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Improvisation Hand Independence and Counterpoint

by CHRIS DONNELLY | Idiomatic Gestures, the Economy of Motion and

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
Jazz Piano Improvisation (Exercises)

Idiomatic Gestures, the Economy of Motion and

Dec. 5/18 edit: I’ve
Jazz Piano Improvisation
updated the article and
images in “A Scale for Working with Record Labels – MYRIAD3

Ascending” to include
anchor points. It’s also CATEGORIES
more succinct and
Aesthetics
organized, without the
digressions into Business
alternative fingering Composing
exercises.
Learning

Nov. 27/18 edit: I’ve News

improved my
Performing
explanation of anchor
Post
points and hand
positions while playing Teaching
the chromatic scale.
Specifically, how they The Piano

can played as 3-note Uncategorized

and 4-note clusters.
Because I believe this
ARCHIVES
chromatic scale
fingering is foundational Select Month

for understanding good

hand positions at the
piano, I’ve also shown
how they can be used as
the basis for fingering
other scales (major
scales, bebop scales
etc.).

Sept. 21/18 edit: Based

on feedback from
students, understanding
the idea of good
fingering, hand positions
and anchors may be
best demonstrated first
using the chromatic
scale. I’ve also come to
think that playing the
chromatic scale with
good fingering is
foundational for
understanding idiomatic
hand gestures in
general. So, I’ve added a
short section below
(before the scale
exercises) that outlines
the process of
discovering the anchors
in the chromatic scale
and using those anchors
as the basis for
designing exercises.

Idiomatic
Gestures, the
Economy of
Motion and Jazz
Piano
Improvisation
The Chromatic
Scale and Anchor
Points
A Scale for
Ascending

—
Idiomatic
Gestures, the
Economy of Motion
and Jazz Piano
Improvisation
Before I get into the
exercises, I’d like to
share a few (incomplete)
thoughts and
observations that I’ve
had over the last few
years.

(Thanks to Scott Suttie,

John MacLeod, and
Trevor Giancola for the
inspiring conversations
while I was writing this!)

Playing the piano part

for Rhapsody in Blue
sounds harder than it is.
The most technically
sounding sections are
very idiomatic to playing
the piano. Just as we
can analyze and simplify
the music into chucks of
logical harmonic
progressions, pianists
can also analyze and
simplify the music into
chucks of logical hand
positions and gestures.

This sequence of hand

positions may vary
slightly between pianists
(using the 3rd finger
instead of the 2nd for
example), but generally,
we can say that there
will be an agreement
among pianists about
the most physically
optimal way to play
Rhapsody in Blue, or
any other written piece
of music. The more
technically demanding a
piece is, the more
important that pianists
draw upon idiomatic
gestures and an
economy of motion
during a performance,
lest they run out of
energy or hurt
themselves.

From another angle,

some music may not be
‘optimally’ written for
piano in the first place.
Perhaps it was written
by a violin player, or by
someone exclusively
using harmonic theory,
with no regard for
idiomatic gestures. This
would be akin to writing
music for trombone in B
major. No doubt there
are players who would
perform it perfectly, but
at the cost of less
optimal economy of
motion (especially
compared to performing
it in Bb major).

Performers are
constantly navigating
this evolving relationship
between their
instrument, technical
abilities, and the music
they want to play.
Unfortunately for
pianists, these idiomatic
gestures aren’t always
explicit when reading
music. Even if the score
has fingerings, those
fingerings don’t always
encourage the player to
visualize, analyze, and
simplify the music in this
way. So, part of learning
a piece of music is
developing your own
‘interpretations’ of what
these idiomatic gestures
are. Considering the
number of ways you can
physically play a single
passage on the piano,
inexperienced pianists
will often create strange
fingerings, odd hand
positions, and bad
habits. These can lead
to an uncomfortable
relationship with their
instrument, poor
performances, and
eventually injury.

For improvising jazz

pianists, the issue of
idiomatic gestures is
more complicated.

