Monthly Livestream #46!

Thanks for tuning in to today's livestream!

I started off with a request for "Whisper Not", by Benny Golson. Always love to play this tune. Then had a request for a Mingus tune - I honestly don't know too many Mingus tunes, but I decided to play his classic "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love". (By the way the book I mentioned at this point by my teach Dick Odgren, "35 Arrangements for Solo Jazz Piano", you can pick up here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/35-Jazz-Arrangements-Solo-Piano/dp/0876392079)

Then moved into some questions, and ended up talking quite a bit about an important element of piano technique. The question was about how to play short and soft chords in the LH, and if a certain technique is required to create that. Happy to elaborate on this, and I used my favorite "pencil analogy" to demonstrate this technique. Then has a question about the soft pedal, how to use it, how not to use it, and why we shouldn't rely on it as a crutch.

Then had a question that was related to last month's video "Creating Voicings" . It was about using "families of chords" to create reharmonizations. This is a useful device in piano playing, and it brings up the interesting idea that using less chords can actually sound like more of a reharm, and the dramatic power in moving between different keys (or "chord families").

Thanks again everyone, and see you next month!

Glenn