The full curriculum
1) (Jazz) Music Theory
1A Understanding chords and scales
1B Major Scales
- Lesson 1 – Construction of the major scale
1C Minor Scales (melodic, harmonic, natural)
- Lesson 1 – Construction of the melodic minor scale
- Lesson 2 – Construction of the harmonic minor scale
- Lesson 3 – Understanding the natural minor scale
1D Triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented)
- Lesson 1 – Understanding triads
- Lesson 2 – Construction of the four triad types
- C (major)
- Cm (minor)
- Cdim (diminished)
- Caug (augmented)
1E Four note chords
- Lesson 1 – Understanding four note chords
- Lesson 1 – Constructing the six four note chords
- Cmaj7 (major seven)
- Cm7 (minor seven)
- C7 ( (dominant) seven)
- Cm7b5 (half-diminished / minor seventh)
- Cdim7 (diminished (seven) )
- CmMaj7 (minor-major seven)
1F Chord inversions
1G Extensions and alterations
- Lesson 1 – Understanding extensions and alterations
- Lesson 2 – Extensions 9-11-13
- Specific extensions for different chord types
- Lesson 3 – Alterations b9-#9-#11-b13
- Specific alterations for different chord types
1H Degrees
- Lesson 1 – Understanding degrees
- Lesson 2 – Major scale degrees
1I 2-5-1s
1J Chord Pairs
- Lesson 1 – Understanding 2-5-1s and chord pairs
- Major 2-5-1 (ii-V7-I)
- Minor 2-5-1 (iiø-V7b9-i)
- Diatonic 2-5 chords
- Lesson 2 – Basic major diatonic chord pairs
- ii-V7
- iii-vi
- IV-viiø
- Lesson 3 – Minor diatonic chord pairs
- iiø-V7b9
- iiiø-VI7b9
- #ivø-VII7b9
- Lesson 4 – Additional diatonic chord pairs
- viiø-iii
- IV-iv
- IV-bVII7(#11)
- Lesson 5 – Substitutions in diatonic chord pairs
- ii- chord substitutions
- V- chord substitutions
- Lesson 6 – Adding chords and passing chords
- Before ii- chords
- Before V-chords
1K Progressions
- Lesson 1 – Understanding progressions
- Lesson 2 – Basic diatonic progressions for practice I
- Four chord progressions
- Major 2-5-1-6
- Major 1-6-2-5
- Minor 2-5-1-6 and 2-5-1-4
- Minor 1-6-2-5
- Four chord progressions
- Lesson 3 – Basic diatonic progressions for practice II
- Eight chord progressions
- Major 2-5-3-6-2-5-1-6
- Minor 2-5-3-6-2-5-1-6
- Major 4-7-3-6-2-5-1-1^7
- Minor #4-7-3-6-2-5-1-1^7
- Eight chord progressions
- Lesson 3 – Basic diatonic progressions for practice III
- “Full diatonic progression” (16 chords) with both major and minor chord pairs
- (M)4-7-3-6-2-5-(m)3-6-#4-7-3-6-2-5-(M)1-1^7
- “Full diatonic progression” (16 chords) with both major and minor chord pairs
- Lesson 4 – Other common progressions
- TWNBAY A-part
- RC A-part
- Blues simple
- Blues jazz
1L Additional information (Jazz Music Theory)
- Minor scale degrees
1M Pop/Rock (Jazz Music Theory)
2) (Jazz) Chords And Voicings
2A Understanding chords and voicings
- Lesson 1 – Understanding chords and voicings
- What is a voicing?
