ll-V-l

Hoday!

OK, here's some suggestions on some fancy ll-V-l inversions. How about a ll-minor flat five to V-alt to l.

Let's tackle the ll-minor seven flat five: So if you're in the key of C major the ll-minor seven is what? D-minor. And the ll-minor seven flat 5 is what? D-minor seven flat five. What is flat five? Well you just go to the 5th scale degree of the chord and flat it! In other words the notes of the D-minor seven are D-F-A-C. The flat five is Ab. So the D-minor seven flat five is D-F-Ab-C.

Ok here's the V-alt. The V-alt stands for alternative, or V7#5#9. It's just easier to write it as V-alt, you may see this in some lead sheet chord symbols. So what is the V7#5#9 well you just go to the 5th and 9th scale degree and sharp them!
So the notes are G-B-D-F#-A#!

So all of the notes are as follows:
ll-minor flat five in C Major - D-F-Ab-C
V-alt - G-B-C-F#-A#
l - C-E-G-B

What kind of improvisation can you play? Well just use an Ab major scale over both ll-minor flat five and V-alt. Do you know what mode that is? We'll get to that later!

Play around with it and use rhythmic devices, repeated notes, short bursts, and play along with some blues tunes using their ll-V-l progressions.

If you are in another key then apply the above theory to find your notes and use the major scale of the flat five as your imnprov scale.

Later,

John

TAKE ONE STEP BACK AND TWO STEPS FORWARD

Hoday!

Evaluating yourself is always a good thing. In music, it's easy to get complacent. And it can be hard to reach the next plateau without professional help. My single best reason for education is that it will help you reach new plateaus - even if they're not exactly what you had in mind. Sometimes it's good to take one step back to get two steps ahead.

One of the goals of every jazz musician is to become a polished improviser. We begin by learning some chord changes, and then ll-V-l changs in different keys but can we ever learn how to improvise on our own? Maybe, but there's more than playing licks you know in any song you play.

First there's knowing how to arrange your improv to the theme of the song. Many times we have a set amount of "licks" that we arbitrarily insert into whatever song we're playing. What happens when those "licks" sound redundant? How many "licks" do we need to know to speak the proper text of improvisation in conjunction with every song we play? Do we have a memorized set of licks for every song? No. We learn by experience, taking lessons, listening and analyzing music, and having a plan. A plan that includes:

• Learning the Vocabulary of Jazz Theory - ll-V-l, and rhythm changes
• Make Improvisational Phrases - Start low end high...
• Learn Call and Response - Questions and Answers
• Listen to what you are hearing - Use your ears!
• Don't Overplay - Start simple and keep it simple
• Try to improvise out of your comfort zone of memorized licks

There are a number of plans you can develop by knowing what your weaknesses are. One of my main weaknesses has always been using memorized licks over chord changes. My plan is to take the songs of Bill Evans and re-write new solos using parts of Evans' solos and then use compositional tools like retrograde, dimunition, sequencing, and others to create a phrase that makes sense over the solo time frame.

I know you don't have a lot of extra time doing this but you can start simple by choosing a simple 12 bar blues song like "All Blues" or "Freddie the Freeloader," then transcribe a solo, analyze it and re-write it. Isn't music great!

Other blues tunes to analyze are:
John Coltrane: Blue Train, Cousin Mary, Equinox
Duke Ellington: C Jam Blues
Milt Jackson: Bag's groove
Charles Mingus: Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Thelonius Monk: Blue Monk, Straight, No Chaser
Oliver Nelson: Stolen Moments, Blues and the Abstract Truth
Charlie Parker: Now is the Time, K.C. Blues, Au Privave, Bloomdido

Later,

John

THE NITTY GRITTY

Hilow,

If you want to know the best way to learn improvisation then start transcribing solos. I say it's the fastest way because no matter what book you're learning from, you will have to spend time reading the directions. Transcribing gets you right to the Nitty Gritty.

So how do you transcribe solos? Well first you should have a good knowledge of ear training. You should be able to identify, by ear, the tonic and dominant chords. You should also be able to identify the form of the piece. And you should be able to pick out some of the other chords in the diatonic key and whether they are major, minor, seventh, altered extensions, and some of the position of the chord inversion, ie., 1st, 2nd, or 3rd inversion, or most commonly taught as 6-5, 4-3, or 4-2 inversions in the classical theory sense. It would also be helpful to know the names of extended altered chords such as a 13th, a #5, or a minor 7th flat-5 sound. Getting to know the sounds of 2-5-1 is extremely helpful since every jazz song contains this element.

So what if you're not there yet? Then begin with simpler songs for one. There is also another tool that allows you to slow down the song and not change the pitch. Programs like "The Amazing SlowDowner" can be downloaded from the internet for about $40.00. This tool will slow down the music and allow you listen to solos at your own speed.