When jazz musicians

play together, they’re
drawing from a common
body of harmonic,
melodic, and rhythmic
language. I suspect that
because this language is
shared among so many
different instruments
with different physical
gestures, the music is
often communicated
through music theory
and an aural tradition.
After all, piano fingerings
and hand positions are
not relevant to playing
the saxophone (and vice
versa). Chords, be-bop
scales, swing, jazz
standards, playing
together, using your ear,
and having musical
conversations are
relevant to ALL
instruments.

It’s encouraged that

everyone learns Charlie
Parker solos, no matter
what instrument they
play. It’s encouraged
that you learn tunes in
all twelve keys. D
Dorian is a common
scale to use when
improvising over Dm7.
But don’t just play the
scale, listen to how it
sounds in relation to the
harmony. Or better yet,
before you play, try to
hear a melody first,
then play it.

In this aural tradition, all

semitones are equal.
However, physically,
that’s not the case. On
the piano, E-F feel (and
look) different than D#-
E. It’s much easier to
play A-Bb on the
trombone than it is to
play Bb-B. One of my
favourite examples of
this is shown on the
piano, with this melodic
pattern.

The top example (in Gb

Major) is very easy to
play with good
fingering. The bottom
example (in G Major),
despite being an exact
transposition, has a
higher learning curve. In
fact, it took me four tries
to find the most
‘optimal’ fingering for
myself. And even with
this fingering, it took a
while to internalize the
hand positions.

The point is this:

transposing a melody,
chord, or harmonic
sequence will require
different physical
gestures, some more
idiomatic than others.
Sometimes this is a
compromise: sacrificing
economy of motion to
learn a shared language.

This relates to an issue

concerning what
inspires improvisation.

It occurred to me that
when I play the piano,
my improvising is being
inspired by many
different streams, not
just theoretical
knowledge, what I’m
hearing in the moment,
or what my fellow
musicians are playing.
Sometimes I’ll play
something because it
physically feels good to
play. Or because it
visually creates an
interesting pattern of
white and black notes.
Or because it’s going to
be difficult and I want to
take a risk.

All of these streams of

inspiration are working,
fighting, and dancing
together until ultimately
resolved in the act of
playing. If this is the
case, some streams
may be more dominant
than others. Personally,
I’m more likely to
practice permutations of
fingering patterns than
melodic patterns.
There’s cross over
between the two,
sometimes one
informing the other, but
generally, I’m a physical
learner and enjoy
analyzing and
simplifying piano music
into chunks of fingerings
and hand positions.

This includes
transcriptions of
improvised solos. The
most technically
proficient jazz pianists
most definitely use
idiomatic gestures and
have a developed
economy of motion.
When I look at an Oscar
Peterson transcription, I
primarily see shapes
and patterns of white
and black notes and
imagine how Oscar’s
hands fit on these
patterns. It’s possible
that Oscar’s
improvisations were
being conceived this
way in the first place, as
well as being
complemented with
ideas of harmonic and
melodic patterns.

In fact, I know they

were. Because in the act
of playing, you can’t
separate theoretical
content from physical
gestures.

But transcriptions of
improvised solos almost
exclusively focus on
harmonic, melodic, and
rhythmic content
(sometimes they don’t
even include the left-
hand!). Rarely do they
include an analysis of
possible fingering and
hand positions. Once
again, jazz pianists are
forced to develop their
own ‘interpretations’ of
what these fingerings
and hand positions are,
often leading to strange
fingerings, odd hand
positions and bad
habits.

The following exercises

are the beginning of a
personal exploration of
practicing jazz
improvisatory language
in conjunction with
physical gestures at the
piano. They’re treated
as equal partners.

Exercises, patterns, and

permutations that are
conceptualized from
harmonic/theoretical
ideas will include
particular fingerings and
hand positions. Similarly,
exercises that are
conceptualized from
physical gestures will fit
stylistically within the
jazz music paradigm.

I once heard about a

jazz piano player who
practiced all scales with
the same fingering. So,
try playing the Db Major
scale with the fingering
you’d normally use for C
Major.

I respect the value in

this, but this is not the
approach I’m taking
here. This is like driving
a car with your feet on
the steering wheel, and
your hands on the
pedals. This approach is
certainly within the realm
of creative possibilities,
but it doesn’t align with
the design of the
instrument. I’m
interested in creating
exercises and music that
feels good and natural
to play on the piano.
These exercises strive to
link the design of the
piano to the design of
your hand.

