What's Oscar Peterson NOT Playing??!!

Go on a deeper dive with Adam Maness & Peter Martin as they breakdown an Oscar Peterson solo (along with 4 more jazz legends' solos) on “Language of the Masters”.
Support the channel AND save $30 today with this exclusive KZbin offer: openstudiojazz.link/piano-mas...
FREE PDF to follow along with this video - openstudiojazz.link/no5-2-5-pdf

[@phanjazm]

Adam is without question the best jazz instructor on KZbin!!! Note the 3 exclamation points. It's not even close. The clarity. The examples. The practice. The humor. The relevance of material. The Results!! The 5 is the 1!! Lightbulb moment!!

[@rumpelRAINS]

I was too busy wondering what Oscar was playing that I failed to even consider what he wasn't playing. Great video!

[@nanxi1211]

this brings me back to that great conversation between Andre Previn & Oscar on Art Tatum :)

[@zachlightcap2179]

🤣🤣

[@arthurrosch5378]

Jazz is an expression of personal achievement. It is intellectual and spiritual athleticism combined with grace of perception. What a jazz musician finds is a form so deep and inclusive that it sucks into itself all the world’s music and sublimates these musics into an idiom that blends blues and improvisation. A practitioner of jazz is much like a yogi or monk who undertakes a life of contemplation. When musicians arrive together to make music they bring their valise of masteries, their real and fake books, their tools and tuners. Nowadays we have no guides except jazz musicians. The world may not know this. But WE do.

[@amotinyabongo5659]

I have loved Oscar since college days when I first started my piano journey...

[@bobblues1158]

It says " AMEN" to me. It is church to me. Also Ray Bryant and Junior Mance. These guys never talked about the"blues scale , they played it . I am 77 and i never heard the term blues scale used in the milieu i came up in But it is great that we have names for the sounds of this wonderful music. You guys are really a gift to music by sharing your knowledge , insight, and love for music!!

[@wesm65]

I find this very much to be the approach of Charlie Christian in the A sections of tunes: most of what he played was major pentatonic with added flattened third and blues language based on the tonic, almost oblivious to the chord changes - very much simple Swing Era language - but it sounds wonderful!! He outlined the changes in the bridge in those wonderful eight note lines (foreshadowing bebop), wheras in the A section he played simpler, rhythmical ideas - wonderful tension and release. Similar to Lester Young, who is reputed to be his greatest influence. Christian's live version of Stompin' At The Savoy, illustrates this, as far as I recall.

[@johnrothfield6126]

I think of the blues scale as the major scale plus the flat third. "old school"

[@mintygreen8760]

Yeah - also check out Charlie Christian's solo on Lady Be Good

[@maxvoloshin_nefariousaquarius]

This is something I'd expect more from rock and blues players, but he makes it work great in jazz.

[@michaelshark1]

Loved this tutorial Adam, awesome breakdown of Oscar's tonic use of the II V, please do more Oscar tutorials in the future, we learn so much from studying and listening to him.

[@DARKLYLIT]

So amazing and beautiful. I saw Oscar 40 years ago in Toronto. At the time, I didn't know what I was listening to, but it blew my mind all the same. So much JOY in his playing! Thanks for breaking it down for us. Cheers from Canada! :)

[@DojoOfCool]

Great lesson. Adam explains and demonstrates the key bits to listen to so well.

[@pianoman_JP]

Excellent session Adam, thank you for all you do!

[@HernanGnesutta]

ADAMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! THE ONE!!!! Thanks for ALL of you AMAZING work for us!!! :- ) Greetings from Argentina!

[@thomassiebenhuhner4062]

Just BRILLIANT! You removed the complexity and made the idea of "Heavy Tonic" over the II V direct and straight from the heart. There's no better example than Oscar Peterson (except Clark Terry, perhaps). Awesome video. Thanks, Adam.

[@tomkirvin4571]

You're the best, Adam! Thanks for this.

