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“Nearness Of You” For Beginners

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"The Nearness Of You" Beginner Tutorial

In this lesson we are going to arrange the tune “The Nearness Of You” using simple voicings containing the roots, 3rds, and 7ths.

“The Nearness Of You” is a true jazz classic and is a staple part of the jazz piano repertoire.

The Form & Harmony

The tune follows an AABA form which means that almost 75% of the tune contains the exact same chords and voicings.

The final A section does have a 4 bar extensions and so that’s an important point to remember.

The tune contains lots of common progressions including major 251s, minor 251s, and also 3625 turnarounds which can be voiced in many ways.

Lesson Downloads

  • file-icon
    Major 251 Progressions PDF File Type: pdf
    Download
  • file-icon
    Jazz Piano Foundations Practice Planner File Type: pdf
    Download
  • file-icon
    Sus Chords Lesson Supplement File Type: pdf
    Download

Related Lessons

Minor 251 Practice Drills

One of the intricacies of minor harmony is the variety of colours and tensions we can add to the chords in the minor 251 progression.

Beginner13:34

The Nearness Of You Tutorial

We start with simple two-handed voicings and then create interest by adding in upper structure triads, block chords & chord substitutions.

Advanced29:19

Minor 251 Progression

Minor harmony is much more complex than major harmony and so the minor 251 progression takes much more time and patience to master.

Beginner16:27

Practice Tips

  • There are many vocal versions which you should check out before learning the tune.

  • Studying the vocal versions of the tune helps us with the phrasing of the melody and adding creative ornamentation.

  • Understand the role and function of the 3625 progression and how this is used in the final bars of the A Section.

  • Learn the 3625 and 1625 progression in all 12 keys.

Comments

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  1. Ivor Murray says

    January 8, 2020 at 12:00 pm

    This is my first attempt at a jazz standard. One thing I noticed straight away is that until now when I’ve played songs, I’ve played chords in my left hand and the melody in my right hand. It seems with jazz that not only are you playing the melody in the right hand but you’re also playing parts of the chord.
    I’m just trying to get my head around this concept. Are there any comments or guidance about this, or should I just get on and do it.
    One thing that stems from this is that until now I was encouraged to practice each hand separately and then bring them together. With jazz, I guess you have to always practice hands together all the time.
    I have a question : At the end of the ‘1st A Section’ chapter, you play the first couple of lines straight through. In bars 7 and 8, it looks like after playing the Am7 and Gm7 chords, you play some of the notes individually. Is that right ? It’s a bit hard to see in the video even when slowed down.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      January 9, 2020 at 6:54 pm

      Hi Ivor,

      I answered your question in detail in the forum area here: pianogroove.com/community/t/new-course-beginner-jazz-arrangements/3531/7

      To answer your other questions:

      When playing solo piano from lead sheets I feel that it’s a good idea to practice hands together. We often spread out the notes between both hands and so it would be impossible to achieve the same effect by practicing hands separately.

      Finally yes that is correct that I play some notes individually during the turnaround (A-7 / D7 / G-7 / C7) in bars 7 and 8. All I am doing here is ‘toggling’ the notes of the chord and also notice that I am outlining the b7ths falling to 3rds in my right hand.

      When the chord changes from A-7 to D7 which is a 25 progression, see that my right hand outlines the b7th of A-7 (G) falling a half step to the 3rd of D7 (F#).

      When the chord changes from G-7 to C7 which is also a 25 progression, see that my right hand outlines the b7th of G-7 (F) falling a half step to the 3rd of C7 (E).

      It can be nice to accentuate that voice leading which adds additional movement when the melody is static like in bars 7 and 8.

      Hope this helps and any further questions let me know.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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      • Ivor Murray says

        January 9, 2020 at 8:10 pm

        Thank you, Hayden. That’s really helped – I can see what you’re doing now.

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        • Hayden Hill says

          January 9, 2020 at 8:36 pm

          Great stuff, glad to help out Ivor.

          The more of these tunes you learn the easier it will become for you.

          Cheers!
          Hayden

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  2. Peerapong Asawaphooreekorn says

    February 12, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    Hi Hayden,

    About the approach to learn the Beginner Jazz Arrangements.

