EXERCISE
SIX AND MINUET SIX
The left hand pattern now enters the form of
boogie woogie. This is a very ¡mportant exercise
and should be thoroughty tearned before any
other l¡nes are attempted against the left hañd.
lñcidentally th¡s should represent a great chatlenge from this aspect because it is fairty difficult to move the r¡ght hanct t¡ne to añy depth
against á bass line that ¡s quite busy such as
the one provided.
o:
.a
EXERCISE
SEVEN
AND
MINUET SEVEN
we now erfiploy the stop and go bass f¡gures.
This gives us the ab¡lity to change from an
elementary sense of rhythm¡c pattern in the left
hand, introducing from time to t¡me a straight
four as a form of retief. The rnetody in the jazz
m¡nuet should be played in a very legato manner
in order to give the listener a sense of cohesiveness between the two hanc,s.
a
7
EXERCISE
EIGHT AND MINUET
EIGHT
Here we employ a steady watking bass figure
ir the exercise. In the minuet we emptoy fa¡rty
lrusy l¡nes. The p!áyer shou¡d attempt d¡fferent
types of art¡culation ;n o.der to obtain the finat
tnd correct jazz feeliñg that he des¡res. In doing
this he should then be able to reatize how
üre jazz player (professional) changes the comdete complexion of a tune by changing his
articulation.
|'
a'
EXERCISE
NINE AND
EXERCISE
)
AND
MINUET NINE
This is an exercise in double hands ¡n which
once aga¡ñ the player has a choice of art¡culat¡on, However, the finger¡ng shoutd be studied
carefully so that he reat¡zes that in order to art¡culate with complete ease, h¡s hands must be
free Of any keyboard entanglements.
TEN
EXERCISE
ELEVEN
AND
MINUET ELEVEN
Many jazz piánists ¡ncluding yours truty at var¡ous times ehploy a double metod¡c l¡ne using
two hands. Many times th¡s ¡s used to give a
deeper rhythmic project¡on to the metodic tine.
At other times it is used ¡n á very free-ftight
manner (pr¡mar¡ly during fast tempos). Another
aspect of the ability to play doubte tines is that
it can be very effect¡ve when the pian¡st is
doubling the same line as añother ¡nstrumental¡st. You will notice in the m¡nuet that both
hands at various times get a chance to play
background and lead. Th¡s is an exerc¡se that
should be practiced carefully in ordea to give
the pianist the abit¡ty to make th¡s change as
smoothly as possible.
EXERCISE TWELVE
MINUET
T\¡r'ELVE
ilB
AND
VVe deal now with the aspect of a rñoving lir|.
and chords ¡n both hañds. The minuet bear3 a
very close resemblance to the exerc¡se here, lo
the transition from the exercise to the oieca
shou¡d be very easy- tt ¡s important to g¡ve each
uñderlying harmony ¡ts proper rhythrñic valu€
and tonal resoect.
EXERCISE THIRTEEN
MINUET THIRTEEN
AND
In exerc¡se thirteen we prepare for changiñg
rhythms in both hañds- Upon reaching the minuet, if any clifficulty is experienced, the ptayer
shot¡ld leave the m¡nuet and retuan to the exerc¡se¡ for the secret l¡es ¡ñ first imprinting the
depth of the melod¡c line in either hand. tf any
other trouble is encouñtered here, the player
shoulcl return to exerc¡Se and minuet nuñber
eeven.
A
I
(o
MINUET
TEN
Exercise ten is v¡tally important for here we
have the walking bass tine in eighth notes. Láter
on in the m¡nuet, we add a tine of e¡ghth notes
in the r¡ght hand alsó. The tr¡ck heré is to kéep
the primáry sense of rhythm¡c ¡mpetus in the
left hand whi¡e playing the r¡ght hand tiñes with
an even legato feel.
al
EXERCISE FOURTEEN
MINUEÍ
FOURTEEN
AND
Exerc¡se fourteeñ should be practiced until the
player achieves a fleei but coñf¡rmed sense of
¡ntérpretation, Whert th¡s has been accompl¡shed, he should then appty this techn¡que to
the minuet.
o¡cor pelerson
t
FOR THE
JAZZ
PIANIST
Copyrshl o 1965by Toni MusicCo,and DoeMusicCo
M¿dein U,S,a.
a¡l Rishts ReePed
lnte¡nationalCoptrighl Secured
fhis edili0nauthori?ed
lor sak in theUniledSlates.
