3/14/2018 Chick Corea Spain Jazz Lick Lesson | Free Jazz Lessons

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Mark A. Galang (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/author/markmusic/)

Chick Corea Spain Jazz Lick Lesson

Today we’re going to study a great lick from Chick
Corea’s Spain solo.

This will be a great way for you to begin to learn more about Chick
Corea’s amazing jazz improvisation style.

I’m going to show you how to play a turnaround lick by Chick from a 1973
performance of “Spain” by Return to Forever.

Spain is a tune that is in a minor key and is a great vehicle to explore all kinds (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/premium/)
of modal improvisation concepts. So, lets get started!
Click Here To Learn More Now

Listen to Chick Corea’s “Spain”

 
There are lots of great versions of Chick Corea playing Spain. But, I’m a huge
fan of Return to Forever and love this particular version of Spain:

Chick Corea LIVE ' 73 ［ SPAIN ］ Steve Gadd  

Ignite Your Jazz Improv Skills

Now, the rst thing you’ll want to do is take a listen to the whole recording to
get a sense and feel of the whole song.

Once you’ve listened to this version, go to 4:51 of the video to hear the
Chick Corea Spain lick.

Learn the Chick Corea Spain Turnaround Lick

Chick plays this lick over the chords C#7(b9), F#7, and Bm7.

As you might have noticed C#7 is the II7 chord and F#7 is the V7 chord,
leading you back to the i chord which is Bm7.
ttps://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazzmastersm
This is a classic jazz chord progression (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/i-vi-ii-
v-i-chord-progression-jazz-chords/) and one that you’ll want to get good at
playing over.

Chick Corea Spain Lick Notation Brand New Jazz Improvisation

Course
To help you get started I’ve transcribed the Chick Corea Spain lick for you.
Here is the chart of the lick.

(Make sure you to also scroll down to breakdown the improv concepts in
the lick.)

Tips To Master the Chick Corea Spain Lick

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3/14/2018 Chick Corea Spain Jazz Lick Lesson | Free Jazz Lessons

1. Practice Slow Against the Metronome or a Jam Track

When trying to learn the lick for the rst time, pull out your
metronome or a jam track. A Latin-sounding jam track
would be best.

(If you don’t have great sounding jam tracks don’t worry…we have tons
of great sounding ones inside the Premium Jazz Membership Course
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/premium/).)

At this point, make sure that your metronome or jam track is set to a slow
tempo like 60 BPM.

Play the jam track slow enough to give you enough space to nail the lick in
proper rhythm.
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/improvisation/
You want to make sure that you’re practicing being “in the pocket” at all
The A to Z blueprint for jazz
times.
improvisation success. Click image
to grab today.
Once you are able to easily play the lick at a slow tempo, then it’s time to ramp
the speed up a bit.

Explore Our Jazz Piano Lessons

Remember to always choose a tempo that should be challenging enough
but will allow you to execute the lick perfectly. Recent

If you need more tips on how to get this lick up to speed, check out this lesson Most Popular
on dealing with fast tempos (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/fast-tempos/).
Jazz Piano Players – 13 Modern Players
To Study
2. Learn the Key and Scales Used Over Each Chord (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazz-
Now, try to understand how Chick plays the lick. To do that, analyze what piano-players/)

scales and chords he has based the lick on. Otis Spann Piano Lick Lesson
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/otis-
Look at the lick measure by measure. spann/)

In the rst measure, we have the chord C#7(b9). We see that most of the 15 Jazz Exercises – Fast & Free
notes of the lick are chord tones (3rd, root, 6th, b9). The entire rst measure Tutorials

ts nicely in C# Mixolydian b9 scale: (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazz-

exercises/)

Barry Harris Harmony Hacks

To make the lick more colorful, Chick switches gears here and plays a (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/barry-
descending chromatic pattern over F#7. He starts at A natural, a minor 3rd harris/)
from F#. The lick suggests a descending chromatic scale.
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By the time you hit the 3rd measure, there’s still a chromatic passing note (Eb (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazz-

going to D) before hitting all chord tones (3rd, 9th, root) for that last snippet of
piano-tutorials/)

the lick. Also take note that the last note here hits just right before the Blues Piano Players – 11 Modern
downbeat: Players To Study
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/blues-
piano-players/)
The last measure can imply using any minor scale or a Dorian scale in B. Why
Easy Blues Piano Block Chords Mini
do you have to go lengths to analyze this lick?
Tutorial
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/easy-
It’s because later on you will want to be able to play it in any key and create
blues-piano/)
variations of it that will sound awesome.

Jazz Piano Lessons –

How To Properly Use Scales In Your Playing (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/jazz-
piano-lessons/)
Knowing how to play and use all these scales in your jazz improvisation is a
Chord Lessons
critical next step for you.
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/chord
In fact, one of the reasons you feel stuck in your playing is because of a lessons/)

lack of familiarity with your scales, how to create great sounding licks, Left Hand Voicings
and how to put them all together in a musical way. (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/lef
hand-voicings/)
You may already know some scales but if you’re just running up and down
Shell Voicings
them in a mindless way you’re missing a huge piece in your playing.
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/sh
voicings/)

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3/14/2018 Chick Corea Spain Jazz Lick Lesson | Free Jazz Lessons
Spread Voicings

(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/improvisation)Want to know how the (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/sp

voicings/)
greatest jazz improvisers actually use scales and other critical improv concepts
to build breathtaking improvisation? Two Handed Comping
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Then check out “The Jazz Improvisation Super System Course” handed-comping/)
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You can save yourself years of hard practice trying to learn all this stu by
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Improvisation
One of the things that David does in the course is take you through the (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/impro
Mixolydian and Dorian modes and show you how they work in many tunes.
Approach Patterns
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/ap
They say knowledge is power. It truly is.
patterns/)

