What if Bill Evans wrote "Giant Steps?"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2024
- A jazz piano lesson on "Giant Steps" to help you develop your own unique style of playing jazz piano!
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Have you ever noticed how in the jazz world, we tend to play each tune like the most famous player who's associated with that tune? So, if you play a Duke Ellington tune, you tend to play it like Duke Ellington, or a Parker tune, you tend to play it just like Charlie Parker.
In one sense there's nothing wrong with that, because we learn by assimilating those styles and everything. But that's not what those people themselves did. Duke Ellington did not play Ellington tunes like Ellington himself did. They did an album together so you can hear it for yourself. Parker didn't play other people's tunes like they did, he played it like Charlie Parker.
So eventually, you want to discover your own style. And one way you can begin to loosen the stylistic hold these composers have on us is to play a tune intentionally like somebody else.
For instance, most people play John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" like Coltrane himself did. At a fast tempo and with a million notes. But what if Bill Evans had composed "Giant Steps?" It would be the same tune, but we'd all be playing it very differently.
Give it a try. See if you can play "Giant Steps" in the style of Bill Evans. Or Duke Ellington or any of your other favorite jazz musicians. This exercise will bring you to different places musically. Then, when you see how these tunes aren't fixed in one certain way, then you can ask yourself how you yourself really want to play that tune. This will enable you to begin to express your uniqueness through a tune like "Giant Steps." Now that's something you can really study.
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Lmao algorithm thinks this is another meme video on giant steps.
The wrong passenger got on the train... but it was a good one actually.
@@OscarGeronimo nice
it also knows how much bill evans i listened to today
What if bill evans wrote giant steps - miles would have said, that he had written it 😂
Ha! Good one, and possibly true!!!!!!
Also...has any of you ever thought of Bill playing "Naima" or "Waltz for Ruth"? Let that sink in...
Ciro Casarin Naima is not so far away.
I don't understand the reference could somebody kindly explain please?
@@thecognacsipper Bill wrote Blue in Green for the Kind of Blue album but it was eventually credited exclusively to Davis, who only had a minimal part in its writing. When Evans requested royalties from the song, Davis payed him a 25 dollar cheque.
Oh Ron !!!! You have DONE it Sir ! Yaaay!
Thank you so much!
Ahhhh, this was incredible - you totally got Bill Evans' style down! Great little lesson here
Glad you liked this, Greyson! I actually had to stop listening to Bill Evans when I was in college, because I was starting to always sound like a "not-so-great fake Bill Evans." Now I can go back and enjoy his music without sounding so much like him. Give it a try yourself with Giant Steps.
That was an astonishingly good Bill impression. Nice job
Thanks! I spent about 10 years playing on Broadway and working with actors, so doing a Bill Evans impression was fun.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone so lovingly emulate what Bill's approach is. I thought it not possible, as mostly it just comes across as a caricature, too much effort. But not this one, this one was spot on. Bravo. I love it.
Thanks Matt, that's a wonderful thing to say :)
Perhaps the most instructive jazz video I've seen. Soooo great. Thank you!
Thanks Brian. I had fun with this one!
Bravo
Is right! There’s a young guy one TH-cam who plays Giant Steps in the style of Chopin. 😉
Love it, can you do a recording of a full length improv cover?
Great advice and wisdom...Thanks Ron...
Thanks Paul. Give it a try, on any tune you know well.
Wow - very cool to see the same tune played in such different styles...
Wow you really nailed Evans’ angle and approach! What a delight! Great insight.
Thanks :)
Great hearing that.
Give it a try! Or on another tune.
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Genius!
I've watched this way to many times!
Great lesson - thank you for this!
Thanks taopagan!!!
Really great work and a fun idea I’m going to think about. Such a wonderful interpretation of Bill evans. His rhythm is so unique and something that continually pulls my ear in and you got it!
Thanks Brian! It's fun to explore these things, and then we can ask ourselves, "How would I play this in my own way?" Just like Bill Evans and John Coltrane did?
Omg so accurate! Really nice
Thanks Ahmet - it's fun to try things like this :)
nice bro
What a wonderful video!
Thanks Omer - I had a lot of fun doing my Bill Evans impersonation! Give it a try yourself :)
@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 Haha indeed! I'm trying to do that every day, he is my favorite :)
@@OmerVexler Hmmm... maybe you have to hunch over more! lol
This is an amazing interpretation of Giant Steps in Bill's style. I'd love to transcribe this at some point, do you happen to already have this transcribed somewhere or was it completely impromptu?