Canada
a¡d G¡ea1
Sritain.
notes f rom the outhor
PREFACE
EXERCISE
Jazz p¡ar'o can be a very enjoyable rnusical
exper¡ence from a listening standpo¡nt, to everyone, both aclult and youngster alike. Howeve¡,
when a Derson. whether studied or not classically speakiñg, attempts to enter the Jazz world
from a playing aspect, he often f¡ncls himself
harnstrung by many variecl musical inadequacies. Very few people truly ever attribute their
lack of abil¡ty to the proper cause, I feel. Many
of them blame what they term their creat¡ve
¡nability to conceive jazz phrases, w¡thout stopp¡ng to realize thal a jazz technique in many
ways is a completely new form of technique
when comoared with the classical. lt is with this
pr¡mary aspect in m¡nd that lhave conceived
this set of beginner's exerc¡ses. I feel thát if the
player honestly ancl sincerely learns the ¡azz
bxercises one at a t¡me, and after having compteted one, then applies that learn¡ng to the little
iazz m¡nuet that matches the exercise, he will
Ére iñ effect condit¡oning the hands for proceed¡ng into deeper jazz play¡ng.
This exerc¡se and minuet are merely to induce
in the player the ab¡lity to phrase jazz-wise in
his left hand when callecl upon to do so. Here
also he should strive for a completely even tonal
result.
It is vitally important that all fingering g¡ven in
both hands be followed completely. In the exercises where no fingering is given in one hand,
I feel that the player should ¡nstinctively have
no trouble f¡nding the proper digitál pos¡tion
to give the greatest ease of hancl movement,
thereby achieving a better tonal result on the
I hope that this f¡rst book of jazz exercises and
pieces opens a new world of p¡anist¡c command
to the avid young p¡anist.
L
N
EXERCISE ONE AND
PLAYING
NOTES
MINUET
EXERCISE
THREE
MINUET
TWO
MINUET THREE
This exercise and minuet deals primar¡ly with
what I feel are the two weakest fingers of the
jazz pian¡st's right hand (the fourth and f¡fth
fingers). On playing this exercise ancl piece the
p¡ayer should attempt to keep the l¡stener (or
AND
h¡s instructor) from knowing that he is us¡ng his
fifth f¡nger on his right hand. Usually this is a
pitfall in jazz playing. The stuclent will notice
that the fifth f¡nger is employed ¡n the middle
of the phrase rather than at the€nd which is
the usual jazz custom,
\
\t
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i
l
a)
¡
N
a'
EXERCISE FOUR AND MINUET FOUR
This exercise and piece are merely to give the
beginner the chance to formulate in h¡s own
mind the format and content of the blues from
a backgrouñcl standpoint. Very elementary harmonic movement is employecl and after both
exercise ancl minuet have been learnecl thoroughly. the player shoulcl attempt to ¡mprovise
his own.¡ght
grven here,
hand lines on the background
f)
ONE
Exercise one attempts to give the player two
things. First, strength. The player moves from
the middle of the right hand to the lást finger of
the right hand, then moves from the thumb
of the right hand to the midclle of the hand. Seconclly, if practised properly, the player shoulct
be able to achieve better d¡g¡tal control on this
type of phras¡ng w¡thout rocking the hancl from
s¡de to side,
AND
TWO
EXERCISE
FIVE AND
MINUET
FIVE
we now approach the walking bass line. I feel
ñow that w¡th the movement employed the
player shoulcl gain a much f¡rmer understanding
of what a bass player does for the pian¡st oñ the
blues in the primary stage. Again lstate that
after command is a,a¡nedof these two pieces,
the player should attempt to conce¡ve lines on
this given bass.
