Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Bachelor of Music
April 2016
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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Biography 3
Teaching Methods 7
Improvisational Techniques 24
Select Discography 45
References 46
Introduction
Lennie Tristano was a remarkable pianist and is among the few true visionaries in jazz.
As an artist often overlooked by critics, he brought to the 1940’s a unique and personal
conception of what he believed jazz should be. Tristano’s ideas of hearing, feeling and playing
jazz led to a highly organized and conceptual system of his own teachings. This had tremendous
influence on such artists as Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Charles Mingus, Phil Woods, Richie
Tristano was the first jazz musician to perform and record non-structured music based on
the necessity of instrumental competency and intuitive spontaneity, which would much later be
While he was strongly connected to bebop harmonically, he was more rhythmically and
chromaticism, fast single-line runs, block chords, aspects of linearity and spontaneous and dense
contrapuntal activity within the interactions of group playing. Tristano’s biggest jazz piano
influences were Earl Hines and Art Tatum, though he had a deep appreciation for the music of
Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell.
personality, and his love for teaching music, he became a respected teacher of jazz improvisation
as an art-form, and one of the most brilliant stylists in jazz music. His love of the music,
combined with his pioneering individuality, broke the barriers of jazz, while remaining grounded
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in its roots. His former bandmate and student, Peter Ind, states that, “Tristano’s legacy is what he
added technically to the jazz vocabulary and his vision of jazz as a serious musical craft”. (Shim,
2007)
Another student of Tristano, Connie Crothers, says that “Lennie believed that all study of
the aspects of music and the mastery of an instrument should be inclusive and comprehensive as
possible to enable the musician to be free from constraint so that the feeling could pour out in a
Biography
Leonard Joseph (Lennie) Tristano was born March 19, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois and died
November 18, 1978 in New York City. Born with quickly deteriorating eyesight, he would later
become completely blind. He listened to the player-piano in his home, and by age 4, he could
work out playing simple tunes, and by age 10 was fluent at the most popular songs. At age 8, he
had taken some classical piano lessons, which he later dismissed as unconstructive.
“I learned nothing of value, and had to unlearn everything to go on. Technically, classical
training is all wrong for a jazz pianist. It was diametrically opposed to everything I was trying to
do, which was improvise.” (Shim, 2007) It was around the age of 10 that Tristano began listening
Despite the hardships of his visual disability and having to attend a school for
handicapped children, Tristano thrived in his studies. Music came very naturally to him, and he
learned to play fluently on clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, four-string guitar, trumpet, cello,
drums, in addition to leading his own band. By the end of his high school years, Tristano had
studied the piano, cello and orchestra in great depth, and learned to tune pianos. He learned
difficult piano works by Beethoven, J.S. Bach, Chopin, Moskowski and Meldelssohn. (Shim,
2007)
From 1938 to 1943, Tristano attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago,
earning a bachelor’s degree in 1941. Courses included: piano, counterpoint, keyboard harmony,
ear training, pedagogy, form and analysis, music history, composition, and orchestration. His
graduation recital included music by Bach, Beethoven, Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin,
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aesthetics and criticism, principles and methods for instructive education, social psychology,
secondary education and logic. (Shim, 2007) This fueled his interest in, and approach at teaching
music, which would become the central focus of his life and career.
