Jazz Piano Practice Session - Shell Voicings

[@manuelhernandez2430]

As a beginner starting off with the shell voicing was a huge game changer

[@dannuttle9005]

Man, this channel always just dives straight in, no chatter, no pleas for likes or subscribes, just a speeding freight train of jazz piano goodness.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot!

[@jackbussy3133]

I remember, when I was a young student, I came across a definition of love that said it was an act of generosity that allowed the recipient to see the world differently. That's exactly what you're doing. You give your knowledge with obvious generosity and it helps so many people who can be blocked in their understanding of the technical and theoretical mechanisms of jazz. And your generosity, one can feel it when you see that behind everything you do, you have nothing special to sell. For me, your channel represents exactly the ideal of what social networks should be. It reminds me of conversations around a coffee with musician buddies 30 or 40 years ago, when we had only one ideal: Exchange as many ideas as possible to advance into the only thing we were interested in: music. Again : Thank you !!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you so much for your kind words! They mean a lot to me, and encourage me to continue making these tutorials. Highly appreciated!

[@copernicus99]

Thank you for this valuable gift to humanity- you have restored my faith in our species!

[@davesax11]

Thank you so much. This will give me weeks/months of targeted practice.....

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot!

[@davesax11]

@@StijnWauters Really the circle of 4ths since going counterclockwise to Db then skipping to G to repeat...

[@guidodeciccio3853]

Mr Wauters am just a guy who loves my hobby " the piano". You do a great great job explaining and actually allowing people to see the actual application in songs. I must sincerely thank you for your education , please continue to help people like this it is amazing

[@jazzhancock8221]

Incidentally, l am a prof Jazz/Blues singer that has always played the piano. But not on a professional level. However, when covid arrived, I was no longer able to go out and perform.So as a result, it made me take my piano playing more seriously. So here I am! Also, I have a beautiful baby grand.So that helps to motivate me a lot too, alongside other educational material. Needless to say , that u are amazing and awesome!!!!Thus, where have you been all my life? 😺

[@francescomanfredi]

This is the most complete lesson on the internet! These 13 minutes will take 13 months of study for me but I will do it!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you, Francesco! I’m sure it won’t take you that long! :-) Good luck!

[@ClaudiaGomezMusic]

Marvelous and generous Mr Wauters, I remember when I first studied your videos 3 years ago. I´m so happy I found it again.... I need to practice again! 👏

[@ezechiassimon4902]

God bless you! My favorite youtube channel.

[@miserypeat]

You represent the beauty of Internet (still, in 2021). Thanks.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks, man!

[@JoshWalshMusic]

Nice demonstration of ii-Vs. This type of practice is in my warm up each day.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot!

[@midishun9859]

Really !! Best jazz piano lesson channel You've got start ideas !! Please don't stop uploading

[@paulhintz8492]

Just what I needed to restart my jazz piano practice after many years. Great video. Great website. Many thanks.

[@motto7259]

Grazie maestro stai aiutando il jazz a vivere quello stai facendo ě un patrimonio per l umanità che verrà i giovani del futuro di questo mondo ti dovranno dire grazie. Grazie

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you so much!

[@MyOwnSideboard]

One of the best tutorial I have seen thousands on You Tube. Thank You!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you so much, Piotr!

[@yusuf3728]

This is the most helpfull jazz lesson out here, it has so much material in it that i have been studying it for weeks. I can't tell how much this video helped me! Thank you so much :)

[@joshuacaesar2025]

This opened up my playing a lot. Thank you. I was enlightened

[@jamessturgeon7025]

What great material and a fabulous treasure trove of harmonic ideas! Well demonstrated,too. Thanks!

[@monarcanero2676]

Wow! Grazie Maestro ❤, great and beautiful job. Jazz sublime !

[@MiguelMorenoMarín]

Me ha encantado. Con todos mis standars favorítos… cuántos conocimientos y qué fácil parece cuando lo haces tú.!!!

[@Jaime9138]

What a great help for those -like me and thousands of other- who are close to Stijn knowledge and his act of love..! Thanks a lot., Mr. Wauters.

