Improvising a Linear Jazz Piano Arrangement (Using Counterpoint)

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Tired of vertical thinking? Jeremy Siskind, author of "Playing Solo Jazz Piano," explains his favorite exercises to learn to play a contrapuntal solo piano arrangement, using the Charlie Chaplin tune "Smile."
00:00 - Overview: Smile
1:33 Solidified Melody (shaping, articulation, lyric)
3:13 Demonstration
5:50 - Same rhythm improv
6:19 parallel
6:34 same direction
7:00 Contrary motion
8:25 Taking turns
8:54 - Set rhythmic units
10:25 - Melody in the LH
11:31 - 3 Voices
12:49 - 4 Voices
14:59 - Pass the Middle Voice
16:00 Melody at the bottom
16:59 - Alternating thumbs
17:39 Melody in different voices
18:43 - 4 Voices
19:11 Thumbs and pinkies
20:27 Simplified 4 Voices
20:39 Pairs
24:11 Melody on alto voice
25:06 Demonstration
28:16 Summary

[@oronzogiuliodibitonto9406]

Fantastico. Nessuno fa questa meravigliosa opera di divulgazione del sapere musicale. Lei ha tutta la mia stima e il mio apprezzamento.

[@JeremySiskind]

È così carino. Sono profondamente onorato, amico mio!

[@pianobis777]

Bach mandou lembranças

[@JordanSeigelMusic]

Wonderful lesson!!

[@MasterRancisis]

Amazing! Never seen a lesson like this before. I've tried messing around with two lines in jazz after getting into some Bach, but this is a whole other level. Insanely beautiful stuff towards the end with the four voices and improv. I will come back to this video a lot. Thank you

[@JeremySiskind]

Aw, thanks, Ben! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Let me know if I can help you with anything!

[@martycli9299]

Superb you are a seriously talented educator! Thanks so much.

[@JeremySiskind]

That's very kind! Thank you! Have fun with these ideas. :)

[@eydiguttason1961]

Thank you thank you Jeremy very very helpful God bless

[@richkeys1127]

This would be my 5th time watching this in full and am not tired every time, thanks Jeremy! Bought the new version of the book by the way 😊

[@anastasiagulai5782]

I still can't believe how blessed we are to have you on KZbin and be able to learn from you, million times thank you for sharing your awesome talent and tones of knowledge !🙏🤍

[@JeremySiskind]

That’s so very nice, Anastasia! It’s my pleasure!

[@jetn8654]

This is so amazing, and I love how much fun you are having!

[@JeremySiskind]

There's no reason to do this if you're not having fun! :) I'm glad you liked the video!

[@PlaybySoul]

One of the greatest lesson i've never seen!!

[@JeremySiskind]

Glad you liked it! Please share with your friends. :)

[@composedbyjoyson]

Coming from classical music composition/piano background, I've had hard time finding jazz piano contents that particularly work for my needs, but this so useful and organic! Thanks, for your amazing contents, Jeremy (just ordered two books from your site!) 🎹🙏🏻

[@elribone1092]

changed my life ! so many new possibilities !

[@JeremySiskind]

That’s so nice! Enjoy!

[@richkeys1127]

My fave KZbin teacher! And I’m still learning this concept 😃

[@JeremySiskind]

That’s so nice! Thank you, Rich!

[@kokostudioku]

This is Gold.. thank you!

[@JeremySiskind]

Great! I’m glad you liked it. That was one of the first educational videos I did on my channel. :)

[@carybaxter274]

Very amazing. If you had announced the things I was going to learn, I would have shut down or else moved on, since I was not prepared for a daunting task. Then you just expanded surreptitiously without asking permission, and the result was entertaining and instructive all at once. Of course, you were required to walk a tightrope without a net, and your willingness forced it to happen. It is amazing how much I understood and how much I absorbed, and it was amazing how little it mattered that none of it was perfect or precise. The magnificence of all those voices shown through and made the point indelibly.

[@davidgerber9317]

This is seriously good tutorial! Big thanks!

[@JeremySiskind]

Thanks so much, David! Glad you liked it!

[@giovanniperin]

Amazing playing and amazing lesson the best piano channel online!!

[@JeremySiskind]

Thanks much, Giovanni!

[@richkeys1127]

Amazing playing as always Jeremy…purchased both books which should keep me occupied during these depressing times. Youre an inspiration keep it up!