- Specific information regarding voicings
- Typical names of common voicings
2B Voicing types
- Lesson 1 – Simple voicing for triads and four note chords
- Lesson 2- 2 note vocings
- 2 note shell voicings
- 1-3 and 1-10
- 1-7
- 2 note rootless shell voicings
- 3-7 and 7-3
- 2 note quartal voicings
- 1-4
- 1-5
- 2 note rootless quartal voicings
- 4-7
- 2 note shell voicings
- Lesson 3- 3 note voicings
- 3 note shell vocings
- 1-3-7
- 7-1-3
- 1-7-10
- 3 note rootless voicings
- 3-7-9
- 7-3-6
- 3 note “Triad” voicings
- 3-5-9 plus inversions
- Other Triads under Lesson 5-6 “Upper structure”
- 3 note quartal voicings
- 1-4-7
- 1-5-9
- 3 note quartal rootless voicings
- 4-7-3
- 3 note “Open” voicings
- 1-5-10
- 3 note “Open” rootless voicings
- 3-1-5 (3-8-12)
- 3 note shell vocings
- Lesson 4 – 4 note voicings (most standard)
- Basic 4 note voicings
- 1-3-5-7
- Rootless 4 note voicings (“AB”/”Bill Evans”/”Box” voicings)
- Position A – 3-5-7-9
- Position B – 7-9-3-5
- 4 note quartal voicings
- 1-4-7-10
- 1-5-9-13
- 4 note rootless quartal voicings
- 4-7-10-13
- 5-9-13-10
- 4 note rootless “Kenny Barron” voicings
- 5-9-10-7
- Basic 4 note voicings
- Lesson 5 – Other voicings
- Kenny Barron (full) voicing
- 1-5-9-10-7-11
- 11 and sus voicings
- Rootless AB voicings with 4 instead of 5
- (Upper structure – major triad based on the b7 of chord)
- 7#11 voicings
- 1-3-5-b6 “superchord” (triad plus added b6) with inversions based on the 2 of chord
- Slash chords
- One hand
- Two hands
- Kenny Barron (full) voicing
- Lesson 6 – Upper structure I
- Understanding upper structure voicings
- Major chord upper structure (Cmaj7 and variants)
- Minor chord upper structure (Cm7, CmMaj7 and Cm6/9)
- Half-diminished chord upper structure (Cm7b5)
- Understanding upper structure voicings
- Lesson 7 – Upper structure II (Dominant chords)
- “Clean” dominant (C7)
- Dominant with extensions (C9 / C13)
- Dominant with alterations (C7b9 / C13b9 / C#9 / C7#9b13=C7b9b13=C7alt / C7#11)
2C How to play voicings properly
- Lesson 1 – Fundamentals of voicing chord pairs
- “Wide” to “Narrow” concept
- Minimal movement concept
- Exceptions to the “rules”
- Lesson 2 – Adapting voicings to usual chord pairs I
- 5-1 (and variants)
- major 2-5 (and variants)
- minor 2-5
- 1-6 (and variants)
- 4-7 (and variants)
- 1-5
- Lesson 3 – Adapting voicings to unusual chord pairs II
- 2-b2
- 1-3 (and variants)
- 1-#1
- Lesson 4 – Adapting patterns to diatonic turnarounds and progressions
- 2-5-1-6 (minor and major)
- 4-7-3-6-2-5-1
- “Full progression”
- Other progressions / Songs
2D Left hand only, Right hand only or both hands? (Voicings)
- Lesson 1 -When to play left hand, right hand or both hands
- Playing left hand only
- Playing right hand only
- Playing both hands
- Lesson 2 – How to “split” voicings for two hands
- Containing the root
- LH Options
- RH Options
- Triads (upper structure)
- Quartal
- Rootless
- LH Options
- RH Options
- Triads (upper structure)
- Quartal
- Other
- “Drop 2” and “Drop 4”
- Containing the root
2E Additional information (Jazz Chords and Voicings)
- Chords and voicings for pop/rock piano
3) Jazz Comping and Rhythm
3A Comping rhythms
- Lesson 1 – Understanding comping and rhythm
- Lesson 2 – Basic comping rhythm patterns
- Lesson 3 – More advanced comping rhythm patterns
3B Walking bass
- Lesson 1 – Understanding walking bass
- Specific information regarding walking bass
- “Normal” chord pairs
- Static chords
- Double time / half time
- Diatonic/chromatic approach
- 3/4 and 6/4 time
- Specific information regarding walking bass
- Lesson 2 – Walking bass patterns
- “Upwalk”
- “Downwalk”
- “1-3-5 Triad”
- “1-5-3 Triad”
- Other
- Lesson 2 – Adapting patterns to usual chord pairs I
- 5-1 (and variants)
- major 2-5 (and variants)
- minor 2-5
- 1-6 (and variants)
- 4-7 (and variants)
- 1-5
- Lesson 3 – Adapting patterns to unusual chord pairs II