    As there is Transcription for this song available, how much would you recommend using them to practice the song vs using just the Chord Chart?

    I have background in classical piano so reading the Transcription is easier for practicing. But ultimately is it ok to practice on the Transcription alone? Or should I try to gradually drop the Transcription?
    Or should I just straight away try to use only the Chord Chart as much as possible (but it is very mentally taxing when starting out to learn the piece and memorize)

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    • Hayden Hill says

      February 13, 2020 at 8:13 pm

      Hi Peerapong,

      My recommendation would be to try not to become overly reliant on the transcriptions. For students coming from a classical background it can be easy to just read the notes and not truly understand what you are playing.

      The chord charts outline the chord changes and the melody of the song. These chord charts are used by jazz musicians when playing either solo or in a group setting. This is the graphic you see in the jazz standard lessons and the PianoGroove course is designed to teach students how to read and interpret chord charts and lead sheets.

      My main advice would be to use the lead sheet, and the transcription only if needed.

      In addition, we should try to memorise the chords and melody to our jazz standards as quickly as possible. That way we do not need to be reading anything and we can fully immerse ourselves in our playing.

      I was recently talking about this in the forum here: pianogroove.com/community/t/melody-line-practice/3534/13 – there are some useful insights there that are worth reading over.

      Hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance let me know.

      Enjoy the lessons!
      Hayden

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  3. Tom LaCroix says

    February 21, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    Hi Haden, I’m really happy I found your program. I love the standards, esp. Hoagy Carmichael.

    I’m not sure how to start on this. In the past I learned to play in steps: Melody, root and melody, then R-7/R-3. etc. It seems it would be better to learn a few bars at a time, chords and melody. Recognizing the progressions. I have been playing about 6 years. But I haven’t enough competence with building chords on the fly.

    Thank you, Tom

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    • Hayden Hill says

      February 22, 2020 at 8:32 am

      Hi Tom,

      Yes this is a beautiful tune, one of my favourites!

      Regarding your question, firstly read my answer to Peerapong’s question above and check out the link I referenced about memorising the form of tunes: pianogroove.com/community/t/melody-line-practice/3534/13

      Whether to start hands separately, I think it depends what you are comfortable with when learning new tunes. For complete beginners it can be useful to start with the melody and roots of the chord, or even just the melody.

      For me personally, when I learn a new tune I jump straight in with both hands. I think this is the point we should aim to get to. Starting with roots, 3rds and 7ths, and the melody would be my main recommendation. Then start to layer in more advanced harmony and chord voicings.

      A very important part of learning new tunes is listening to lots of recordings, particularly vocal versions. This will help you learn and memorise the melody and lyrics, and also give you lots of inspiration for how to play the tune.

      The more tunes you learn to play, you will start to see how similar they are in their harmony and this also helps with the memorisation process, and picking up new tunes quickly.

      Hope the above helps.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  4. Tom LaCroix says

    February 21, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    Here is a sample of my playing. Can I post a video here?

    soundcloud.com/tom-lacroix-70785936/stardusttlc012020

    And here I do a little improv.

    soundcloud.com/tom-lacroix-70785936/what-are-you-doing-the-rest-of-your-lifen

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    • Hayden Hill says

      February 22, 2020 at 8:38 am

      Thanks for sharing this Tom. Beautiful arrangements and improvisation. Congratulations.

      We have a thread in the forum where we can share our videos and recordings. See it here: pianogroove.com/community/t/share-your-music-recordings-performances/1375/

      Simply copy and paste your SoundCloud links into that thread and it will create a nice embed that we can all listen to and give feedback. You can also post YouTube videos in there.

      We do have lessons on “Stardust” and “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life”. Again 2 of my favourite tunes to play! 🙂 Check out the lessons here:

      “Stardust”: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/stardust-tutorial/

      “WAYDTROYL”: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/what-are-you-doing-the-rest-of-your-life-tutorial/

      Cheers!
      Hayden

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    • Nobby says

      July 3, 2020 at 9:43 pm

      Howdy Tom,

      today i got my membership here and now i found your examples…. very very nice…Improv… so great dynamics.. i love so melancholical sound… thx for sharing and keep on

      Musical Greetings

      Nobby

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      • Tom LaCroix says

        July 12, 2020 at 4:06 pm

        Thank you for your nice comments, Nobby.