A few obligatory notes:

Obviously, these
exercises are for piano
and keyboard players.
As these exercises
develop, they may
include theoretical
material that would be
interesting to other
instrumentalists. The
actual methods of
developing the exercises
may be applicable to
their practice also. But
primarily, the most value
will be gained by
pianists and
keyboardists.

The piano has a long

tradition, and there are
hundreds of exercise
books formalizing
idiomatic gestures on
the piano. I’m familiar
with a few of them and
they’re somewhat
relevant (Rafael Joseffy’s
School of Advanced
Piano Playing, Hanon
exercises, and
Moszkowski’s Scales &
Double Notes). But as
far as I know, these
books aren’t made for
improvising jazz
pianists, so their
methods aren’t
wholly relevant. I admit
though that I’m mostly
naïve to the field of
idiomatic gestures and
piano pedagogy. So, if
you’re aware of other
books, research and
pianists that explore
these ideas, please
share!

These aren’t musical

exercises, they’re
physical exercises. For
that reason, they’re fairly
maximalist, often
encouraging a steady
stream of 8th notes, with
little rhythmic variation.
The idea is to become
proficient at an exercise
and unlock a particular
potential in your
playing. With musical
discretion, it’s easier to
take all those notes out
than put them in.

I can’t emphasize
enough how much
physical repetition is
required to incorporate
this into your playing.
This is grunt work that
follows a simple two-
step loop:

Repeat until it’s too

easy
Make it slightly
more difficult

Personally, I know I’m

making progress when
I’m away from the piano
but can still visualize the
notes and hand
positions as if I’m
playing them. This
usually takes a few
cycles of practice and
rest to achieve this.
With regular practice, I’ll
notice it coming out
naturally in my
improvisations after
about three months.

These exercises are

primarily relevant to
my own practice. I
won’t claim that my
fingerings and hand
positions are the most
optimal for all pianists.
Actually, I’m sure better
fingerings will be
discovered days, weeks,
and months after I
publish! So please,
share your own!

Lastly, as I mentioned
above, this is the
beginning of a personal
exploration. I have no
idea where all of this will
take me, but I’m going
to go with the flow, and
document it as best as I
can.

(Go to the Top)

The Chromatic
Scale and Anchor
Points
When it comes to
fingering the chromatic
scale, the following is
common among my
piano students:

This fingering is
superior:

The hand positions not

only optimize playing the
chromatic scale itself,
but they’re foundational
for understanding
idiomatic hand gestures
in general and can be
applied to playing
almost anything that
includes stepwise
motion.

From C, the right hand

fingering can be
simplified as a sequence
of 4-note and 3-note
clusters starting on the
thumb (4-3-4-3-3-4-
4). When ascending the
scale, the placement of
the thumb looks, feels
and acts as a kind of
anchor for the entire
hand. These clusters
and anchors could be
visualized like this:

Or this:

When you look closer,

you’ll notice that
fingerings and hand
positions in the second
octave are different from
the first octave. In the
right hand, the 3rd finger
plays D, but in the
second octave, the
thumb plays D:

This opens up an
opportunity to practice
the chromatic scale in
an interesting way. A
major theme to these
exercises is that
physical gestures at the
piano are treated as
equal partners with jazz
improvisatory language.
Often, harmonic and
theoretical ideas dictate
the rules and goals of
certain exercises. We
physically conform to
these goals and learn
the gestures needed to
play them.

But what if that

relationship was
inverted? Rather than
learning to play
sequences of semitones
ascending and
descending, why not
also learn to play
sequences of hand
positions ascending and
descending?

