Situation Soloing

BY DAVID COOK
June 25, 2014

When I think about my favorite piano and keyboard players, they have two qualities that I admire: they
always sound like themselves, and they always play whats right for the music at hand. When soloing in a
band, you need to have the tools to be as musically adventurous as possible, but also the discipline to know
when to use them. When youre writing your own music and fronting your own band, do whatever you want;
when youre playing someone elses music, bring everything in your arsenal to the table, your ears above all
else. Here are a few tips Ive learned about soloing that I hope will help you find your own sound.

1. Transpose Your Lines

Transposition is a terrific tool. Move your solo line around until it sounds musical and interesting. Also try
starting from an adventurous harmonic place, then make your way to the key of the song. Ex. 1a is a
simple E pentatonic riff that I play up a half step. Bar 2 has another E riff connecting to a similar riff down a
minor third, outlining a C minor chord but ending on a common tone to both scales that also rubs nicely with
the major third of A7. Ex. 1b uses downwards motion in thirds.

2. Rhythmic Displacement

Another great solo technique is to take something you usually play but anticipate it by a sixteenth-note, lay it
back, or superimpose a mixed-meter feel. In Ex. 2a I play off of a downbeat-heavy groove, laying back by one
sixteenth-note. I then add to it by implying a triplet feel. In Ex. 2b I superimpose a 12/8 feel over a 4/4
groove, but I leave out the downbeats to make it less obvious.

3. Play the Blues

The blues work in almost every musical context. Try simplifying chord progressions into one common blues
scale at the beginning of a solo to set a tone, or at the end of to bring it all home. Ex. 3a shows how four
different dominant chords can be tied together with the blues scale of the tonic. Ex. 3b illustrates a similar
idea, using the notes of the tonic blues scale to help outline the changes.

4. Make a Melody out of Chords

You can strengthen your solo lines by making a melody, with each note the top note of a well-voiced chord.
This can run the gamut from George Shearing-type block chords to modern Gospel and beyond. Ex.
4 demonstrates four different chords qualities to mix and match: fourths and sus chords in bar 1, diminished
drop-2 chords in bar 2, upper-structure sharp-ninth chords in bar 3, and Shearing-esque block chords with
the bottom note the same as the melody note in bar 4.

I admire players like Herbie Hancock, Kenny Kirkland, Larry Goldings and James Poyser. Besides being
formidable artists in their own right, theyve worked as sidemen and collaborators for some of the biggest
and most diverse names in music, says New York-based keyboardist and composer David Cook. Cook is
currently the Musical Director the Grammy Award winning Country/Pop artist Taylor Swift. He has also

accompanied acclaimed artists like Jennifer Hudson, Natasha Bedingfield, and Lizz Wright, and is a member
of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground. Cooks debut album as a leader Pathway is available now. Visit him at
davidcookmusic.com.

Link: http://www.keyboardmag.com/technique/1254/situation-soloing/31090
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