[@anneonym7346]

Adam, you are doing great bro ! So much difference between teachers that are "teachers" , and teachers that are musicians ! Life, love, and uplifting feel ! Great channel, love you guys ❤️ 🎶 !

[@andyquinn1125]

Strength of melody rules. A year or so ago satellite radio had a short-lived 40s show for a few months. Jazz ruled the era, and it was the best education on jazz I've ever had. Listening to all those terrific bands, singers, and hearing all the solos was very satisfying. One of the things I learned, or rather it drove home this point, was this topic right here. You'll hear this in everything from bluegrass to dixieland to Getz, etc. Strength of melody, anticipation, call it what you will. It works. (The other thing listening to the 40s channel reminded me was that Benny Goodman's groove is like few others. A virtuoso nonpareil. Go listen to him.) Great lesson professor!

[@federicomelo1853]

"The flat 3rd that is in our souls" There should be a T shirt with that.

[@cdpmusics80]

This is such a great video. Thank you.

[@xdman2956]

top notch content and analysis here. thanks!

[@nadim4343]

Great job, loved it

[@victorpetermusic]

great and inspiring video. Thank you!

[@gregggeoffroy3794]

Awesome and concise. Thank you, always.

[@TonyWinston]

You guys are good!

[@melvincassii3359]

That C Jam solo is masterful. I'm sure you could get another 3 videos out of it, and I'd gladly watch them all

[@sonicmuse]

Killer lesson, Adam!

[@utahlivebands1753]

Interesting analysis. I personally think he bounces a lot back and fourth between really hitting changes and just playing melodic ideas and lots of bluesy stuff. My thought is he probably wasn't thinking in his head that he was anticipating the I chord but rather just heard a nice resolving melody in his head and played it. He will sometimes just play tonic material over an entire II V I, particularly if there is bluesy material or blues scaled oriented stuff

[@tofuleg]

Awesome, great video!

[@dragolov]

Thank you, Adam Maness!

[@kbstabs5982]

Really great video, Adam. Of course the material you had to work with is not too shabby but you bring a lot to it.

[@ccbyt1]

Great analysis for those of us who need it

[@humblemai2211]

Please make more tutorial about jazz piano Oscar Peterson...Thanks

[@inBeni]

MJF PRAHA 1969, Bobby Durham syncs so Hard with Sam Jones, and OP was always the band leader, by his nurture of the piano

[@andrewcampbell2903]

Mike , I really hope that your wonderful playing , which is prolific , will be preserved for posterity in this medium , but also via cd and audio files etc . Listening to this relaxed , warm swinging playing of music that is timeless must be great for the health and well-being of your devoted listeners . I hope that somehow , music like this , which is part of the best that America has produced , can ssurvive all that the planet will have to go through into the future .

[@andrewcampbell2903]

Sorry , this comment was supposed to attach to Mike Reed's organ channel .

[@fredericdesalpes5824]

Super and great vidéo,,thank you again Adam , you are à wondreful coach ,,greetings from France ,,Fred / Nice ,French Riviera

[@stephanleo]

Great info! I did not realize what exactly Oscar did, but the sound was familiar.

[@insidejazzguitar8112]

Loved that! I always pay close attention to your channel, and I don’t even play piano. I’ve been transcribing Charlie Parker lately, and I noticed he does this kind of thing at times too😊

[@davidrowe3966]

Cool man. Helps a lot. THANKS!

[@harmonicparadox2055]

Some of the examples are just him outlining a cadential 6/4. Comes from gospel cadences, which comes from classical era harmony. The "tonic" notes are really just suspensions, if he chooses to treat it that way.

[@emilmelander4732]

Amazing content bro!

[@ivolime]

perfectly in time. i was in a deep conflict finding all my 2-5 vocabulary really boring

[@therewillbejazz]

Best lesson i v ever seen. Ty💜

[@arpadternei6991]

Made my day!😁😎 Thank you!

