8 Common Jazz Questions

Here are 8 common Jazz Questions that I receive:

Rhythm Questions:

23) "What is the difference between 'swing time' and 'straight time'?"

A jazz song can either be in 'swing time' or 'straight time'.

These are two different rhythmic feels:

'Straight time' is easiest to understand. It means to play every note exactly as it is written. If you see a series of eighth notes written in the music of a 'straight time song', then each eighth note should be played the same duration as the other eighth notes.
'Swing Time' on the other hand requires you to play the eighth notes slightly differently to what's written.The on-beats (1, 2, 3, 4) will be played as normal - on the beat. The off-beats however (which are the 'ands'... the 'one - AND', 'two - AND', three - AND, four - AND) need to be delayed and played very slightly later than what's written. These delayed off-beats are what create the swing time feel.

To be more specific - to play a song in Swing Time you have to divide each quarter note into a set of three equal-length eighth notes - which are called 'triplets'.

Say the following out loud to hear how this triplet feel sounds:

'1 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 2 - 3'.

Every note that's on a downbeat (a.k.a. ‘on-beat’) is played exactly as written - on the downbeat.

But every off-beat note in the sheet music needs to be nudged backwards and played on the third note of the triplet...

Why is this done?

It looks much simpler to notate a swing song in 4/4 time - and to simply write a series of eighth notes in a row - rather than to notate a swing song in 12/8 time, which looks very complicated and confusing.

24) "How do I know if a song is in swing time or straight time?"

In most Real Books the arranger will specify 'swing time' or 'straight time' in the upper left corner of the song's lead sheet. So before you start playing a new song, always look to see if it says 'swing time / swing feel' or similar, or if it says 'straight time'.

This tells you how to play your 8th notes - either with a swing feel, or a straight feel.

There's several terms that can be written for 'swing time' - these include 'swing', 'swing feel', 'bebop', 'blues'...
And there's several terms that can be written for 'straight time' - these include 'straight', 'ballad', 'latin', 'fusion', 'funk'...

Bear in mind - the following types of song are usually played in straight time:

Ballads (like Misty,Tenderly, Cry Me A River, etc)  

Latin songs (including Bossa Nova, Salsa, Mambo)  

Fusion / Funk influenced songs.  Any song that doesn't fall into the above categories is most likely to be played swing - including Blues music, bebop, and most traditional mid-tempo jazz songs.  

Free Resource: Download my '30 Beginner Jazz Songs' list.

Jazz Terminology Questions:  

25) "What is 'Reharmonization'?"

'Reharmonization' means to change a song's chords. It's quite common for jazz musicians to change one or two chords when they play a song, based on personal preference. Rarely does a jazz musician change more than two or three chords in any song.  

Reharmonization can be as simple as changing one note in a chord - e.g. to change a 'C minor 7' chord (C Eb G Bb) into a 'C minor-major 7' chord (C Eb G B)...  Or to change 'C major 7' into 'C7'...  

Or it can be as drastic as to change a chord to a completely unrelated chord - e.g. to change 'C minor 7' to 'Ab7#11'...
NOTE: When you change any chord in a song, you also change the scale that should be played over it.This sometimes requires you to adjust the melody notes (sharpen or flatten) to fit with the new scale of the new chord you added.

26) "What is 'Tritone Substitution'?"

'Tritone Substitution' is a type of reharmonization that is used often by jazz musicians. It is applied to V7 chords ('dominant 7 chords', like 'C7'):

Anytime you see a dominant 7 chord in a jazz song (e.g. 'C7'), you can transpose it up a tritone (up a diminished 5th) - and play Gb7 instead...

Both dominant 7 chords are similar (C7 and Gb7) - they have two notes the same, which are E and Bb...

But they also have two notes different: C and G changes to Gb and Db...

The scales you would play over each of these two chords are also different:

So instead of playing C mixolydian scale (C D E F G A Bb) over the song's original C7 chord, it will sound much more exotic and sophisticated if you play Gb lydian-dominant scale (Gb Ab Bb C Db Eb E) over a Gb7 chord instead.

