Archive for April, 2009

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Dorian minor 7th chords

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Dorian scale consists of the ascending pattern:

WHWWWHW

Dorian scale is the 2nd mode in the major scale family.

It can be thought of as a major scale with b3 and b7.

–the 3rd and 7th notes lowered a half step.

This scale is typically used when improvising over m3, m6, m7 m9 m11 m13

minor triad: 1  b3  5

minor 6:   1  b3   5  6

minor 7:  1   b3  5  b7

minor 9:  1   b3   5   b7   9

minor 11:  1  b3  5  b7  9  11

minor 13:  1  b3  5  b7  9  11  13

Note that a minor 13 — contains allthe notes in the dorian scaled stacked in 3rds.

In major key, minor chords fnction as:

–ii supertonic

–iii mediant

–vi submediant

In a minor key, minor chord funciton as i (tonic); iv (subdominant chord)

The dorian scale is the preferred choice when improvising over minor chords functioning as ii chords in a major key, iv chords in a minor key or where the chord lasts four measures or more (modal compositions).

Every note in the dorian scale maybe used over the minor chord, but the 2nd, 4th, and 6th degrees have the richest color

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Mixolydian and Dominant 7th

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

The mixolydian scale — known as the dominant scale consists of ascending pattern:

WWHWWHW

Mixolydian scale is the 5th mode in the major sacle family and contains the same notes as the major scale a perfect 5th below.

You m ay think of the mixolydian scale as a major scale with the 7th note lowered a half step.

This scale is typially used when improvising over unaltered dominant chords, such as dominant 7th, dominant 9th, dominant 13th and dominant7th suspended 4th chords.

G7  —     1 3 5 b7

G9  —    1 3 5 b7 9

G13  —  1 3 5 b7 9 13

G7sus4 — 1  4 5  b7

When the 11th is used (4th degree) it is suspended in place of the 3rd creating a dominant 7th sus4 chord.

Sometimes an aug 11th is added to the Dom7, but this color is derived from the dominant scale.

In Major and minor keys —

a.  dominant chord usually functions as a V chord

— a strong tendency to resolve to the I (tonic) chord.

b. it may also function as a secondary dominant chord acting as a V chord to a chod other than the I chord.

— eg. in major keys — we find:

  • secondary dominants built on the first scale degree of the major scale (V7 of IV)
  • the second degree (V7 of V)
  • the third degree (V7 of  vi)
  • the sixth degree (V7 of ii)
  • the 7th degree (V7 of iii)

— eg in minor keys, we find:

  • secondary dominants built on the first natural scale (V7 of vi)
  • the second degree (V7 of V)
  • the third degree (V7 of VI)
  • the fourth degree (V7 of VII)
  • and lowered 7th or subtonic degree (V7 of III)

although a dominant chord typically functions as wither a V7 chord or a secondary dominant, in jazz it can occasionally act as a tonic chord as in the case of the blues progression.

With the exception of V7sus4, the 4th note in the mixolydian scale is best used as a passing tone over V7 chords.

–the 2nd, 3rd, 6th 7th scale degrees have the richest color.

Common variant of the mixolydian scale — the bebop 7th scale

— it inserts the major 7th as a passing tone between the b7 and the octave.

Bebop 7th scale — can be used over unaltered dominant chords as well as the minor 7th chord a perfect 4th below the first note of the scale.

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Major scales

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Major scale — also known as the Ionian mode, consists of ascending pattern:

WWHWWWH

It is the first scale (or  mode) in the family taht also includes the dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian (dominant), aeolian (pure or natural minor) and locrian modes.

Notes of the major scale may be used when improvising over the following chords:

–major triads  1 3 5

–major 6ths   1 3 5 6

–major 7ths  1 3 5 7

–major 9th   1 3 6 7 9

–major 13th   1 3 5 7 9  13

If major 11th is added to the chord, the #11 is used — this chord tone comes from the lydian mode.

In a major key, major chords function as I or tonic.

