Spring Is Here: Exploring the Harmony of Bill Evans

Tom Lippincott·
5.0 (2 reviews)
·INTERMEDIATE·Harmony·1 lesson
Pianist Bill Evans' contributions to jazz have inspired and informed countless other musicians. His influence is evident in the work of many guitarists including Jim Hall, Lenny Breau, Ted Greene, John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner, and John McLaughlin. Of all the notable and impactful elements of Evans' playing, it is perhaps his harmonic sense that has most captivated generations of guitarists. In this class, we will explore Evans’ reharmonization of the standard tune “Spring Is Here” beginning with a basic version of the tune as envisioned by composer Richard Rodgers and taking a deep dive into Evans’ reworking of the harmony. We will see how the original harmony of the tune relates to Evans’ new chord progression and find strategies for transferring those sounds to the guitar fretboard. Also included and discussed in detail will be chord voicings from Tom’s arrangement of the tune plus alternate voicings and ways to implement them. In addition, we will investigate Evans’ intriguing intro, interlude, and ending statements that use the concept of constant structure to create lush and dramatic harmonies within these sections.

Spring Is Here: Exploring the Harmony of Bill Evans covers:

  • original version of the harmony of “Spring Is Here” with theoretical analysis
  • Bill Evans’ reharmonization of “Spring Is Here” with in-depth harmonic analysis
  • diminished major seven and diminished major seven flat 13 chords
  • transcription of Evans’ intro, interlude, and ending arranged for guitar
  • chord voicings for Tom’s realization of Evans’ arrangement, including contrapuntal moving inner, upper, and lower voices
  • discussion of alternate voicings and extended techniques
  • 92-minute running time
  • includes 9 pages of written examples and exercises
  • Musical examples from the video are provided in music notation, tablature, and chord grid form.
This class is based on Bill Evans' recording of "Spring Is Here" from Bill Evans at Town Hall and can be heard here:

Course Content

Lessons

  • Spring Is Here: Exploring the Harmony of Bill Evans Full Class5524

Reviews & Ratings

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marco giussani
Verified Purchase
3/5/2021

"BILL EVANS IS HERE"

Great class, reasoning and applying Evans harmony on the six strings. Hope there will be some more of the kind ... (Monk, Debussy, Nichols, Ravel .. who knows?) Thank you Tom Marco

james seaberry
Verified Purchase
2/11/2021

"Spring is Here"

This class is beyond fantastic. I have never gone wrong with any of Tom's lessons, but this one is so clear, so accessible, and so unique, that I am utterly floored. Great.

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About the instructor

Tom Lippincott
Eight- and six-string guitarist Tom Lippincott was born in New Jersey and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but has made South Florida his home since 1988. He has a bachelor's degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas as well as a master's in jazz performance from the University of Miami. Tom teaches jazz guitar at Florida International University, Miami Dade College, and Broward College. He also teaches lessons in person and online, conducts clinics and workshops, and has jazz guitar courses available through Mike’s Master Classes. As a longtime contributor to the South Florida jazz community, Tom has played and recorded extensively with many of the area’s musicians and bands. He has also performed throughout the world as both sideman and leader and has performed and/or recorded with jazz luminaries John Stowell, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Monder, Dave Liebman, Don Friedman, and Ed Schuller. In addition to previous recordings such as his 2000 release Painting the Slow Train Brown, Tom has been featured as a performer and composer recently on David Fernandez’s Land, as well as the upcoming release from Rodolfo Zuniga’s band Surfaces with Strings featuring Camila Meza. Tom has a new album of original compositions, Twenty Years Later, available on his website at tomlippincott.com.