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does anyone know how to play stride piano


CP

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I was watching a show on Monk, and they were talking about how he was a stride player at heart. Then they demonstrated the stride style of playing. It looks kind of difficult, but very interesting. Does anybody have any pointers, or can reccommend a good book or website. Would appreciate it.

 

They also said on the show that Monk would practice, practice, practice. They talked about how he would practice a song he knew in tempo for two hours straight. That's incredible.

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Here is a great resource for all things Jazz Piano.

 

There is a forum there where you can ask specific questions as well.

 

web page

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong: James Bryce
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I've been toying around with Stride piano lately. There's a cool tune called Basie's Boogie that I've been working with lately. Basically, it's bouncing back and forth between 10ths and chords in the left hand. If you want to try it, here's a left hand pattern for you in quarter notes:

 

C E then bounce up to E G A C

G E to G A C E

F A to F A C Eb

A C to F A

E G to E G A C

D F to G B

C E to E G A C

D F to E G

F A to F A C Eb

then walking up F A to G Bb to G# B to A C

E G to E G A C

D F to D F A C

C E to E G A C

C# to E G Bb Db

F D to D F A C

G B to D F G B

walk down D B to A C to G B to F A

G E to E G A C

D F to D F A C

C E then finish with F to F# to G then down to low G an octave below

 

Get that going in your left hand and then improv over it in the right. Fun stuff!!

 

By the way, Stride is basically the 10th to chord bouncing patterns with assorted walks in quarter notes and is related somewhat to the Ragtime style which is basically Octave to fifth kinds of bounces in straight eighth notes.

 

Hope that helps and makes sense.

Roland

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Originally posted by R:

By the way, Stride is basically the 10th to chord bouncing patterns with assorted walks in quarter notes and is related somewhat to the Ragtime style which is basically Octave to fifth kinds of bounces in straight eighth notes.

 

Hope that helps and makes sense.

Roland

A good description. Stride is tough! One additional piece of info - a typical stride stylism is to play the top tenth ahead of the bass note (E C) as a grace note.

 

Stretching those tenths is hard at first. Keep at it and you will find your hand flexibility will improve and it will get easier. You don't need outsized hands to do this (although it would be nice)just flexible ones.

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There is an excellent book called "Blues by Basie" that has many of those great Count Basie solo tunes notated. I would also check out the History of Jazz Piano CDROM that Dick Hyman put out, it has some excellent explanations. Judy Carmichael has a great book.

The hardest thing for me is that I can't reach the tenth in the left hand that are very crucial to get that sound.

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I found this book years ago at Berklee: Harlem stride piano solos, transcribed by Ricardo Scivales. It has some great solos by James P. Johnson, Wilie the lion Smith, Earl Hines, Fats Waller and many others. A thing that's often forgotten when practicing stride is to PRACTICE WITHOUT THE SUSTAIN PEDAL. This is hard but it will improve your left hand dramatically.

Here's a way to go from 1st grade to 4th grade in so called walking tenths for your left hand.

C-E D-F D#-F# E-G

This is a very common variation.

Practicing stride takes a lot of time and since I'm too lazy for it I'll stick to jazz & funk. :)

http://www.bobwijnen.nl

 

Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life.

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I always thought stride was the style where the left hand moves generally from a chord to an octave or bass note and vice versa. I don't think of Monk but players like Scott Joplin, Dick Hyman, Dick Wellstood, some Art Tatum, and James Booker come to my mind.

-Pete

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Originally posted by Byrdman:

Stretching those tenths is hard at first. Keep at it and you will find your hand flexibility will improve and it will get easier. You don't need outsized hands to do this (although it would be nice)just flexible ones.

If you want to try something really hard, spend some time playing stride and then try to play ragtime or something else that uses octave bass notes instead of 10ths. It's pretty funny for me, because I have a hard time hitting octaves after getting used to hitting 10ths.

 

By the way, if you have trouble stretching for 10ths, you can cheat them a bit by "rolling" from pinky to thumb in the left hand.

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Originally posted by steinwaym:

There is an excellent book called "Blues by Basie" that has many of those great Count Basie solo tunes notated. I would also check out the History of Jazz Piano CDROM that Dick Hyman put out, it has some excellent explanations. Judy Carmichael has a great book.

The hardest thing for me is that I can't reach the tenth in the left hand that are very crucial to get that sound.

Hey steinwaym, I can't find Blues By Basie anywhere. Can you post a link where I might find it? I would really like to order it. Have you tried rolling the tenths in the bass? It comes pretty close to being able to reach.
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I gave this advice to an earlier post:

#1- Know exactly what you want to accomplish: You want to learn how to play stride.

