5 Ways To Play Like Chick CoreaBYANDY LAVERNEJune 30, 2011

For over five decades, Chick Corea has inspired and delighted legionsof fans and musical disciples. Like his former employer Miles Davis, he cant be pigeonholed. Chicks musical endeavors span from Mozart to Monk. Any musical situation Corea participates in contains a strong, immediately identifiable creative core. I can say from my personal experience playing piano duets with him that his energy and openness are contagious and inspiring. The following concepts are just the tip of the iceberg, but if you incorporate them into your own playing, youll be channeling Chicks core.

1. Pentatonics and Quartal Voicings

Ex. 1aillustrates five-note scales that Chick often incorporates into many of his right hand lines. The quartal (fourth-based) left-hand structures are signature chords that compliment the pentatonic scales.

Ex. 1bdemonstrates how Chick sometimes anchors his quartal voicings with those constructed from roots and fifths.

Ex. 1cis a right-hand pentatonic-based line with a signature Corea stamp: the grace note.

Ex. 1dputs all these components into action. Check out Chicks albumNow He Sings,Now He Sobsfor more examples.

2. Comping

Ex. 2aillustrates how Chicks accompanying is so compelling that it can work as solo piano. Again, notice his frequent use of quartal voicings.

InEx. 2b, Chick uses diminished structures, built from second inversion triads in the right hand over quartal voicings in the left.

Ex. 2cuses quartal structures underneath right major triads. Many of these comping techniques can be heard on Chicks arresting albumThree Quartets.

3. Single Note Lines

InEx. 3a, Chick uses a melodic line in the tradition of Bebop pioneer Bud Powell (a major influence), distributed between two hands, and at lightning speed.Ex. 3bdemonstrates how Chick often thinks of each finger percussively, like a drummer.

Noticehow distributing these patterns between the right and left hands lets you execute them fluidly.

Ex. 3cagain shows how Chick divides melodic and rhythmic statements between both hands. Weaving lines throughout both theblack and white keys makes them sound more chromatic and less tied to specific chord changes. Check out ChicksAkoustic BandandElektric Bandalbums for more riveting right-hand lines.4. TheMaj7#5Chord

Chick was one of the first musicians to use the six-note augmented scale, as well as one of the first to play the major seventh chord with a sharp fifth. Demonstrated inEx. 4, this dissonant sonority can be heard on recordings from his avant-garde period, such as those with the band Circle.5. Slash Chords

Another signature Corea sound is his extensive use of slash (or compound) chords, shown here inEx. 5.F/F#is a diminished sound,E/Ebis a Spanishtinged.Gb/Cis half- diminished.Db/Ais, once again, amaj7#5chord, andGb/Abis a dominant seventh with a suspended fourth. Corea often played such slash chords with his group Return To Forever.

07-2011 5 Ways to Play Like Chick CoreabyKeyboardMagJazz pianist, composer, and longtimeKeyboardcontributorAndy LaVernehas played with Chick Corea, as well as Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz. Hes Professor of Jazz Piano at The Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, and his latest CD isLive From NY!Visit him atandylaverne.com. Jon Regen

*Chick Corea play-along book/CD featuring the author on piano.

Link: http://www.keyboardmag.com/fusion/1301/5-ways-to-play-like-chick-corea/28333[NB: audio file on url]