5 Ways to Play Like Robert Glasper

Keyboard Guitar Player Bass Player Electronic Musician Guitar Aficianado Guitar World Mi Pro Music Week Revolver More... AV/PRO AUDIO Audio Media Audio Pro AV Technology Installation Mix Pro Sound News Pro Sound News Europe Residential Systems BROADCAST/RADIO/TV/VIDEO Broadcast & Production Digital Video Government Video Licensing.biz Radio Magazine Radio World CONSUMER ELECTRONICS/GAMING Bike Biz Develop MCV Mobile Entertainment PCR Toy News EDUCATION Edu Wire School CIO Tech & Learning Pubs Guitar Player

Search Keyboardmag.com

Search Keyboardmag.com Mi piace

1,7 mila

Follow @keyboardmag Gear Artists Lessons Blogs Video Store

Subscribe! Search Keyboardmag.com

Gear Gear Keys and Synths Artists Virtual Instruments LessonsLive and Studio Blogs Accessories Video News Store Contests!

Synthogy Presents a Very Special Upgrade Offer in September

Subscribe!

Korg Announces MicroKORG-S

Native Instruments Releases Komplete 11, Komplete 11 Ultimate, and Komplete 11 Select Artists Features Reviews News

Extended Interview: Dave Smith

Joseph Schillinger - A Brief Look at His Life and His Theoretical system

Kongos Talk About Flying With Gear Lessons Play Like … Theory Technique How To Keyboard 101 Style

Weekend Chops Builder: Piano Giants of Jazz - George Shearing

Weekend Chops Builder: Pop Organ Workshop - Touch, Tone, Rhythm Tips

Weekend Chops Builder: Piano Giants of Jazz - Erroll Garner Blogs Video Store

SUBSCRIBE!

All Access Subscription Tablet Subscriptions Renew Customer Service Give a Gift Newsletter Subscription

5 Ways to Play Like Robert Glasper BY BRIAN CHARETTE May 19, 2016 Hailing from Houston, Texas, jazz pianist and composer Robert Glasper burst onto the music scene in 2005 and was quickly signed to Blue Note Records. His Robert Glasper Experiment albums Black Radio and Black Radio 2 albums—marrying jazz, hip-hop and groove-oriented music—both won Grammy Awards. His latest Robert Glasper Trio album, Covered, delivers acoustic versions of some of his favorite songs. And his latest, Everything’s Beautiful, re-imagines some Miles Davis tracks. Let’s delve into Glasper’s unique style. 1. Pedal Points Ex. 1 is influenced by Glasper’s work on the Joni Mitchell song “Barangrill.” In the intro, Glasper plays tender melodies over a pedal point that goes from major to minor tonalities. In this example and over an F pedal in the bass, we have a root position Eb major seventh chord in the left hand. This creates a tidy F7sus4 voicing when played against the pedal note. The tonality changes to an F minor seventh chord in root position in bars 3 and 4. In the right hand, we see notes from the corresponding scales; over the F7sus4 we use a few notes from the F Mixolydian mode (F, G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F). In Bars 3 and 4 we use notes from the F Dorian mode (F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb, F). 2. Ostinatos & Descending Bass In Ex. 2, we see a right-hand ostinato that repeats over a descending bass line, another technique often used by Glasper. Notice that all of the notes in the right hand come from the D Dorian mode (D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D). Under this line full of syncopated 16th-note subdivisions, a simple whole-note bass line descends. In the last bar, the bass note moves to a note outside of the mode, Bb. The notes against this bass create a Bb major 13 arpeggio. 3. Moving Triads Ex. 3 illustrates Glasper’s use of syncopated chords also moving over a descending bass line. Here we are in the tonality of G minor, with a bass line that moves down the G Dorian mode (G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G) until it goes to a flatted sixth (Eb) and arrives at the fifth (D). Note that, while bar 1 begins with a G minor triad in the right hand, the rest of the right hand chords are all suspended triads such as bar 2’s Dsus, bar 3’s C9 and bar 4’s Cmin9. 4. The Sound of Seconds In Ex. 4, we investigate voicings built with the “crunchy” interval of a second. In the first two bars, the lowest two notes of the right hand are made up of second intervals, which create a pleasing crunch that the remaining thirds sit atop to form nicely balanced jazz voicings. Bar 3 has a stock Amin9 voicing with the addition of the note D for a minor 11th sound. This sound imparted by the second interval adds spice to what might be considered an old-fashioned jazz chord. The last bar has the second near the top of the voicing. 5. Eighth Notes and Minor Ninths Ex. 5 pairs eighth-note lines with descending minor ninth chords, inspired by Glasper’s solo on the venerable jazz standard “Stella by Starlight.” Note that in the left hand, we are using minor ninth voicings that descend by half steps. The right hand lines are taken right from the respective Dorian mode with the exception of a few chromatic notes. Practice Tip “Try transposing these exercises through all 12 keys and notice how your jazz vocabulary skyrockets,” says keyboardist and composer Brian Charette, who has performed and recorded with artists including Joni Mitchell, Michael Bublé, and Rufus Wainwright, in addition to leading his own jazz groups. Charette won Downbeat magazine’s “Rising Star Organ” award in 2014 and recently released the album Alphabet City. He also has a new book out entitled 101 Hammond B-3 Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use. Find out more at briancharette.com

