Playing in 12-8
With
Tim RichardsTim Richards introduces playing in 12/8, a compound time signature where each beat divides into three, using the piece 'Gospel Groove'.
What's in the course
29 lessons (1h 19m) · 1 free
01. Playing the roots
2:34
02. Two-feel bass line
2:26
03. Two-feel bass line (performance)
1:12
04. Guide tones
3:00
05. Two-feel bass with guide tones (performance)
1:06
06. Adding right-hand chords
2:37
07. Two-feel bass with chords (performance)
1:08
08. Walking bass lines
5:31
09. Walking bass line (performance)
2:12
10. Chordal rhythms
5:05
11. Rootless voicings
5:15
12. Walking bass line with rootless chords (performance)
1:10
Lesson transcript
Gospel Groove: Understanding the 128 Field
The next piece, Gospel Groove, is in a 128 field. Before we tackle this, let's discuss what that means.
What is a 128 Field?
- Compound Time Signature: 128 is a compound time signature, meaning that the beat is divided into three.
- Instead of counting 1, 2, 3, 4, you could count 1 Anna, 2 Anna, 3 Anna, 4 Anna.
This count resembles triplets; however, there won't be any triplet signs.
Advantages of Notating in 12/8
- The example we played in the last lesson, which went like this in Swing Quavers, could be notated in 12/8 without requiring any triplet signs.
- It would look like this:
- 1, 2 and 3, 4 and 1
- or
- 1 and a 2, 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a 1.
Practicing The Groove
Let's play three, dividing the beat into three, like we did with our vamp from the last lesson.
- I'm just playing the two feel in the left hand.
- If I add some connecting notes on the third beat of the bar, it really lifts that groove and makes it sound much more 128.
I'll do that now.
Loosening Up
If you have such a strong bassline, you actually don't need to play all the triplets.
- By leaving that bass line in place and revisiting the rhythms we played earlier, we can loosen up a little bit without losing the 128 feel.
This is what we'll be doing in Gospel Groove around a chord sequence very similar to tunes you may have heard by Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin, like Drown in My Own Tears.
29 lessons
1h 19m of structured video lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Critically acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Tim Richards is one of Britain’s most experienced jazz educators, teaching piano privately for over 30 years, as well as at Morley College, Goldsmiths College, the University of Surrey, Premises Studios and other venues in the UK and abroad. He has produced numerous titles for Schott Music, including the best-selling two-volume Exploring Jazz Piano, Blues, Boogie & Gospel Collection and the acclaimed Improvising Blues Piano. He is also co-author, with John Crawford, of Exploring Latin Piano and Brazilian Piano Collection.
More recently Schott have published Jazz, Latin & Modern Collection (15 pieces for solo piano), comprising Tim Richards originals alongside pieces by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and the two volume set Beginning Jazz Piano (now a two-part MusicGurus course).
“The real joy of Tim’s music… is that it is both hugely educational but also such great fun to play. Anyone with the slightest interest in learning to play or teach jazz piano should really acquire a set of Tim’s books.” PianoDao
As a performer Tim has been a presence on the UK jazz scene since the 1980s, also playing the blues with UK and US legends such as Otis Grand, Earl Green, Dana Gillespie, Larry Garner, Joe Louis Walker and Mojo Buford. He has released over a dozen albums as a leader (featuring many of London’s best jazz musicians including Pete King, Gilad Atzmon, Tony Kofi, Jason Yarde, Seb Rochford, Ed Jones, Dick Pearce and many others), and toured all over Europe with line-ups ranging from duo to nine-piece. His latest recording, the album ‘Telegraph Hill’ by the six-piece Hextet, was described in The Observer as "A true joy from beginning to end".
More info can be found on his website www.timrichards.ndo.co.uk