- 2-b2
- 1-3 (and variants)
- 1-#1
- Lesson 4 – Adapting patterns to diatonic turnarounds and progressions
- 2-5-1-6 (minor and major)
- 4-7-3-6-2-5-1
- “Full progression”
- Other progressions / songs
3C Stride
- Lesson 1 – Understanding stride piano
- Specific information regarding stride piano
- Left hand
- Right hand
- Specific information regarding stride piano
3C Additional information (Jazz Comping and Rhythm)
- C
4) Soloing and improvisation
The three way approach to improvisation
- Lesson 1 – Understanding the three way approach to improvisation
- 1- Theory approach (what to play)
- 2- Rhythm approach (when to play)
- 3- Musicality approach (how to play)
4A Theory approach (what to play)
4A i) Simple scales for improvisation (Diatonic and “superchord” scales)
- Lesson 1 – Understanding diatonic and “superchord” scales
- Information regarding the diatonic scales
- Information regarding the “superchord” scales
- Lesson 2 – Adapting diatonic and “superchord” scales to diatonic turnarounds and progressions
- 2-5-1-6 (major)
- 4-7-3-6-2-5-1
- “Full progression”
4A ii) Chord-scale relationship
- Lesson 1 – Understanding the chord-scale relationship
- Information regarding the chord-scale relationship
- Information regarding the chord-scale relationship
- Lesson 2 – Additional scales to the major-minor scales
- Diminished scale
- Whole tone scale
- Blues scales
- Minor blues scale
- Major blues scale
- “Augmented (major) blues scale”
- “Full blues scale”
- Pentatonic scale
- Block chord scale (“George Shearing” chords)
- “Superscale” (1-2-3-4-5-b6)
- Lesson 3 – Scales for chord types I
- Major chord (Cmaj7 and variants)
- Minor chord (Cm7, CmMaj7 and Cm6/9)
- Half-diminished (Cm7b5)
- Diminished chord (Co7)
- Lesson 4 – Scales for chord types II (Dominant chords)
- “Clean” dominant (C7)
- Dominant with extensions (C9 / C13)
- Dominant with alterations (C7b9 / C13b9 / C#9 / C7#9b13=C7b9b13=C7alt / C7#11)
4A iii) Target notes
- Lesson 1 – Understanding target notes
- Information regarding target notes
- Lesson 2 – Targeting notes of the chord (what and when)
- the 3rd
- the 5th
- the 7th
- Extensions (9,11,13)
- Alterations (b9,#9,#11,b13=#5)
- Lesson 3 – Adapting patterns to diatonic turnarounds and progressions
- 2-5-1-6 (minor and major)
- 4-7-3-6-2-5-1
- “Full progression”
- Other progressions / Songs
4B Rhythm approach (when to play)
4B “Rhytmic syllables”
- Lesson 1 – What are “rhythmic syllables”
- Lesson 2 – the different rhythmic syllables
- “Bronx” (quarter note)
- “New York” (eight note)
- “Tennessee” (triplet)
- “Mississippi” (sixteenth note)
- Lesson 3 – Using breaks to create patterns
- Lesson 4 – Double time
- Lesson 5 – Adaption over progressions
- 2-5-1-6 (minor and major)
- 4-7-3-6-2-5-1
- “Full progression”
- Other progressions / Songs
4C Musicality approach (how to play)
4C i) Call and response
- Lesson 1 – What is call and response
- Lesson 2 – Different ways to practice call and response
- Melody based phrases
- Different duration of call and response (2-2 / 1-1 bar sequence)
- Ending phrases
4C ii) Practicing patience and pacing
- Lesson 1 – Using breaks during improvisation
- 1-1 / 1-2 / 1-3 bar sequence
- Making lines have a meaning
4C iii) Practicing making musical phrases and contour
- Lesson 1 – Understanding direction and movement
- Using a target note as an anchor
- Making movement
- Skips vs. linear movement
- Repeated movement/phrases
4C iv) Interaction between the hands
- Lesson 1 – Understanding interaction between the hands
- Call and response between hands
- Imitating jazz ensemble settings with a piano
4D Additional information (Soloing and improvisation)
- Improvisation for pop/rock piano
5 “Lesson Leftovers”
- What are the “Lesson Leftovers”?
- Are all keys created equal? (Should I practice all keys?)
- Optimising practice methods and time for busy people
(c) Sibil Yanev 2019