EXERCISE
SIX AND MINUET SIX
The left hand pattern now enters the form of
boogie woogie. This is a very ¡mportant exercise
and should be thoroughty tearned before any
other l¡nes are attempted against the left hañd.
lñcidentally th¡s should represent a great chatlenge from this aspect because it is fairty difficult to move the r¡ght hanct t¡ne to añy depth
against á bass line that ¡s quite busy such as
the one provided.
o:
.a
EXERCISE
SEVEN
AND
MINUET SEVEN
we now erfiploy the stop and go bass f¡gures.
This gives us the ab¡lity to change from an
elementary sense of rhythm¡c pattern in the left
hand, introducing from time to t¡me a straight
four as a form of retief. The rnetody in the jazz
m¡nuet should be played in a very legato manner
in order to give the listener a sense of cohesiveness between the two hanc,s.
a
7
EXERCISE
EIGHT AND MINUET
EIGHT
Here we employ a steady watking bass figure
ir the exercise. In the minuet we emptoy fa¡rty
lrusy l¡nes. The p!áyer shou¡d attempt d¡fferent
types of art¡culation ;n o.der to obtain the finat
tnd correct jazz feeliñg that he des¡res. In doing
this he should then be able to reatize how
üre jazz player (professional) changes the comdete complexion of a tune by changing his
articulation.
|'
a'
EXERCISE
NINE AND
EXERCISE
)
AND
MINUET NINE
This is an exercise in double hands ¡n which
once aga¡ñ the player has a choice of art¡culat¡on, However, the finger¡ng shoutd be studied
carefully so that he reat¡zes that in order to art¡culate with complete ease, h¡s hands must be
free Of any keyboard entanglements.
TEN
EXERCISE
ELEVEN
AND
MINUET ELEVEN
Many jazz piánists ¡ncluding yours truty at var¡ous times ehploy a double metod¡c l¡ne using
two hands. Many times th¡s ¡s used to give a
deeper rhythmic project¡on to the metodic tine.
At other times it is used ¡n á very free-ftight
manner (pr¡mar¡ly during fast tempos). Another
aspect of the ability to play doubte tines is that
it can be very effect¡ve when the pian¡st is
doubling the same line as añother ¡nstrumental¡st. You will notice in the m¡nuet that both
hands at various times get a chance to play
background and lead. Th¡s is an exerc¡se that
should be practiced carefully in ordea to give
the pianist the abit¡ty to make th¡s change as
smoothly as possible.
EXERCISE TWELVE
MINUET
T\¡r'ELVE
ilB
AND
VVe deal now with the aspect of a rñoving lir|.
and chords ¡n both hañds. The minuet bear3 a
very close resemblance to the exerc¡se here, lo
the transition from the exercise to the oieca
shou¡d be very easy- tt ¡s important to g¡ve each
uñderlying harmony ¡ts proper rhythrñic valu€
and tonal resoect.
EXERCISE THIRTEEN
MINUET THIRTEEN
AND
In exerc¡se thirteen we prepare for changiñg
rhythms in both hañds- Upon reaching the minuet, if any clifficulty is experienced, the ptayer
shot¡ld leave the m¡nuet and retuan to the exerc¡se¡ for the secret l¡es ¡ñ first imprinting the
depth of the melod¡c line in either hand. tf any
other trouble is encouñtered here, the player
shoulcl return to exerc¡Se and minuet nuñber
eeven.
A
I
(o
MINUET
TEN
Exercise ten is v¡tally important for here we
have the walking bass tine in eighth notes. Láter
on in the m¡nuet, we add a tine of e¡ghth notes
in the r¡ght hand alsó. The tr¡ck heré is to kéep
the primáry sense of rhythm¡c ¡mpetus in the
left hand whi¡e playing the r¡ght hand tiñes with
an even legato feel.
al
EXERCISE FOURTEEN
MINUEÍ
FOURTEEN
AND
Exerc¡se fourteeñ should be practiced until the
player achieves a fleei but coñf¡rmed sense of
¡ntérpretation, Whert th¡s has been accompl¡shed, he should then appty this techn¡que to
the minuet.
o¡cor pelerson
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