Solo Jazz Piano Part 3 - Improvising While Playing Solo

Lesson Description

The beauty of our chosen instrument is the ability to play alone -solo- without the accompaniment (or interference) of others. Anything you can dream up is fair game when you are on your own. Based on a transcription of Cedar Walton playing "Someday My Prince Will Come," from his 2005 High Note album "Underground Memoirs," Part 1 in this series gives you the tools to play solo jazz piano by demonstrating and explaining the fundamental technique to this style, spread voicings with independent lead. Part 2 shows you how to mix rootless voicings into your solo playing. Part 3 demonstrates how to accompany your own improvisation when playing solo.

Improvising while playing solo piano is a lot like juggling. You have to do four things at once: you have to play the solo, comp for the solo, play the bassline and keep things moving rhythmically. Bill Charlap's solo over the changes to the tune "Somebody Loves Me," from his 2005 solo piano EP "Bill Charlap Rolling Stone Original," opens this lesson and serves as a model for how to manage this juggling act. Building on the Solo Jazz Piano Part 1 and Part 2 lessons, his solo is analyzed in this lesson to uncover how to keep the balls in the air by using shell and rootless voicings in support of the right hand line. 

Preview

Watch this short video for an overview of the content of this course.

Prerequisites

Five Essential Seventh Chords
Rootless Voicings with Added Tension
Solo Jazz Piano Part 1 & 2

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