#2- Collect the information. The earlier replies have helped you there. I also highly recommend " The Jazz Piano Book " by Mark Levine.

#3- Record yourself.

#4- Take a break.

#5- Analyze the recording and correct the errors.

 

That's a simplified version of my own method. It's absolutely necessary to know exactly what you want. Not, "I want to get better" but "I want to specifically improve my syncopation". And recording yourself is the only way to analyze and correct your mistakes. Just like a writer writes and then edits, we must record and then edit. Especially when you don't have a teacher to correct your mistakes in real time.

Good luck!

By the way, I have a good practice schedule here:

Practice Schedule

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My book is pretty old so it is possibly out of print. It was published by 20th Century Fox Music Publishing/Columbia Pictures Publications. I don't know if that info will help. Yes, I have tried rolling the tenths, and it just doesn't feel like the same kind of groove. I basically stick to octaves in the left hand unless playing a boogie woogie type of walkup.
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Graham,

 

Your philosophy is intriguing. I'm going to have to take some time to peruse your entire site. Your hints on practice should be required reading for EVERY musician, novice to pro, on EVERY instrument. These ideas make total sense. Thanks for sharing them!!!

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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For stride, I think the most important thing is to keep your left hand wrist loose.

 

Practice "throwing" you left in in the air, as if you were throwing a baseball with your left hand, but with a completely relaxed wrist. Then relax your entire left arm and "shake it out" (making sure it's relaxed). Throw another imaginary "limp-wristed baseball" with you left hand, and then WITH THE SAME FEELING, play an octave on the piano with it. Bounce on the low octave, and then bounce on a chord an octave or so up.

 

The chords, by the way, will be in "closed position, with respect to each other -- e.g. C octave in the bass, C chord in second inversion [g-c-e]; C# octave in bass, dimished chord [g-c#-e], D octave in bass, D minor chord second inversion [a-d-f], G octave in bass, g V7 chord [g-b-f]; and repeat.

 

The crucial thing, though, is to keep the wrist loose. The tendency is to stop your hand as it hits the keys, tightening the wrist and arm. It's a human tendency. BUT DON'T! It's as if your hand is going to keep on going right through the keyboard itself. The weight of your unchecked arm FALLING into the keys gives it the right sound, and your untightened wrist and arm allow you to play fast and long.

 

It's like bouncing a ball. Bounce bounce bounce.

 

It's hard to describe in words what is more obvious in person, but hope this helps. Once you get a sense of the "throwing" technique, you're 95% there.

 

-Peace, Love, and BrittanyLips

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I am also a big fan of The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine. The most worthwile time I spent with that book was learning every chord in every key by cycling up the circle of fourths.

 

I once checked out a book called "Play It Like the Pros" from the library. It gave good transcriptions of some stride playing and some instruction.

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Originally posted by Dan South:

Graham,

 

Your philosophy is intriguing. I'm going to have to take some time to peruse your entire site. Your hints on practice should be required reading for EVERY musician, novice to pro, on EVERY instrument. These ideas make total sense. Thanks for sharing them!!!

Thanks, Dan, my new best friend :love:

And you're very welcome :D

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Originally posted by pete psingpy:

I always thought stride was the style where the left hand moves generally from a chord to an octave or bass note and vice versa. I don't think of Monk but players like Scott Joplin, Dick Hyman, Dick Wellstood, some Art Tatum, and James Booker come to my mind.

-Pete

Joplin is ragtime, which is a predecessor of stride. Ragtime uses octaves in the bass rather than tenths. Also, stride will mix in walking bass at times, which Ragtime does not.

 

I find walking tenths murder! Can only do it slowly and thinking about it.

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Ragtime uses octaves in the bass rather than tenths.
Not always. Basie is playing lots of octaves when playing fast stride. If your hand is too small for tenths you can roll them or play octaves. I would say the difference lies more into the feel. Ragtime and cakewalk style sound very straight. Stride has more a swing feel to it and is indeed coming from ragtime.

http://www.bobwijnen.nl

 

Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life.

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Originally posted by Superbobus:

Ragtime uses octaves in the bass rather than tenths.
Not always. Basie is playing lots of octaves when playing fast stride. If your hand is too small for tenths you can roll them or play octaves. I would say the difference lies more into the feel. Ragtime and cakewalk style sound very straight. Stride has more a swing feel to it and is indeed coming from ragtime.
I must check that out. Do you have any fave Basie CD's where he is playing stride? (not the big band stuff)

 

I think I agree about the feel. All the stride I can think of has a swing feel. Can anyone provide an example of stride in straight eights that is clearly distinguishable as stride rather than ragtime?

 

While I am at it, can anyone recommend some Dick Wellstood CDs for study purposes?

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