–Chords built on the first note of the scale — tonic

— chords built on the fourth — subdominant

The major scale is the best scale choice when the chord is functioning as a I chord, while the lydian mode is the best choice when chord is functioning as a IV.

First note of the major scale lacks tension and color and is not interesting choice when beginning or ending a phrase.

4th note of the scale clashes with the 3rd of the chord and usually sounds best as a passing tone.

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Improvising on rhythm

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

1.  Improvising on rhythms:

Improvise freely on the given scale, but limit yourself to the following rhythms.

Don’t worry about the notes, think only on the rhythm.

1  1 0     0    1  1 \    – –     –  1 –  1 –  1 \       1  1 0     0    1  1 \     – –     –  1 1   1 – \

Make up your own rhythm

2.  Improve with short rhythmic groupings:

Improves feely on the given scale, but limit yourself to motives of one, two or three notes interpersed with rest. Use any combination of quarter notes, 8th notes, triplets, or 16th notes.

Try to begin your ideas at different places in teh bar.

a. example of 3 note motives

2   b3  4 – – 1   2   3 |   0   –   b7 b7   1 2  – |  –   6 b7  1 –  5 6  7 |  0   6  5 4   0    |

  • the b7 there are tie notes

b. a combination of one, two and three note motives

–  3 4  2 –   4 –  b3 |   0     –  1 –  b3 2    |   –  b7 2   1 –   6 – 4 |   4 (tie note) – – –   |

3.  Placement of the beat:

It is possible  to place your notes consistently slightly behind, in the middle, or slightly in front of the beat, all while maintaining a steady tempo.

Playing behind the bat creates a sense of relaxation, whereas playing in front of the beat creates a sense of urgency or excitement.

Clap along with a metronome. If you clap right on the beat, you will not hear the metronome.

If you clap slightly behind (called laying back) or slightly in front (tipping) you will hear it.

Now improvise on the scale given above, trying to play in front, int he middle, and slightly behind teh beat. Observe the different moods each approach creates.

4.  Phrasing

Phrasing is a rhythm on a longer scale. Instead of playing a series of notes, try to play melodies that make a complete statement.

In general, most musicians and composers construct melodies in one of two ways or a combination.

— motivaly using small rhythmic or melodic ideas which develop into complete phrases

— continuous melodic lines in which long melodic ideas, often in consecutive 8th notes, are continuously spun out.  Improve on the given scale, trying to create phrases using both the motivic and continuous melodic line approaches.

Don’t worry about the notes, think only about phrasing of the melodic line.

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Rhythm in jazz

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Rhythm is the most important element in jazz.

If rhythm is played well, the audience will react positively.

Musicians have problems with rhythm:

— lack of exposure to listening to artists

–result from tension in the body

–technical difficulties with the instrument; the more control you have your instrument, the less barrier it presents to expressing yourself.

To get rid of tension: method that teaches coordination and relaxation such as yoga, physical exercise, dancing, meditation etc are useful

The way the rhythm is played is determined by the style of the music.

Swing — evolved around 1900 in new Orleans.

–the strong accent on the off-beats which is the wak beats in Western art music.

–the downbeats were often anticipated, creating synocpation.

Ragtime — evolved from 19th C dance known as the cakewalk, employed syncopation which was called ragging the melody.

— ragtime relied on straight 8th notes and dotted 8th-16th note rhythms. Therefore it did not swing in the same manner as the early jazz bands and is closer rhythmically to Western art music.

Latin American rhythms:

Bossa Nova, Samba, Clave — has underlying basis of the mambo, cha cha, meringue, salsa

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Jazz

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

“Jazz is not about flashy licks.

It’s a story with a beginning, middle and end.

You must first learn the vocabulary

–scales, chords, etc….then let it fly.

And be sure to listen inside the rhythm section

–that’s the motor.

Stan Getz, the tenor saxophnist

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Performance

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Most musicians experience performance anxiety or nervousness. This can be debilitating at the very least can corrupt the joy of making music into a stressful situation.