Once you have begun to master this art then you can transcribe the solos and begin practicing your own transcriptions, who knows you may make up something new!

There are books that offer transcribed solos and if your are a good reader then they can be helpful. I have several books of transcribed solos from Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Mile Davis, Wayne Shorter. I use them in conjunction with listening to a slowed down version and then transcribing them onto my Sibelius music program. I like to get multiple inputs to get the most personal analysis from the piece- In other words, I'm a geek!

One thing about buying transcribed solos, make sure you are buying a book in concert key if you're playing the piano because many of these books are transcribed for various instruments in their own key.

Later,

John

PERFORMING OUTSIDE IN THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE

Hoday,

I keep thinking of experiences I have had and I want to share them with you.

I was performing with the Drifters and The Motown Review at the old Stapleton Airport in a 4th of July show on the runway. Well, if you ever been on an airport runway it can get a little windy.

At the morning rehearsal the weather conditions were great - warm 4th of July morning. When we went on to perform it was about 4pm and the weather had changed. It became windy, really windy. And as we began to play a big gust of wind came along and took all of my music with it! In fact it blew from behind the singers toward the front of the stage and out into the audience. Talking about wanting to get away!!!

I only had a few hours to review the music and I didn't have time to memorize the whole show. I was not happy and neither was The Drifters as they turned around at me with an angry look and continued their dance routine. Thank god the rest of the band kept playing without me!!!!!! A dream come true - they had their music!

Anyway, the stage hands somehow recovered all of my music and put it back in order per song and set list and remarkably gave it back to me by the end of the song! I was very lucky and very relieved.

So that is the reason why you will ALWAYS see buldog clips on my music stand! Another lesson learned.

Later,

John

JAZZ METER and CHORD COMPING

Hoday,

Today let's talk about jazz meter by looking at All Blues by Miles Davis:



Please bear with me as I use fractions to demonstrate time signatures. As you can see this tune is written in 6/8. If we use the "1-A-Trip-A-Let-A-2-A-Trip-A-Let-A" system of counting then the emphasis of the chord comping works well on the "A" and the "Let" of "1" and the "A" and "Let" of "2", thus creating a jazz swing waltz effect.

I know that a waltz is a simple triple meter but a 6/8 time signature is often counted 1-2-3-4-5-6 so it's like two 3/4's per measure, but I digress.

Take a look at my written chord comping suggestions in measure one and two:



Notice how the rhythm of the chords are written to give the feeling of the swing waltz. Try to be smooth, listen to the song, count out the beats with Miles "1-A-Trip-A-Let-A-2-A-Trip-A-Let-A" and Swing it man!

Later,

John

PERFORMANCE MISTAKES

Hoday!

I know it's hard to believe but even I can make a mistake in a performance! So what will you do and how will you act when you're forgetting your music while performing?

All your instructors tell you to give yourself entry points, memorize by the phrase, or practice playing through mistakes but there's nothing like actually going through the experience. Yes experience is the best medicine! Each time it happens, you will learn something new that you will use to keep it from happening again.

For example, last night I dropped some of my music somewhere but by the time I realized it, I was playing with the group. Even though I had some of the music memorized - some of it wasn't because I thought I had the music to read. So what do you do? Well if your playing in a group then you could play at points that you know or try and pick up on the 2-5-1 parts to get you back into the form. But if the group is relying on you to play all of the changes? Well then you're in trouble.

Most jazz musicians should be able to perform the piece on their own and not have to totally rely on another person to get them through and most jazz musicians memorize their music regardless of how they go about doing it. If they don't sight read then it becomes a bigger challenge but it pays off in the end because they have memorized the song. I don't know anybody who can do both well, readers and memorizers have to work equally hard to accomplish both. Had I memorized the show then this error may not have happened. But I firmly believe that instrumentalists should memorize the tune and have the music in front of them for reference - but that's me.

I know it's no big deal, I know that we all make mistakes, I know, I know, I know but the fact is it's unacceptable to make stupid mistakes after 16 rehearsals! If you're like me and you probably are, you're your own best and worse critic. So when something like this happens, and it will, then learn from it. Take the next step necessary to solve the problem. For me, it will be to work on memorization and make sure that you have all of your materials needed before the performance. Learning never ends and we all pay our dues.

In a word from a wise professor, Never Give Up.

Later,

John

CHORD COMPING

Hey Yall,

Let's talk about Chord Comping. It's not to difficult to define the word when you think about Jazz history from New Orleans.

When western music blended with African American music terms such as blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation followed.

