A DEEPER dive into Pentatonics Practice - Peter Martin - LONGER VERSION

NEW Guided Practice Sessions™ with resident piano guru, Adam Maness, are available EVERY day for Open Studio Pro members: openstudiojazz.link/pro
You asked for it... now it's here. Peter follows up his 2 Minute Jazz rendition of "The RIGHT Way to Practice Pentatonics" with this "30 Minute Jazz" lesson from his flagship course: The Jazz Piano Method.
➡ Free PDF fingering guide: openstudiojazz.link/pentPDF

[@jimjennings7623]

I wasn't seeing content like this before. What I remember was prefatory comments, jokes, banter and no content, "see you next time!" -- THIS is what I wanted and who can do it better than Peter Martin? I love this video!

[@pickinstone]

Bam! Where's the empty critique now, folks? Criticism helps us grow, but c'mon. Where else on the internet are we getting content like this? Wow! Here's a guy that hasn't just played with local heroes like most of us would wish to do, he's played with the masters. He IS a master. And yet, he still listens to the squabble that we create here in the comment section, and he LISTENS. This video was created in response to the "pandemonium" that the first pentatonic video started. Peter and Adam are actual jazz musicians, and they run Open Studio Jazz. As much as I love Truefire, can they say that? There's a difference when the people that run the show are actual jazz musicians. Ask Christian McBride, ask Dianne Reeves. Had to vent. I don't want the BS posturing of KZbin to kill content from Peter and Adam. THAT would be the disservice the musical community. Think on that, naysayers. What Pete said about practicing beyond 2 octaves should apply to all instruments; guitarists, I'm looking at you. Playing in position is important, but learning the mechanisms so you can play the entire range of the instrument with more fluidity--that's more freedom. Opens up you line playing as well. Can't wait to try these out on the ol' cigar box.

[@777morgan3]

u know as well as i do, not many people know the theory and play on his level , and has PLAYED WITH THE MASTERS as he has , u will get a few hacks make statements but they do not have the skill or chops , from a horn player

[@777morgan3]

1000% correct, i would say these anal players are not hearing what u or any one else said , they know it all , as a horn player his theory can apply to any instrument , just a different instrument , lister to trane, miles, herbie, chick, bill evens etc...open your minds and at some point shut your complaining, and if u can do better show us

[@migueldearmas8194]

This is amazing!!!!!

[@mindset1768]

We get that they're nice for listening to their audience and they're the Masters, right? Read your comment (bahaha) and tell us, who are you, exactly? Lol or who you think you are... Relax wannabe clown, you and your boyfriend the wacko horn player lol

[@robinsarchiz]

Freedom Club

[@danielmay5337]

18'04 = Peter thinking close to the following for those interested: Starts - Cmin pent - Cmin7 chord - C#min pent - C#4th - Bmi 4th voicing (Bmi7 chord or C#mi7 chord to Bmi7 chord) Back to - Cmi pent - Cmi chord (Briefly-ish) - Fmi pent - Gbma7 chord ** - Thinking A7 chord with 4th voicings (mixture of D & A pentatonic but mainly A pentatonic with an added D-C# movement) Back to - Cmin pent - Cmi7 chord ** - Fmi pent over Bb7 changing to Right Hand Bb major triad (Hitting the D octaves ala Chick Corea) - Then smashes a ii-7 V7 alt I line in Eb major Back to - Cmi pent - Cmin chord ** Thinking 'modal playing' over chords means adding extra notes than the straight pentatonic like the 4th degree in A7 (D)

[@RickIppolito54]

Dude, I could die a happy man if I could play what you show on this video. Thanks, for caring enough to share your knowledge and talent!

[@absentmindstate]

Foreal 😂

[@DonyaLane]

I would love to hear Peter discuss what's going on in his left hand voicings. The reharms are what makes this sound so hip!