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you, Jaime!

[@petecypriot]

Really great series of exercises. This has really helped me in my voicings and also in getting to grips with the circle of fifths. Such a simple yet useful progression. Thanks so much.

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you, Peter! Glad you find the exercises useful!

[@janetgoodall6372]

Absolutely what I've been looking for. Practicing the shell chords for so long I was getting bored! Thank you so much! Brilliant exercises. 👏

[@StijnWauters]

Hi everyone, thanks for the kind comments! I've just uploaded a pdf to my website with all the standards that are being played in this tutorial! So feel free to download the sheet music to read and play through the examples: jazzpianopracticesessions.com/voicings-improvisation/ But remember: make sure you try to apply these shell voicings to other standards as well! One more thing: A lot of people think that we should avoid root notes or bass notes while playing with a bassist. But shell voicings and root voicings are actually very common, and not only in bebop! I prefer to use backing tracks to have some context and tempo, but since shell voicings always contain the root, we can easily use them for solo piano playing as well... I often use iReal Pro to create backing tracks, but some other great backing track channels on youtube are: kzbin.info kzbin.info/door/H41jwczZGGOy0QotghGQYw kzbin.info/aero/PLUExMPmFbP3oqsUXN0ukt4VUmfCEfBy4L Good luck!

[@ezechiassimon4902]

Thank you so much!

[@freejazzmusicacademy6432]

Thank you very much Sir I really appreciate how your covered everything with examples.

[@ammiammi1974]

Another very helpful lesson. Thank you very much Stijn.

[@danieliwuala4093]

I sincerely appreciate you, Sir Thank you!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you, Daniel!

[@francoisetmarie]

Thank you so much for all these nice gifts 😊videos and pdf files for free. .

[@jonbarnhart1947]

You are a monster player sir. And this exactly what I was looking for as an intermediate player ready to progress.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot! Glad you find the video useful!

[@hugocoppens5498]

top stijn; sommige van die snelle stukken zijn te hoog gegrepen voor mij, maar de rest is zeer bruikbaar om me te verbeteren door zelfstudie

[@ozboomer_au]

Very helpful to see the applications of the different 'types' of shell voicings... and working around the Circle of 5ths always seems to be a good idea.. 😊 Fanx! for posting...

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot! You’re very welcome!

[@gheryj.a5160]

Enjoy your explain step by step very usefully. Thank's friend God Bless you

[@ignaciojimenez7899]

Your explanations are clear and concise and are of great help. Thank you very much for everything.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot!

[@ezechiassimon4902]

Thank you so much! Yours lessons are very great!

[@epserps5055]

The best of the bests. Thank you so much.

[@FranciscoA.22033]

Thank you a lot. God Bless you. VERY! Mr.Stijn.👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍

[@Godson.MM.]

no me canso de ver este video porque parece simple pero aquí tenemos todo un período de estudio al menos 3 o 4 mese de estudio. Gracias maestro, porque actualmente estoy estudiando el libro Jazz keyboard Harmony de Phil de Greg, y esto me viene como anillo al dedo. gracias

[@catulayo1]

El mejor canal para practicar jazz ..excelente...gracias

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks!

[@searchradius6754]

Hi. Thank you so much for this.

[@motto7259]

Gold gold top quality grazie grazie The best teacher !!!!!!🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹

[@RobRijnbout]

👍Excellent instruction material.I'll recommend this to my jazz piano students.

[@JeanRolandQUASTANA]

Fantastic ! Stijn. Love it.

[@gavdobs]

great lesson

[@waltersouza8111]

Descobri hoje essa joia de canal e desde já fico muito grato por compartilhar conosco todo esse conhecimento meu amigo‼️

[@lizmayfield6778]

Fantastic! 👌

[@humblemai2211]

Please make more tutorial about jazz piano... thạnks

[@demsi2004]

Great work!

[@dukahn7820]

Thank you so much. This is the all I need to practice, which you make my dream come true. I am living in South Korea. Can I ask where do you live? Any chance thst you allow me to have a private lesson from you? You are so amazing!!!