[@jeremyellismusic]

Excellent.

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

I love this sound and this lesson, cheers. Oscar's definitely "naturalizing" his blues (whether it's actual blues changes or not), where he's closer to a one-scale-fits-all, natural blues vocabulary.

[@harryblue9502]

Hey ...im new to learning jazz 🔊 bass from having played rock n metal for 40 years... Dear gosh just walking over a 3-6-2-5-1 is sending my old brain into meltdown ...your lessons are absolutely inspiring --

[@ultraparadoxical7610]

Hey, I’ve been a professional guitar player since the late 80s. Just wanted to say, I really enjoy your videos!

[@bucksmusic]

That Eb section with Clark Terry defines what I love about Oscar Peterson. As you said Adam "How great is that"! One of the things about that particular example is that it's generating excitement. You just know that Oscar will take harder and faster in the next chorus!

[@ogy619]

have you ever noticed that oscar, and others playing in this style, seem to think of the blues over 2 octaves with the minor blues in the top octave and major blues (major pentatonic) in the lower octave?

[@donbreithaupt4700]

Superb insight, clearly expressed. Only thing Adam didn't mention is how FIERCELY Oscar's swinging in every example!

[@curiouscurious6558]

thank you so much for what you do! Could what youre talking about be the New Orleans jazz blues influence in his Oscar's playing??

[@slapmyfunkybass]

Interesting analysis, could we say though he’s simply treating it as a 7sus to 7th? So for the first composition it’s G7sus to G7 to tonic, which explains the use of the 4th note, in this case C?

[@inyokutse]

All blues players from back in the day played like that..it's an extremely common sound that you don't really hear as much since the 70s..I feel like they were just thinking major pentatonic with the blue notes added (b3, b5, b7)

[@johnlight817]

Right. In fact I recently transcribed Wynton Kelly's solo (from the 50's, I think?) on "This I Dig of You" (from Hank Mobley's Soul Station album), and he plays the final II-V-I on the first chorus just using tonic blues ideas, nothing more. Sounds great. But now that I know what I'm hearing (Thanks Adam!), I can use it myself.

[@humblemai2211]

Love you much

[@yansendelacuesta555]

OSCAR PETERSON IS THE LEGENDARY PIANIST THAT MAKES BLUES SCALE AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL AND ALWAYS MAKES IT SOUND VERY EXCITING NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES ITS PLAYED IN HIS SOLO

[@samukacartes]

Oscar was able to transform bossa nova in blues, really genius and great artist !

[@xaverk]

Not „to spell out all the single chords“, that is one of Adam’s key sentences here, in my opinion. No one of the jazz pioneers did this. Fixation on scales and modes can thoroughly spoil the fun of improvisation.

[@UltraLeetJ]

tatum had done similar things before with his use of pentanonics

[@hugomusicpianog]

It could be a good example the third part of the standard "Get Happy" and the "dominant chain"?

[@downpatmusic]

Oscar looked for every opportunity to sub in a dominant 9 chord.

[@fsffs2413]

When I see Oscar playing I wonder if he ever thought of any definitions at all or whether he just played the notes he grabbed from the universe or elsewhere, especially because he's first singing what he's playing. Maybe that's the reason he's so authentic. When I started improvising about 40 years ago, of course I did as I was told, practicing scales and sticking to them. The problem was that I was so busy concentrating on not playing "false" notes that I didn't even have time to come up with anything like a melody or statement or idea, whatever it was. I was kind of running late behind the harmonies. This only improved when I sort of freed myself from the theory and just started playing. Now I am an amateur, not even a good one and nobody ever bothered with finding out and labelling what I possibly have played through all these years but I'm quite sure they would come up with findings that never were intended. I'm not trying to be rude, let alone compare myself to any of those masters of all time. And I surely appreciate the great work you've been doing again and which, again, influenced me and will in the future. Many humble thanks.