If we look at all of the

thumb placements in the
right hand, they fall on
C, E, G, B, D, F, and A
(all the white notes):
If we order these thumb
placements in the same
manner as a scale (C-D-
E-F-G-A-B), we get this
sequence:

Though the above

example looks
complicated, it’s
extremelyeasy to play,
so let’s formalize it. If
I’m going to set ‘rules’
for good piano fingering,
this would be one: The
right hand is strongly
anchored when the
thumb is positioned on
a white key. These
anchors will be
represented with a
clear note head. With
thumbs on white keys,
the player has good
range of motion in both
directions. Of course,
thumbs can play black
keys too, but then
descending motion is
restricted because
crossovers on black
keys are awkward and
uncomfortable.

From these white keys,

the right hand can
comfortably form 4-
note, 3-note, and 2-note
clusters:

The above forms a kind

of hierarchy of hand
positions. Using 4-note
clusters will be more
optimal than 2-note
clusters. But sometimes
3-note or 2-note clusters
are necessary to
connect anchor points
(as in the chromatic
scale). Good fingering
will use a combination,
with a preference for 4-
note clusters because
they offer the best range
and economy of
motion. 5-note clusters,
which include the
5th finger aren’t included
here because they’re
limited in their range of
motion. Crossovers
using the 5th finger are
uncomfortable, so
playing the 5th finger in
the right hand likely
leads to descending
motion.

It may be too early in my

explorations to mention
this, but it’s possible the
above fingering chart is
the underpinning for all
good fingering and
idiomatic gestures at the
piano. From what I can
tell, all exercises from
here out will be founded
in some way in these
hand positions and
anchor points.

So far, the notes have

been ordered by
ascending steps. The
notes in these clusters
can also be reordered to
include skips, direction
changes, and
descending motion. A
few examples, using 4-
note clusters:

In the left hand, all of the

fingerings and hand
positions above can be
duplicated using
piano/hand symmetry.
The piano keyboard is a
mirror image from the
notes D and G#, so right
hand fingerings can be
easily translated into the
left hand. The mirror
image of the ascending
chromatic scale starting
on C, is the descending
chromatic scale from E.

For the sake of

demonstration, the
examples below only
include right hand
fingering. Left hand
fingering will be included
again in the next
section.

Because all the notes

are spaced one
semitone apart, these
patterns are easy to play
and visualize at the
piano. The next step is
to combine semitones
with wider intervals.
This will create different
visual sequences of
black and white notes,
but once those are
familiar, they should still
be easy to play because
the clusters are always
grounded in the anchor
points.

For example, ascending

4-note clusters, ST-WT-
ST, with ascending
anchor points:

Descending 4-note
clusters, WT-WT-WT,
with descending anchor
points:

Using wider intervals:

Let’s take a look at a
scale, and see how
anchor points can be
used to play them. The
F Major scale has six
possible anchor points
on F, G, A, C, D and E.
4-note, 3-note and 2-
note clusters would look
like this:

When we play the F

Major scale ascending
and descending, the
traditional fingering uses
a 4-note cluster starting
on F, and a 3-note
cluster starting on C.
One reason for this is
because the F Major
scale has seven notes,
and it’s easier to
visualize and play these
4-note and 3-note
clusters when they’re
consistent every
octave. Ascending the F
Major scale using only
4-note clusters means
thumb placements and
anchor points are
different every octave.

This is an interesting
exercise to practice, but
it’s more difficult and
may not be entirely
practical. After all,
because anchor points
represent points of
physical stability it’s
useful to connect them
with points of
harmonic stability.
Harmonically, F is the
most stable note in the F
Major scale so it makes
sense to prefer
anchoring the thumb on
F. If you were playing
the G Dorian scale, the
natural inclination would
be to place the thumb
on G, even though the
notes and anchor points
are the identical to the F
Major scale (We’ll see in
later exercises that it’s
also important to
consider connecting
points of physical
stability with points of
metric stability).

Of course, aligning
points of physical
stability with points of
harmonic stability isn’t
always possible, like
when playing the Db
Major scale. The Db
Major scale only has two
anchor points, on C and
F. Regardless, I think
the natural preference
will always be to
connect stable anchor
points with stable
harmonic points.

This introduces a
conflict that can exist
between physical
stability and harmonic
stability – physical
stability may be felt in
the thumb, but harmonic
stability may be felt in
another fingers. This is
an important
observation that should
be regarded when
creating exercises.