Comping is in a sense a sycopation of playing the chords to jazz music. Some may attribute its birth in Dixieland jazz as early musicians would use a technique named, call and response. This pattern of improvisation would speak a language played by one musician followed by another band member playing the same riff, or rhythmic pattern over the same amount of measures. During this time a pianist or guitarist often played an arrangment of chords over and and over creating syncopated chords.

Today the main instruments that comp chords are the piano and the guitar. Sometimes when both instruments are present in the same group they must listen to each other and be careful not to overplay each other but to find the space each instrument can fill. For example, when a pianist is in a certain range of the piano the guitarist can comp in a different range. Or both instruments can figure out syncopation that compliments each instrument.

When a piano is alone in the band with a quartet of drums, bass, and sax, comping can be most interesting.

Let's look at All Blues by Miles Davis.

This is a simple triple meter that offers a good opportunity of comping. Let's say you're playing a swing waltz. The first chord is Bb13. You can play the notes Ab-D-G while the bass plays the Bb walking bass. If you want to comp then hit those notes in syncopation on the "and" of "one" and then on "three" of each measure. YOU DID IT!

You have just comped! Just follow that pattern during the whole song.

The only thing is that you may get tired of playing the same thing over and over again. So when you get to the D7 chord just play it on the first beat and hold it. Then play the Eb7 and hold it on the first beat then when you go back to the beginning start your original comping again.

One of the best ways to learn chord comping is to listen and study from the masters. Once you hear something you like, try to imitate it into a song you're learning. Some of my most favorite albums are: Bill Evans Trio; Sunday at the Village Vanguard. This was the last album that Bassist Scott Lafaro made before his accidental death. Bill Evans had just put together his best trio when it fell apart sending Evans into a lifelong search for the perfect trio.

Another CD that has good comping is Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil. Herbie Hancock plays an amazing amount of riffs and comps but seems to never get in the way of anybody else.

And of course no CD collection can be without Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. This album changed the face of jazz music forever and everyone should know the background about it. Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly dazzles us with the skills of the jazz piano.

Remember that simple is good. Simplicity allows for breathing room for the solist. When you change up your comping, it brings in a nice change to the dynamic. Advice I should remember for myself!

Later,

John

COLLEGE, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR - ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!

Hoday!

At some point in your life, hopefully early in your life, you will realize that without college you will most likely end up playing in the bar scene. Well that gets old around age 40 and the chances of making it big in the music industry has been dried up in years past - but don't let me discourage you from trying anyway. You can learn new things on your own, take a few lessons here and there, compose and sell your songs, and keep caught up on technology, but nothing kicks you in the butt than going to college and learning everything there is to learn about music, its theory, and its history.

I have noticed the first day realization of many college students. They show up with expectations of how music should be taught. Some think that they will learn how to compose rock music, or how to sight read, or even to finally get good at performing what they want - only to find out that they will probably not get anything they expect at all - at first!

They ask, why do I have to learn how to sight sing solfege, recognize intervals, or dictate rhythm? Why do I have to learn my key signatures, meter, or how to write a 1 or 2 species counterpoint against a cantus firmus? Or why do I have to know about melismas, mass proper, Ars Nova, or fugues? Or why do I have to analyze a German 6th, or a 12-tone row? Or why do I have to learn how to play a tuba, a trumpet, a trombone, a clarinet, a flute, an oboe, a violin, a cello, a contra-bass, when I play a piano? Or why do I have to play in so many ensembles that have nothing to do with who I am as a musician? And why is everybody always judging me? And why am I learning to compose woodwind trios and string quartets when I should be learning to compose symphonies?

Well after about 4 years of that, you'll reflect back and think holy moly - now I know why!

Stay in school!

John

TREBLE DOMINATED STYLE

Hoday!

Shall I dare to compare something from our great musical past to something as trivial as today's pop music?

Let's go back to the 2nd Generaton Renaissance. Ca. 1433-1494 during the time of Dufay and Dunstable, the 2nd Gen-Ren changed the face of earlier music to reflect a Treble Dominated Style.

What is Treble Dominated Style? Well it's an emphasis of the top voice over the other voices that act in support. To make it simple, it's the same as the solo voice over the harmony of other voices or perhaps instrumental solists playing over the rest of the band.

There you have it - Jazz, Pop, Rock, and Country Music all contain elements of The Treble Dominated Style!

Perhaps the style did not directly influence today's music but when you look at pieces like Vergene Bella, a 15th century motet, look at how the melody rhythmically follows the text, even though the syllables of the other voices are a little complicated you can still see a solo voice over accompaniment voices. Also notice the last syllable, or the penultimate syllable, you'll see long melismas that drives to a cadence. This was the first time in history that humans began matching the melodic line with the length of text to the point of a cadence or what is also known as a climax.

Does this say that music of today originated out of music of yesturday? It certainly says that Guillaume Dufay was a prominent figure in our music history!


Later