[@dashiellcole8901]

adam, if your reading this. your awesome

[@nezkeys79]

8:29 The LH playing the 5th with a grace note. I hear this all the time in his playing

[@deportedtocanada1944]

Love weirdness! I hear it! I'm a drummer. Thanks for explaining.

[@craigmunn9669]

This plays into an idea that has helped me with ii-Vs. Learning a ii-V-I is a lot easier if you think of it in the final key the whole time, instead of “switching keys” throughout. For example the correct version of The Lick would be “re-mi-fa-so-mi-do-re” and NOT “fa-so-la-te-mi-fa-so.” It may sound silly to think of The Lick that way but I’m sure many others like myself have wasted time thinking of ii-Vs like this in general. Hope this comment helps someone! Great video as always.

[@JS-dt1tn]

This type of stuff is so important, now more than ever. An overactive harmony brain has made jazz think it must play every single chord with the band. No man!! The band is already playing that shit, the question is, where are they headed, and can you get there beforehand? Like laying on the tonic. Let the band move around you! Adds depth, and keeps it fresh

[@davidwhite2949]

Love Oscar’s double stops

[@leegollin4417]

Its all about the II chord.

[@leegollin4417]

Also see all the big blues changes as tonic scales. C mix for the I, C dorian for the IV and C ionian for the V chord.

[@minguseyes7475]

Is this what George Russel would call horizontal improvisation as opposed to vertical?

[@rautshsale1948]

what the h happened to the video podcast of you'll hear it? did it go behind a paywall? did i miss the announcement?

[@dr.brianjudedelimaphd743]

Lester Young is the master of this horizontal playing style

[@anneonym7346]

I was on my way to write something like this, but you did it before 😝 😘 !

[@dr.brianjudedelimaphd743]

@@anneonym7346 ahhhh, we are in sync

[@djginza]

No 5. 2 -5 great name for it! You are the Barry Harris of the 21st century ! Haha..I was just listening to "bags groove" the other night and was thinking that's strange he's just blue-sing up the turnarounds left and right.. there's no rigid be bop turns

[@yasumasakumagai3039]

You sound good,too when explain man

[@boboscurse4130]

You guys are amazing! Are there any coupon codes towards your annual subscription? I'm poor. LOL

[@anneonym7346]

Yes, Black Friday ! Great deal !

[@boboscurse4130]

@@anneonym7346 Is that this Friday? :)

[@YoshiNishio]

Herb Ellis loved ll7 instead of iim7 for ll V l like Peterson. Peterson was one of the greatest musicians who were not the slave of jazz theory. His tone was more like singer's who did not know the theory. Ella was like that too. Instruments did not determine the jazz lines but your heart and soul.

[@Ken-gf1vb]

to me its his rhythmic mastery

[@mahlonstrachan8075]

Behold, my eyes are open 👀

[@FWPiano]

I think Oscar was thinking blues rather than tonic, but I still dig this perspective and its legitimacy nonetheless.

[@NomeDeArte]

4:56 Fly me to the moon...

[@jazzmatazz4740]

He is playing a top note at 15:10 ln those triplets, isn’t he?

[@quentinmorales]

Well spotted!

[@nezkeys79]

Sounds like a mix of the blues scale, and the pentatonic scale, and the blues scale is literally a minor pentatonic scale with a #4 / b5. Obviously playing natural pentatonic outlines the 6 chord Great sound

[@akoolstik]

idk, can we say blues turn arounds are awesome?

[@johnrothfield6126]

He's playing the blues

[@vova47]

The answer is simple - the accordion.

[@squabknob]

you got a serious gvibe going

[@ThaiNitai]

G vibezzzz 😂❤

[@jmags5332]

This an Albert King thing as well

[@GizzyDillespee]

😂ya gotta watch til at least past fifteen fifty three, but I'm not timestamping it because I think it's worth it to watch the video all the way thru when you get the chance. (I'm a different Adam, not the version from the video, so as not to be confusing. Maybe I'll add my last initial to my name)

[@dalibormatesa1042]

Ostinato.

