Title: Improvising Counterpoint Lines



Title: Improvising Counterpoint Lines

[Head shot – from front of piano]

EH: Let’s take a look at the melodic relationships inside a tune.  What we’re going to do here is take the single melody of a jazz standard, and improvise a single line in counterpoint beneath it. This is a great way to learn the inner essentials of a tune and practice correct voice leading, as well as develop your overall grasp of harmony. 

[Shot of sheet music]

EH: Let’s try this approach with the tune “For All We Know.” The tune is in Eb and it follows an AB structure. What I’m going to do is play the melody with my right hand while playing melodic chord tones with my left hand, initially only with whole notes.  The goal here is to find tones that not only outline the chord changes clearly, but also complement the melody well.   

[Overhead shot showing keys]

(Play: RH melody, LH whole note counterpoint) – 15 sec

[Three quarters side shot]

EH: Playing a single line can be challenging at first but it really helps you get a better handle on the harmony. Once you have a good grasp of the way the internal voices move within the tune, you can begin embellishing your accompaniment.  Start hearing it as a melody in itself, paying close attention to how it interacts with the melody of the tune.

[Overhead shot]

(Play: RH melody, LH embellished lines) – 20 sec

[Three quarters side shot]

EH: This practice is helping you develop an awareness of the independent voices within harmonic progressions. Let’s try it again with a more fluid approach.  Once you add the bass, you’ll find that you have a firm grounding on the harmonic motion, as well as some melodic ideas to interject in the empty spots. Overall, this is a great way to learn tunes, focus the attention of your improvisations on leading-tones, and increase independence.

[Overhead shot OR side shot of keys (this could be nice to zoom to from the three quarters side shot]]

(Playing tune) – 25 sec

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download