In the early 1940’s, Tristano visited jazz clubs in south Chicago, to seek out live jazz. It
was here that he was introduced to the music of Charlie Parker. In 1942, Tristano was
approached by Lee Konitz, who was seeking instruction in playing jazz music. In 1943, Tristano
took a position teaching at the Axel Christensen School of Popular Music, and was given
permission to teach with his own methods. In 1944, Tristano was featured in an article in
Metronome, bringing attention to his ability as an arranger and performer. “Though Tristano
could replicate anything of Art Tatum piano playing, which demonstrates his high level of
technical facility and understanding of advanced harmonic concepts, by the mid 1940’s he
focused on having a more individual style rather that imitating Tatum.” (Shim, 2007)
Uninspired by the commercialism of the music industry in Chicago and the unaccepting
critics of his progressive style, he moved to New York City in 1946 in hopes of increasing his
potentials for recognition and opportunity. Once there, Tristano performed with many of the
leading jazz players, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. A prominent music critic,
Barry Ulanov, wrote favorable reviews of Tristano in Metronome magazine, and in 1947,
Tristano was awarded the magazine’s Musician of the Year Award. In 1948, tenor saxophonist
Warne Marsh began studying with Tristano. Soon after, guitarist Billy Bauer, saxophonist Lee
Konitz, bassist Arnold Fishkin joined the group. This formed the band that would play on
approach of long, intricate melodies played over a smooth, unvaried swing time-feel. ‘Tristano
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took the timbre and rhythms of the cool concept into more atonal areas, combining polyphonic
and polyharmonies but keeping the basic pulse subtle.’ (Taylor, 1982)
By 1951, Tristano opened his own school of jazz, which was a first of its kind. He
employed his best students, including Marsh, Konitz and Bauer. It was also a location for jam
sessions and weekly concerts where aspiring students had an opportunity to perform what they
were working on. It was also a quiet place to play and listen to music without the distractions,
alcohol and drugs common to the New York City jazz clubs. Tristano named one of his
compositions after the address, 317 East 32nd Street. Tristano’s band played, there, and other
infrequent gigs in New York City until the summer of 1952, when Konitz left the group to play
In 1953, Tristano recorded an innovative album, ‘Descent into the Maelstrom’. He used
an atonal approach with multi-tracking overdubs and focused on motifs instead of having a
harmonic structure worked out beforehand. This approach foreshadowed pianist Cecil Taylor by
many years. His 1955 Atlantic Records album, ‘Lennie Tristano’, was groundbreaking in that he
controlled the entire creative processes. Along with multi-tracking, he altered the recording tape
speed to speed up the recordings. (Line Up, East 32nd St.) Though some found this to be
deceptive and unauthentic, Tristano considered it another technique at his disposal, to make his
music sound like the way he wanted it to. Tristano expanded the harmonic vocabulary of jazz
In 1956, Tristano separated from his wife and relocated his teaching studio to his home in
Queens. This contributed to him becoming more and more disconnected from the New York jazz
scene, though he did perform occasionally at the Half Note in New York in 1958. Tristano’s
second Atlantic Records album, ‘The New Tristano’, was released in 1962, displaying the pianist
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at his best. Unlike his last album, there was no manipulation of tracks or speed. This solo piano
album, largely improvised, had left-hand bass lines, block chords, complex harmonies, a bold
and forceful tone, polyrhythm, and a chromatic linear approach to bebop inspired melodies.
In the mid 1960’s, Lennie Tristano reunited to play with Konitz and Marsh in New York
and Canada. In 1965, he toured Europe, performing solo piano in the style of his ‘New Tristano’
album. One concert, the ‘Berlin Piano Workshop”, featured Tristano alongside pianists Earl
Hines, Teddy Wilson, John Lewis, Bill Evans and Jaki Byard. During the 1970’s, Tristano chose
not to travel, and instead continued to focus on teaching music and organizing concerts for
students. Though he virtually stopped performing in public, and preferred to spend his days at
home, he did continue to play music with his students. Drummer Bill Chatin recounts playing
call...he was never less than The New Tristano...” (Shim, 2007)
In the 1970’s, Tristano developed severe eye pain, and had problems with his lungs,
including emphysema and a bout with pneumonia in 1974. Over the next few years, he
recommend to his students that they stop studying with him, as his attitude became more
withdrawn. He suffered a fatal heart attack in November of 1978. Lennie Tristano is remembered
for his unique style of jazz piano, his devotion to teaching, and for his love for music and the
Teaching Methods
In the 1940s, Lennie Tristano was among the first to attempt to teach jazz improvisation
as an area of study distinct from instrumental technique. (Jago, 2015) His unconventional
approach would prove to be very successful for his students, many of whom went on to have a
successful career in jazz. Tristano developed a method that focused on jazz improvisation as an
art-form, and saw improvisation as a true means of expressing a feeling, on an intuitive and
spontaneous level. As well as encouraging students to gain a complete understanding and fluency
of their instrument (or voice). Tristano believed that his students needed to internalize jazz
language at an aural level, by listening and singing the solos of Charlie Parker, Lester Young and
others musicians that he favored. According to Dave Liebman, in the 1960s, Tristano was among
the few, if not the only, person professionally teaching jazz improvisation in New York City.