You can apply Tritone Substitution to a ii-V-I in C major:

Instead of playing: D min 7 - G7 - C maj 7 (a regular ii-V-I)... you would play D min 7- Db7 - C maj 7 instead.

Notice the lovely chromatic descending bass line you get when you apply Tritone Substitution to the ii-V-I:

D - Db - C are your left hand's bass notes.

27) "What does 'chromatic' mean?"

'Chromatic' refers to any sections of music that move by half- step (or 'semitone')...

So the 'chromatic scale' from C is: C C# D D# E F F# G G#A A# B C - it's all 12 notes on the keyboard played up or down...
Any melodic phrase that moves in half-steps can be called 'chromatic' - e.g. Bb - A - Ab - G.

28) "What is 'chord inversion'?"

Most chords in jazz are played in 'root position', which means that the root is at the bottom of the chord, and then the 3rd, 5th, and 7th are played above - like this: C E G B...

However you can rearrange the notes of a chord and play them in a different order. This is called 'chord inversion'. You can play a 7th chord in 'root position', '1st inversion', '2nd inversion', '3rd inversion'...

Here are the inversions you can play C major 7 in:

C E G B = 'root position' (no inversion).  

E G B C = '1st inversion'.  

G B C E = '2nd inversion'.  

B C E G = '3rd inversion'.  

Chord inversion can be applied to any chord - whether it has three notes (a 'triad'), four notes (a 7th chord), or a 9th chord, 11th chord, or 13th chord (although this is very rarely done in jazz)...

The most common use of chord inversion in jazz piano is when playing a ii-V-I in your left hand only.

It's common to play the V7 chord in 2nd inversion - in order to create smooth voice leading, and to keep your hand in the same space:

D min 7(D F A C) - G7(2nd inversion: D F G B) - C maj 7 (C E G B)

Free Resource: Download my 'Chord Symbol Reference Guide'

Shows you all types of Jazz chord notated clearly on one page - including 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths.

Jazz Scales Questions:

29) "How do I know what scale to play over a chord?"

In jazz, you always have a choice of scales you can play over any given chord.There is never just one scale you can play (except possibly the diminished 7 chord)...

A good rule of thumb is this:

Start by putting the chord's chord tones in your scale - that's the 1, 3, 5 7...

Next, add a whole-step above each of these notes: 1 (add a whole-step) - 3 (add a whole-step) - 5 (add a whole-step).

So if you see a 'C major 7' chord - start with the chord tones: C E G B.Then add a whole-step above each note - which gives you:C D E F# GA B - that's 'C lydian scale'.
Or if you see a 'C minor 7' chord - start with the chord tones: C Eb G Bb. Then add a whole-step above each note - which gives you: C D Eb F G A Bb - that's 'C dorian scale'.
Or if you see a 'Co7' chord ('C diminished 7') - start with the chord tones: C Eb Gb A. Then add a whole-step above each note - which gives you C D Eb F Gb Ab A B - that's 'C diminished scale'.

This is a good rule of thumb to get you started.

30) "What are 'Modes'?"

Instead of starting a scale from its root (e.g. C D E F G A B), you can rearrange the notes to start from the scale's 2nd note (D E F G A B C).. Or its 3rd note (E F G A B C D)... Or its 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th note...

Chord three notes (a 'triad'), four notes (a 7th chord), or a 9th chord, 11th chord, or 13th chord (although this is very rarely done in jazz)...

The most common use of chord inversion in jazz piano is when playing a ii-V-I in your left hand only. It's common to play the V7 chord in 2nd inversion - in order to create smooth voice leading, and to keep your hand in the same space:

D min 7 (D FA C) - G7 (2nd inversion: D F G B) - C maj 7 (C E G B)

Recommended Lesson

'Jazz Theory Explained in 20 Minutes'

All the essential Jazz theory you need to know in one video:

Free Resource: Download my 'Chord Symbol Reference Guide' sheet music.

(All Jazz chords notated on one page - including 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths).

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