To combat the problem:

1. Practice deep breathing: take deep, full slow breaths and let the tension go out with your exhale. Exercise before a concert maybe helpful

2. Avoid caffeine the day of concert

3. Prepare music on such a deep level that even if you are functioning less than optimally, the music does not suffer.

  • I played it correctly sort of a couple of times
  • I played it correctly all of the time during comfy practice sessions
  • I cannot help but play it right, no matter how bad I feel or how stressful the circumstances.It is at this 3rd level where you can truly know the material.

4. Put yourself in performance situations often. Gradually the exp becomes normal and routine.

5. Consider your ego — a lack of confidence is just the reverse side of being arrogant. Either way, you are hung up on your ego. The truth is: the world will continue to function even if you don’t play music. What you are doing is really not that imp

6. Try to detach yourself from the whirlwind of emotions connected with the situation. Try to be an observer rather than a reactor to situation.

7. Instead of thinking: what can I play that would sound impressive?.  Think: what can I play that would add to what is going on in the music at this present moment?

8.  Stop trying to please people. If you are not worried about what other people think of you, you are free to lay only what is best for the music.

9. Elevate your skill level. This is related to item 3. Part of our nervousness comes from knowing deep down inside that we really don’t have the material mastered. Our conscious mind may try to fool us by saying: yeah, I can do that. But inwardly we realize that we don’t have sufficient skills to meet the demands of the tempo and harmonic considerations. The more your play, the more confident you are.

10.  Try meditation, yoga, prayer, biofeedback, sitting alone in the dark — do something to still the wild chaos of the mind. We are at our most creative when we play from the state of inner calm.

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Creativity — Kenny Werner

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery

The 4 steps is a method of practicing “letting go of the need to control the music.”

Kenny is fond of saying: let music, don’t make music.

This then results in being able to play without consciously thinking about the chords and notes, trusting that if the necessary preparatory study had been accomplished, the notes will take care of themselves.

4 steps:

1.  Find a centered and calm place within yourself, call ‘space’.

  • watch your breath flow in and out can aid in experiencing this state of mind.
  • slowly come into contact with the piano without consciously controlling the exp
  • allow any sound or the lack of sound to manifest itself without you having to make it happen
  • don’t be surprised if no sound or only strange noises come out
  • be aware of your ego’s need to do something to produce the sound
  • purpose of this exercise is to play without your conscious mind controlling the exp
  • a way to visualize the exp is to pretend that the subconscious mind or a higher power is taking control over the act of making music, using you as an empty vessel.

2.  Build on the state of mind experience in step 1.

  • play freely while maintaining the feeling that you are not the one controlling the act of making music
  • do not let the conscious mind take over and begin categorizing and analyzing what you are playing
  • you are trying to play freely
  • if you can only play whole notes without thinking or striving, then that’s what should be allowed to manifest itself.

3.  Play a tune while maintaining the feeling of freedom, detachment, and effortlessness experienced in steps 1 and 2.

  • you may find that you are playing more simply than you normally would but the music will probably sound fresher and less cliched.

4. If you discover that you can’t successfully negotiate all of the chord changes or the tempo of the tune without striving and forcing, anlayze your harmonic and rhythmic weaknesses and formulate one or two exercises that, once mastered,will help you correct these inherent problems.

Practice these exercises or patterns using the principals of the Learning Diamond, until you have trained your body to negotiate the demands of the tune.

Learning Diamond

Practice of a song can be viewed as having 4 parameters:

1.  Play with total effortlessness

2. Play in a fast tempo

3. Play the complete selection

4. Play the correct notes

Imagine each of these aspects as corners of diamond, with effortlessness being at the top of the diamond.

1.  Effortlessness implies the absence of physical tension or mental striving. Everything played from this is second nature, requiring no conscious control. Of the 4 corners of the diamond, this is one corner that should never be abandoned.

2.  If you can’t play a selection up-tempo without sacrificing effortlessness, slow it down until you find a tempo at which you are comfortable. Gradually increase the tempo seeing how far you can push it while maintaining a feeling of relaxed detachment. Be attentive to any physical tension and mental anxiety as you increase the tempo.

