How To Create Block Chords Piano On a Tune

Good morning again. This is Duane. We just completed a series of videos on right hand piano styles. We talked about I think seven different right hand styles from a single note, to octaves, to 3rds, to 6ths, to octave 3rds, and then we did stuffed octaves.

Previously to that we’d completed a series on left hand piano styles so I’d like to take a couple two-handed piano styles now. The first one I’d like to show you is called block chords.  There’s several block chord styles but this was made famous by the great jazz pianist from England, George Shearing. He had a quintet and it had a very distinctive sound. Part of the way he got that sound was he played blocked chords like this. Let me show you. Say the melody goes like this, and of course it does. He played the melody in both hands but he’d make the left hand stand out. The right hand would be a shimmering overtone in the left hand. Listen.

Take it a little slower here. What you do is you emphasize the left hand. Sometimes you can slide up to the left hand notes to give it a little emphasis. See that? I’m playing G A, but the G’s so quickly that you don’t really hear it. Whatever the tune is that you’re playing you play the melody in both hands, and under the right hand melody you fit in the notes of the chord. That’s D minor 7th; G 7th; E minor; A 7th with a flat 9th; D minor; F minor or D diminished, either one is fine; C.

Now that’s a beautiful style. However, he had the advantage of having a bass player plus a vibist. In other words, the bass players was filling in the low notes. If you play solo piano you can’t really do that so you have to lay down an established low note before or in between those. I’ll show you. Whenever you’re free, whenever you have a free beat, go down and hit a low root, whatever that is. I like to play a low 10th or even a whole chord spread out like that. In other words, on D minor I’m playing a low D with an A above it. That’s the root and the 5th. I’m going to play a third there. I push my pedal down of course before I start the melody. And so on.

That’s all there is to that Shearing block style. Now I say that’s all there is. It’s complex to play. It’s hard to make that left hand stand out and get the feeling you want but I thought you ought to know about that. Tomorrow I’ll show you another block style which was made popular by a guy named Red Garland, another jazz pianist. We’ll take that up tomorrow. Thanks for being with me. See you tomorrow. Bye bye for now.

***For lots more good stuff on piano playing come on over to my website at https://www.playpiano.com and sign up for our free piano tips – “Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions!”

Here’s a great little book on chords and chord progressions on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chords-Chord-Progressions-Exciting-ebook/dp/B0076OUGDE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404158669&sr=1-1&keywords=piano+chords+duane+shinn

_____________________________________________________________