Keep up-to-date on the latest news Get our Free Newsletter Here! Related Stories Rock Organ: Competing with Guitars Weekend Chops Builder: Pop Organ Workshop - A Rhythmic Interlude Developing Solo Jazz Piano Chops

The Art of Synth Soloing: Welcome Back My Friend (More Emerson) When Less Is More Weekend Chops Builder: Jazz Improvisation

You Might Also Like...

How To The Keyboard Stylings of Prince

How To Weekend Chops Builder: Rock Techniques - Progressions and Li...

How To The Piano Technician - Don't Believe Everything You Read (o... Show Comments These are my comments.

Featured

Weekend Chops Builder: Pop Organ Workshop - Touch, Tone, Rhythm Tips

The Art of Motion Piano Rock Organ: Competing with Guitars

Search Gear

Keys and Synths Virtual Instruments Live and Studio Accessories News

KB Newsletter

Sign up for the FREE Keyboard Magazine newsletter! Enter your email address

Privacy Policy

SUBMIT

Reader Poll What best describes your dream job?

Touring musician Orchestral musician Studio/Session musician Songwriter for hire Composer Other VOTE

See results without voting »

NewBay Music Publications

Slash, Joe Bonamassa and Derek Trucks Jam B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” Jimi Hendrix: Hear Eddie Kramer Recall Their First Meeting and Session | VIDEO Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”: The 10 Weirdest Covers

The Innovators: Michael Tobias R&B Gold: More Great Moments in Rhythm & Blues Jazz Concepts: Patterns Over "Cantaloupe Island"

Yamaha Expands TF Series Digital Mixer Lineup Synthogy Presents a Very Special Upgrade Offer in September This Week in Free Stuff: Notation, Recording and Dynamics Software

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: From Music to Voodoo Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony Cover Van Halen Hits Metallica’s “One” on One Guitar: See How It Was Done

Viral Video: "Funniest Moments of Devin Townsend" Including a Fart Prank Gone Wrong Pig Premiere New Music Video, "Found in Filth" Testament Premiere New Song and Album Details for 'Brotherhood of the Snake'

Soren Andersen Hits the Road with Yamaha Revstar Guitars 10 Commandments of Playing Guitar in the Style of Pantera's Dimebag Darrell, Part 1 Slash, Joe Bonamassa and Derek Trucks Jam B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Goneâ€​

Gear Artists Lessons Blogs Video Store About Us Contact Us Advertise Media Kit Privacy Policy Terms of Use Subscribe RSS Feeds All Access Newsletters

Copyright ©2016 by NewBay Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 28 East 28th Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10016 T (212) 378-0400 F (212) 378-0470