Tristano’s main teaching goal was to transform his students into artists capable of full
expression via their instruments. This was done by a rigorous method of ear training and
technical practice, at a harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic level. His students were expected to
have complete mastery of their instruments, be able to play in all keys, and have a significant
grasp of rhythmic complexity. They were also trained to transpose by ear and sing all intervals,
melodies, and harmonic movements accurately. (Jago, 2015) Warne Marsh explained the nature
of his earlier lessons with Tristano as getting familiar with the real substance of music, similar to
what a classically trained musician would be fluent in; polyrhythms, mixed meters, good
understanding of musical development and technique away from the instrument, by means of
mental visualization. This is not surprising, as Tristano was extremely good at visualizing
musical notation and ‘seeing’ the keyboard in his mind. His idea was that the imagination could
play an important role in working out the kinks of the technical aspects of your instrument, as it
would apply to the theoretical challenges in exercises and melodies. This could also make
‘practicing’ possible anytime and anywhere, provided you had a sufficient lack of distraction
needed for focus. Tristano suggested singing out loud what you would imagine playing on your
instrument, while slowly and carefully imagining the physical details required to do so. This
improved the ear by way of aural integration. At the same time, students were to vividly imagine
which fingers they would use. When it came time to play, these details would be more worked
out than before, as if already practiced. This helped students gain a mental image of pitches, and
a clearer understanding of their relationship which each other. The ability to clearly imagine
melody in a harmonic framework would guarantee that the information was internalized, rather
This was all part of Tristano’s long-term plan for his students to transcend to the higher
level of awareness needed for true, unrestricted, spontaneous improvisation. Very different from
today’s jazz music education, Tristano considered the learning of solos, development of fluidity
in all keys, exploration of harmony, and the act of improvising to be aural projects rather that
To learn a selected solo of a jazz improviser, Tristano had a very specific teaching
method. The first step was to sing the solo along with the recording and visualize playing it on
their instrument as they sing the pitches. Everything involved in the sound, including time feel,
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accent placement, timbre, articulation and mood were all as essential as the pitch elements of the
solo and needed to be embodied in the process of this initial learning of the solo. (Jago, 2015)
The next step was to sing the solo without the recording playing, while maintaining the
focus on pitch accuracy and the exact placement of the note within the time feel. Next was to
play on the instrument, while aiming to re-enact how the notes sound and feel on the recording.
Tristano felt it necessary not only to sing, but to actively focus on accurately hearing the fine
nuances of the solo, so as to develop a physical understanding of how to identify with the act of
singing it.
Tristano firmly believed that all aspects of learning music were best embodied rather than
intellectualized. He emphasized that things be learned slowly, by way of aural impression and
imaginative visualization, to best result in a deeper and engrained ability to express the music
they feel with authentic expression and intuitive spontaneity. This is much the same way a person
would naturally learn to use the devices needed to absorb a new language (syntax, vocabulary,
grammar).
Ear Training
Tristano’s students were expected to recognize and be able to sing intervals named. On
the piano, Tristano had students play intervals, triads, and finally, chord extensions, which were
added, from the 7th all the way up to 13th scale degree. These were done in all chord qualities and
inversions, and formed the foundations of further harmonic exercises. Ear training exercises
involved learning scales in all keys, focusing on major, harmonic, melodic and jazz minor.
These were incorporated into exercises based on harmony, melodic fragments, and
polyrhythm. Scales were played hands together in thirds, sixths, and tenths. Rhythmically, they
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were to be played in groupings of two, three, four, and so on. This served to help the technical
aspects of articulation and speed. Tristano instructed that scales were to be played with feeling,
and that notes played should really sink into the keyboard, and to hear each note fully and
cleanly.
Singing
The most fundamental and essential part of Tristano’s lessons was learning to listen and
sing along with records of the great solos of his favorite soloists. All solos and other exercises
had to be sung and internalized by students before being allowed to play them on their
instrument. Tristano firmly believed that it did absolutely nothing to simply learn the notes and
memorize a solo. His preferred process of engraining a musical language was to sing the material
perfectly, without needing to resort to looking at notation. This served to assimilate all the
aspects of re-creating the nuances of a jazz soloist, engraining the music at a physical and
emotional level.
The focus was always on finding and recreating the feeling or essence of the music,
through the body by singing, which Tristano insisted could not be discovered by reading it on
paper. Tristano emphasized that every note was to be sang perfectly, in regards to pitch, rhythm,
and articulation. He also suggested setting the record at half-speed if needed, to really hear
everything clearly.
It is worth noting that only certain soloists were allowed to be modeled in student’s
lesson. Tristano insisted that the evolution of jazz was only developed by certain players over the
years, those who played with authentic feeling and have complete control over their sound.
Soloists he would model from included: Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billy Holiday, Roy
Eldridge, Charlie Christian, Bud Powell, Fats Navarro and Frank Sinatra. By singing specific
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solos from these artists, away from their instruments, along with the recording, then gradually
without the recording, Tristano’s students were able to internalize the authentic language of the
music, while fully realizing the details of the tone and phrasing involved.
