THE Minor 251 Lick (Bill Evans Style)

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In this piano tutorial, I break down an insane minor 251 lick from a Bill Evans solo. You can use it anytime you are improvising over any minor 251. We will be learning it in the key of D minor.
It makes use of chord tones, approach patterns, recurring melodies, swing feel... and it is just awesome!
If you have any questions, just leave a comment below!
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[@markparnis5363]

The first phrase can also be seen as a descending Gmin9 run. In the early jazz days a half diminished chord was also thought of as minor 6 chord with the 6 in the bass. So Em7b5 was Gm6/E. So Evans was playing on the minor chord built on the 3rd of Em7b5. Then he used the fact that any lick played on a ii chord will work translated a minor third up over an altered dom V chord, thus playing the same descending minor 9th run transposed up a minor third.

[@Piano_Pig]

Great analysis!

[@amcsdmi]

I was about to post something similar about the Gm9 and minor 3rd movement, but you beat me to it with more insight and detail. Well put!

[@diamondwebb5749]

Mark Parnis hunty ur so deep. You have to be a professor in the music field. Blows my mind. I have to have my friend here to break it down. That is why I watch his videos. So cool.

[@slimanemerkouche9029]

Enough music theory for this month 😥

[@donk.2070]

Wow, interesting analysis. I'll have to study more to understand it , but love your added ideas. Thanks so much, so much more to learn - Great fun. ..

[@TheDontCheat]

That’s just such an amazing lick I really love Mr. Evans

[@mikegeld1280]

This is good 👍one of the best music theory teachers out there,to the point, no jawboning, and put very simply easy to follow, BRAVO mate,

[@skoto8219]

At 5:18 you could argue that the Bb G# A is still in the same pattern as the previous two if you think of the approach pattern as diatonic-above, chromatic-below. Great video, can't wait to try this out!

[@phoenixrising1576]

Thanks for not talking theory to much and making this a pleasure to learn.

[@Piano_Pig]

No problem! Glad you enjoyed it 😀

[@d3a1990]

Thank you so much! I’ve been looking for approach tone videos in the style of Bill Evans forever! So glad I found this. More please! ;) Ps: I’ve been jamming on this lick for about 30 minutes and it’s getting to be what I’ve been trying to play like. Those chords totally open you up for improvisation. Time to transpose :)

[@eduardosposito8052]

Thank you very much master! From Venezuela but I live in Berlín, Germany!!!!

[@curandero88]

Awesome. And I'm a severe critic. You are a great teacher - and you get to the point. Gracias!

[@freedomajp]

Thank you so much. You just taught me my first run and its feels great under the fingers.

[@RageIt]

Thanks. Love Bill Evans Trio. How about the stylins of Oscar Peterson?

[@ModularLanding]

Awesome video. Bill Evans is (was) the man.

[@kintozero3169]

Was able to figure it out very quickly simply because the first 7 seconds were so helpful. My next step will be taking it through 12 keys. Thanks!

[@Piano_Pig]

Good stuff!

[@TheFabulousRedDiesel]

I love the pig !

[@RanBlakePiano]

Wonderful job bill was a fantastic teacher

[@bsykesbeats]

Awesome video thank you for this. I love learning Bill Evans style

[@isaacnewton1215]

Thanks for this video 😌

[@Abraao.Lincoln]

You are great!!! Not pig kk. Very clear, perfect!

[@titolivio6832]

Bravo, grazie!

[@bradforddavis6497]

Nice breakdown 👋👋

[@jackgalloway8314]

I recommend Tony Winstons analysis of Blue in Green voicing.

[@stephenrothman6058]

Would be good to see breakdowns of more Bill Evan’s licks. Then the next level up would be talking about how you construct new licks. How much of it is analytical (which that video basically was), and how much you just hear the individual notes before you play them. I’m guessing that the faster you play on piano, the less you can pre-hear individual new licks, and fall back on theory + trial and error in practice, and on what you played yesterday when performing.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Well over the dominant he's saying alt scale also called diminished whole tone scale by many. A,Bb,C Db,Eb, F, G,

[@Piano_Pig]

All sorts of names for all the scales! I try to be consistent and use the most common names so as not to confuse people :)

[@massimilianopicuno8979]

Bravissimo didatta. GRANDE

[@stevebeshaykis5238]

Very clear and easy to understand! Thanks!!! 🐷

[@eduardosposito8052]

Good teacher!!

