Course Lessons
1. Beginner Whole Step 251 Drills
- 1. 1251 Progression with 3-Note Voicings11:11
- 1. 2Extended 251 Progression Drill11:22
- 1. 3251 Drill with Inner Voice Movement07:59
2. Chord Alteration Whole Step 251 Drills
- 2. 113b9 Chord Progression Drill11:55
- 2. 2Inner Voice To The b911:57
- 2. 3Sharp 11th Dominant 7 Chord Drill13:36
Course Info
In this course we explore whole step 251 drills and exercises.
Practicing 251 progressions in whole steps is a useful method to structure our practice sessions. Whole step 251s can be used in combination with the circle of fifths to improve our comprehension and retention of voicings and progressions in all 12 keys.
What Will This Course Teach Me?
Whole step 251 drills are an effective routine to quickly memorise common ways to navigate 251 progressions. The exercises in this course start with the most basic 251 built from 3-note voicings.
We then build upon these foundations with the following theoretical applications:
- Chord Extensions (9s, 11s, 13s)
- Chord Alterations (b9s, #9s, #11s, #5s/b13s)
- Inner Voice Movement (over major, minor, & dominant chords)
- Tritone Substitution & Passing Chords
- Suspended Chords & Reharmonisation
- Rootless Voicings Variations
Why Should We Learn Whole Step 251 Drills?
Once these drills and exercises have been mastered, we feel a new sense of freedom where we can clearly visualise and execute sophisticated voicings, fills, and ornamentation for 251 progressions all 12 keys. This information is then directly applicable to playing jazz standards increasing the spontaneity in our performance and arrangement skills.
The exercises in this course incorporate theory from throughout the PianoGroove lesson library and you can find in-depth theoretical tutorials on the topics in the "Related Lessons" section of each lesson in this course.
How Will This Course Benefit My Jazz Piano Playing?
The main goal in creating this course is to inspire students to follow the same process with their own harmonic and melodic material. When listening to our favourite recordings we must pick out things that we like and then transpose these pieces of ‘jazz vocabulary’ around all 12 keys.
The whole step 251 concept provides a structured framework that we can use to learn and master voicings, progressions, fills, and any material that we have transcribed from our favourite recordings.