Harmony
thorough understanding of diatonic and intervallic relationship. Every triad was to be arpeggiated
in all inversions, open and closed position, starting on each scale degree, for all three scale types
(major, harmonic and melodic ‘jazz’ minor), in all 12 keys. By doing this, students became
familiar with all chord types diatonically possible within a key. In addition, this exercise
sharpened the ability to transpose and further aided in the process of improvising on the chord
changes of a song.
Tristano emphasized grasping the concept of tritone substitution, and learning what notes
In the following examples, three different dominant chords are changed by using the bass
note a tritone away, keeping all other notes in place. The 3rd and flat 7th become reversed upon
subbing the root to its tritone. The following conversions should be noted when using tritone
substitution.
1 ----------------------#4, b5
b9 ---------------------- 5
#9, -3 ------------------ 6, 13
3 ------------------------ b7
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4, 11 -------------------- 7
chords on top of other chords. This allows for the perception of two tonalities within one sound.
For example, Fmaj7(#11) could be perceived as both an Fmaj7 chord and Cmaj7 chord.
Lennie Tristano preferred that his students learned to use complex harmony and
especially dense dominant chords when approaching the chord of resolution. Another harmonic
technique taught by Tristano was changing the chord qualities for the purpose of delaying or
bypassing resolutions. In contrast to the tri-tone substitution, this type of alteration changed other
notes in the chord, affecting the quality, but leaving the root the same.
created.
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Polyrhythm
of ‘cross-rhythms’ in his playing. His teaching validated his ability and interest. The goal was to
be able to feel more than one time signature at the same time. The method was to tap with
different limbs, different rhythms, simultaneously. Piano students played scalar exercises, with
each hand using a separate meter. Furthermore, the fingers used would also represent the time
signature.
For example, an exercise could be designed to play 4/4 and 5/4 simultaneously, by using
these methods. This type of exercise improved hand independence, finger control, as well as
By using groups of fingers equal to the amount of notes in each independent rhythm, this
once again shows Tristano’s ideal method of internalizing a concept naturally and physically,
which he believed bypassed the intellectual way of learning. This approach by Tristano taught
pianists to have a more refined command over the tone they produced, no matter what finger was
being used. Students were encouraged to be able to produce an equal and meaningful feeling in
every note, which required having full facility of independent fingering technique. An example
Much of Tristano’s compositions, which were based over pre-existing jazz standard chord
changes, involved the use of polyrhythmic figures, superimposed over a 4/4 meter. This involves
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having a motif, or sequence of motifs, run over the bar line and start again, each time beginning
at a different place in the bar. In lessons, his students were taught how to figure out how these
worked by writing them out, but ultimately were encouraged to feel the phrases naturally,
without focusing on the bar line. Students also designed short phrases that were odd-numbered
beats long, then played then sequentially up the scale, over a 4/4 meter. This caused an overlap of
the bar line, while the phrases themselves remained the same.in length. Tristano’s structure of
practicing this very slowly and intently, helped to enable and engrain the feeling of playing
polyrhythms.
Here is an example of a 3/4 note length phrase played sequentially up the C major scale,
Tristano also taught students the idea of taking a short melodic shape and actively
moving it around to other parts of the scale, all all keys, manipulating it to harmonically fit over
different chord types as well. This helped students improve fluidity of diatonic scales, as well as
Voicings
As Tristano’s teaching developed through the years, he began referring to all pitches and
root movements by number. Piano voicings were learned in all keys, and were called out by
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Tristano for the student to play. Focus was put on the idea of forming the hand to the shape
needed, imagining the sound of the chord ahead of time and just ‘dropping’ it onto the chord.
Tristano believed this to be a method of learning the geographical nuances of each key signature
on the piano. These were played hands separately, then hands together, when needed.
Below is a complete list of the piano voicings Tristano required students to know, in the
key of C:
Minor 7 chords
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Diminished 7 chords
Dominant 7 chords
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The chord voicings above were memorized and moved around the keyboard by different
intervals, starting with a half-step and advancing to larger leaps. This served to improve the
students’ ear by hearing new chord sequences while improving hand facility by introducing new
and unfamiliar hand shapes. After these voicings were learned, Tristano’s students created ‘chord
lines’ with these voicings, paying close attention to the top melody note. The bottom note was to
also create a simple melody when possible. This demonstrates Tristano’s linear approach to
melody, even within a chordal context. Student were taught the skills to improvise whole
choruses of personalized chord melodies, as a means of contrast to playing single note lines.
