Just thought I’d introduce myself by mentioning how I am practicing the stride pattern with rootless maj 7 voicing, while making it more musical (and fun and inspirational) to my ear.
Basically, I practice them in pairs, alternating back and forth. So I start with alternating (in rhythm) between Cmaj7 and F maj7, then I go between Fmaj7 and Bbmaj7, then Bbmaj7 to Ebmaj7, and so on. These chord pairings are a nice “half cadence”, or “penultimate cadence” (not sure what the correct theory term is for it! - perhaps one of you could correct me!). Anyway, in all cases the two chords go very nicely together, and yet they don’t quite ever resolve, which lends itself to a nice repetition, which you can even improvise over.
I’m mainly a flute and sax player, with a fair amount of jazz experience on those instruments, and I’ve always messed around on the piano (mostly self-taught with a smattering of real lessons over the years). I’m wanting to improve my keyboard skills and and chord change muscle memory on the keyboard to free up my writing and creativity, and be able to enjoy playing some of my favorite tunes with chords and melody. Playing a wind instrument can get boring after a while, with no chord and rhythm.
- perhaps one of you could correct me!). Anyway, in all cases the two chords go very nicely together, and yet they don’t quite ever resolve, which lends itself to a nice repetition, which you can even improvise over.