Approaches to Soloing
3. How To Master It In All 12 Keys
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/ap
Now that you know how that lick was formed, you can to-soloing/)
now try and practice the lick in all 12 keys.
Jazz Licks
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/jaz
The fastest way to do this is to simply transpose the lick a half step up
licks/)
once you’ve mastered the original lick.
Developing Your Sound
Being able to transpose your musical ideas on the y is a great way to unlock (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/de
your creativity at the keyboard. your-sound/)

Now, you might say, “Hold it right there!” How do you transpose stu on the Solo Analysis
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/so
y?
analysis/)
Good question. Well, a lot of it is understanding your scales and the de nite Masters of Jazz
intervals and chords that go with each scale. (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/jazz-
masters/)
(http://freejazzlessons.com/premium)What if
Blues Piano
you’re not 100% fast or con dent in your
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/blues-
transposition  skills yet?
piano/)

We have a whole masterclass inside the Premium Jazz Membership Rhythm & Phrasing
Course (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/premium/) that shows you (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/rhythm-
how to easily master any song, lick, and pattern in all 12 keys.  phrasing/)

Time Feel & Groove

5. Use the Lick When Improvising Over Other Tunes (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/time-
feel-groove/)
How do you get started improvising with this lick in other tunes? Check out the
pattern of the lick. Afterwards, try and apply the pattern into any tune that is Standards
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/standard
in a minor key.
tunes/)
You can also use the lick for tunes that have sections implying a minor Transcriptions
key. (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/transcrip

A good tune you can try and apply this lick is when improvising over Stella by Jazz Articles

Starlight (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/stella-by-starlight-chords/). All you (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/jazz-

articles/)
have to do is modify the lick a bit to t the chord.
Jazz 101
Here’s how you t the lick to any chord: (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/category/jazz-
101/)
1. You already know that the rst measure of the lick has the chord tones 3rd,
9th, and root.

2. If you want to use the lick over a minor chord, just lower the 3rd a half step. Brand New DVD: Learn World
Class Blues Piano Secrets
If you understand how your chords are built, you can easily modify the
lick to t over any chord.

You can get more tips for playing over jazz tunes in a minor key through our
harmonic analysis videos found inside Premium Membership
(http://www.freejazzlessons.com/premium).

Next Steps After Learning This Chick Corea Spain Lick

1. Make Your Own Variations of the Lick

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3/14/2018 Chick Corea Spain Jazz Lick Lesson | Free Jazz Lessons

Once you have mastered the lick, you want it to be

incorporated well in your own soloing vocabulary.

It is around this stage where you would like to create variations of the lick.

You can do all sorts of things to craft variations. You can add more passing
notes, modify the rhythms, change some of the notes, land on other chord
tones, etc.

As long as you understand how the lick was built, you can do anything
you want with it to suit your soloing needs.

2. Learn More Licks from Jazz Legends

As soon as you have mastered the Chick Corea Spain Lick, (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/breakthroughb
you’ll want to add more to your vocabulary. Click Here To Explore This Program.

You’ll desire to upgrade your jazz piano skills. This means it’s time to learn
more licks. Brand New Beginner Program!

To learn new jazz piano licks, listen to the works of jazz legends.

Listen to masters like McCoy Tyner, Barry Harris, Bud Powell, Keith Jarrett, and
Art Tatum. Try to pick out by ear little bits of jazz vocabulary from their solos.

What If You Don’t Have 20 Hours A Day To Practice?

Now, come to think about it, that’s a lot of records to study. I know you want
to improve your improv skills but you might not have tons of time to sit down
and learn from all these recordings.

Or, maybe your ear isn’t 100% where you want it to be.

It’s going to take years of listening to all that.

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If you’re short on time or your ears aren’t there yet there is an easier solution. Perfect Course For Jazz Beginners!

We’ve already worked on that tough bit of transcribing ourselves, so that you
can maximize your time learning and having fun at the piano.
 

(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazzmastersmethod/)Rather than wasting

 
away worrying, grab a copy of Jazz Masters Method
(http://www.freejazzlessons.com/jazzmastersmethod) to get started
learning new licks.

This course not only features Chick Corea’s style, it will also teach you licks and
important improv secrets from greats such as Barry Harris, Red Garland, Bud
Powell, Ray Charles, and more.
(https://www.freejazzlessons.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/06/steve.jpg)Stev
Steve breaks down licks from all these masters and shows you how to add
Nixon is the proud owner of
their style into your own playing. I highly recommend it.
Freejazzlessons.com. He is a world
touring jazz and blues keyboard
I hope that you enjoyed learning this really awesome Chick Corea Spain lick. If
player and educator. Steve is the
you have questions, feel free to leave a comment below. We’re always glad to
author of Premium Jazz Elite
help out.
Membership
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It’s our goal to help you become the musician of your dreams. Thanks!

(A comprehensive all-in-one online

CHICK COREA SP AIN IMAG E ABO VE CO UR TES Y OF ALB ERTO CAPEL LO jazz piano course.)
( HTTPS://WWW.F LICKR.C OM/PHOTOS/PIXEL ILL O/).
He is also the author of the The Jazz
Masters Method DVD
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(A study of 9 legendary jazz piano
Mark A. Galang players)
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and the Zero To Jazz Piano Hero
Program
Mark Galang is one of our contributors at FreeJazzLessons.com. He loves
teaching all styles of music especially jazz, blues, rock, classical, and (https://www.freejazzlessons.com/begin
Christian music.

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Are you a blues piano fan? Check out
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Method
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Chicago Blues Piano DVD Course.
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blues-dvd)

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