I should also mention

that in improvisatory
contexts, there isn’t
anything inherently
beneficial to being able
to ascend and descend
a scale by step. There
are countless other
ways to improvise using
the notes of a scale.
Practicing scales in this
way (as is often required
in classical music) is just
one of many sequences
of notes and anchor
points. Nevertheless,
because practicing
scales this way is deep-
rooted, I include them in
how I determine
fingerings and anchor
points.

Lets take a look at a

couple more scales:

The C Major bebop

scale has seven anchor
points on C, D, E, F, G, A
and B.

Harmonically, the most

consonant and stable
notes, in relation to
CMaj7, or C6, are C, E,
G, A, so building
clusters from these
notes is preferred.
Conveniently, with the
thumb on these notes,
and the scale’s unique
sequence of black and
white notes, there’s no
need for 3-note clusters
to connect anchor
points.

In contrast, if you built a

4-note cluster starting
on D, range of motion is
limited because the
thumb can’t comfortably
crossover and play the
G#. For ascending
motion, with the thumb
on D, you would have to
use a 3-note cluster (D-
E-F) and place the
thumb on G. But as
mentioned above, 3-
note clusters aren’t
preferable because
they’re less economical.
Likewise, with the thumb
on D, descending
motion is limited to
crossing over with the
3rd finger and building a
3-note cluster anchored
on A. Crossing over
with the 4th finger and
building a 4-note cluster
would result in the
thumb on G#, which
isn’t an anchor point.

There are certainly

improvisatory
circumstances that
could lead to the thumb
on other anchor points,
but in this case, 3-note
or 2-note clusters can
be used for realignment
to get the thumb back
on C, E, G or A. Overall,
it seems that with the C
Major bop scale, the
hand gravitates towards
anchoring on C, E, G,
and A. They make good
points for starting to
play and explore the
scale.

One more scale:

This is the Db Major

bebop scale. Learning
to play and improvise on
the Db Major bebop
scale is uniquely
challenging, especially in
comparison to the C
Major bebop scale. For
one, there are only three
anchor points, on C, F
and A.

Secondly, only one of

these anchor points are
on a consonant note in
relation to the root (F).
This means that physical
stability and harmonic
stability in the hand are
sometimes in conflict.
For example, when the
thumb is on F, physical
and harmonic stability
are aligned. But when
the thumb is on C,
harmonic stability is on
the 2nd and 4th fingers
(Db and F). With the
thumb on A, harmonic
stability is on the
2nd and 4th fingers (Bb
and Db).

Lastly, the scale’s

unique sequence of
white and black notes
means using a less
optimal combination of
3-note and 2-note
clusters to ascend and
descend the scale.

Considering all this, I

think the Db major
bebop scale is inherently
more difficult to play
than the C major bebop
scale. This is a good
example of sacrificing
economy of motion for
the sake of playing in
different keys on the
piano. As a result, more
time and repetition may
be needed to fully
internalize them.

From here, we’ve laid

the groundwork for
exploring scales. In the
next section, we’ll look
at a more difficult scale
more thoroughly.

(Go to the Top)

—

A Scale for
Ascending
Here’s a scale in C
Major:

In this section, I’ll be

exploring this scale
more thoroughly. I’ll
start with identifying
anchor points, 4-note, 3-
note and 2-note
clusters. From this, I’ll
derive different patterns
for repetitive practice to
help pianists get more
physically comfortable
improvising with this
scale.

I should note that my

intention here isn’t
necessarily for pianists
to become familiar with
this scale specifically,
but familiar with a
method of learning
any scale and creating
their own exercises. For
this reason, the above
scale is probably
unfamiliar and difficult. I
wanted to learn an
unfamiliar scale for my
own practice and test
the limits of comfortable
fingering as an
experiment for
uncovering this method.
Ideally, it should be
applicable to any scale.
The scale itself is similar
to a bebop scale, except
every chord tone is
approached
chromatically below.
The chord tones form a
C6 chord (C-E-G-A), and
the chromatic tones
form a B6 chord (it can
also work over an Am7).
Similar to the melodic
minor scale, this scale is
meant for ascending
motion. In the next
section, I’ll explore a
complimentary scale for
descending motion.

