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Blue in Green Tutorial

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Blue In Green Tutorial

Blue in Green is the third track on Miles Davis’ album ‘Kind Of Blue’ which is the best-selling jazz album of all time. The album is worth checking out if you haven’t already.

The 10-Bar Form

The form of Blue in Green is very unusual. The 10-bar form is much shorter than most jazz standards, and is even shorter than a 12 bar blues. Because the form just contains 10 measures, it is usually repeated many times in a performance.

Applying Altered Harmony

In this lesson we explore and apply altered harmony and chord alterations. The melody contains many of the interesting upper extensions and alterations which makes this a great tune to apply the theory.

Lesson Downloads

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    “Blue In Green” Lesson Notation File Type: pdf
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Related Lessons

The Altered Jazz Scale

The altered contains every possible altered chord tone and is a great scale choice to improvise over altered dominant chords.

Intermediate25:48

Blue in Green Improvisation

In this lesson we explore general improv concepts such as: arpeggios, approach patterns, enclosures and turns and chord tone soloing.

Advanced23:37

The Melodic Minor Modes

The melodic minor is an exotic sounding scale and the modes of the melodic minor are used extensively in jazz improvisation.

Intermediate16:15

Practice Tips

  • Notice that the melody contains lots of the upper extensions and alterations.

  • When playing jazz standards, analyse the melody notes in terms of scale degrees relating to the underlying harmony.

  • Over time, this will help you to choose appropriate chord voicings quickly and easily.

  • Learn and memorise the altered voicings covered in this tutorial.

  • Check out the many Bill Evans recordings of this tune for additional inspiration.

Comments

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  1. Adam Powell says

    January 25, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Love this lesson. It used to be hard to play this song because it made me kind of sad and the fingering didn’t feel natural. Now I love to play it. Can’t wait to get to part 2 of it. Thanks again.

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    • Hayden says

      January 25, 2018 at 5:16 pm

      That’s awesome to hear Adam! There are some unusual voicings and big stretches which can feel uncomfortable when first starting out with this tune. I think you will enjoy part 2 as we look at some important improvisation concepts that can be applied to any jazz standard.

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  2. DeJa Vu says

    March 26, 2018 at 12:44 pm

    which book is this? the new real or the real real book?

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    • Judy480 says

      May 8, 2018 at 4:09 am

      Real book One

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  3. TJ says

    September 16, 2018 at 2:49 am

    There’s an interesting back story about this. Miles Davis took credit for it, but years later during a recorded interview by Marion McPartland, Bill Evans said he composed it.

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    • Hayden Hill PianoGroove says

      September 16, 2018 at 4:13 pm

      Yes the chords have Bill Evans written all over them, perhaps Miles had some say in the melody. Many of the real books reference Miles as the author and so I included here it for easy reference. I’m aware that Bill Evans often spoke vehemently of Blue In Green being his own composition. Thanks for the great comment 🙂

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  4. TJ says

    September 16, 2018 at 3:02 am

    Eliane Elias plays a stunning arrangement on Something for you, her Bill Evans tribute album

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    • Hayden Hill PianoGroove says

      September 16, 2018 at 4:13 pm

      Thanks TJ. I’ll check out that.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  5. Iván says

    October 9, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    There are people saying that this is a bill evans composition!Is that true?

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    • Hayden Hill PianoGroove says

      October 9, 2018 at 5:35 pm

      Hi Ivan, yes Bill Evans said in an interview that he composed the tune. The chords have Bill written all over them. The RealBook says Miles Davis, so I decided to use that to avoid confusion. Cheers! PianoGroove

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      • Iván says

        October 9, 2018 at 10:55 pm

        Thats Awesome thank for replying! I was thinking that we can create an official whatsap group for all members of the comunity!That would be really cool.What i dont know if that Idea is compatíble with an online bussiness .It would be great for instant interaction, vídeos ,áudios knowledge or something to look quicky when we are waiting for something in our daily busy lives ..The problem is that a whatsap group can easly get out of control só it would need some good administrators

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        • Hayden Hill PianoGroove says

          October 9, 2018 at 11:15 pm

          Hey Ivan – great idea, and I think we can take this somewhere special. You have the cogs in my brain turning.

          As you highlight, WhatsApp can easily get out of control with just 5 people in a group.

          It would be very difficult with all our students.

          Leave it with me Ivan… and keep sending me great ideas.

          We will make something special with PianoGroove, and revolutionise online learning.

          Cheers!
          Hayden

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      • Iván says

        October 9, 2018 at 11:19 pm

        Olso it was interesting what you did there at the 14.50 minute.Playing a chord to sound like a rootless voicing..That one caught my atention !Só the trick is to play Both the root and the 7 with a minor second interval ?

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        • Hayden Hill PianoGroove says

          October 9, 2018 at 11:40 pm

          Yes exactly Ivan, that could be classified as a cluster voicing, playing notes close together at the bottom of the voicings gives you a nice sound. Having the 7th on the bottom creates a ‘crunch’ and unique texture. Beautiful!

          Check out this tutorial next Ivan: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/cluster-voicings/

          You then get into the whole concept of ‘intent’ ie. you can imply a tonality or chord with just one or 2 notes.

          Basically you can do anything. Jazz is freedom!

          Cheers,
          Hayden

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          • Iván says

            October 10, 2018 at 11:22 pm

            Going to check that out..this one was a busy só i m more slow than before lol.. bit i m taking action again

  6. Ariel Jupiter says

    June 2, 2019 at 1:19 pm

    Hi Hayden,

    I have a simple question 🙂
    In the fourth bar does the F7B9 chord falls on the fourth beat of the measure?
    And the D note in the melody falls down in the third beat of the measure?
    I’m playing tunes with counting to (myself 1 and 2 and)… in order to a better natural feeling for rhythm, I found out that counting to my self verbally to be very efficient way to feel the rhythm.

    Thanks.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      June 2, 2019 at 2:32 pm

      Hi Ariel,

      According to the lead sheet, the melody note falls on the 2nd beat of the bar. The F7b9 chord falls on the 3rd beat of the bar.

      As with all jazz standards, both the melody and the harmony are open to interpretation by the performer/arranger.

      A good exercise would be to listen to a few of the famous versions and count where the melody and chords are being placed in the bar. That would give you a better understanding of how the tune is commonly played.

      And yes counting is a great way to keep you in time. Even better using a metronome because then there is no room for human error! I’ve met many musicians who advocate playing with a metronome 100% of their practice time.

      I must admit that I find it hard to stick to this but I can see its benefits. The idea is that we become completely ‘calibrated’ with the click.

      A final note is that playing accurately at slow tempos with a metronome is harder than fast tempos. Give it a try with this tune, and then pick a faster medium/up tempo tune – and you will see what I mean!

      Enjoy the lessons.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  7. Kester Gillie Andrews says

    January 24, 2020 at 11:41 am

    Great lesson, thanks. I really like the adding inner movement with a LH voicing with different alterations, will be sure to use that! Could you upload the lead sheet used in the video please? Thanks

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    • Hayden Hill says

      January 26, 2020 at 4:38 am

      Hi Kester,

      I have added a new download containing the exact

      I’m glad you enjoyed the lesson and yes the inner voice movement is a beautiful device that we can use in left hand voicings and also 2 handed voicings, check out this lesson where we explore inner voice movement over major, minor, and dominant chords: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/adding-inner-voice-movement/

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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