Harlem Stride Piano, Stride Piano, or just Stride, is a jazz piano style that was developed in the large cities of the East Coast, mainly in the New York, during 1920s and 1930s. The left hand may play a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and third beats, and a chord on the second and fourth beats. Occasionally, this is reversed by placing the chord on the downbeat, for one or even several beats (but not by placing the chord in the bass). Unlike earlier "St. Louis" pianists, stride players' left hand often leapt greater distances on the keyboard, and they played faster and improvised. However, stride has always been played at slow tempos as well. Another major branch of early jazz piano that is mistaken for Harlem stride took root in New Orleans, where pianists were called "professors". Their style is arguably distant from the more dominant New York school, especially in the more simple right hand and regional repertoire. Jelly Roll Morton's sound is distinguished by his use of sixths in the left hand instead of single notes or tenths. This was part of what gave his playing its noted "New Orleans" flavor.
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Stride piano is highly rhythmic and somewhat percussive in nature because of the "oom-pah" sound of the left hand. This is where the term, "stride" came from. Pianist James P. Johnson, known as the "Father of Stride", created this unique style of jazz along with fellow pianists, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, and Luckey Roberts. The pianist usually plays one to three single notes (or walking bass) followed by a chord with the left hand, while the right hand plays the melody. Players may sometimes choose to play octaves instead of single notes to modify the sound of the left hand accompaniment. "James P. Johnson's greatest contribution was to recast the rhythm of ragtime into a more swinging, steadier beat."[1] He discovered and employed the tenth or "broken tenth" interval to introduce more swing in his left hand. This can be heard in his famous composition "Carolina Shout". The pianist can not only substitute tenths for single bass notes and triad chords, but can also play the interval up and down the keyboard.[2]
The stride style originated in Harlem during World War I, fathered by James P. Johnson, and developed with fellow "Ticklers" Willie "The Lion" Smith, Luckey Roberts, and Fats Waller, reaping piano devices from other contemporary pianists. It was influenced by ragtime, and as a jazz piano idiom, features improvisation, blue notes, and swing rhythms. The practitioners of "stride" practiced a full jazz piano style that made use of devices such as arpeggios, musical scales, and flourishes. They often engaged in cutting contests to show off their skills.[3]
Other notable stride pianists include Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Guarnieri, Don Ewell, Louis Mazetier, Donald Lambert, Cliff Jackson, Dick Wellstood, Butch Thompson, Pat Flowers, Bernd Lhotzky, Joe Turner, Claude Hopkins, Ralph Sutton, Hank Duncan, Dick Hyman, Mike Lipskin, Stephanie Trick, Morten Gunnar Larsen, William Turk, John Gill, Seth "Fingers Flynn" Barkan, and Mark Birnbaum.[4]