There are five anchor

points, on C, E, G, A and
B.

As indicated by the red

boxes, these clusters
can be visualized and
physicalized like this at
the piano:

From these anchor

points and clusters, we
can create exercises to
explore the scale. To
start, these exercises
are played with constant
8th notes (or 16th notes)
and chord tones are
played on strong beats.
The reason for this is to
establish a physical
relationship with
harmony and meter. As
mentioned in the
previous article, it’s
important to connect
points of physical
stability with points of
harmonic and metric
stability. Chord tones
shouldn’t just sound
harmonically and
metrically stable, but
feel physically stable
too. Playing with
constant 8th notes is
also an opportunity to
practice swing feel. This
is too broad a topic to
cover in depth here, but
I’ll briefly recommend an
exercise: The tendency
will be to accent the
chord tones on the
strong beats. But in
swing music, 8th notes
are actually quarter +
eighth triplets, and the
3rd triplet is accented.
To practice this, put the
metronome on 240.
Each ‘click’ is a triplet.
At first, exaggerate that
accent on the 3rd triplet.
Lastly, there should be
general agreement
among pianists that the
anchor points, fingerings
and hand clusters I’ve
marked in these
exercises are
comfortable and offer
the most economy of
motion. However, I often
find there are alternative
ways to “interpret” these
exercises. Instead of
documenting all of these
interpretations, I’ve only
included my
preferences. As you
read and play through, I
encourage you to play
my fingerings, but also
experiment and find
your own that “fit your
hand.”

Here are some exercises

for the right hand, based
on different sequences
of anchor points:

These anchor points are

always spaced four
notes apart. Another
possible variation could
look something like this,
using 2-note and 4-note
clusters:
The fingerings above
feel rather heavy
because of the use of 2-
note clusters. Here’s
another possible
fingering:

In terms of anchor
points, this 6-note
cluster could be
interpreted in a couple
of ways. One way is
that the 2nd and
3rd fingers on A and B
are part of a cluster
whose anchor isn’t
played (G). In this case,
the red box above
should be split into two
red boxes and the
thumb on C is a cross
over from the previous
cluster. Another way to
interpret this is that the
2nd and 3rd fingers are
an extension of the
anchor point on C, and
the above is indeed a 6-
note cluster. Either way,
I find this fingering is
more comfortable to
play than the previous.

All of the exercises up to

this point mostly follow
stepwise motion. When
skips occur, they always
land on chord tones, on
strong beats:

We can create more

exercises by shifting the
skips so they land on
non-chord tones and
weak beats:

Let’s looks at some left-

hand patterns. We can
start by creating
different sequence of
anchor points:

These anchor points are

always spaced four
notes apart. We can
vary this by spacing
anchor points six notes
apart:

With these sequences of

anchor points in left
hand, we see another
repeating pattern of
steps and skips. Skips
always land on weak
beat and on non-chord
tones:

New variations can be

created by shifting the
skips to strong beats
and on chord tones:
The last two exercises
aren’t as intuitive and
comfortable to play in
the left hand. One
reason is because the
thumb is needed to play
black notes which,
compared to playing
anchor points, is both
unfamiliar and
uncomfortable. When
exercises are
constructed based on
varying musical
structures (steps and
skips) rather than
physical structures
(anchor points and hand
positions), the hand is
forced to conform and,
in some cases, may
have to play patterns
that are unintuitive and
less economical.
Sometimes the hand
can easily conform (as
seen in the right-hand
example), but other
times the exercises may
have a steeper learning
curve.

In keeping with the

theme of these articles,
my general advice would
be that while it can be
an interesting challenge
to learn these patterns,
it may be more useful to
practice patterns and
exercises that are more
comfortable and
economical. While
improvising, the hand
will gravitate towards
these patterns
anyways. Plus, having a
more moderate learning
curve makes practicing
more efficient and
ultimately, more
enjoyable.

All of these fingerings

and hand positions
above should give a
good amount of
maneuverability with
both hands. There’s
also enough variation to
improvise with. In the
next section, I’ll
introduce a scale for
descending motion.

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