[@eduardom.ferreira2767]

Thank you Sir, so much! Beautiful lesson!

[@dfaria1000]

Superbly explained....thanks.

[@robinmiller7958]

Thank you for the slow detailed approach!

[@Piano_Pig]

It's my pleasure Robin :)

[@diamondwebb5749]

The pig is so funny. I love your channel.

[@BhooshanMusifies]

Very nice tutorial.. nicely explained too!

[@Myaccountishacked]

Excellent piano tutorial !!!! Thank you so much PianoPig. Beautiful !

[@Piano_Pig]

My pleasure David, I'm glad you are enjoying the lessons :)

[@davidsummerville351]

Good stuff

[@madbun1312]

This is so great thanks. More bill please!

[@robertmichalscheck3072]

Great stuff,thx.

[@Piano_Pig]

My pleasure!

[@tatin71]

Excelenteeeeeee, thank you very much, greetings from Peru

[@Piano_Pig]

No worries! My pleasure 😀

[@FelipeKawai]

Nice! thanks for sharring!

[@Josh-ii8ix]

This is a sweet lick. Thanks!

[@Piano_Pig]

No worries, glad you enjoyed it!

[@paxwallacejazz]

Or you can just learn it in 12 keys

[@TheKeyToMusicOfficial]

but that requires... learning. its so much easier for people to pay for 12 keys than to experience

[@yacoobrian3991]

It is convenient to first learn the lick by the 12 keys and then use them on the jazz standard, so you can play the same on any key and not have more familiar tones than others, at least that is how I see it.

[@clayjohnson2618]

Hell yeah man. What real jazz musicians do

[@colmcq]

using leaning tones then - Appoggiature

[@melwynjohnson]

Loved the approach pattern..

[@Piano_Pig]

Yeah it's awesome :)

[@kylekotula7266]

When you are a trombonist, but love Bill Evan's style...

[@int3533]

Very nice

[@GoaWay4Sanity]

this is a nice vid!! I'm high and I'm gonna be learning this...ready for the experience! You rock Simon. Loooove the pig!!🤘🏾😎👍🏾

[@Piano_Pig]

Haha thanks bro! You can REALLY get into the zone with the piano whilst high, the pig once told me ;)

[@bsykesbeats]

I love playing piano high, so much easier to really feeeel the groove

[@tempusestiocundum3549]

Very very helpful! Thank you very much 👍👍👍

[@Piano_Pig]

No worries, it's an awesome lick isn't it! :)

[@tempusestiocundum3549]

PianoPig yes, it is! 😊👍👍👍👍Thanks for the very clear explanation!

[@stuartdryer1352]

Thank you!!!!

[@marcoevans2155]

It's the Cry Me A River lick slight return

[@mr.fabian8471]

excellent!!!!

[@donprice732]

Awesome Stuff

[@ichabedichlieb4745]

I hear the notes on the beat 3 and 4 as eith notes 3 and 3+.. Certaintly not as two quarter notes.

[@dowen679]

you hear right

[@cabijista1]

Cool lick. With respect though, would like to point out that the notation is incorrect. You are playing an 8th and dotted quarter (in swing time) respectively on the last two beats of the ii and v chords but it is notated as just two quarters.

[@Piano_Pig]

My mistake has been pointed mention before, but thank you anyway :)

[@bsykesbeats]

Hey man, quick question: so, the use of the minor 7 (flat 5) chord as the 2 chord would imply that we are in D Aeolian (i.e the flat 5 of the 2 chord is the flat 6 of the D, which implies Aeolian over Dorian) however when you land the D, you use a natural 6 instead of a flat 6, which implies that we are in Dorian. Any insight into this?? .......and btw your explanation of where to accent the notes to make it really swing helped sooo much! It feels like I'm floating on air when I do it right.

[@Piano_Pig]

For the 2 chord (Em7b5) you could definitely see it as being in D Aeolian. But when I play the Dm6/9 (which includes the B natural) I would actually think of this as in D melodic minor. It's good to change it up like this as it provides some harmonic variation! Hope this helps :)

[@mo-music]

In minor tunes, tonic minor chords are typically played as some flavor of min6, or perhaps min(maj 7). The min 69 chord is a pretty common variation used since the early to mid 60's. I daresay Bill Evans was one of the folks who popularized it's use. Aeolian does equal "natural minor", but if you consider the functional harmony ramifications of that , Aeolian would leave the tonic minor chord as a min 7, a sound typically associated with the pre- or sub-dominant function of a ii V7 I progression.

