C Section Harmony Drills
In this lesson we analyse the final section of the tune to internalise the harmony and complete our harmonic analysis of ‘The Nearness Of You’. We then cover 2 useful exercises to create a basic left hand stride.
Final A Section or C Section?
The final section of this tune can be viewed as a final A section, or as a C Section. Personally I like to view this as a C Section as the melody and harmony have some significant differences to the A sections. Ultimately choose which ever term works best for you.
The 4 Bar Extension
One of the most important things to remember when playing this tune is that the final section has a 4 bar extension which makes the tune 36 bars long in total. Most tunes in the jazz standard repertoire are 32 bars long, and so this is an important detail to remember when playing the head and when improvising.
We analyse the 4 bar extension and examine the similarities and differences between the final section and the A sections.
Related Lessons
In this lesson we will learn how to embellish the turnaround sections with extensions, echoing, inner voices, USTs, arpeggios, & Sus chords.
We examine the slight variations on the A Sections and we will then learn how to connect the A & B Sections together using turnarounds.
In this tutorial we will explore some useful formulas and techniques that can be used to create solo piano introductions in minor keys.
Practice Tips
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To internalise the chord changes, count through each bar with left hand bass and the 3rds and 7ths in the right hand.
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Once this is comfortable, play both the bass and the 3rds and 7ths with the left hand to create a basic left hand stride.
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If you're new to stride style, start with just 1 bar and cycle around. Then add the next few bars, and gradually work up to the full 8 bar section.
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Don't forget about the 4 bar extension in the final section of this tune!
