The 3 Zone Jazz Piano System

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Resident piano guru, Adam Maness, tries out for the X-Men with his new superhuman ability... having enough hands to hit the 3 zones! Kenny Barron got the hands, do you?
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[@neilsaunders9309]

Where were you people 40 years ago when I really needed you? Not that I don't need you now!

[@michaelfuria4257]

yes, I think I would have succeeded in a music career if I had I had this available long ago..

[@jeffreydelisle7337]

Adam, this is a great one. One thing I noticed in watching and practicing this approach is it helps me get my mind to think of which scale goes with which chord. The countermelody creation exercise particularly so. Also, what a great approach to comping! For some time I’ve been having trouble making my comping sound less lame and I think this is an avenue toward that. Thanks.

[@keyofbrink810]

Love the videos Adam! Keep bringing the heat!

[@Zoco101]

I agree with the analysis of the zones, and I loved the bit about zone dynamics. This vid gets my thumbs up. Harmonically speaking, a solo jazz pianist is a juggler with at least three clubs and only two hands, but he's also an illusionist IMO, using the power of suggestion to imply notes he hasn't really played. In the 9ths exercise on There is No Greater Love, it seems the technique is preparatory for doing a more meaningful improvised solo, or for playing and supporting specific melody notes, yet strangely it feels more like a jerky countermelody. I get it, you have to start somewhere, but like many useful exercises, it is also restrictive and artificial. I would urge students not to get too stuck on using similar inversions for consecutive chords. I wish I had learned about proper voice leading sooner. This is made possible through changing chord inversions, and it results in a flowing melody or counter melody line. And in the long run it's easier too, because it's more efficient. Going back to the juggler and illusionist skills, these also apply in the dimension of melody vs harmonic accompaniment vs rhythm. In a band situation, a pianist will sometimes have the luxury of playing harmonic accompaniment in the third zone and little else. It would be interesting to see a second version of this video where that is the pianist's roll. That's less taxing on beginners IMO, but it still needs to be learned, and as a separate skill from solo pianist.

[@robinsarchiz]

I’m having trouble being creative with chord inversions, do you know any resource that might help with that?

[@Zoco101]

@@robinsarchiz I'll have to think about the resources since I worked it out for myself. Meanwhile I can say that it's a bit different for each hand, and the options change according to whether you're playing melody, a solo or an accompaniment. Often, I'm alternating between root position and second inversion, but only in one hand. Dm7 (root pos) moves gracefully to G7 (2nd inv). During solos, my RH plays 1 or 2 notes at a time, skipping around the upper registers, and my LH jumps between bass notes amd chords if there's no bass player. If I'm just accompanying in zone 3, I play two or three notes in each hand, occasionally jumping zones to wake up the bass or surprise the soloist. Increasingly, my RH plays by ear without me even watching it, but my LH still needs some guiding. You don't need full chords all the time. Often the biggest decision is which hand gets the 3rd of the chord. Dick Hyman does videos where he analyses different jazz piano styles.

[@robinsarchiz]

@@Zoco101 Oh I recognize the root to second inversion, that’s the whole movement of autumn leaves! Great stuff, I’ll be waiting eagerly for your thoughts on resources. I’m curious, when you play both RH and LH in zone 3 (accompanying), how does that work? Do you play the same way, i.e. using chords by fingers 123 on both hands and doing bass and melody with fingers 45 respectively; or do you play the same lines with both hands? It seems weird to use chords so high up on the register, but maybe I just need to explore it more.

[@Zoco101]