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        • Libby Macdonnell says

          July 12, 2020 at 4:42 pm

          I WANT TO GIVE AS A GIFT THE B OOK YOU RECOMMEND UNDER RESOURCES…EAD BOOK 1….I THINK.
          NEED A PHONE NUMBER THAT WORKS.
          THANK YOU
          LIBBY

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          • Hayden Hill says

            July 15, 2020 at 10:11 am

            Hi Libby 👋🏻

            Check out this forum thread where I recommend the Real Book versions:

            pianogroove.com/community/t/buying-the-fake-book/2320

            Any other questions let me know.

            Cheers,
            Hayden

  5. Tom LaCroix says

    February 24, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    Thank you for the detailed response, Hayden.

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  6. Gilbert Anderer says

    February 26, 2020 at 8:09 am

    What I love especially about your playing: you do not use the left hand just to bridge some empty space. All the chord tones you are using in the left hand move the song forward and support the melody. I don’t know, if I am clear with this statement. But I hear here a special way of playing which I also heard in other interpretations from you. This is especially what I am trying to learn for my playing, because this way, the song “speaks”.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      February 27, 2020 at 4:20 pm

      Thanks for the feedback Gilbert and I’m glad you like the arrangement.

      By emulating my arrangements that will rub off into your own style of playing. You will start to use similar voicing techniques on other tunes you are learning as the voicings and harmonising techniques are very relevant to most jazz standards.

      In addition, the more tunes you learn, the quicker you will realise that many of them are in fact very similar in their structure and harmony.

      I would also recommend you to listen to many versions of each song you are learning. Vocal versions in particular are great to learn the phrasing of the melody. Don’t just listen to piano versions but every instrument and make a playlist with your favourite versions. This is the ultimate source of inspiration for us when we are developing our own sound and style of playing.

      I hope this is helpful and thanks again for your comments 🙂

      Enjoy the lessons!
      Hayden

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  7. Myles Thompson says

    April 18, 2020 at 11:43 am

    I’m curious to know how a bar pianist can easily recall so many standards without looking at a chord chart. Is it because the chord structures are similar so they can work it out on the fly – or is it more a matter of playing the same tunes repeatedly so they stay in long term memory?

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    • Myles Thompson says

      April 18, 2020 at 12:01 pm

      Another question: since this song is in F major – my understanding was that the chords should be diatonic to F major – but there’s a D7, which has an F sharp. How does that fit in?

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    • Hayden Hill says

      April 19, 2020 at 11:43 am

      Hi Myles,

      Yes there are many similarities between tunes in the jazz standard repertoire. The more that we learn, the more similarities we will notice which makes memorisation much easier.

      And yes one aspect of memorising tunes is to play the tunes many times. You may also find this tutorial useful where we discuss common jazz forms: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/common-jazz-forms/ – memorising the form of tunes gives you the basic structure and blueprint for the harmony.

      Regarding the D7, this is the VI7 chord in the key of F Major. What we are seeing here is a 3625 progression repeating which is A-7 / D7 / G-7 / C7 –> leading back to F.

      You might like to check out this lesson where we explore the 36251 progression in detail: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/1625-436251-progressions/

      When playing jazz standards, it’s common for the harmony to modulate to different key centres before finally resolving back to the key of the song, and so many of the chords that we find will not always be diatonic to the key of the tune.

      Let me know if you have any further questions.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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      • Myles Thompson says

        April 22, 2020 at 10:02 pm

        Thanks Hayden.

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  8. Don says

    April 30, 2020 at 3:37 pm

    Hi Heyden,

    Just want to let you know how valuable these “simplified” lessons are for me. I take private lessons from a professional jazz player and I am using your site for the bulk of my material. These simplified lessons are great ways to get started with a tune and have it sound pretty good right out of the gate. It is especially helpful when you notate little fills and arpeggios here and there to help me add those features to my playing. Keep them coming.

