ISBN: 978-1-365-72480-0

Scot Ranney’s

Jazz Piano Notebookjazz piano exercises, etudes, and tricks of the trade you can use today

Volume 2 of Scot Ranney’s “Jazz Piano Notebook” series:

“latinesque”

by Scot Ranney

Scot’s Scripts

© Copyright 2017 by Scot Ranney

All rights reserved. � is publication or any portion thereof may not be repro-duced, copied, or posted on the Internet. In addition, unauthorized arranging, adapting, recording, public performance, or distribution of the printed music in this publication is prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher except for the user of brief quotations in a book review.

First Edition

www.scotsscripts.com

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The Thing About Jazz Improvisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Calypso Exercise 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Calypso Progressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Calypso Exercise 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Chico�s Revenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Calypso Exercise 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Calypso Exercise 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Technique: Modern Arpeggios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Sustain II-V-I Transition Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Sustain Circle of Fifths Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Sustain II-V-I Transition Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Four Variations on a Calypso Groove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Scales: Calypso Style! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Island Rhythm Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Latinesque II-V-I Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Latinesque Circle of Fifths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Table of Contents

“A chimpanzee could learn to do what I do physically.

But it goes way beyond that. When you play, you play

life.”

~ Jaco Pastorius

Acknowledgements:

Special thanks to my Mom, Je� Brent, Tim Richards and everyone else who has helped me keep this book on track and get it out there.

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The Thing About Jazz ImprovisationJazz is art wrapped in science and physical technique.

We practice technique so our art isn’t held back by our �ngers. We study theory and ear training so we can play the melodies and harmonies we intend to. Art happens when our tools and knowledge come together in a con-versation in the language of music.

Technique for pianists is especially important because each key on the piano feels physically di�erent for our hands. Jazz piano studies help your hands grab sounds without losing the moment by thinking about it.

For example, a 5th on a keyboard can feel completely di�erent depending on the key you’re in:

- white to white such as the keys of C and F- black to white such as the key of Bb- white to black such as the key of B- black to black such as the keys of Eb and Ab

Scales, arpeggios, patterns, and other exercises help you feel the keyboard which helps your improvisation �ow more naturally because your hands and �ngers are ready for whatever is coming next.

Technique can not be understated because good technique lets your �ngers do anything, in any key, at any speed. Mediocre technique makes everything more di�cult, especially on the piano.

How to Use �is Book

Play through it as fast as you can without worrying about comprehension. Mark interesting spots with bookmark stickers for later focus. When �nished, go back through it thorougly and work on the parts that you really need to.

Book Notes

1. Sometimes I’ve written notes like Fb instead of E. In “real life” you wouldn’t want to do this because it makes music harder to read, but here I want to write them how they are being used harmonically.

2. Most of the exercises are in 12 keys because 12 key playing is super important, especially when accompanying vocalists.

Fi�een minutes of focusing on something in 12 keys makes everything else easier.

3. �is is not a jazz piano method book, it’s a book that has musical ideas that I enjoying playing and hopefully you will enjoy playing as well!

Some of the material in this book will be challenging if you’re not used to reading music. Start slow and don’t practice mistakes. You are invited to ask any questions you might have in the forums at LearnJazzPiano.com.

Videos of the pieces: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScotRanney/playlists~Scot Ranney

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Calypso Exercise 1

A fun exercise based o� a calypso jazz piano lick.�is lick can be used as an introduction for a calypso jazz song. Monty Alexander uses something like this as an intro for the song, “Funji Mama” on the album “Triple Treat” with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis. �e original “Funji Mama” is by Blue Mitchell and is worth listening to with a young Chic Corea tearing it up on the piano. Slurs are notated in the �rst key and should be used in the same way throughout the exercise.

Scot Ranney

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�ese progresions groove and can be used to set up the band

Calypso Progressions

Work up the following four progressions in all keys. �ese are useful in many styles because they are basically rhythm changes with ascending bass lines.

Once you have these grooves under your �ngers and can play them without changing tempo, try some varia-tions. Rhythmic variations, melodic alterations, anything is cool as long as you practice the same variation over di�erent keys until you can do it without thinking.

I like to play grooves like this in 12 keys, just the groove until it �ows naturally. I don’t try improvising on this or any other groove I’m working on until �ows naturally. Once it’s �owing, I’ll start jamming on the bass pattern until I feel comfortable, then I’ll try changing the key (and always try harder keys �rst!) Sometimes I change the key by half steps, other times fourths or ��hs, no matter what, I’m always trying to keep things fresh and chal-lenging when I practice.

Scot Ranney

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Why practice all this stu�? So you can play what you hear without

your �ngers getting in the way.

“I try to play naturally at the moment and let it

happen.”

~McCoy Tyner