[@mallesmedia9022]

I might be completely wrong but isn't the second chord A9 Alt instead of A7 Alt? Or where does the b flat come from?

[@maximehattab2446]

Always good video😀

[@Piano_Pig]

Thanks!

[@trappedinsidekeler2815]

wow such a great video! by the way can anyone explain to me why the Bb9 pattern could work on the ii - v of em7b5 (or gmin6) and a7? Im beginner to jazz theory so it would help very much! Thanks;)

[@gianwilliams2193]

i cant understand the harmony, can someone explain me pls?

[@thedoktor1521]

Nice🙏

[@shermanjackson8519]

Love the lick. Could you point me to the actual recording in which this lick was used? Thanks

[@Piano_Pig]

I believe it I heard it in the song 'Beautiful Love' from the album 'Portrait In Jazz'

[@andermurillo2868]

I'm kinda confused with that A7alt, why is he playing Bb-Db-F-G, instead of A-C-Eb-G?

[@andermurillo2868]

I figured it out! Ha! I am so proud of myself! This whole progression seems to be based on the D harmonic minor scale, there are a few outside notes. First one the C of the Alt chord, but C is the third of that A7 alt chord, so it makes a lot of sense to throw that one in there. Then there is the Ab of the Dm69 approach pattern, but that's just part of the pattern, and finally the natural B of the Dm69 chord, but that is just part of that chord and it sounds good, as there are a few ways to resolve the minor 251 progression, one is to the m7, another is mM7 and last but not least m6 or m69. It might seem kind of obvious once you know it haha but figuring it out and drawing conclussions is kinda hard and fun at the same time!

[@MarkMcCluney]

Dear Piggie, do you think you do a little something about the style of Vince Guaraldi one of these days? I think he's very underestimated. Well, just a thought...

[@Piano_Pig]

I will have to do some more research into him myself first, but I will certainly keep it in mind yes! :)

[@MarkMcCluney]

PianoPig that sounds good. It's just a thought of course. I'm enjoying your vids, thanks for sharing.

[@emmetthouse5600]

Thx you enjoy lesson

[@Piano_Pig]

Glad you enjoyed it! And good to see you still sticking around this channel, you were one of the first!

[@richardsorice4509]

Really cool. I am a guitarist and trying to learn upright bass. I don't play piano, but on guitar this reminds me of the "Cry me a river lick" in Gm, followed by another, up a minor 3rd, which works with E half diminished and A7+ then cool enclosures over Dm. Way cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@Piano_Pig]

Yes, it is a variation of the 'Cry Me a River Lick'! Good luck with the upright bass :)

[@richardsorice4509]

Thanks! Great lesson!

[@LevisSparkz]

What is up guys😊😊

[@FranciscoA.22033]

Thanks PianoPig....what's your name? I am brazilian, i am beguiner piano, i Love jazz and Bossa Nova, i like your videos ok? But i speak in english...few words... Hugs!!!

[@juancruzbasualdo9001]

Man, great video! Quick question: can you tell me when bill evans use this frase? i whould like to hear the song. Thanks!

[@Piano_Pig]

I THINK it's from 'Beautiful Love' from the album 'Portrait in Jazz'. Let me know if I'm wrong and I'll see if I can find it :)

[@jzhen001]

I've notice that a lot of your voicing don't have the root in the chord, do you have a video that talks about how to construct chords like that ? makes them sound so good and special, not like the straight boring sounding same chords.

[@Piano_Pig]

They're called rootless voicings. I made a video on them a while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWO5kGSEoM5-acU

[@bruno.virgilio]

one day i ll definitely buy that my heritage dna thing

[@adrianfundescu5407]

You love Bill.As I am.Nice analyse.Do you play ''Time for Love?...he is post bebop.If right hand would be swinging...cooolll.

[@joshuawright2180]

What song is this lick from?

[@timfairfield407]

Good ideas here even for a 6 stringer like me!

[@benjamingilespinosa7303]

A question, why does the D. Minor 6/9 have an F,A,B,E?