Technique
Tristano taught his students to break the habit of playing patterns that fall naturally on the
keyboard. By creating exercises that forced the hand into new positions, students learned to play
with an equal intensity and tone, no matter what finger was used to play the note. Tristano
emphasized the importance of playing with evenness and consistency, in order to have full
control over articulation. According to Tristano, it was only when this was accomplished could
one play with true feeling. By playing scalar exercises that isolate two or three fingers at a time,
students developed the technique required to create equal and meaningful tones.
One of the most important aspects of Tristano’s theory of teaching jazz improvisation was
the idea that by practicing at extremely slow tempos and gradually speeding up, one could make
slow tempos, the cognitive part of playing is bypassed, creating a stronger connection between
the feeling of the music and the instrument. Tristano considered the metronome an invaluable
tool to create a perfect reference of time, especially when learning to play polyrhythms with
precision. Setting the metronome to its slowest setting allowed students to become fully aware of
their thought processes while emphasizing the need for perfect note expression and placement.
One of Tristano’s students, Stan Fortuna, describes slow practicing, “You actually worked
on getting slower and slower...It took me a long time to get through a song like that, playing
quarter notes on the bass. But what that did though, boy, once I got through it, it opened up the
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world. I never practiced playing fast. The next thing I know all of a sudden...was I could just play
Studying jazz improvisation with Lennie Tristano was an intense and personal
experience. Tristano incorporated many aspects of musical development into the lesson, altering
his approach to suit the student’s progress, strengths and weaknesses. For those who studied with
Tristano for many years, they achieved an increase in the overall control of their instrument,
awareness, spontaneity, and relaxed expression. Tristano stressed the fact that relaxation was key
to having full control over getting the music from your head, out of the instrument. He would
physically lift pianists’ hands off the keyboard if he thought there was tension. Relaxation of the
Tristano had a clear understanding of how the shape of a solo was important to the
essence of jazz improvisation. The same as telling a story, it should have a beginning, middle and
end, and an appropriately timed climax, characterized by high notes, bigger intensity, and more
rhythmic variation. Tristano also taught the idea of creating contrast within solos by adding a
‘bridge section’ to the solo. This could be in the form of polyrhythmic complexities, or perhaps
switching to playing block chords or taking larger melodic leaps. Ultimately, Tristano had
students write out their own solos, helping to solidify their ideas and practices. This was also
Tristano’s method of composition, as written lines could serve as new melodies based on the
When it came to learning a melody, Tristano stressed the need to learn to memorize it and
play it very slowly, with the metronome, without any accompaniment. Once a melody was
learned, it could then be the driving force behind how you approach the improvisation. Melodies
had to be internalized before improvising was permitted, and were played in all keys. Even when
improvising, Tristano suggested singing the melody, which further engrained the harmonic
Improvisational Techniques
The analysis of Tristano’s playing will include transcriptions of improvisations that span
the years during which he produced the bulk of his work. There are many similarities in the
presented solos, and many examples will demonstrate multiple aspects of his playing. The
Bebop Language
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Lennie Tristano’s style comes directly from a deep appreciation of bebop players, like
Bud Powell and Charlie Parker, among others. A few characteristics of bebop language
commonly found in Tristano’s improvisations are: The use of scales, arpeggios, and chromatic
enclosures.
Scales
the 3rd of Bb major, proceeded by a leap to an accented major 9th, followed by a long ascending
Bb major scale.
In bar 27 of the same solo, Tristano uses a descending F ‘jazz’ minor scale, placing chord
In the second chorus of ‘Line Up’, over a two-bar C7 chord, Tristano plays an ascending
In chorus 5 of ‘Line Up’, Tristano moves through the Bb dominant bebop scale over the
Bb7 chord.
Here is another example of Tristano using a Bb dominant bebop scale over Bb7 in chorus
6 of ‘Line Up’.
Bars 61-63 of ‘C Minor Complex’ demonstrates a simple and diatonic use of the Ab
major scale.
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In the second chorus of ‘There Will Always Be You’, Tristano uses a diatonic Ab major
Then in the fourth chorus, the B and A notes are used as a chromatic enclosure approach
Then, in the sixth solo chorus, Tristano uses an Eb dominant bebop scale over Bbmin7.