[@emeka121]

In the left he's using 4ths from the C dorian scale

[@DonyaLane]

@@emeka121 , yes, thank you! Also lots of slipping chromatically to some borrowed keys... Very cool! What Peter plays @24:52 is just SICK!

[@RobFlaxMusic]

Related: how to play these same pentatonic patterns in the left hand, perhaps for unison purposes?

[@DonyaLane]

@@RobFlaxMusic , work out your left hand fingering and fire away! Practicing anything in unison solidifies it for real.

[@RobFlaxMusic]

@@DonyaLane Any tips for a general methodology on how to do that? I assume it’s “kinda the mirror image of the RH,” but I’m a violinist and don’t have the foggiest idea how piano fingerings work. (So this was an eye-opener video, and I’ve been practicing every day this week!). Would love suggestions on fingerings for these exercises in the LH!

[@marksderberg7043]

Love the way you guys (Peter and Adam) talk. "Violently different", "I saw some whack stuff online". So nice to see people who are actually hip without effort.

[@pianopeter]

actually it's a HUGE effort for Adam ;)

[@treyrader]

Hip huh? That Adam guy is scared to even call the music “jazz” lest nick p comes after em. At least Peter got some soul

[@01blindy10]

Incredibly valuable lesson. I could listen to Peter say "fraghuz" at 17:52 for hours. Thank you, Open Studio!

[@donnelljohnson7542]

That first part is so intimidating, almost ended the video 😂😂😂

[@tbonealex]

3 minutes in and I am ready to quit because Peter is such a beast!

[@DOROHNENTERTAINMENT]

Pleeeeeease keep this coming Mr. Martin!!!!!! I love how you are breaking down secrets to tools that we can use for improvisation and solo techniques that we can use to our advantage. I want to learn & know what you are fluent in on Jazz piano. Keep the great teaching coming sir!... D. DoRohn Gough Sr. #ImAHugeFanOfYourSkill

[@dreamingautumnmusic]

Awesome video Peter. I love the format in which you went further into depth in this video including some practice techniques for pentatonic patterns. I also think the talkshow and conceptual videos are great too (I listen to them most mornings driving to work) but I think this format is absolutely on point for teaching technique. I would love to see your take on practicing slipping, or some of those killer modal licks you played over A Night In Tunisia 🔥🔥🔥

[@michellefebvre4272]

Awesome! Thank you. Sounds so pro when you go down

[@raymondrussell1754]

Peter, you are absolutely a pentatonic master!!..just fantastic!! And thanks for the lesson!!

[@davidpearman1006]

Very helpful Peter. Thank you for sharing your skills with us!!!

[@williammaestre9318]

Masters Peter and Adam, thank you for sharing these processes and this objectivity, they have been fantastic to reveal so much sound and to be able to apply it. God bless you

[@charliekey2979]

This is great stuff Peter! Thank you for sharing this amazing patterns! I would like to see more of this, it will be great to have them on all keys! Thank you so much.

[@dong3544]

I like this! I like that you mentioned start slow and the significance of strengthening the 5th fingers. I noticed a good number of your patterns occur where the hand is in one position allowing the fingers to play several patterns with minimal movement of the hand. That reminds me of when my college piano teacher introduced me to playing scales, in all keys, with both hands. At first, learning scales, like that, was horrible. But when I got it, I loved it, and appreciated the value of "start slow". Thanks Peter!

[@marcusrochafeitosa4575]

Absolutely brilliant!

[@davidwhite2465]

Yes, please dive deeper! I loved this. Just what I’m trying to learn!

[@declanlandy]

Absolutely fantastic, exactly what I've been looking for , I think fingering is so important, I'll be subscribing now, so happy with this you are brilliant !

[@guymann9567]

Thank you so much Peter! Awesome!

[@jenparsnip2158]

The best jazz piano player out there. Brilliant educator. Thank you !!

