“Moon River” – Adding Embellishments
In this lesson we focus on enriching our right hand to add more sophistication and expression when playing the tune “Moon River”. We cover a selection of melodic principles and devices that can be used to create simple but effective fills and embellishments.
‘Rolling’ Left Hand Chords
We start with a recap of the left hand ‘roll technique’ to create a fuller and stronger harmonic foundation. This technique is extremely useful in solo jazz piano performance as it ‘frees up’ our right hand to play more melodically.
If you are new to jazz piano it will take some practice for the left hand ‘roll technique’ to feel comfortable and natural. Consistent daily practice is key to build up the muscle strength in your hands and fingers.
Chord Extensions & Melodic Embellishment
We then shift our attention to adding interest to our right hand by incorporating chord extensions and melodic embellishments such as turns, grace notes, short scale runs, and triad based fills.
We start by connecting the melody notes with short scale runs and triad fills to create smoother transitions between the big jumps in the melody. We also explore enclosures where we play the adjacent notes around the target note to create a slight sense of tension and release.
Altered Harmony & Upper Structure Triads
Moving on we touch on more advanced harmonic concepts, demonstrating how alterations like flat nines and sharp nines can add tension and interest to our chord voicings. These concepts, while more complex, are introduced gently, with the aim of familiarising our ears and hands with the sounds and shapes of altered jazz chord voicings.
Practice Tips
-
Cycle through the harmony of the A section whilst isolating the left-hand rolling technique.
-
Once we are comfortable with this movement, it frees up our right hand to add melodic embellishments and decoration.
-
Experiment with scale runs, turns, grace notes, triad arpeggios, and enclosures to add melodic interest and variation on the main theme of the melody.
-
Experiment with chord alterations and upper structure triads to add layers of complexity and sophistication to your chord voicings. Check out the related lessons for dedicated theory studies on these topics.