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Arpeggios
In his solo on ‘Subconscious-Lee’, Tristano plays an ascending F-9 arpeggio on bar 12,
At the end of his solo, two arpeggios are used, acting as a melodic sequence. The second
one, a C major 9 arpeggio, resolves the tension of the D minor 7 (flat 5, flat 9) arpeggio. This
could also be thought of as a Dbmaj9 arpeggio with an added flat 9, which resolves down a half
In ‘All the Things You Are’, Tristano starts his solo by playing a descending Bmin7
arpeggio over the Bbmin7 chord, then on beat 4, he instantly switches to the inside-sounding
Bbmin9 ascending arpeggio. This example also demonstrates Tristano’s use of chromatic side-
In bar 5 of Tristano’s fifth chorus on ‘Line Up’, he plays an ascending arpeggio that spans
the entire extended harmony of the F7 chord. On beat 1, it begins with the 3rd of F, and continues
upward, hitting the 5th, flat 7th, 9th, sharp 11th, 13th and finally the root, which is accented,
outlining the highest point in the line. This accent also marks the start of a descending Gmin7
Tristano begins the bridge of ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ with an ascending Bb-9
arpeggio.
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In the sixth chorus of ‘There Will Always Be You’, Tristano uses many different
arpeggiations. Over the Ebmaj7 chord, he implies the harmony of the previous bar with a
Db7(#11) arpeggio, accenting the G as the 3rd of Ebmaj7 and as the 5th of C-7. Tristano then uses
arpeggiation based on the B-6(maj7), which could be heard as a downward side-step from the
previous Cmin11 arpeggiation. This results in a uniformed but logical way of outlining the
The third chorus of ‘C Minor Complex’ begins with a series of arpeggios. Within the
framework of the walking bass line, he clearly outlines the chords C minor, Bb major, Ab major
and finally F#dim7. The directional changes further help to clearly mark the tonality, as well as
Tristano’s solo on ‘All the Things You Are’ has many enclosures that encircle chord
tones. In bar 5, beat 3 chromatically encircles the D on beat 4, anticipating the next bar’s tonality
by a quarter note.
In the first bar of the second chorus, Tristano plays a 4-note figure that functions both as a
chromatic enclosure of the F note on beat 3, and as a brief chromatic downward side-step. This
superimposes the tonality of E minor over the F minor chord. This exact line is repeated later in
Another interesting enclosure happens a couple bars later when Tristano twice
chromatically encloses the A note on beat 1 of bar 5. The targeted note (A) is actually the 5th of D
major, which he implied as an upward chromatic side-step over Db major. They are played using
The first four measures of the third chorus of ‘Line Up’ have three enclosures. On bar 2,
Tristano chromatically encloses a C# on beat one, which is the 3rd of the implied A major tonality
over Ab major, another upward chromatic side-step. He then encircles the root of C7 chord on
bar 3, (which could also be heard as an extension of Ab major). The next enclosures on bar four
outline both the 5th (G) of C7 and the 5th (C) of F7.
In the fifth chorus, bars 9-11 Tristano plays a series of chromatic enclosures targeting the
5th of C7 on beat 2, the root of C7 on beat 4, and the root of F minor on beat 2. These enclosures
make up a unique pattern that acts as a sequence that moves downward by fifths.
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The second chorus of Tristano’s solo on ‘There Will Always Be You’ has an interesting
chromatic enclosure in bar 27, when he plays Ab major, diatonically, then side-steps up
chromatically to imply an A major tonality. The last two notes of this descending A major
pentatonic scale, the B and A notes, act as an enclosure to the Bb note on beat 3, which is the 5th
of Eb major. This ‘inside’ note is the release of the tension created by the ‘outside’ sound of the
outline the root of C minor before playing it on beat 1. He then goes on to use the major 3rd and
Chromatic Runs
linearity and chromaticism in their melodic lines. These examples show how the chromatic scale
was used by Tristano to accent chord tones or to move from one chord to the next, in a
chromatic scale, landing the 6th, 5th, 4th (which resolves to the 3rd) on downbeats, and continues
In ‘All the Things You Are’, bar 27 of his first chorus, Tristano’s line descends
chromatically from the 9th (F) of Eb7 down to the C note on beat 4, which is treated diatonically
Bars 21-22 of ‘Line Up’ shows an ascending chromatic scale through F7. Though it is
heard as a single chromatic line, the downbeats do outline the chord, landing on 9th, 3rd, sharp
In the first chorus of ‘There Will Always Be You’, bars 29-31, Tristano plays a long
chromatic line through many chord changes. The line ends with an approach tone enclosure to