[@JeremySiskind]

Thank you, Rich! I appreciate it and enjoy those books. :)

[@azirusS]

so great !! thank you !!

[@JeremySiskind]

So glad you liked it. Happy practicing!

[@juanclavell]

Yours are the best videos of this kind in youtube. For real. thanks from Argentina! I'll buy the pdf

[@JeremySiskind]

Thanks so much, Juan! I'm so happy you like them! I have a book coming out in Spanish soon for you Argentinians!

[@brothercaleb]

Insane tutorial 👏🏽👏🏽

[@JeremySiskind]

Glad you dug it. I don’t know if this is *exactly* what Barry’s talking about, but I know he thinks linearly with a lot of tensions and resolutions in his playing. But...yes, lots of movement for sure!

[@ivannagy8911]

After your Christmas lesson I remembered you have already spoken about the thumb-pinky practice. I have found it :) This lesson is extremely rich. And the concept is is so good that I went back to Bach Wohltemperiertes Klavier to see some beautiful pieces and get some baroque inspiration :) Jeremy, you are a real blessing for us.

[@JeremySiskind]

I love that you got on a "thumb and pinky" kick! It's an exercise I'm always returning to!

[@giovanniperin]

You re just amazing!! I ve heard Fred Hersh talking about the same concepts and I think this is really the pinnacle of harmony/soloing

[@JeremySiskind]

Thanks so much! I’m the biggest Fred Hersch fan and am fascinated by this approach too. Let’s be friends! 😂

[@kurikokaleidoscope]

それは素晴らしいです

[@francescomanfredi]

Great lesson indeed, even if a bit difficult for my piano skills. Maybe a lesson on Danny Boy as presented on your book would be more feasible for us beginner jazz pianists. Anyway I will follow the journey of solo piano I am discovering with you! Thanks

[@eydiguttason1961]

Genius Idea you are newstylemaker that's good and interesting you write history Jeremy happy Christmas you are the new Bach- Greeting from Aalborg Denmark

[@JeremySiskind]

I love Denmark and I really want to return some time. I’m glad you enjoyed the lesson. I’m sending you my greetings from California!

[@cabijista1]

Wow, this is great! Some really fantastic and eye opening approaches! I’m still a little curious though about your thought process between consonances and dissonances. So obviously parallel 3rds and 6ths are ok. But I caught a few places where you played parallel 7ths which of course in baroque is a big no no. I know dealing with 7th-based harmony in jazz makes the avoidance of parallel 7ths more difficult but to my ear it still sounds like it kind of weakens the contrapuntal texture. Would you agree? And while we’re on the topic, how about parallel 9th or 11s, should they be avoided? I could see parallel 11ths being really effective if you were trying to infuse a Mccoy Tyner quartal-esque sound into your harmony, but if the harmony is sticking to more tertiary grounds, possibly not? A similar question arises with the use of contrary motion. Are two dissonances in a row, say C and B (major 7th) moving outward to B and C (minor 9th) allowed? I realize these things are incredibly hard to keep track of when you’re improvising, but of course there are still those few gifted classical improvisers left in the world (usually organists) who seem to be able to do this with ease. There is very very little literature on baroque improvisation though so it’s really difficult to find out just how they’re able to achieve this. And final question, carrying on from classical improvisers, do you have any tips for improvising canons and/or fugues. With either common practice harmony or jazz harmony or whatever? Thanks, and sorry for all the questions!

[@federicomelo1853]

Ear opening. Great.

[@JeremySiskind]

Awesome! Thanks, Federico!

[@kwixotic]

I think Clare Fischer did a lot of this in his playing style if I’m not mistaken.

[@JeremySiskind]

I think you're right - Clare was such a genius of counterpoint (and many other things).

[@kwixotic]

I think melody in the left hand is what Brad Mehldau does well.

[@JeremySiskind]

Most definitely! He's such an inspiration to anyone wanting to play multiple melodies at once.

[@brothercaleb]

In other words adding what Barry Harris calls “movement”

[@kwixotic]

This style is quite prominent in Keith Jarrett’s “Danny Boy”.

[@JeremySiskind]

Yep, and it's no coincidence Keith has recorded both the Bach and Shostakovich preludes and fugues. He's a master of counterpoint (as well as many other things!).