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  9. Howard George Hewitt says

    June 5, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    Hi Just to say really enjoying this course, this is such a beautiful tune, its taken me awhile to “get it” I’m 64 years young and its such a joy to be learning like this. Learning the stave as I go, ha,ha, so quite slooow!
    thanks. Howard

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    • Hayden Hill says

      June 6, 2020 at 12:50 pm

      Thanks Howard – glad to hear you are enjoying the course.

      If you have any questions with the materials just let us know.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  10. Libby Macdonnell says

    June 10, 2020 at 1:53 am

    THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS I HAVE ONLY BEEN GETTING THE VISUALS….NO SOUND.
    THE SOUND IS FINE ON OTHER SITES….IE THE MET.
    ANY SUGGESTIONS?
    tHANKS
    LIBBY

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    • Hayden Hill says

      June 11, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      Hi Libby,

      That does sound unusual.

      Please excuse me if I’m wrong here, but sometimes students don’t see the volume controls on the video player. This is the vertical bars just to the right of the video time. Please check that first.

      Next please can you try using a different browser? Sometimes these issues are browser specific and that can help us to identify the problem.

      I have also sent you an email to get some more information on the device you are using. This will help us to identify and fix the issue asap.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  11. Richard Gross says

    June 10, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    How do you include a “D” in the Fmajor last measure? It sounds good but “D” is not part of FM7. I guess i should really ask how we as beginners would know it’s OK to do that?

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    • Hayden Hill says

      June 11, 2020 at 6:00 pm

      Hi Richard 👋🏻

      Good question!

      D is the 6th or 13th of Fmaj7.

      When ending a tune (particularly when the root is in the melody) the major 6th chord is a good choice. This is because there is just a half step interval between the major 7th, and the root, and this creates dissonance in the voicing. if we drop the major 7th down to the 6th, it removes this half step interval and makes the chord sound much more consonant and pleasing.

      For any major chord we can voice it as a major 6 chord, or a major 7 chord. If we have both the 6 and the 7 in the chord, then the 6 becomes the 13. We explore this in more detail in our course on chord extensions: pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/chord-extensions-9ths-11ths-13ths/

      A very nice voicing is the major6/9 voicing. Try this to end the tune:

      Left hand: Root and 5th (F and C)
      Right hand: 3-5-6-9 (A-C-D-G)

      Also try running up the piano with the 3-5-6-9 in your right hand to create a nice effect.

      Hope this helps Richard and check out the course above for more information on chord extensions.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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      • Richard Gross says

        June 13, 2020 at 8:44 pm

        That was very helpful.. i am not bad at playing notes, but learning the piano this way is NOT easy. Thanks.

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        • Hayden Hill says

          June 14, 2020 at 8:50 pm

          Hi Richard 👋🏻

          Yes learning jazz piano is challenging to begin with, but the more tunes you learn, the easier it becomes.

          Once you have built a repertoire of 10 or 20 tunes, you will feel much more comfortable with jazz harmony.

          There are many discussions in community area that i think you will find useful, be sure to check out the 3 forum threads below:

          1) pianogroove.com/community/t/where-to-go-from-here-for-a-beginner/3838

          2) pianogroove.com/community/t/brand-new-and-looking-for-advice/1840

          3) pianogroove.com/community/t/melody-line-practice/3534

          Stay safe and enjoy the lessons!

          Cheers,
          Hayden

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  12. Ariel Jupiter says

    June 13, 2020 at 12:12 pm

    Hi @hayden

    Amazing tutorial – I love to study on these beginner tutorial since it is giving me a chance to apply my own advanced stuff that I have learned in the past 2 years in PianoGroove.

    For example on the on the fourth bar on Bmaj7 I play the melody notes A and G with a harmony one step above bmaj7. So I play the Bmaj7 as you do in the tutorial, and I add B dominant chord (B D# A in the melody). and one step above I simply play C7 dominant chord with G in the melody.

