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My new favorite for when you have guests and you want to be sure they leave fast:

warning: loud.

https://app.box.com/s/hljbyy6l9degu1s6abe4

And since it's Saturday, here's
"Es ist das Heil uns kommer her"
(a remix of Miley Cyrus latest hit)

https://app.box.com/s/8c434qbuq56cezx6w3jf

knotty! please stop leaving all this fabulously played examples on the web! i can't take it!

... the pace at which you're playing the chorale sounds perfect to my ears. also the voices are sounding very much like voices ... (instead of notes stacked up on each other ...!) ... really, really nice ... !

Hey KnotCAT
I really liked your dynamics in Chopin C min. It was incredible how softly you could play it but still sound the note.
As for your Chorale #4, it's very pretty indeed.
Please stop learning everything so fast

I'm still on Chorale #1, working on voicing the soprano, and connecting the chords smoothly without relying on the pedal.

For Chopin E min prelude, I'm finding m17 very difficult. I'm also working on my LH tone to make every voice sound when I play softly.

Thanks Cus. I see what you mean about meas. 17. It's tricky.

For the chorale, maybe remove one voice, probably the tenor or the alto. I suppose you can do as much with them as you want, but reading the 4 voices is hard.

#5 is 8 phrases instead of 4. I haven't started it yet.

If you've ever wanted to know exactly how I, IV, and V chords connect to each other with smooth voice leading, well, here it is.

http://www.polishookstudio.com/2013/11/jazz-piano-online-voice-leading-i-v-iv.html

Thanks Mark. Could I please confirm I understand your last paragraph correctly ?
1. 7ths, that is, minor 7ths or dominant 7ths, usually resolve down ?
2. 1st inversion is preferable to 2nd inversion ?

Here I play Chorale #1 in G maj.
https://app.box.com/s/hsnzisofacbvnmy33uwz

A big thank you to Viktor Dick for supplying me with his beautiful string quartet mp3 which I used for my play-along practice.

Cus, first of all - really nice playing! Gorgeous! You and Knotty are setting the bar prettttttttty pretttttttty high!



I think you're asking about these?

1. Sevenths usually resolve down.

In "classical voice leading and theory" the 7th (in a chord) usually resolves down because it's considered to be dissonant. Of course that's changed in jazz where the 7th is more or less treated as a consonance.

In common practice classical theory the 7th actually gets prepared and then resolved. "Prepared" means the note that will become the 7th is first heard as a consonance. That note is tied over into the 7th (which is where it's dissonant. And then it's resolved down.

Here's a link that describes how that works with some examples.

http://www.dangutwein.net/courses/theorytxt/text/sevenths.htm

Here's are some more seventh examples

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19895150/music/prep-diss-res.png

One of the examples gets explained here (announcing a new blog post

http://www.polishookstudio.com/2013/11/voice-leading-and-7ths.html

I'm not sure about the question?

2. 1st inversion is preferable to 2nd inversion ?

Super nice Cus. The voices come out really nice and clear, and that's a neat tempo. I think it gets easier after the 1st one.

Hi Mark

Thanks for the Dan Gutwein link showing the C7 resolving diatonically down.

Thank you also for your great blog examples of creating dissonance prior to resolving diatonically down. Had you not mentioned the dissonance, my ears wouldn't have picked it up; as you said, jazz ears are so accustomed to hearing 7ths as consonances.

Hi Mark and Knotty
Thank you very much for listening to Bach Chorale 1.
It's a relief to know the first one is the most difficult.

I "know" Chorale 70 in C maj and Chorale 80 in D maj in terms of singing and harmonisation principles. I don't know how to play them though.

Should I go back to learn how to play them or should I start a brand new one ?

Knots, before you posted yours, I had assumed these were not playable except by Fred Hersch and CAT CATS. Now I realise these are a minimum technical standard if I'm to incorporate 4 voices in my improv.

Very interesting following your work guys! I thought I'd share a little what I've been up to lately; arranging and orchestrating some tunes, etc for symphonic wind orchestra and piano trio (alas, not me on the piano)
It's a professional orchestra, so I'm very lucky in getting some really heavy players.

Here's two excerpts from a Legrand medley (love his tunes, chords):
Excerpt one: https://app.box.com/s/b4of1t3j9t1e77rirrjd
Excerpt two: https://app.box.com/s/5czxts5rg487vs47lcuu

You can check out the trombone parts for some voice leading.

Another example. It's from a middle section of an original tune (its for the same concert as above; tomorrow evening actually . . . ).
The wood-winds play softly and the piano trio blows over these changes. C#m9 | DMaj7 | G#m11

https://app.box.com/s/qnru73oz35t19390f0a8

Chris B ... Nice stuff!

Cus & Knotty - You guys are doing GREAT to be playing this stuff at the level you are ... where the voices are coming out and everything's crisp and in tempo. There's NOTHING easy about playing this stuff well ..

Cus ... my opinion about the one to do next is the one that has your interest ...

And once you can play one you can play them all. It's just a matter of time ...! But it should be said again ... the level you guys are playing these at is really great and inspiring ....

Hi Chris
Thanks for sharing your work. I've downloaded them but can't play them tonight (just got home and it's too late for the neighbours).
The middle section looks particularly great.

Will the concert feature your vocals ?

Thanks for your encouragement Mark.

Thankfully, no.
The concert is a homage to one of Scandinavia's foremost jazz composers and pianists. She's the featured pianist (with her trio; Palle Danielsson on bass) as well as the featured composer (all except Legrand which is her one of her favourite composers) and Mozart which she'll play the second movement of the C major concerto. This is a major gig, at one the finest concert halls with one of the best symphonic wind orchestras. So I'm really looking forward to the gig tonight!

And here's the actual tune from tonights concert:

Amazing orchestration Chris. Beautiful hall, piano and piano solo.