5 Ways To Play Like Dave BrubeckBYANDY LAVERNEApril 28, 2013

Dave Brubeck, who passed away in December 2012, just a day shy of his 92nd birthday, was one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. Rhythms of horses hooves on the California cattle ranch he grew up on, along with those from water pumps, motors, and various other sources prompted his lifelong fascination with odd time signatures. Brubeck was also exposed to Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Debussy, and Ravel, as his mother gave classical piano lessons. Stride, blues, swing, bebop, classical, big block chords, and delicate counterpoint are just some of Brubecks signature devices. Lets take five of them for a closer look. . . .

1. BluesMany of Brubecks classic compositions were based on blues progressions, like Sweet Cleo Brown, a tribute to one of his great inspirations, blues singer Cleo Brown.Similarly, his solos were often infused with riffs drawn from the blues scale.Ex. 1is a progression Brubeck typically used to end a blues.

2. StrideSome of Brubecks heroes were renowned for stridepiano, like Duke Ellington, Earl Fatha Hines, Fats Waller, and Art Tatum. Brubecks large hands let him span big block chords with his right hand while playing wide walking tenthswith his left. Its a Raggy Waltz combines elements of stride and ragtime in 3/4 timeone of his first forays into non-4/4 time signatures. Playing in 3/4 also let him superimpose another pulse over the beata polyrhythmas inEx. 2.

3. Odd Time SignaturesBrubeck once famously stated, I dont think jazz should be in 4/4 time. His use ofmetric subdivisionsseen here marked in groupswas the secret ingredient that made odd time signatures sound natural and swinging to the causal listener. These broke up the measure into more digestible rhythmic phrases of (usually) two or three notes. For example, Take Five is more accessible when you count its 5/4 time as onetwo three,onetwo.Exs. 3athrough3e(left to right) illustrate this approach in various time signatures.

4. PolyrhythmsEx. 4demonstrates Brubecks renowned use ofpolyrhythms, or playing in more than one rhythm at a time. The rhythmic grouping of five notes in the place of four is distributed between two hands, a technique thats been picked up by such pianists as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.

5. PolytonalityIt was Brubecks older brother Howard, chairman of the music department at Palomar Junior College, who first suggested he study with French composer Darius Milhaud. During those studies, Brubeck began experimenting withpolytonalityplaying in more than one tonality at a time. While Brubeck is well known for his frequent display of fast pyrotechnics and dense textures,Ex. 5exemplifies his use of space and openness.

Signature Tunes

New to Brubeck? Heres some required listening for getting to know his use of odd time signatures.TIMESONGALBUM

5/4Take FiveTime Out

7/4Unsquare DanceTime Further Out

9/8Blue Rondo a la TurkTime Out

11/4Eleven FourAt Carnegie Hall

13/4Worlds FairAdventures in Time

The Author Remembers Dave BrubeckI was privileged to get to know Dave Brubeck when I collaborated in the group BLT [Brubeck-LaVerne Trio] with his sons Chris and Dan. Like so many musicians, my first exposure to jazz was through Brubecks quartet recordings. For this, I am truly grateful, says pianist and composerAndy LaVerne, professor at the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut. LaVerne has worked with Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, and many others. Learn more in his latest book,Chords in Motion, from Aebersold Jazz, and atandylaverne.com.

Link: http://www.keyboardmag.com/jazz/1303/5-ways-to-play-like-dave-brubeck/29182[NB: audio file on url]