    Am I correct with this progress?
    To me it sounds nice anyway 🙂

    Thanks.
    Ariel.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      June 14, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      Hi Ariel 👋🏻

      Glad you liked the tutorial.

      I think it’s brilliant that you are revisiting the earlier tutorials and applying your own theory. I find personally that when I experiment and figure things out myself, they stick in my memory better than if someone showed me. So yes you are very much on the right path.

      Yes I like your reharmonisation. It sounds interesting to me because it creates contrary motion, ie. the melody is falling, and the harmony underneath is rising from B to C. You could also try adding a b9 on the C7, (Db) and that sounds nice to my ears.

      When I am reharmonising these kinds of melodies, I usually try to stick to 25s, descending dominants by a half step, and 25s with tritone subs also work well. For example, the target chord here is Bbdim7, so we would try to find voicings that work for C-7 –> F7 –>Bb or perhaps C-7 –> B7 –> Bb or perhaps C7 –> B7 –> Bb. This doesn’t always work, but it’s fun to try to figure out voicings that fit with the melody.

      I do this extensively in my recent tutorial on “Pure Imagination”, check out the 3rd Chapter “2nd A Section” and you will see how I apply passing chords based on the 25 of the target chord. Here’s the lesson:

      pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/pure-imagination-tutorial/

      You might also like to see this forum post where Wendy was asking about passing chords for this tune: pianogroove.com/community/t/passing-chords-and-something-else/4149

      Her lead sheet is in the key of Eb Major, not F Major, but it could be a nice exercise for you to transpose this tune.

      In her example, she reharmonises the descending melody in the first bar with 2 upper structures. To transpose that into F major, the first bar would be Fmaj7 of course, then harmonise the descending melody with D7#5#9 and Db7#5#9 (both times the melody is the #5, the voicing is major triad off the #5 with the UST in it’s 1st inversion to get the #5 on top) which then leads nicely into C-7 to start the second bar.

      Hope this helps Ariel and be sure to share any of your cool reharms in the forum area.

      Cheers!
      Hayden

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  13. Wojciech Narczyński says

    July 12, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    At 0:14 you’re still holding the F key down. Why do you not let it go? Do you not use the sustain pedal then? This is just an example place, you do that quite often. In genera, it would be helpful if the videos also showed pedaling.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      July 15, 2020 at 9:54 am

      Hi Wojciech 👋🏻

      Good question.

      If we can avoid using the pedal it makes our harmonies and melodies clearer, which is why I hold down the note F at 0:14

      We can certainly create a lesson on pedal usage and how to pedal correctly when playing jazz standards in different styles.

      As general rule of thumb, if we can play the harmony and melody without using the pedal and achieve a smooth legato sound, that is ideal scenario. Be aware that it can be easy to become overly reliant on the pedal and it can hide bad technique.

      Of course, sometimes we need to use the pedal when it is difficult to hold down all the notes in the chord due to the spacing of the notes, and this is different for everyone due to the size of our hands and other physical constraints, so we must use our judgement on when this is most appropriate.

      Let me know if you have any further questions on this.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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      • Wojciech Narczyński says

        July 20, 2020 at 7:38 am

        On second thought, it would be most helpful if you made the .midi files available for the lessons. Not only could I look at them in a DAW but maybe also open them in KlavarScript. I’m kinda dyslectic, I find the traditional notation challenging.

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        • Hayden Hill says

          July 22, 2020 at 10:34 am

          Hi Wojciech 👋🏻

          I have just added a MIDI file of the performance for you. You can find it in the “Downloads” section above.

          If you need this for any other lessons just let me know.

          Cheers!
          Hayden

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  14. Wojciech Narczyński says

    July 12, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    At 0:32 I cannot reach Bb – C. C is melody (fixed), Bb is 3rd (important chord tone). What are my options?

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    • Hayden Hill says

      July 15, 2020 at 10:08 am

      Hi Wojciech 👋🏻

      In this case you could try to ‘roll’ the notes of the chord – with either hand – I explain more in this lesson pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/kenny-barron-voicing/

      This is also a case where we could use the pedal to create a smoother sound when rolling the notes.

      You could also move the root up an octave, so your left hand would be playing G-Bb (but the G is an octave higher) and right hand playing F and C.