3.  An alternative to slow down the tempo, practice at a fast tempo but only play a small portion of the music. If only 2 notes you can play effortlessness, start with that.  Gradually add more notes. If problem occurs in the middle of the passage, begin at that point and gradually piece the entire passage together, maintaining a feeling of effortlessness.

4.  To gain a sense of what it feels like to play the entire song effortlessly and up-tempo, allow yourself to play wrong notes. Keep your fingers moving in time. Do not sacrifice the other 3 corners of the learning diamond.  You may find your conscious mind unwilling to accept the wrong notes ou hear, but remember how great wrong notes sound when Miles Davis plays them.

Additional thoughts:

1. When practicing or performing, keep your thoughts still and your body relaxed.

2. To quiet your thoughts when performing, helpful to concentrate on something outside of yourself, such as another person or an object or to place attention on maintaining a relaxed feeling in your body.

3.  When practicing or improvising, imagine that you are not the one playing but a ‘silent witness’ to the event.

4.  music is a reflection of your personal growth and the development of your consciousness.

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Creativity

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Creativity is at its greatest when you allow the vocabulary you have learned to manifest into a spontaneous manner with a minimum of premeditation.

If you have to consciously think about what you are going to play, the music will not have a feeling of immediacy.

Furthermore, the intellect cannot keep pace with some of the faster tempos.

Allow your rained instincts to take over will enable you to communicate your emotions and ideas through the music, and to interact with other musicians in the group.

Examine the inner workings of the mind and learn how to make the transition from the analytical state of mind used in studying to the nonlinear state of mind used in making music.

Tap into the intuitive part of the brain.

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Constructing a solo

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

1.  Learn melody, chord changes, chord/scale relationship

2. develop new ways to construct a meaningful solo

Melodic/Horizontal Approach

  • Play melody of the tune over and over
  • alter it each time until the embellishment outweigh the original melody.
  • eventually it won’t sound like the melody but an improvisation devoid of obvious patterns or cliches

Harmoinc/Vertical Approach

  • 1.  Play a guide tone line consisting of 3rds and 7ths of each chord.
  • 2. then create a solo by improvising lines and embellishments around the guide tones while still targeting the 3rds and 7ths at the beginning of each chord change.
  • 3. Improvise on the chords using primarily chord arpeggios or 1-2-3-5 patterns but in a very free, improivsatory manner. Your melodic lines should define the harmony without relying on the harmonic accompaniment.

Scalar Approaches

Determine which scales color each chord and use these in your improvisation.

Play a continuous line of 8th notes using the appropriate scale choices:

1.  Diatonic approach — use modes in the major scale and the bebop 7th scale to color the chords

2.  Alter the extensions – use altered and diminished scales whenever possible, treating all dominant chords as if they had altered 9ths or 5ths.

3.  Chromatic approach — use chromatic scales and small intervals that are not necessarily derived from the diatonic scale that fit each chord. Resolve to strong chord tones at the places in the phrase.

Motive Approach

Base your solo on a small melodic idea. Use concepts such as repetition, sequencing, fragmentation, augmentation, and rhythmic displacement to build your phrases

Think primarily of playing rhythms.

Try to find notes that fit the chords but focus o the rhythmic content.

Pretend that you are a drummer.


Intervallic/Bitonal Approaches

Superimpose intervallic structures, such as 4ths, forth-note groupings and pentatonic scales over the chords, departing from the key area at times.

Resolve to strong chord tones at key places in the phrase such as the cadence.

Play over the time using polyrhythms or by playing in another meter. Keep track of the underlying rhythm and periodically resolve in the time.

Advanced concepts

Imagine you are one of your favorite improvisers. Try to play in their style, not yours.

Think of physical shapes and contours, such as angles, lines, circles and zigzags. Let the notes come as a consequence of playing these shapes.

Give up analytical control; improvise on the tune without thinking about the chords. Don’t preconceive of anything you are going to give. Allow any sound to manifest itself without you having to make an effort.

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