In bar 21 of the ninth chorus of ‘C Minor Complex’, Tristano used a fast descending
chromatic line of triplets, accenting the diminished 7th arpeggio within the C7#9 chord. (Db, Bb,
G, E)
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Tristano’s walking bass line also has plenty of chromatic movement, as seen in the end of
Side-Stepping
This is when the line played clearly implies a different key than the chord and bass notes might
suggest. It is most often done to superimpose the harmony of the key a semitone above or below,
before returning to the actual key of the current harmony. This ‘outside’ sound, along with the
‘inside’ sound of it returning, is a pleasant and catchy tension and release. Tristano makes the
outside key very diatonic (or pentatonic), which solidifies its implied tonality. When shifting in
or out of a given key, he often changes the direction of the line, uses repeated phrase lengths, and
accents notes, playing the phrases in a specific rhythmic pattern. ‘Especially impressive in his
inventiveness in combining it with other musical parameters, mainly the melodic and rhythmic
In bars 11-14 of the second chorus of ‘All the Things You Are’, Tristano uses E minor
triad triplets against a repeated high Eb note. The E minor triads get placed, alternately, between
‘Line Up’ has many instances of side-stepping. Bars 25-26 of Tristano’s sixth chorus uses
directional change, pentatonic notes, and accents which outline the highest notes in the phrase,
creating a separate melody within the line. Bars 27-28 further demonstrate Tristano’s use of
Here, Tristano uses D major pentatonic notes for two beats over Db major, then repeats
the phrase up a semitone, releasing the tension by playing inside the root key.
In bars 13-16 of the third chorus of ‘Line Up’, Tristano plays the tonality of a semitone
higher that the chord harmony, then changes the direction of the line as the tonality steps back
down inside the key. Here, the descending E major and D#-7(b5) arpeggios are diatonic to the
key of B7, giving the sound of an upward side-step against the harmony of Bb7. Tristano then
plays back inside the key with an ascending Fmin7 arpeggio, enclosures to both the 3rd of the
Bb7 chord (D), and root of the Eb7 chord on beat 3 of the previous bar.
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Bars 26-27 of ‘There Will Always Be You’ shows an interesting side-step. After playing
two bars inside the key of Ab, Tristano side-steps up a semitone by starting a phrase using the A
major pentatonic scale over the Db7 chord. The last enclosure resolves to the 5th of Eb major on
beat 2. Interestingly, this can be heard as resolving upward from a D major tonality to Eb major,
In the middle of the ninth chorus of ‘C Minor Complex’, Tristano walks a bass line over
F minor, using the minor 3rd (Ab/G#) and major 7th (E), as common tones that act as the root and
3rd of E major. This downward chromatic side-step implies E major over F minor. In the first bar
shown below, Tristano plays an A note on beat 4, implying F major. This gives the sound of the
downward shift in tonality to E major a very parallel and precise effect. The accents on bar 3 and
4 shown below show how Tristano groups short phrases together, often in odd-numbered beats.
Here we have 4 different 3/4 phrases over the span of 3 bars, each beginning on a different beat
within the 4/4 framework. This leads us to another important aspect of Tristano’s
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Polyrhythm
Lennie realized that by deliberately practicing such exercise patterns, eventually this
aspect of music would be instinctively absorbed and would express itself in improvisation. (Ind,
2005) Peter Ind is referring to Tristano’s intentional ‘creating, practicing melodic exercises built
on scale patterns and superimposing other rhythmic patterns, such as 5/8 (3 plus 2) or (2 plus 3),
Though much of Tristano’s improvisations and composed ‘lines’ are complex in nature,
due to much chromaticism, linearity and harmonic complexity, it’s his rhythmic accents and
asymmetrical groupings of linear patterns and shapes that are what tie it all together, giving his
In bars 17-19 of the third chorus of Tristano’s solo ‘Line Up’, two phrases can be seen
within a stream of eighths notes. The first phrase directly imposes the tonality of A major over
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Ab major. The second bar begins with a 4 note enclosure that targets the Ab note on beat 3. This
Ab note is the beginning of another 6/4 length phrase. Not only does it shift in harmony, the
shape is nearly identical to the previous phrase of 6 quarter notes. It is worth noting the
downward shift in tonality, through the use of enclosures and repetition of the phrase contour.