      You could play the voice leading in the right hand (F falling to E from G-7 to C7) and then when moving to C7, your left hand moves down to play the Root and b7 (C and Bb).

      Try that out and let me know if it works for you.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  15. Albert Dorfman says

    August 13, 2020 at 3:56 am

    Hey Hayden,

    Great tutorial.

    Quick question about the first bar: The first chord is an Fmaj7, which presumably should have an E in it (the major 7th). But you played it as F-C-A; any reason for leaving the E out?

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    • Hayden Hill says

      August 19, 2020 at 2:16 pm

      Hi Albert 👋🏻

      Good question and apologies for the late reply here.

      When we have a major 7th chord, we can always simplify it to just the major triad. Sometimes this will sound strange but in this case it works fine. This is a beginner arrangement and so we are trying to keep the voicings as simple as possible.

      When we include the major 7th in the voicing, it does make it a little trickier to make the jump in the right hand melody.

      As a general rule of thumb, if the lead sheet asks for the 7th in the voicing, we should include it, but we do have the creative freedom to omit notes and also add other notes… as we explore in the upcoming courses.

      For example, we could play F6 instead of Fmaj7 and it creates a slightly different texture.

      For F6, we would have the notes F-A-C-D … we could play F and C in our left hand, and then A-D-A in our right hand.

      Compare this to playing Fmaj7 with F and C in our left hand, and then A-E-A in our right hand and you will hear that it creates a slightly different sound.

      So to answer your question, the reasoning was mainly to simplify the arrangement but also understand the options we have over major chords as outlined above.

      I hope this helps Albert and any other questions let me know.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  16. Nelson Wissar says

    August 25, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    Hello Hayden. I have played tune up which is composed with root, 3ds and sevenths. But here in this tune I see that you chose to play a simple triad in the first chord, instead of playing the Fmaj7 chord. Is this just a personal interpretation for each pianist? Or there is a certain rule to apply 5th, or thirds, etc. Thank you.!

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    • Hayden Hill says

      August 26, 2020 at 1:13 pm

      Hi Nelson 👋🏻

      I recently answered a very similar question above, if you scroll to the comment above yours you will see it.

      To repost a section of it here:

      When we have a major 7th chord, we can always simplify it to just the major triad. Sometimes this will sound strange but in this case it works fine. This is a beginner arrangement and so we are trying to keep the voicings as simple as possible.

      Using the example of the first chord (Fmaj7) … When we include the major 7th in the voicing, it does make it a little trickier to make the jump in the right hand melody.

      In terms of a ‘general rule’:

      A good process to follow is to play the root of the chord in our left hand, the melody note in our right hand, and then the 3rd and 7th of the chord in between trying to space them out to create a balanced sound. Sometimes the melody note will be either the 3rd or 7th and so half of the job is already done for us.

      The next most important thing is to apply good voice leading, so in 25s and 251s, we always want to be outlining the half step motion of b7ths dropping to 3rds when changing chords. This creates a very smooth sound.

      Let me know if that helps.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

      ps. the major scale fingering resource is almost finished. I should have it done today and I will email it to you.

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      • Nelson Wissar says

        August 27, 2020 at 2:16 pm

        Thank You Hayden for your fast reply, and i can understand what you say. I’m very happy to be switching to jazz piano. As i go through the beginner lessons, i can see the clear difference with classical piano. The room for creativity in jazz piano is vast. It goes from chord arrangements to soloing. It is really great and this is what is was looking for. its a long journey that i am enjoying so far!

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        • Hayden Hill says

          August 28, 2020 at 1:06 pm

          Hi Nelson,

          Yes that’s exactly it, we have so much creative freedom that it can be a little overwhelming to start.

          Once you can play 20. or so jazz standards you will have a much better understanding of the devices and techniques we can use.

          Of course listening is very important so create playlists with all of the jazz tunes you are working on and study how your favourite artists arrange tunes and add fills.

