Improvise Using Motivic Development | Jazz Piano Improvisation Exercise 2-5

Today, we’re going over the techniques implemented throughout the solo, along with a couple of exercises to work on. Please make sure to watch the previous videos in the series, and remember that Thinking Ahead Vol.1 is available on mDecks.com.
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The solo starts on measure 33 with a simple motive featuring only two notes, B and E-a perfect 4th that bounces back (B E B). Short motives like this are called diads and are easy to develop and adapt to different chords. If you know chord-tones and tensions for your chords, it’s almost impossible to play the wrong notes. For example, the chord-tones from Dm6 are D, F, A, and B. When played with a perfect 4th above, only the F to Bb introduces a note outside of Dm6, but the tension resolves quickly back to F.
Approaching the Motif Development:
Interval Shift:
Move the motive by a half-step down.
Example: B E B → Bb Eb Bb → A D A.
In our solo, we moved a motive chromatically down or up, ensuring that we only hit chord-tones.
Targeting a Note:
If targeting the 5th of Dm6, use a chromatic passing tone.
Example: B B A → Bb A.
These two perspectives are effective: the first is easier, while the second guarantees success by thinking of a target note.
Now, using the first note in the motive as the target, we can approach it with an enclosure. In measure 36, we play the motive on the b13 of our F7alt using an AA-B enclosure, incorporating the motive with an enclosure seamlessly.
Practicing enclosures daily helps them become second nature, allowing us to focus on concepts rather than individual notes.
Rhythmic Displacement:
We could play the motive on the same beats or add rhythmic displacement. Shifting a motive earlier or later by an eighth note is intuitive, but practicing this helps grasp how motives feel when placed on different beats. In our solo, we shifted our motive M1 in measure 34 and back to beat 1 in measure 35. You could also shift M1 completely, placing it differently on each measure.
Assignment:
Your first assignment is to shift the motive across three different beats, followed by a turnaround to a new key. The exercise includes only the first iteration, encouraging you to think about these concepts while playing.
In the solo, we labeled the motives with M1, M2, M3, etc., along with descriptions of concepts used for development.
Left-Hand Voicings:
In this solo, we used several quartal voicings. We typically want to play voicings that capture the current chord’s basic sound.
For example, on an Eb7, you might play:
(G, Db) for two guide tones,
(G, C, Db, F) for a 4-note voicing with 2 guide tones and 2 tensions.
You can also structure a perfect quartal to work with the chord:
Remove Db to get (G, C, F), a perfect quartal that still fits Eb7.
Measures 33 and 34 feature inverted perfect quartals:
On Dm6: (A, B, E),
On Eb7: (Bb, Eb, F).
These voicings create ambiguity and allow M1 to shine. With the bass playing the roots, we don’t need them in our voicings.
In measures 51 and 52, we use perfect quartals:
On Fm7: (G, C, F),
On Bb7alt: (Ab, Db, Gb).
You can find perfect quartals for any chord. For more on quartals, check out our Upper Structures Vol.2 course.
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