In bars 11-13 of the fourth chorus of Tristano’s solo on ‘There Will Always Be You’, he
uses a common method seen in his other solos, as well as his compositions. Tristano sequentially,
with the help of accents, groups together similar shapes of the same length in 3/4. This results in
the pulse of the phrase shifting to a different beat within the bar, creating a striking contrast with
* (note: count the first two notes in each set of triplets as one eighth note, and the third note as
In bars 18-20 of the ninth chorus of ‘C Minor Complex’, Tristano creates a repeating
pattern of four descending notes that are part of a long line of eighth-note triplets. He executes
this fast line with precision, starting with two beats of triplets in three, then five groups of 4 notes
of triplets. This can easily fool the listener into thinking they are hearing a uniform set of 16th
notes.
At another point in ‘C Minor Complex’, Tristano uses multiple concepts of his playing
style. Starting at bar 27 of the fourth chorus, and going all the way through the top of the form
until bar 14 of the next chorus (19 bars total), he plays an ostinato figure made up of a
superimposition of groups of three eighth notes, over 4/4 time. The quarter note bass line he
plays uses chromatic motion and repetition, adding to the mesmerizing effect of the ostinato. The
pattern is actually two different figures alternating, with each having high accented notes,
creating a chromatic back-and-forth effect. This rhythmically contrasts the bass line’s three note
back-and-forth pendulum effect. It takes three bars for the polyrhythmic cycle to repeat. Near the
end of the ostinato, Tristano plays the three bar cycle once up a perfect fourth, then returns,
In Tristano’s composition ‘317 East 32nd Street’, bars 6-8 of the melody clearly shows his
use of asymmetrical groups of notes within a single line. The phrase starts and ends away from
bar lines, as do many of Tristano’s phrases within his improvisations and compositions. The line
starts on D and continues up the G major scale to the 9th of Bb7 (C). Tristano then uses the F note
as a repeating pedal point and gradually shortens the upward motions in length by one note, until
only two eighth notes are played as the end of the phrase.
(Bauer, 1995)
The melody of Tristano’s 1958 composition ‘Leave Me’ begins with 4 repeating groups
of the same phrase, each 7 eighth notes in length, followed by a descending chromatic scale to
(Bauer, 1995)
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Accents
Tristano’s use of accents often function as the beginnings or ends of phrases, as well as to
create a separate melody that works with and in contrast to the underlying line and harmony.
Here is an example of Tristano playing accents that create an upper melody, in this case, a
descending Eb major scale. Bars 11-13 of the fourth chorus of ‘There Will Always Be You’.
Bars 22-24 of the same chorus shows Tristano using the lower notes in the phrase as
accents, creating chromatic, harmonic tension through a counter melody of its own.
Block Chords
Tristano used locked-hand block chords to contrast the long lines in his improvisations.
They would often be harmonically dense and rhythmically intense. Other times he would play
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elaborate chord melodies for whole choruses. Here is an example from bar 21 of the fifth chorus
of ‘Line Up’.
In ‘C Minor Complex’, Tristano plays a syncopated block chord passage for more than
the entire sixth chorus. He plays all the chords on the up-beat of 2 and 4 and uses a rolling effect,
demonstrates this as early as 1946 in the recording ‘Out on a Limb’. In this example, Tristano
plays a single-line melody in the left hand, which is doubled at the highest notes of the chords
From the album ‘The New Tristano’, Tristano impressively plays chord melody with
‘locked-hands’ style. In his version of ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’. After the bridge, which
he plays single line improvisation over a half-time walking bass, Tristano plays a dimished chord
sequence, followed by the more complex chord structure. Notice the shell voincings in the left
hand, with root position major triads in the right hand, built off the root of one semitone above.
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Select Discography
· Barry Ulanov’s All Star Modern Jazz Musicians. Radio Broadcast, New York. 1947.
(Spotlite)
· Live in Toronto. Lennie Tristano Quintet. UJPO Hall, Toronto, Canada, July 17, 1952.
(Jazz Records)
· Live at the Confucius Restaurant. Lennie Tristano Quartet. New York. June 11,
1955. (Atlantic)
· New York Improvisations. Lennie Tristano Trio. 317 East 32nd Street, New York.
References
Bauer, W. H. (1995). Jazz Lines: Lennie Tristano . Albertson, N.Y.: William H. Bauer, Inc.
Ind, P. (2005). Jazz Visions : Lennie Tristano and His Legacy. London: Equinox
Publishing Ltd.
Jago, M. S. (2015). Jedi mind tricks : Lennie Tristano and Mental Approaches for the Practice of
Jazz Improvisation. Jazz Research Journal, 183-202.
Shim, E. (2007). Lennie Tristano : his life in music. Michigan: The University of
Michigan Press.
Taylor, B. (1982). Jazz Piano : history and development. Dubuque: Wm. C. Brown
Company Publishers.