          The next step is to try to work things out with your ears directly from the recordings. We have lot of ear training exercises here in the forum to get your ears up to speed: pianogroove.com/community/c/improvisation-exercises/30

          Also the major scale fingering sheet is finished, you can download it here: pianogroove.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Major-Scale-Fingerings.pdf

          Let me know if you think it could be improved in any way.

          Cheers and enjoy the lessons.

          Hayden

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          • Nelson Wissar says

            September 3, 2020 at 3:06 pm

            Thank you so much!

          • Mike Chen says

            October 1, 2020 at 3:13 am

            Hayden do you recommend we practice jazz standards in all 12 keys, or at least in a couple? Or just keep going for another after finishing a song?

          • Hayden Hill says

            October 9, 2020 at 12:38 pm

            Hi Mike,

            Good question!

            If you are new to jazz piano, I would recommend building out your repertoire of jazz standards as a priority.

            It’s a great exercise to take tunes into different keys but I wouldn’t say this is a top priority as a new student.

            Building out a repertoire of say 20 or so tunes is the best way to expose yourself to different harmonies and common progressions in jazz music and so as a beginner, this should be your main goal.

            Let me know if you have any further questions on this.

            Cheers,
            Hayden

  17. Dario Migali says

    September 25, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    Hi,
    in the first measure you don’t play at the end the B and the A. Is it a personal choice of style?

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    • Dario Migali says

      September 25, 2020 at 10:52 pm

      oh, i saw you played them after …sorry

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  18. Dario Migali says

    September 25, 2020 at 11:35 pm

    Hi,
    at the start with the Cm7, F7 , Bb maj 7 you say there is a 2, 5, 1 progression. Is it changed the scale in that point? Is the new scale is a Bb Harmonic Minor?

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    • Dario Migali says

      September 26, 2020 at 10:38 pm

      i found it! it’s a Bb major scale for the 2,5,1!

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  19. Gregorio Ledesma says

    January 22, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Hi, thank you for making the piece accessible for a beginner like me. I’m finding great enjoyment from practicing this piece.
    Kind regards.

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    • Hayden Hill says

      January 24, 2021 at 12:16 pm

      Hi Gregorio,

      I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the lessons.

      This is a beautiful tune to play!

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  20. Eugene Vasile says

    January 26, 2021 at 11:37 am

    I cannot stop practicing this arrangement! Such a beautiful tune.

    Thanks @Hayden for opening my eyes! While some finger stretchings are out of this world, I really believe that it helps play these voicings on other tunes.

    Because of this arrangement, I had to change my daily practice routine to add 10th intervals on major 2, 5, 1

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  21. Mark Ellinghaus says

    February 2, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    Hello Hayden,

    A newbie here enjoying this lesson very much. I’m a bit confused however about the G7 you play in bar 23, You play with an E. Are you playing that as a 13th?

    Thanks,

    Mark

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    • Hayden Hill says

      February 3, 2021 at 7:21 pm

      Hi Mark,

      Good question and glad to hear you are enjoying the lesson!

      Yes if I play the note E in a G7 chord, that is indeed the 13. It’s very common to add the 13 in our dominant voicings to create a richer sound on the dominant V7 chord.

      When making these beginner lessons I try to stick to just root, 3rds, and 7ths to make them as accessible as possible, but sometimes I might ‘accidentally’ play 9ths and 13ths.

      We cover 9th and 13th voicings in detail in the upcoming courses so all of this is covered.

      It’s great that you have identified that note on your own, and as an exercise you could try adding the 13th in other dominant chords of the song. We learn and retain the information best when we figure these little things out ourselves so it’s always great to have a sense of curiosity with the notes we play in our voicings.

      I hope this helps Mark and let me know if you have any further questions.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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  22. Wael abed says

    March 18, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    Hello my teacher i am very intrresting for a course with you and let me ask. How to download viedio for lesson

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    • Hayden Hill says

      March 19, 2021 at 1:20 pm

      Hi Wael,

      Thanks for getting in touch and I’m glad you are enjoying the videos.

      The lessons can just be streamed through the website, it is not possible to download them but you can download the PDF files, MIDI files, and Audio files.

      I hope that helps and let me know if I can be of further assistance.

      Cheers,
      Hayden

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