4 On The Floor - Peter Martin | 2 Minute Jazz

Peter Martin gives some keys to playing in the Four On The Floor style on the piano.

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What's goin' on everybody? Peter Martin here for 2 Minute Jazz. I want to talk to you about what I like to call Four on the Floor for the piano. (rhythmic piano playing)

So playing Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me," and I was kind of reminded what a great technique this is to be able to add in and we can kind of transition from walking bass, to that four on the floor where it's like everything's got a root.

And you can think about a lot of different ways to do this but if you can reach that 10th that's a nice one, root, 7th, 10 / root, 7, 3, but you can also go root, 5, 7. 

And normally you can have the root on the bottom but it doesn't always have to be there. And I love getting a little melodic movement going. You know, just a little bit of countermelody. And once you get that solid, you can go right in the pocket with what you're playing in the right hand. But it gets really fun when you kind of loosen up. The more solid you are, the more out of time you can get. But it all starts here.

And you hear the articulation of the phrasing; it's not (long droning eighth notes) and it's not (short staccato eighth notes) It's (bouncing eighth notes)

It's got a little bit of weight. It's almost like, you know like that bass drum feathering. And then you can do a lot of things when you are in time with the right hand to syncopate. So it's very basic in the left hand, but it just keeps you from having to kind of do that, (jumpy left hand) and it segues nicely with the walking. Or a two feel. 

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