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Exercise
— switch — The Cycle Shells with Color Rootless Voicings Bud Powell Left Hand The Turnaround Tritone Substitution Reharm the V Diatonic Sevenths Secondary Turnaround Minor ii–V–i Minor ii-V-i with ♭9 Minor Turnaround Diatonic 7ths in Minor Backdoor Progression Twelve-Bar Blues Minor Blues Bird Blues Blues Stride LH Blues Walking Bass Rhythm Changes Boogie Blues Shuffle Rhythm Changes Bridge Blues Rootless (Evans) Coltrane Changes Blues Pedal Point Standard Intro Blues Block Chords Two-Handed Comping Blues Freddie Green Charleston Comping Bebop Blues Comp Freddie Green Comping Blues Guide Tones Walking Bass Charleston Blues Tritone-Sub Walking Bass Bud Powell Blues Drop Two Two-Handed Modern Blues Stride Bass Stride with Melody Quartal Voicings Upper Structure Triads Hybrid Voicings Kenny Barron Voicing Sus Chord Vamp The Mu Chord Maiden Voyage Chord 4-Way Close Pedal Point Lydian Vamp Phrygian Vamp Bossa Nova Guide Tones Bebop Scale Dominant Bebop Dorian Bebop Bebop Minor The Enclosure ii-V-I Lick Pentatonic Patterns Plain Locrian Melodic Minor Dorian ♭2 Lydian Augmented Lydian Dominant Mixolydian ♭6 Locrian ♮2 Altered Scale Harmonic Minor Phrygian Dominant Half-Whole Diminished Whole-Tone Scale Minor Blues Major Blues Aeolian (Natural Minor) Dorian Mode Ionian (Major) Lydian Mode Minor Pentatonic Mixolydian Mode Phrygian Mode Whole-Half Diminished
(MED. SWING ♩=80 )
23
Jazz Piano · Blues Comp Styles
Blues Rootless (Evans)
LH 3-13-♭7-9 rootless A-form whole notes, twelve keys
Play exercise
Bill Evans's A-form rootless voicings applied to the
blues form. The LH plays a four-note chord — 3-13-♭7-9 stacked in
close position, with the 13 sitting where the 5 would be (that
swap is exactly what makes it the Evans A-form) — held for the
whole bar. No root anywhere in the LH: the assumption is a bass
player is covering the root. Two extensions (9 and 13) in four
notes.
The RH stays free for melody or lines. This exercise gives you
just guide tones (3 and ♭7) up high to anchor the harmony while
you internalise the LH shape. Once that's solid, improvise on top.
LH per chord 3 + 13 + ♭7 + 9 (no root — bassist's job; no 5 — the 13 took its seat)
Form I⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ I⁷ | IV⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ I⁷ | V⁷ IV⁷ I⁷ V⁷
Jump to
F B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B E A D G C
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O
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B
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4fr
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4fr
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4fr
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4fr
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4fr
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5fr
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F
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1
The Daily Drill
Learn the feel
5 min Play one key very slowly. Feel the grip of each shape and name the voices bottom-up (3-13-♭7-9). The point is the shape under the hand, not the rhythm — these are whole notes on purpose. 15 min Cycle three keys at a time. Watch the I→IV change: two voices hold, two move. That minimal-motion grip change is the whole craft of rootless comping. 8 min Apply: pick a blues you know (Now's the Time , Billie's Bounce , Tenor Madness ) and play this comping style behind a recorded soloist. 3 min Cycle through all twelve keys without stopping. The blues form is one chorus; twelve choruses lets you experience the style in every key.
Four-note rootless voicings, twelve bars, twelve keys. The Evans foundation.