[@jeepmohd6248]

Wow,,,,,Great insights into Pentatonic application. Thank you Mr Peter M

[@peterkeys2003]

Amazing breakdown of phrasing and fingering.. thank you! 😎🤟🏼

[@chijin73]

Nice work Pete!. Some of these pentatonic techniques were covered in the Jazz Duet pentatonic shapes video (for saxophone). But you really put it into perspective for the jazz pianist especially with the fingering. Thanks. Will really appreciate more videos like this.

[@ghdrum]

Ooopph! Brilliant tutorial. Clear instructions and really thorough. Super helpful PDF, too. Many thanks.

[@davidwhite2949]

Thank you, Peter! Your points about fingering make perfect sense!

[@antimatter2376]

for reference: lvl 1a: 7:50 lvl 1b just triplets lvl 1c just sixteenths lvl 2a: 17:10 lvl 2b just triplets lvl 2c just sixteenths lvl 2 fingering: 22:15

[@tterrabend]

AnTiMaTteR23: THANK YOU!

[@karlvernor1690]

Love this video. Thank you.

[@randyraul-walters3262]

Incredibly valuable. Peter Martin delivers! Been scouring Google for exactly THIS. Thank you!

[@michaelkennedy5126]

thanks for the awesome practice pdf and lesson

[@amiller1758]

Great Playing !!! Thanks for such an in-depth Break down Cya !

[@brucejeric6701]

Love it!!! Give me more!!

[@jazzerson7087]

Excellent, thank you. Can you do some lessons on your actual soloing using multiple scales, Pentatonic shifting etc and go slow on it?

[@arthursantiago100]

Awesome lesson. Never had any consistent fingering for pentatonics. You really are a brilliant musician. You bridge the gap between Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner. Have learned so much from listening to u alone. Actively working one of your courses now. Has helped me fill in a lot of holes. Thanks again !

[@grocheo1]

So good!

[@richardadeymusic5698]

So useful. Thank You..!

[@michelpianodesign546]

Thank you for this lesson!

[@osvaldosanguinet7758]

Excelente ! Gracias Peter.

[@user-iu7om3ql8d]

You'll best wonderful teacher!!!

[@marianlevy9232]

Thanks so much, Peter! I have never learned pentatonic patterns in my 50 years of playing classical piano ( does sound like some Debussy runs ) Starting at 1A… these patterns and fingerings are very pianistic and fit the hand and really take off after slow practice

[@Dadee3]

*This is great.*

[@Kundebeats]

This excercise made a big difference on my playing in short amount of time man! thanks!

[@Bashanvibe]

This just opened my ears up on how to execute my soloing and vocabulary. Need more modes to study

[@davidmiller3652]

Peter this is golden for all players. You are the Czerny of Pentatonics !! I think pentatonics work so well because they are quartal structure in nature = start on the 3rd of a major pent. chord, lay all the tones out ascending = perfect fourths. So all this horizontal improvisation sizzles in P 4th's (just gorgeous colorings). Thanks PM.

[@davidwhite2949]

Peter, you’ve said two things that were enormously important to me: One: to use the fifth and fourth fingers of the right hand to keep the wrist from bending And two: One can conceptualize the walking bass as divided into triplets That greatly helped my rhythm playing So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you so much!

[@JorgePreza-Bass-Piano]

I want to express my gratitude, Peter, for letting me know some secrets to improve my piano playing, this is really well explained and, over all, awesome. Cheers

[@pianopeter]

thank you for the kind words 👍🏼🙏🏼

[@starrybenchstudios]

Blessings!!! Thank you

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Maestro.

[@haikel527]

Think you Peter

[@robertpowell9618]

This guy is superb. He is an excellent pianist and reminds me of Mckoy Tyner and Kai Akagi. Very Nice

[@alexeyvlasov8790]

Your pentatonic exercises are fascinating! I‘m trying to adopt it for bass-guitar, it‘s hard, but it boosts my musical thinking a lot.

