Listen to almost any version of Erik Satie's three Gymnopedies, and you could swear that the pianist is using the sustain pedal. And frankly, you'd probably be right. This slow, pensive piece sounds wonderful when each note is held as if it's a bell, and the pedal is the easiest way to achieve this goal. It has now become common practice.
Transcriptions of this Freddie Hubbard tune are available from various sources, but my favorite version comes from a fake book which represents this tune with just four lines of music -- that’s only 18 measures. The progression includes an austere three chords, and melodically the last notes of the melody of both the A and B sections stretch out for a luxurious 10 beats.
Beef up your piano jazz repertoire with this tune that nearly everyone knows and loves, sounds great to improvise over and is pretty easy to play once you get the patterns down.
This version of "Fly Me to the Moon" is written in A minor, and with the exception of a few accidentals, is played on the white keys of the piano. The secret to mastering this simple version is alternating the seventh chord voicings between root position and second inversion. One you get this formula down and feel comfortable playing it, you can start to experiment with the accompaniment.
Have you been practicing this week?
Music pop quiz: what note is common to A major, B sus4 and C major?
I admit that I spend a lot of lesson time quizzing my students. No one escapes learning the order of flats and sharps, circle of fifths, modes, relative minors, minor scale variations, pentatonics and other non-diatonic scales, progressions and cadences. That provides us with more than enough material for thousands of quiz questions. I love watching my students' progress. They often start out a little confused and slightly annoyed by my persistence: What are the notes in a D flat major scale? How many sharps are there in the key of B minor?
After a tumultuous February, things seem to be falling into place to make March decidedly gentler on the constitution. I've found a new studio space at 8700 SW 26th Avenue, and gave my first lesson on Monday, March 1, and the (temporary) lack of furniture didn't deter us a bit. I've set up an online payment system and am getting the rest of my administrative house in order. Once these essential business elements have been taken care of, I'm quite excited to renew my focus on what's really important -- teaching music.
Playing music for someone else requires a certain amount of bravado, and it's just that quality I'm trying to tap into as I move into a new teaching space. Sadly, East2West Studios will shutter its doors after a challenging attempt at revitalizing its business by moving to a new location. I'll admit that I like to find a comfortable place to teach and stay put, and taking the initiative to find a new situation seems a bother when I'd much rather be teaching and playing music...
A well-rounded music practice incorporates a study of music theory as well as regular, focused playing. As a music teacher, I'm dedicated to building a strong foundation in music theory in all of my students. There's simply no other way to write about and speak about why we play certain notes and chords at certain times, and not at others.
