There’s Even More to Playing the Piano


Chapter 18 - Texture (Jazz)

Jazz styles can be identified by their characteristic textures. Stride PianoThe early jazz pianists were, contrary to popular belief, highly trained musicians who had studied classical and romantic piano styles. Many of the stride pianists also accompanied silent movies on the theatre organs. The texture of stride piano owes a lot to the music of Chopin and other romantics. The left hand plays an oom-pah oom-pah pattern – low octaves, tenths or sevenths on beats 1 and 3; higher chords of three or four notes on beats 2 and 4. Stride piano is so-named...

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