[@antjamnow1286]

I've been doing this phrasing on guitar this afternoon. Bass would definitely be a stretch! Fun stuff though.

[@RogerLato2]

top video thank you !

[@professorhamamoto]

Nice playing. Very much a prêcis of one, McCoy Tyner.

[@loladelon5648]

Love this!!!!!!

[@tgpword]

Insightful Mr. Pete!! Oh how I wish that U would use a on screen keyboard display (for the old man)... so I can view your unique talent and how U do that thing U do even the more with a midi file to download!! Peace!!

[@AnandaGBrady]

Yes Please!! Left hand breakdown!

[@billy676767]

Fascinating

[@FlorisVerbeij]

Love it

[@SolarMumuns]

That's some hefty chops you got there

[@reneizquierdo1735]

Thank you! Would you also bring it together and cover what you’re doing with your left hand? Also, it would be good to see a similar video for the diminished scale. Love your videos!

[@fullViewJay]

Rene Izquierdo you should look up quartal voicings. That’s what’s he’s using to comp in his left hand. McCoy Tyner sound essentially

[@emeka121]

He's moving in 4ths from the C dorian scale

[@davidjoseph3403]

I am left with impression that this class is, chiefly, a discussion of the "Philosophy of musical performance". The piano functions as an instruction aide. This is really helpful. I feel encouraged to try weird, difficult stuff to kill time. Killer.

[@johnnywhyayou]

This is amazing! i am trying these on electric guitar, it is so much fun! can you talk about your left hand comping? :D

[@floristube]

Very very good😀

[@88KeysMan]

Love this! So many self-taught pianists only use the first 3 fingers. This is great info.

[@GrumpyStormtrooper]

88KeysMan that's me lmao

[@craigiefconcert6493]

That was great! Fingering is exactly what I’m struggling with. I was specifically wondering should I avoid crossing over the thumb, so this helps!

[@marioalarc6968]

Que buen profe y músico Martin desde argentina abrazos por más vídeos como estos para crecer

[@KevinGuitarLessons]

I'm transcribing the line at 26:50 for guitar. I love it!

[@efrainlopezhernandez2805]

Thanks for share….

[@fullViewJay]

I’m very interested in learning this concept in the left hand. This should help pick up its speed and accuracy!

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

I grew up practicing scales, chord inversions and arpeggios in 4 octaves too. It was non-negotiable and I'm grateful for it now.

[@EugeneSherman]

Hey Peter You are a SPEED DEMON IF I AM playing a LILTING TUNE I WOULD NOT INCLUDE THESE "SPEEEDO" RIFFS PLEASE TEACH LESS SPEED RIFFS AND GOOD ORIGINAL PRETTY MELODY STUFF YOU ARE BASICALLY GOING A 'MILLION MILES AN HOUR WITHOUT SOUNDING MELODIC YOU ARE A TALENT PLEASE SLOWW DOWN THANKS

[@victoza9232]

6:42 "violently different" I've never heard that phrase before.

[@pianopeter]

I'm getting creative as I get older!

[@radiokid2]

Two octave pent fingerings should be learned first- here is the minor fingering for D, E, G, A, B, C#, F#, Ab and Eb: 1234 124 1245. And here's one for C and F minor: 123 1234 1245

[@PianoDanny]

Love you Peter. I’m not going to criticise your teaching technique because this is such a wonderful resource…it would be great if you started with the exercise and then built up to your super-fast lines (rather than the other way round). I’m a working jazz pianist and I have learned a few great tips from Open Studios. Lovely resource. Danny.

[@taylorfusion]

Jerry Bergonzi permutations! Keep them coming nice work 👍

[@glenn_6044]

I've been going pentatonic crazy lately creating interesting shapes up and down the keyboard, transposing, shifting, etc. knowing they will start to migrate into my soloing just from sheer repetition. Loving the cool major and minor sounds but not sure how to use my left hand yet. It appears PM is just messing around with different quartal voicings moving in and out of the tonality using random rhythmic ideas. If you practice, it will come.