[@slaneyaudio1948]

The No 5 2-5 is the same as a 2 legged milking stool.

[@rileymerino6340]

Banjo player here; drilling G sounds over D is literally the whole thing and you’re a bad banjo player if you don’t get that 😡

[@stevekap8]

How can you have a 2 5 without a 5. Start with that, so we know what you are taking about.

[@belindadrake5487]

OSCAR IS GOD🎹✨😈

[@timhedgesmusiccomposer2861]

I did listen to this video but I decided just before the end to pull out of it and make this comment and that is why are Americans so pragmatic about detail that doesn’t mean absolutely anything at all because when Oscar Peterson played that piano he wasn’t thinking about anything that this man was talking about whatsoever he was just playing the piano in a different way every time and this man is just trying to make something big of something that was just a walk in the park for somebody who knew what Music was and did various changes every now and again to make it possible To entertain people he wasn’t consciously thinking of doing any of these things that’s been laid down in this video it’s absolutely ridiculous to break every single thing down pragmatically like Americans continue to do on a daily basis with almost everything looking at the ins and outs of a duck s ass Americans need to undress everything I don’t know why this is but it will seem to have the same problem why don’t you just show the basics and not for us through the whole 9 yards of pragmatic American reverse engineering of just about anything that they want to reverse engineer it’s bizarre honestly to watch these people

[@andsalomoni]

"Notes don't matter", so who cares?

[@MaurycyHartman]

This is so over-analysed... I don't see a deliberate thought apart from the penultimate one

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

The deliberate thought though, was to not use standard ii-V-I vocabulary but instead keep it major / bluesy. Oscar Peterson knew harmony inside out and backwards so this would definitely have been a deliberate choice for a certain type of sound. Analysis is how we get a glimpse into the mind of a master, so I'm not even sure that over-analysis is even a thing.

[@MaurycyHartman]

@@blow-by-blow-trumpet I am not doubting anyones knowledge, just questioning wether this particular choice of musical vocabulary is a result of a complex study process in favor of one's intuition, which is similiarly impressive. Maybe a simple "have an open mind and invent your own lines" message was lacking from the video for me, because impersonating, transcribing and dry theory can only get you so far.

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

@@MaurycyHartman Vocabulary is very important in Jazz improvisation. Every jazz improvisor, from Louis Armstrong to Herbie Hancock, has built up a library of vocab (usually short licks that can be used as building blocks within an improvisation) that they draw on. One really important piece of vocab is the ii-V-I lick. All jazz musicians know many many variations of these licks and practice them in all 12 keys. It is not impersonating. It is language. Usually, when I play a jazz blues, I try to nail a ii-V-I lick over bars 9-11. What this video tells me is that, to sound more like OP, I can play tonic vocab or just continue the blues line over that section. That is not dry theory. It is actionable information. I think you are underestimating the amount of practice we put into learning how to improvise and how much like a language it is at the pro level.

[@MaurycyHartman]

@@blow-by-blow-trumpet Fair point. I say, different musicians have different approaches and that's okay. Have a nice day!

[@anneonym7346]

You don't see ? Well get some glasses, or ears ! No i't's not "over analysed". You also wrote "Maybe a simple "have an open mind and invent your own lines", that is typical phrase that misses the point . Heard that phrase thousand of times, biggest BS that is floating around since decades. Just ridiculous ! Misses the whole point of éducation, musical culture, influence and more. Dude, whatever a musician comes from, a gypsy player that can not read a note or even a chord, or a "well educated" musician, they all have been influenced by other musicians. Same for all styles of music ! « "have an open mind and invent your own lines" will not lead anywhere on the path , just an empty BS that people repeat like parrots. Not serious, not real .