@@robinsarchiz If I'm acompanying with both hands mainly in zone 3, it's because there's a bass player too. Arguably (by default) there is still a pseudo bassline in the left hand, but I try to keep it fairly static to avoid competing with the bass player. Sometimes I'll jump over him and play a pedal note, but not a competing bassline. Even when playing a block chord I'm probably using fewer than six fingers in total. I'm quite fond of playing with just two fingers in each hand, or one and three. I try to avoid playing the 3rd of any chord lower than E3, and I seldom play the same shape in both hands simultaneously. If there's no bass player, my left hand is very active, jumping between zones two and three. If I'm only accompanying (full accompaniment) my LH stays in zone 2 mainly, but if I'm leading or doing a solo with no bass player, my LH pretends to be in both zones at the same time, hence my comment about jugglers and illusionists. Try playing the RH block chord exercise: iii, vi, ii, v, i, iv. eg. Em7, Am7, Dm7, G7, Cmaj7, Fmaj7 and repeating, always with four notes per chord, and always moving as little as possible to form the next chord. Play 9ths when convenient, at the expense of the root if necessary. We're assuming that you would cover the root in your left hand, or the bass player does. Typically, your RH hand will travel down the keyboard, and you should achieve two separate sets of shapes/inversions for each chord. Jump up an octave when necessary. Then try comping rhythms using this sequence and with a bassline in your left hand. Then play the chords with your LH while your RH improvises a solo. You have to imagine a bassline, or better still, record one. This is just an exercise to give you confidence and flow with voice leading in either hand. Sometimes I strum or hold two-note chords in the very centre of the piano, using my LH, while I go wild with my RH, dropping notes, ornaments, scale fragments and two-note chords all over the top half of the piano, more by feel than method. Often I close my eyes. For two-note chords I use mainly intervals of 5ths, 6ths and 7ths, and one of the two notes is always a 7th note or a 3rd note. I use the swing bass technique (pseudo stride) on some tunes, but not with a bass player. I have seen pianists do this in full bands, but ghosting the bass notes so as not to clash with the bass player. I don't use any books, but I had 1-2-1 jazz piano classes with Peter Sander in London for 18 months. Since then I've spent 30 years developing my style. I prefer to try things than to spend ages analyzing them. Our hands are clever, and they know their way home. I listen to Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Erroll Garner, Dick Hyman, Nat King Cole and whoever. Sometimes it's very hard to see or hear much on videos/recordings, but Hyman did some very explicit master classes which are on KZbin. Sorry I have no written resources to offer. Hope that some of the above is useful. (Maybe it was too basic.) I'm mainly interested in swing & straight head. It's fun playing traditional jazz too, though it requires a different approach if you want an authentic sound. I can't stress too much the difference between preparing for solo performances and preparing for band performances. Anyone serious about jazz piano gigging (even for their friends) should focus on combo/band preparation first, since solo jazz piano (with assorted tempos) is too hard in the first few years. (Even a backing track is better than going solo too soon.) And this is the main fault in most tutorials - they prepare beginners for the next to impossible. I hope to make a video on this subject.

[@Zoco101]

@@robinsarchiz Well, it was hard answering your questions without going on a long time. Sorry for the ramble. I have just remembered an exercise which may interest you a lot, since it involves both hands playing in zone 3 and maybe gives you some shapes you haven't fully exploited. It uses the same chord pattern I mentioned. LH plays bottom two notes always - starting E3, D4. RH plays top three - starting F#4, G4, B5. Play 1 bar per chord with any repetitive comping rhythmic feel you want. Notice how at first you move both thumbs only, then everything but your thumbs. E,D,F#,G,B E,C,E,G,B D,C,E,F,A D,B,D,F,A C,B,D,E,G C,A,C,E,G Notice that every second two-handed chord is rootless. Doesn't matter, particularly not if you have a bass player. There are some opportunities for dropping in 11ths on the RH on the m7 chords. Then there's a continuation downwards which goes a bit differently, starting B,G,B,D,F# (rootless Em7 with 9th on top)

[@mauryallums2898]

Adam is the consummate teacher of this music.

[@chita-mantramas2121]

Great man, thanks a lot, greetings from Chile

[@jokmong2360]

This is gold

[@bendameron9922]

But have you heard of the “danger” zone?

[@e.d.1642]

But have you heard of the worm zone ?

[@btat16]

For comping in left hand only, is it possible to include all the notes without making the sound muddy, or do you have to omit certain notes? The omissions are what always confuse me as I’m not sure which notes to prioritise to get certain sounds

[@eternalrainbow-cj3iu]

Also I have a requisr about 12 tone compositions by for instance Bill Evans...are there othets?? Is thisnused in Solo like you did with the octatonic voicing witg added chron. passing tones( I matbe got it right..)????

[@juwonnnnn]

👌

[@crimsonhawk52]

Rachmaninoff's Liebesleid does this and it pains me physically

[@arturobelano6243]

why does it pain you? the sadness?

[@btat16]

@@arturobelano6243 Because it’s difficult I suppose Edit: P.S. Rachmaninoff had big hands

[@luisdavid8441]

Chick Corea used this technique a lot.

[@miketharipr]

PDF is no good. Please fix.