[@B3nnywhit3]

I LIKE!

[@anicetjoy5456]

Peter! This is one of the best videos on KZbin about pentatonic! Complete, helpful, creative, and nice! Just add the left hand and it will be a full master class that we can learn for years

[@rickspyder6159]

There is a cool device i discovered after watching this about 20x.. i call the "4th Four" ....play any 3 diatonic notes by ear and make the 4th note a 4th interval leading into next first note ....cool random sounds by accident...cheers Ex g - c d eb c# - f# a g# b - e...etc..

[@CharlesAustin]

I like this .. dexterity phrasing: you got !!

[@edwardvivenzio5843]

Great lesson,thanks Peter!

[@andrewolivetreemixing]

I'm probably gonna watch this 100+ times

[@edwardrogersmusic]

Hey Peter, wonderful video, could maybe make one one the mixture between the modal Pentatonic sound Mixt with more chromatic bebop enclosures and especially when or HOW to practice "detuning" like you just did to reach that MC COY wish type of Sound? Anyways wonderful work and thank you guys so much for all your work and great video/content!

[@mukicare1977]

Dude you are from another planet :D

[@amotinyabongo5659]

Great thought on starting below middle C

[@music7774life]

This is such a good lesson. I have a couple questions... 1) were do we find a lesson out there that teaches crossovers for all scales: ascending, descending and patterns? 2) What chords And also what progressions go with what scales and licks?

[@ninjaming]

Why there is only 6 keys in the note? Where is another 6?

[@jarbasgoulartdecastro9104]

Yeah,Peter!!!!!!

[@francoissalace5907]

merci

[@colecorbett255]

anatomically speaker, going inward with the fingers toward our thumbs it’s always easier then sequentially going out

[@dmigel72]

Finally! It's about time to dive deeper. 2 minutes was not enough.

[@cfloyd199]

Holy crap. Monster

[@mattcol99]

Ok. I get it. Resisted the fingering at first due to bad habits. So, if I want to go “outside” on the C, and play the same patterns, do you have the fingering for C#? I can’t seem to avoid using the thumb on a black note. Excellent tutorial.

[@EnnePlaysGames]

I would love to know a bit more about the key modulation you were doing during some of your playing, is there a video explaining some of your choices there?

[@Holmbendtsen]

Dear Peter. All the chords you do in your left hand is what i have been looking for in years. I Would love to know how you do it. Soren/ Denmark

[@gustavtomzak-steenberg6187]