[@nogoogleplus]

Great work out!

[@bunsenstraat]

very very useful! thanks

[@trace_music1335]

Thank you so much for sharing!!!! 👍👍👍

[@michelmarc3677]

Bravo et mille fois merci 😃

[@gustavtomzak-steenberg6187]

Love the videos! Do you have Any videos practicing stride?

[@charquiche]

Merci encore !

[@Bookssful]

Very useful, indeed.

[@alexthompson6529]

Thanks again for posting these! Great to see how you can use shell voicing in so many places, I need to get practising!

[@rosariomanto2253]

lezione eccezionale

[@ThaiPham-gd5mz]

amazing

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks! Glad you like the tutorial!

[@advenaworldconferences4726]

WHAOOO...ONE OF THE BEST TUTORIAL JAZZ PIANO VIDEOS EVER!!!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you so much!

[@AndreBeckner]

I like your Chanel.!

[@anandgodane8022]

Thank you so much sir ❤️🙏

[@PhiDX]

Always inspiring me to practice more, love your content

[@arpadternei6991]

Dear Stijn, thank you for this great lesson. I would like to ask you: do you have a rule when to play with the left hand 1-3 or 1-7 shell? For example as you are playing How high the moon, at 1:58, on the "V" you are playing 1-3. Wouldn´t be 1-7 better, as it is a dominant seventh chord? Is there any rule how to choose the shell voicing or this is already experience? Thank you very much! Cheers!

[@StijnWauters]

Hi, thanks for watching the video! There are no specific rules for the shells in the LH, so you are free to choose between 1-3 or 1-7. I even might switch between 1-3 and 1-7 on one chord.. But when you play a II V I (or any progression through the circle of fifths), your fingers will almost automatically follow the voice leading as shown in the exemples in the beginning of the video.. At 1:58 I play 1-3 on the V chord as part of the II V I voice leading. But of course you can switch to 1-7 too.. !

[@arpadternei6991]

@@StijnWauters Thank you for spending time for this explanation! Appreciate it and it is very useful (like all your other videos!!🎶🍷🌟

[@lowpassman]

Great！

[@marcelomachado3258]

Stijn muito legal seus vídeos! Tem algum curso em português do Brasil?

[@gabrielneto2065]

Thank you very much for sharing. You're amazing. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Really good stuff. God bless u my brother.

[@KevinBrightman]

Great video. I remember studying this with Walter Bishop Jr.

[@StijnWauters]

Thanks a lot! Must have been quite an experience studying with him!

[@imuzikworkstation3530]

thank you very much..

[@ili626]

Thank you

[@ebc531]

Why on earth, didn't I find all this before?!

[@marchandisealain7544]

Hello Stijn Wauters, Thank you for your great work, you are a very good one !! Bonjour Stijn Wauters, Merci pour votre travail génial, vous êtes un très Bon !!

[@jph7957]

Thanks a lot for your generosity, Stijn! That's very helpful indeed. One question, if you have one minute: wouldn't you recommend a *beginner* to start practicing most things in just 3 or 4 keys (C, F, Bb, G, for example)?

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you! Glad you like the video! As a beginner with little time.. :-) it would be a good idea to just focus on the most common keys. Since most standards are played in those common keys, it makes sense to do so. But if you have more time, I would definitely recommend playing exercises (chords, voicings, techniques,…) in all keys (for example through the circle of fifths).

[@jph7957]

@@StijnWauters Thanks for your super swift reply, Stijn! As a freshly retired beginner, I have both plenty of time and little time. :) But let's be positive: I'm going to follow your advice and practice in all keys, while "enjoying the ride" as much as I can. And slowly... :)

[@DamianDAddona]

❤💯 Gracias !

[@humblemai2211]

Love you much

[@leidelearangel9026]

Maravilhoso!!👏👏👏

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you!

