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u/Kettlefingers

▲ 2 r/JazzPiano

Boogaloos that lend themselves well to piano trio

Title says it all - I love playing a boogaloo, where I get to be the funky drummer and play a part really well, but I feel like most songs that are traditionally played as a boogaloo end up pinning your left hand down rather than making it the bass part, and I want to have the harmonic freedom to not have to hold down the bottom end all the time.

So, do any of y'all have particular tunes you like to play for this kind of vibe that can be malleable in this way?

Thanks for your thoughts :)

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u/Kettlefingers — 6 days ago
▲ 36 r/JazzPiano

Why your bebop isn't developing how you want it

Just some thoughts from someone who has spent a decent amount of time studying bebop and trying to get an authentic sound:

There are so many tutorials on YouTube that purport to teach you bebop, meanwhile the people showing it have the corniest, "hub-ba-hub-ba"st eighth note feel, *and it doesn't sound like bebop*!!

Listen to players like Barry Harris and Tommy Flanagan - their feel makes clear that they have dance moves. Barry Harris talked about going to hear jazz always at dance halls, and I think this is extremely relevant.

All of the theory around knowing when to play what notes is certainly important to being able to play bebop, but you will sound goofy as hell without the authentic phrasing that the real cats had.

Here's a clip of Barry playing Woody'n You and showing this concept of having "dance moves":

https://youtu.be/-JIhv6sjqew?si=JcS49VPUqIPXlmbB

Tl;Dr: if you're trying to play bebop better, you probably need to focus more on your time feel than your note choice

u/Kettlefingers — 6 days ago