He uses a lot of 4th voicings. And standard rootless voicings. Be aware that a lot of theese chords are ambiguous and can represent many different chords. This is the point! This music is supposed to sound ambiguous. By learning a lot of standard techniques, what you do is afterwards to try and combine the techniques to create an unique sound. I would recommend learning the pentatonic voicings. In both hands and separate in all inversions. Notice that the ambiguous sound of the chords is the whole point! All of the 3 note chords derived from the pentatonic scale just create a sound of home related to Ebmajor or C minor or f Dorian and so on.(If we are in the key of Ebmajor) Because the notes you use are so consonant(without any tensions, this is the point of this playing style. The pentatonic scale eliminates the 4th and 7th degree of a scale, the 2 notes that create dissonance diatonicly), you can apply all the voicings from the scale to any chord from the scale. You are rather emphasizing a specific sound of all the modes of a scale, rather than a specific chord. This means that by going to a different pentatonic scale or to mash in new notes or chords not present in the pentatonic scale you see as your “tonic scale” You instantly feel a new “Vibe” you instantly leave the Home established. You Can simply go back by just playing those notes from the first pentatonic scale again. He uses a lot of dominant rootless voicings E.g. 3-13-b7-9 b7-9-3-13 Or 3-b6-7-#9 7-#9-3-b6 Notice that these voicings too represent many chords. For instance the two first voicings could be C dominant 13, if you play a c in the bass but with a F# in the bass it would automatically become what I showed in the two second examples: F#9b13 It could also be Emb5add11 or Bbmaj7#11 or Gm6/9 This is if you play the two first examples in c major, they can also be these other chords. Because of the ambiguity these chords are sort of the standard voicings in jazz. Learn them in all 12 keys! To play them 2-handed simply drop the second highest note down and play it in the left hand with the root. This means that you will have 1-3 in left hand or 1-7. So why does he use them so much in the context of pentatonics? He uses them when he wants to create dissonance and color and want to go out of the “home c minor pentatonic scale” (Note that for all of my examples I use Cminor as an example, but this is true for all chords and keys/scales) You don’t have to think V-i. when he plays for instance Gb Bb C F in the left hand back to the c minor pentatonic voicings e.g: C F Bb. I would interpret the first chord as a Ab dominant 13 chord(Remember that it can be many chords, because it’s a standard rootless voicing. It could for instance also be D7#9b13) And when he then goes back to C pentatonic voicings (Pentatnic scale where you skip one note to create a chord, like you do diatonicly. You can do 3 notes 5 or as many as you want!) When he goes back it doesn’t represent a V-i as G7-Cm would. But this is okay, because if you just force yourself out of a scale to a totally different scale and then force yourself back it works! Any chord can be played after any chord!!! Some sounds are just more common for our ears such as V-I, because the voice leading resolves the tension. But with Ab13-Cmin it doesn’t resolve the tension just as well but it still does. You are back where you started, aren’t you? Also of the notes in Ab13 rootless, only F# or Gb isn’t in cminor or cminor pentatonic, this means that it’s only one note that needs to resolve. Also the note F#/Gb is a common blue note in c pentatonic. Actually with that note added to the pentatonic scale, it would be C minor blues scale! Amazing right? . Since this chord Ab13 can be many chords you can play many scales over it. But don’t bother your head with that. Scales will come naturally once you have practiced the standard things such as rootless voicings and pentatonic voicings. But if you want to know what scale to use on it the best way is to see what context it would derive from harmonically. Now I know that I said that this doesn’t work like regular harmony like ii V I, but it still can do. Ab13 would be the V of Db so you can play Db major pentatonic scale over it. But it could also be various other chords and therefore have various different scales applied. In the end you could actually play anything on it. But because that would break your mind, at first it’s best to practice the basics! Because then you consciously know when you are sticking to the basic “rules” and when you are “breaking” them. I’m very sorry that this may seem very confusing and hard to read. I rushed when I typed this and didn’t have the time to correct it! I hope some of it makes sense! Jeg er for resten også dansker!

[@eternalrainbow-cj3iu]

Also, I totally agree with your range debate, Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson show the advantage of this aspect too. The other idea I came up with is great to combine later on first with the same on the tritone pair and then explore further from there... as you did..I learned this from a saxophone player, and first played that on guitar for years... the hexatonic scale hidden in the combination is CBA GbF Eb which hides a F# 1 m3 4 b5 and a Cm 1 m3 4 b5 that metamorphs into eachother...actually 6 tones of the octatonic scale...

[@TonyWinston]

Floyd Cramer

[@guymann9567]

You’re awesome! But you said nothing about the left hand chords ! Is there another video that explains them ? Thank you ...!

[@Julian7alejandro]

Master, could you do an example using II V I ?

[@marioalarc6968]

Genio!!.....hace algunos vídeos en español please

[@lancejones6465]

I love your content - so incredible - thank you - I can't see your fingers very well on the keyboard because the transcription blocks it...

[@fademaria]

Hola, cual es el criterio que se usa para armar los voicing en la mano izquierda y generar el color y el cromatismo usando la escala pentatónica?

[@christheother9088]

After a bit of noodling, "Black Magic Woman" popped out fully formed.