Descending bass Lines
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Tim Richards
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31 lessons (1h 44m) · 1 free
Lesson transcript
Music Lesson: Sentimental Mood
Introduction to the Bridge
So we talked about the bridge in "Sentimental Mood," which goes to the key of D flat.
Understanding the A Section
I should have mentioned that the A section starts out, and the whole of the rest of the tune is in D minor or F major, the relative major. It starts in D minor.
Exploring Chord Movement
You remember we moved the top note of the minor chord in "White Russian," when we went in G minor. Well, now we're going to move the bottom note of the chord.
- D
- Then the D bass note becomes C sharp,
- Becomes C,
- Becomes B.
Contrapuntal Elaboration
So both of these devices have a fancy name. Actually, I've never heard a musician use this name, but you see it in theory books: Contrapuntal Elaboration of Static Harmony.
This is a fancy way of saying it's basically D minor, but we're playing lots of different types of D minor.
- D minor
- D minor major 7
- D minor 7
- D minor 6
I put that note on the bottom of the chord.
Different Perspectives on the First Four Bars
There are various ways of thinking of the first four bars of this tune:
-
You could just think of it as D minor for two bars and then G minor for two bars.
-
Or you could think of elaborating each of those chords.
- The D minor could become G7,
- And the G minor could become C7.
These are two other ways of doing exactly the same thing as this descending bass line, which also happens on G.
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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
