For a deep dive on this concept checkout the Coloring Dominant Chords With Upper Structures course.
![have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano](https://d29ci68ykuu27r.cloudfront.net/items/20657925/cover_images/cover-medium_large_file.png)
#HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS JAZZ PIANO HOW TO#
On dominant 7 chords, it is very common to add beautiful chord colors called the b9, #9, #11, and b13.įor example, here are some common chord alterations added to a C7 chord: C7b9, C7#9, and C7b13#9 chords, jazz piano chord alterations (altered chords)Īlmost any combination of these notes work very well, but it is important to understand how to combine these to make especially beautiful chord voicings.
![have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano](https://www.musicnotes.com/images/productimages/large/mtd/MN0178463.gif)
Step 2: Add the 8 Jazz Ballad Piano Arranging Techniques Once you’ve got the 7th chords down, it’s time to apply the 8 Jazz Ballad Piano arranging techniques. I also encourage you to practice the left hand chords with the backing track, which can be downloaded on this page after you log into your membership. If you don’t know all your 7th chords, you can learn all major 7, minor 7, and dominant 7 chords, how to use them in songs, and dozens of exercises in our Jazz Foundations Learning Track here. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see students make – they try adding all kinds of chord colors and fills to their arrangement, yet they don’t really know the basic chords in the song!ĭon’t make this mistake! Take the time to master the 7th chords in a song chords. Make sure you can play the chords in root position in the left hand before adding anything.
![have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano](https://www.stretta-music.com/media/images/504/490504_detail-01.jpg)
However, most lead sheets will be very similar to the above chords. Here is how you would play these chords in root position: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas jazz piano song chordsĭepending on the lead sheet, you might find this song in a different key, or you might find slightly modified chords from the above. If you look up a lead sheet for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, you will most likely find one that contains these four chords: A lead sheet usually does not include the left hand bass clef or any right hand harmony notes – as a jazz pianist, you are expected to add that. Oftentimes, the lead sheet contains lyrics, but this is not necessary.
![have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano have yourself a merry little christmas jazz piano](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zVtHcLg6xzM/maxresdefault.jpg)
The first step to playing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas in a beautiful jazz ballad style, and furthermore, any song in a jazz ballad style, is to start with a lead sheet.Ī lead sheet is sheet music that contains the most basic elements of a song: the melody and chords. Do you love the song Have Yourself the Merry Little Christmas? Today, I’m going to teach you how to play the lead sheet for Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas in a beautiful jazz ballad piano style, or Cocktail Jazz piano style.