Thanks! It was just impromptu, but I'd love to see a copy if you do transcribe it.
Nice
Thanks fantasmarius!
🎼🎹🎼👊🏼👏👏👏👏
Thanks!!!
The impression was out of this world, bravo!
Thanks Miguel, I appreciate that very much. Give it a try yourself :)
Next play Giant Steps like Ravel!!
That's for you to figure out! :)
@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 check out ravel ondine :) he uses the same changes but in minor its so wild! Thank you for replying.
@@Tabu11211 Great piece! I have that in a book of Ravel's music I used to play through. Yes, Ravel influenced much of jazz, at first through the stride pianists like Willie The Lion Smith and also through silent movie music which Ellington and all the early songwriters heard.
I wonder how Keith Jarrett would play this tune. I don’t think he ever recorded this tune, but it would be really interesting to hear his rendition.
That's interesting to think about. He tends to avoid these kind of tunes, but I agree that it would be fascinating to hear him play it!
Nice playing. . A barrage of notes is a style that can be overdone. It's fun to do do the Donna Lee a full speed' but that is a choice and I like to see variety. I play a classical guitar piece like Bourree
in E minor, but prefer to change it up. Like to throw a little classical gas in. A little Blue grass lick thrown in ala Brent Mason style is fun. and refreshing.
Definitely! Good idea with the Bouree :)
You obviously listened to a lot of Bill Evans to capture his essence. That was definitely bill’s style
Thanks, Chuck. I actually had to stop listening to him when I was younger, because everyone seemed to be imitating him in a very surface-y way. Now I can listen to him without directly copying.
KeyboardImprov Yes you’re right, many did try to copy his style, the same thing with other great players of other instruments. A million sax players tried to sound and play like bird, but no one really could. I forgot to ask you if you listen to Keith Jarrett very much. Keith is my all time favorite pianist, and very difficult for others to copy his style. He’s just a monster that in my opinion no one comes even close to. I never get tired of listening to his wonderful playing.
@@chuckc7375 Agreed! And yes, Keith Jarrett is my favorite, although I love many others almost the same. Ellington too. It's better to learn from Keith's approach, and not copy his specific style.
KeyboardImprov You’re absolutely right, it is better to learn from his approach then to try and copy his style. I’m a drummer myself and been influenced by many drummers, but I try very hard not to focus too much on my favorite drummers. I believe every player should ultimately find their own way on their instrument without trying to play just like their favorite musicians.
I wonder if Bill Evans ever did play it ?
Probably in private, when practicing. I think most musicians would have checked it out at some point. Especially since he had played with Coltrane in Miles Davis's group.
Freak of nature
I didn't know mark ruffalo was god at jazz piano?
You didn't? :)
Plot twist: he did
Ha!
Can anyone describe what makes it Bill Evansy?
Great question! Can you find one or more specific points of contrast between the Coltrane approach and the way I played it like Evans?
@@rondrotoskeyboardimprov9453 I mean, some of it I think is that people play Giant Steps like they're playing a single note instrument, even if they're not, and you've got this complicated rhythmic interaction between the hands.
To some extent I think Giant Steps is just a really extreme example of people imitating the most famous recording, because I think Giant Steps still befuddles people. There's this great Barry Harris video about it which actually in my sidebar right now where he complains about how everyone plays Giant Steps the same way and not very musically. I think the changes come so fast and are so unusual that people don't know what to do with it besides play a bunch of arpeggios. And then you end up sounding like Coltrane.
@@aravartanian7578 You've made an excellent analysis, Ara! To play it like Bill Evans, you just have to identify a few elements of Evan's style and mimic them. Like playing with a softer touch, rounding out the phrases, playing chords in the LH to accent the phrases in the way that Evans does, and, most importantly of all, using Evans' technique of rhythmically displacing the phrases, which he learned from Thelonious Monk. Give it a try!
too short!
Thanks a lot for this video, too much traditionnal jazz nazi want you to play a certain way cause THEY think its a rule to play just like in the 40s or 50s, but as you said people from this area were not thinking like that at all.
Exactly!
Coltrane immediately objected from the grave, he’d rather have Garland or Tyner cover GS.😉
...but he didn't.
Cigarette missing.
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