[@GordFinlay]

You had really good exercises for 1-7/1-3 shell progressions in dominant-7s through the cycle of fourths/fifths. But what notated exercises would you use for what you call "guide tones only" or 3-7 / 7-3 (aka rootless shell voicings) through the cycle of fourths? I see some people play rootless shells. The left hand fingering is interesting (alternating 1st and 4th finger and 2nd and 5th finger - kind of like crab walking). This would (a) free up the bass player by avoiding the root, and (b) allow complete melody improvisation in the right hand. Unfortunately, I never see rootless shell guide tone progressions written down anywhere for practice.

[@StijnWauters]

Hi, that’s true! I know there are a lot of different names or definitions for different types of shells. But I always think of shells as root voicings (root + 1 or 2 guide tones). As for the “guide tones only”, you could make similar exercises (II V I in all keys, II V chromatically descending, chain of dominants,..) in both RH and LH. But I’m actually planning on making a video specifically on guide tones and how to use them!

[@GordFinlay]

@@StijnWautersCool! I'll check back when you do a guide tone shell video.

[@liriosanz]

Buenísimo

[@duckmanlequack]

How do I know/should I decide whether to use the 3 or the 7 in LH voicings? Maybe based on whether the melody uses one of the two? What happens when it has neither?

[@StijnWauters]

There are no strict rules to decide whether to use the 3 or the 7 in the LH, but usually one of the two possibilities will sound better. You can try both (3 and 7 in the LH), and decide what works best. But when you start by playing the melody note in the RH and the root in the LH usually you will see immediately which option works best. When you have the 3 or 7 in the melody you can still apply the same system or rules (melody RH and root LH + insert the guide tones) meaning that it’s possible to double the 3 or 7.. Hope this makes sense..? :-)

[@duckmanlequack]

@@StijnWauters This definitely makes sense, thank you. For now I've been choosing based on voice leading, or maybe whichever is easier to reach, because I'll be focusing a little more on the solo/melody portion with the RH. It actually creates a nice open interpretation when you omit one of the two. When I first learned a long time ago, my tutor started me with 3/7 voicings, hoping I would join a band with a bassist on roots, which hasn't happened yet. For now I'm just relearning a bit of solo piano and gradually work my way up to playing with others more.

[@lucasneumanndeantonio9727]

Any tips to voicing slash chords with shells?

[@carmanmusic]

Fantastic demonstrations, exercises, etc.! I just discovered your channel and I'm subscribed - and passing on your name to other educators and students. Here's a question - what is the notation program you're using for the hand-written stuff? I could see using something like that in my studio. I prefer hand-writing in lessons, especially with the option to use color - would love to do this digitally). Thanks!

[@StijnWauters]

Thank you so much! Glad you like the tutorials and thank you for passing on my channel to others! As far as the hand writing I use an iPad Pro with pencil which allows me to easily write on the pdf files of the sheet music. Hope this was of help.. :-)

[@dragydof]

How do you play minor ii-V with shell voicings?

[@CornelionSigismon]

Great! Personally, I like it better when you play without any background accompaniment.

[@blueeyedsoulman]

What model piano are you playing?

[@南風-r3d]

独学で頑張っています。大変参考になり、感謝しています。説明文も翻訳できると、もっと理解しやすいのですが‥。説明文をコピーできるだけでも助かるのですが‥。どうかよろしくお願いします。🙏

[@someonesomeone7423]

What if I can’t play three note shells in hand?

[@nylophone5730]

Is it ok to play these over a bass player even though they have the root in them?

[@StijnWauters]

Hi, yes you can perfectly play these shell voicings with a bass player! Bebop pianists like Bud Powell and Barry Harris use them all the time.. However, your first choice playing with a bassist would be rootless LH voicings (like Red Garland and Bill Evans), so it depends on the style and the context whether you use shells or not.. I often combine shells and rootless voicings in the LH to bring some variety.. Good luck!

[@nylophone5730]

@@StijnWauters Thank you so much for such a succinct and informative reply

[@nelitoagulay7980]

What’s the title of the song

[@sebastien549]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽💯👌🏽

[@juwonnnnn]

👍

[@bh5606]

Have no idea what is going on. It is pretty, though.

[@kingsecho3351]

How is this a lesson?