[@Piano_Pig]

It's a rootless voicing. F is the b3, A is the 5, B is the 6 and E is the 9. It contains the 3, 5, 6 and 9 = Dm6/9 🙂

[@benjamingilespinosa7303]

PianoPig ohhhhhh u actually responded thank u I didn’t know 🙂

[@crazyace88]

Hi. I am a member and cannot find the resource of this video on your site. Please help

[@Piano_Pig]

Make sure you're logged into the Academy, then click this link: bit.ly/2DV6bCh - there should be a 'Download Resources' button which will give you the PDF straight away 😀

[@apostleofazathoth7696]

Thanks for the video! What performance is this from, and can I find a recording online?

[@Piano_Pig]

It was from 'Beautiful Love'. I THINK from the album 'Portrait in Jazz', but it could be a different recording.

[@apostleofazathoth7696]

@@Piano_Pig Thank you! I will check it out right now.

[@tomelizalde7838]

Dear Simon wonderful lick but where do we go from here just a question please help. Love your Channel.

[@Piano_Pig]

Hi Tom, glad you enjoyed the lick! I advise start practicing it over your minor 251s, I've done a video on those so you can check that out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmqvf51oqqiKqqc If you want more cool stuff you can always check out the PianoPig Academy!

[@tomelizalde7838]

You the man !! Thanks for the response !!!!

[@tirzogarcia7830]

From which song is this?

[@mmanoloz]

From which solo is this lick from?

[@Piano_Pig]

I believe it's from Beautiful Love from the album Portrait In Jazz

[@Drivethebeat]

Is that Bill in the background?

[@angelo3718]

Im ordering your products does it come in dvd style?

[@potatovegeta9385]

What song is the solo from?

[@Piano_Pig]

Beautiful Love

[@adrianfundescu5407]

evans

[@evanmiles2652]

What recording is this from?

[@Piano_Pig]

I believe it's from 'Beautiful Love' from the album 'Portrait in Jazz 🙂

[@alexbeshay7965]

Such a great lick. What solo did you get this from? I know I've heard it somewhere.

[@Piano_Pig]

I THINK it's from 'Beautiful Love' from the album 'Portrait In Jazz'

[@antoinegersch8763]

Autumn Leaves Chorus ?

[@Piano_Pig]

Yeah, this lick would be perfect for that! I think I actually transcribed it from the song Beautiful Love

[@seanki98]

really cool video :) I was wondering which record this lick was off of?

[@Piano_Pig]

I believe it was off the record 'Beautiful Love'

[@mccreeper03]

Who is holding the pig

[@Piano_Pig]

It's just him, floating around ;)

[@baileyayyy5085]

Why wouldn't you say what solo it's from so we can listen to it D:

[@Piano_Pig]

I believe it's from Beautiful Love from the album Portrait in Jazz 🙂

[@saadmemon543]

Sounds like he’s Cuckoo’s lost younger brother

[@traumtrager129]

What song is this from?

[@Piano_Pig]

Beautiful Love

[@traumtrager129]

thank you

[@jackgalloway8314]

What the hell is the A altered notation? How dare you, lol!!

[@denisbatalha7622]

Muito.... bom video... E ésse rato mouse no canto da tela kkkkkkk

[@Rich_Man-q6g]

There is a pig wkwkwkwk LOL

[@leslieackerman4189]

It’s certainly not Aimee Nolte...

[@Piano_Pig]

Haha no it's not, it's Simon Warner 😂

[@zan6585]

Damn you're actually charging for 1 lick

[@traftonstakes1553]

Dae the video was free? He’s charging for his website, plus aren’t even ads in the video.

[@vargero]

This is both fun and annoying to play at the guitar.

[@musicalhamsa5892]

I spot a pig in the vid😝

[@bekagigauri1799]

:)

[@sarmadpiano]

I appreciate your efforts to make this video but I hoped you weren't using different and inefficient fingers choices each time you go through the sections. Please present a clear fingering number decisions and stick to it while playing. Changing it this way make you look unprofessional.

[@sarmadpiano]

I appreciate your efforts to make this video but I hoped you weren't using different and inefficient fingers choices each time you go through the sections. Please present a clear fingering number decisions and stick to it while playing. Changing it this way make you look unprofessional.