251 Stride Drill With Rootless Voicings
Welcome to the 2nd lesson in this practice series on rootless voicings. In the last lesson we covered the first exercise in the PDF download.
This was drilling through major, minor, and dominant rootless voicings with a stride style left hand.
For practice slot 2, we are going to add all three of these voicing together to create the major 251 progression. We will play the root in the lower registers, and then bring our left hand up to play the
voicings.
Preparing You For Jazz Standards
If we think back to the last lesson, we looked at how these voicings can sound in the context of jazz ballads. We looked at the tune Misty, here’s the first 8 bars, and we can see that we have a 251 in Ab
Major. Again looking at the 1st 8 bars of Body & Soul, we can see there is a 251 in Db Major.
By isolating these progressions in practice drills, we will be prepared for when they come up in jazz standards. The goal is to commit them to your muscle memory so that you don’t have to focus all
of your attention on finding the voicings.
Drill Variations – Root Placement & Alterations
A variation, is to play the ii-7, then go straight to the V7 chord rootless voicing, and then hit the bass. Remember that we can always alternate the root placement.
A final variation here, if you are a little ahead of the curve, is to test some alterations. Now this is the focus of the next course in the PianoGroove syllabus, but just to give you a taster of what’s
coming we will look at the b9 over the V7 chord.
Lesson Downloads
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Rootless Voicings Practice Planner File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
We explore inner voice movement over major, minor, and dominant chords, and then we will apply this information to a well-known jazz standard.
In a minor 251, the 5 chord will be an altered dominant chord. In this lesson we apply altered dominant chords to the major 251 progression.
Misty is one of the most popular jazz ballads and the distinctive melody is immediately recognisable amongst jazz musicians.
Practice Tips
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Start by taking the 251 voicings around all 12 keys in Type A.
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Then repeat with Type B. Remember that the b7 is always on the bottom of the ii-7 chord in Type B.
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There are other inversions, but by knowing these 2, you will always be able to get the rootless voicings in the sweet spot of the piano which is the area around middle C.
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Remember that you must be applying these voicings to the tunes you are working on, otherwise this will always remain a theary exercise.
- These voicings and stride left hand will work well for most jazz ballads.
Hi, Could you please consider providing what’s shown around 14:00 for all 12 keys? Thank you.
As a new-ish student to the jazz piano world (after a childhood full of classical training), i am so thrilled to have turned the corner here and grasped an understanding of these initial rootless voicings. It really is all about putting in the time and staying patient. Now I feel like I have a roadmap to follow mentally for expanding my basic skills as the lessons expand, too. Jazz really is incredible. Thanks again for your thorough teaching and this amazing program.
Is there a chance the 2-5-1 progression is not a minor-dominant-major progression and in that case do we still apply the same kind of accompaniment on the left hand with modifications of the particular notes of the specific chords or the whole playing pattern will actually be different and be taught be more advanced lessons?
Also regarding live tutorial classes, where could we find the schedule of the ongoing classes pls? Thank you!!
Hey Erica,
Good question.
Yes it is possible for all 3 chords to be dominant chords. The main thing to understand with a 251 progression is that the root notes are a 5th apart.
I explain this further in this lesson which is the first lesson in our cocktail piano improv course: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/eb-major-diatonic-harmony/
We also look at the 36251 progression which is a 251 progression which incorporates 2 other chords from the diatonic harmony, again the 362 chords are a 5th apart, and so they can be all voiced as dominant chords. If you check out the lesson above I explain in more detail.
This lesson that you are commenting on (the extended 251 drill) is an extremely important exercise to master for learning jazz harmony. Revisit this drill every day. I will be explaining more about this in my seminar on Monday: pianogroove.com/live-seminars/mastering-rootless-chord-voicings/
Yes if you go to the seminar homepage: pianogroove.com/live-seminars/ – you will see that the upcoming live events and they have a text overlay “upcoming”. You should also receive the seminar agenda on the 1st of each month via email.
On a related note, we are redesigning the live seminar section to split out the upcoming and archived events – see the screenshot attached. The new design also has better filter options and a “Watched” button to mark seminars that have already been viewed and studied.
I’m aiming to get the new design coded in the coming weeks.
Please let me know if I can help further and talk soon,
Hayden