords, including rootless shapes with 9ths and 13ths, voice leading, and transposition practice.

• Jazz Piano Reharmonization: Safe First Substitutions

  Jazz piano reharmonization for beginners: tritone substitution, secondary dominants, diminished passing chords, and backdoor ii-V—safe substitutions on standards and ii-V-I.

• Jazz Piano Scales for Beginners: Which Scales Matter First

  Learn which jazz piano scales for beginners matter first — major, dorian, mixolydian, blues, and bebop — and how to apply them over real chord changes.

• Jazz Piano Turnarounds: I-vi-ii-V and Variations

  Jazz piano turnarounds: I-vi-ii-V in C and all keys, tritone subs, diminished passing chords, and comping drills for standard endings.

• Music Intervals for Piano Beginners: A Practical Guide

  Learn music intervals for piano with simple keyboard exercises. Count note names correctly, handle sharps and flats, and practice intervals above and below.

• Pentatonic Scales for Jazz Piano Improvisation

  Pentatonic scales for jazz piano: major, minor, and suspended pentatonics, voicing connections, and solo ideas over ii-V-I and modal tunes.

• Quartal Voicings for Jazz Piano: Stacked Fourths

  Quartal voicings for jazz piano: stacked fourths, McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans approaches, D Dorian examples, and modal comping technique.

• Secondary Dominant Chords: How They Work in Jazz

  Learn how secondary dominant chords temporarily tonicize diatonic targets, how to label V7 of V and other dominants, and how to find them in jazz.

• Shell Voicings for Jazz Piano: A Practical Two-Note Foundation

  Jazz piano shell voicings explained: root-3rd and root-7th shapes for maj7, 7, m7, and m7b5, inversion rules, ii-V-I voice leading, and practice drills in all keys.

• The Altered Scale for Jazz Piano: Notes, Chords, and Practical Uses

  Learn the altered scale for jazz piano: its notes, Super Locrian and melodic minor connections, altered V7 uses, and tritone-substitute applications.

• The ii–V–I Progression: A Jazz Piano Beginner’s Guide

  Learn how the ii V I progression works in jazz, build it in major keys, recognize temporary key changes, and practice it on piano in all twelve keys.

• The Seven Jazz Modes on Piano: A Practical Guide

  Learn the seven jazz modes for piano with interval formulas, parent major scales, keyboard examples, chord connections, and a practical modal routine.

• Tritone Substitution for Jazz Piano: When and How

  Tritone substitution for jazz piano: replace V7 with bII7, shared guide tones, voicings in C and all keys, and comping applications on standards.

• Two-Handed Jazz Piano Voicings: Tension and Resolution

  Learn two-handed jazz piano voicings with Drop 2 shapes, top-note choices, altered dominant colors, tension and resolution, and progression exercises.

• Type A and Type B Rootless Voicings for Jazz Piano

  Learn Type A and Type B rootless voicings for jazz piano, choose between 3-5-7-9 and 7-9-3-5 shapes, and connect ii-V-I chords smoothly.

• Walking Bass Lines for Jazz Piano: Left-Hand Technique

  Walking bass lines for jazz piano: quarter-note patterns, root movement, ii-V-I bass lines, and left-hand independence for solo and trio playing.