Everything You Need to Know to Improvise Over Minor 2-5-1's (Jazz Piano Tutorial)

Once you understand this chord structure, your piano playing will never be the same. It's used commonly in both Jazz and Neo Soul, but you'll really hear it used in an absolutely gorgeous way in modern Neo Soul-Inspired tracks that cross genres as well. A really important part of this sound is the dim(maj7) chord, i.e. a diminished triad with a major 7. The structure comes down to being built like a block chord, but with a major 7 instead of a 6. Use this over any melody or chord progression for a modern sound. Enjoy this jazz and Neo Soul piano tutorial with Noah Kellman.

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[SSJBartSimp]

Noah explained it the formal way in terms of modes of the melodic minor, but an alternative way to view it that I personally find easier is as follows:
-for the 2 half dim, go up a minor 3rd and play that melodic minor scale
-for the 5 altered, go up a half step and play that melodic minor scale
-for the i, play that melodic minor scale

Thank you Noah for bringing this knowledge to everyone!

[arnar]

Hail Noah Kellman, hail our people

, hail victory!

[KlaviersAnthology]

Wow that actually made me compose that delicate and dark ending for my valse duet! Thank you for that reminder of such modes!!!

[mrblablablabla]

Oh man, you just blew my mind! I got so much more from this video than I expected! This is the first time I feel like I ‘get’ jazz a little! You just opened up so many musical possibilities to me! Also, I can clearly see the way I should go about learning theory and exercises to progress.
The way you have all this knowledge available to freely flow into your playing is really impressive. I’ll have to take it baby step by baby step, but one day I hope to be on your level.
Thank you so much for sharing!

[edgarsnake]

Thanks Noah. Your lessons are out of my league but I am slowly beginning to grasp what you're up to.

[marcoevans]

5:00 the rubber meets the road. Reminded me of my hero Bill Evans 👍🏾

[chrishajianmusic]

Just Awesome!! Relating the scales to the chords is really beneficial as it adds to a deeper knowledge of function and opens up more possibilities. Thanks Noah!

[richarpadilla]

Great great video, very useful Noah, i also like which scale to use with each chord video and the melodic minor modes video, they are your best videos

[poruumusic]

Thank you again for another invaluable lesson Noah! I always end up learning something new. You forgot the Discord link on the desc tho

[chandlerfelty]

Great video! What do you suggest for minor 2-5-1s that use non altered V7 and a im7 chord? Or with a minor 2 chord with a natural 5th instead of flat.

[caseydahl]

the iim9b5 and V7alt both work for the minor ii V but I think the iim7b5 to V7b13b9 work better as the 'default' chord qualities

[robpallot]

@noahkellman - Why not resolve to the i7 chord? (ie. Why play i6/9 or i-minor-major7)
(BTW - Awesome videos)

[julienm]

I have the feeling that practicing melodic scales seems not enough not to get bored with the improvisation. Next step is to master the chromatisms like you did in the intro but i dunno how to practice them to obtain a relevant sound.

[fernandonardi]

Why Dm9 (b5) instead Dmb9 (b5)? In Cminor key is Eb instead E.

[juanvargasleyva]

Can I play G diminished 7 scale instead Abm melodic scale?
Thanks!

[LeDrummerDu]

2:53 is that the intro of PianoPig channel ? :') ahaha

[mrfudd]

Tried to set up a call - got "Page Not Found". Not doing this anymore?

[AmenitaMuscaria]

Isn't the melodic minor played differently when descending?

[stephanosioannou]

Why don't you just play the 1 minor over the whole progression?

[nonretrogradable]

Great lessons but the scale names are so goofy. “Locrian sharp 2” versus starting from a degree of the melodic minor scale. To me the mode names add unnecessary complexity and I doubt Charlie Parker, Joe pass, and other greats thought in that way at all