Hayden Hill
Hayden founded PianoGroove in 2015 with the goal of making the world a more musical place. He shares his love for jazz piano through his online courses and manages the community area of PianoGroove.
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Seminar Description
Seminar Description
In tandem with our new course launch, we explore stride piano technique, chord voicings, fills, and improvisation for the jazz ballad “The Nearness Of You”.
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Ballad Fills, Runs, & Improv
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Loved the lesson Hayden. Thanks again
Thanks Karl, I am half way through uploading the new course and lesson pages.
I will post a comment here once it is finished.
Cheers,
Hayden
Here’s the first draft of the course Karl: https://pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/ballad-voicings-fills-improv/
I still need to upload the improv module which will be ready early next week, and the PDF downloads are in production.
Cheers,
Hayden
I caught a brief comment about using the blues scale/s in improv before the video turned off, and I’d like to know more details, please.
It still won’t run the next day, am traveling, but wonder why it won’t run on a fairly new iPhone….
Hi Karen,
Thanks for letting me know about this.
I have updated the video so it should play for you now without issues.
Please let me know if I can help further and enjoy the seminar!
Cheers,
Hayden
Great session Hayden just finished this really enjoyed the blues additions and the passing chords..
Steve
Thanks Steve, I’m really glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
The full course is almost uploaded to the website. In these lessons I cover the concepts of this seminar in much more detail. I have added most of the lessons and I am currently populating the pages in the improv module with descriptions, practice tips, and other information. Here is the new course page where you can dive right in:
https://pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/ballad-voicings-fills-improv/
I’m aiming to have the demonstrations from all lessons notated by the end of the month and available in PDF format in the ‘downloads’ section of each page.
Cheers,
Hayden
Hi Hayden, You mentioned a new jazz course, starting at the beginner level, but I can’t find it in the beginner area. What’s the name of the new course, please?
Thanks, Karen
Hi Karen 👋
Yes here is the course: https://pianogroove.com/jazz-piano-lessons/ballad-voicings-fills-improv/
Let me know if I can help further!
Talk soon,
Hayden
Hi Hayden, when you put these fills in, is it important to count the beats that it’s still fitting in 4/4 time or can they go beyond that in a ballad?
Hi Rachel,
Great question!
When I play solo piano I do ‘pull and push’ on the time and play ‘rubato’ quite heavily in certain sections.
This is more of a personal preference, and I find that it sometimes allows me to play a little more expressively.
When we are playing solo piano, we do have complete control over the time and so we certainly have the liberty to play more ‘freely’ – should we desire to do so.
You will hear some solo piano players who stick to a solid pulse, whereas other players drift in and out of time. In many ways it’s a matter of personal preference.
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On the other hand if we are performing with other musicians – whether that’s a ballad or medium/up-tempo performance – then keeping solid time is much more important.
I’d recommend to practice both approaches.
For example you could play this song with a backing track app. I highly recommend “Quartet App” for that, here’s the download link: https://www.quartetapp.com/ – The “Nearness Of You” backing track included in “Quartet 1 Pack” is great.
“Quartet 1” Pack is $19.99 one time fee and the backing tracks are fantastic. The single purchase allows you to install it on multiple devices… I have it on my iPad and my MacBook and I use it almost daily for working on my in-tempo playing. PianoGroove is not affiliated with them by the way, but I highly recommend their app.
You can set the instruments so of course you would remove the piano and just keep the drums and bass. It also has the option to keep the lead instrument (saxophone) which can be fun to practice accompaniment.
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I hope that helps Rachel, and please let me know if you have any follow up questions.
Cheers,
Hayden
PS. This YouTube musician is a good example of someone who plays rubato jazz piano very tastefully: https://www.youtube.com/user/PianistaItaliano – he creates a laid back /cocktail piano style vibe which I really like!