Copy ‘ninaonal Congr Secu No pt ot i pueton yb ett nay om oyPreface ..... RieaR ios ihestmiea te cence sues ee eeeege eae 14 Using the CD 5 Tell VourStorystsaeie tase See 6 Suggested Listening Se : 6 Raw Stuff ........ ge eee 8 More Raw Stuff 3 ae esata agree ce eee eee eee eee gee 16 Playing the Blues ..... 18 Phrasing 18 ‘The Chord/Scale Concept SE pease 22 Getting Vertical... 0... c eee tees ecerenente 2.5.26 Hplerrrionny Cirle ses su ces eee aeceaee geese as gece eee 27 Peeling Off the Layers 00... .000 000 ccceeeeeeeeeee ee 30 MMinorMamony ces edu eee 32 Internal Melodies ...0........ Eee ee 39 Cellar by Flashlight ..... . See eee AS Bebop estes eteee 47 Sing For Your Supper . 48 Practice Tunes 50 Bull, a Lie of Lird Band 0... 000.00. cee ceeeeee eee nena es 50 Eat a Melatonin... 62... 00. 00sec ee eee eeee SI Blasé oo. 52 Tn Closmie cect 52'ge. Improvisation is in many ways indescribable, yet there are vol- umes written about it, Everyone wants to write the definitive book about improvisation, myself included But as Tattempt this, T am all too aware of the daunting nature of this task. It is possible to prepare someone to impro- vise, you can be exposed to all the information you need. You can be shown scales, harmony, melody. rhythm, cliches, etc., and still not be a good improviser. The final step, putting all this information into action must come rom within the improviser. Without taking the leap, you won't fly, even if given the best hang glider in the world. So, in some ways the notion someone can be taught to improvise strikes me as presumptuous, If | could somehow get inside your soul and guide you through the neurochemicalfemotional/physical responses you must have to solo through a tune, then perhaps T could teach you how to improvise. Short of this, the best I can hope to do is provide you with much of the background information you need to be prepared t0 solo, give you Strategies and opportunities to implement this information, make suggestions to guide you in the right direction, and encourage you to open your inner ears and connect with the source of music living inside you. Goal Statement This book will show background information needed to improvise over jazz tunes. It will also expose you fo several differen strategies to help you implement this information in interesting and musical ways, You Will have opportunities to put this information into action with the aid of the accompanying CD. Throughout, You will be reminded to look into other sources, recordings, videos, and live performances to help you with your joumney. As soloing is an advanced topic, am going to make certain assumptions about you and your abilities, If Feat Prepared to meet the challenges presented by the material in this book, it will not prove to be an; effective use of your time, I must therefore assume you can read music reasonably well, have the ability to play cighth notes at tempos upwards of 120 beats per minute, have some jazz experience under your belt, and tke ay least vaguely familiar with common music terminology. Acknowledgements Thanks again to my family, Sonia, Irving, Lee Ellen and Aimee Friedland, and David Taylor. Thanks to Jolin Cerullo, Jeff Schroedl, and John Hill at Hal Leonard, Thanks to Mark Keisel, Dave Flores, and everyone at Garvin. Latry and Pam Fishman, LaBella Strings, Jim Roberts, and Karl Coryst at Bass Player Magazine, Bill Brinkley, Bob Sinicrope, Jim Brady Recording Studios, Jeff Haskell, Fred Hayes, Bob Mick. and everyone at ‘The Bass Pace in Tempe, AZ. Thanks to Dickie Thompson for his weekly inspirations. Special thanke to Hal Galper for his improvisational insight About the Author Ed Friedland is a graduate of the High School of Music and Art in New York City, and a former faculty member of Berklee College of Music and Boston College. Ed has a Masters Degree in Education from Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA, and is currently teaching at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. He is a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Bass Player Magazine and has authored three other books for Hal Leonard Corporation: Building Walking Bass Lines, Expanding Walking Bass Lines, and Jaze Bass. His performance credits include Larry Coryell, Michal Urbaniak, Robben Ford, Eddie Daniels, John Stowell, Paul Horn, Mike Metheny, Illinois Jaquette, Sal Nestico, Jimmy Maxwell, Jimmy McPartland, Johnny Adams, Linda Hopkins, Robert Junior Lockwood, Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Martha and the Vandellas, The Drifters, Brook Benton, The Boston and Tokyo Productions of Little Shop of Horrors, the Opera Company of Boston. and others. He actively performs on acoustic bass, 4-, 5-, and 6-string electric basses as well as tenor and piccolo electric bass. Ed uses Carvin basses, Fishman transducers, LaBella strings, and 2-Tek bri Photo: anice Fullmao‘The CD accompanying this book is provided to enhance your learning process. It contains performances of many of the written examples. It has been recorded with a split-stereo mix with the bass and drums on the Jeft channel and piano and drums on the right. You will be able to hear an example, then tum off the left channel and play along with the piano and drums. On some of the tracks 1 will solo freely. These examples will be good ‘opportunities for transcription, an important skill for developing your ears and your jazz conception. The examples in the book with a CD icon €) next to them have a number corresponding to the track number on the CD. I will announce the example number, then count it off with two measures out front. (Ex 2... 1, 2, 3.), This is the common method for counting off tunes on a jazz gig. There are many good resources available to you as play along material, it is a good idea to look into these CD's and computer programs. Honing your skills with music minus one CD's can be very helpful However, itis most important you find other musicians to play with, Jazz happens between people, not between you and a CD. Use these materials at home for your education, and make sure you step out into the real world with live players as often as possible. I'd like to thank Jeff Haskell on piano and Fred Hayes on drums for adding their musical contributions to this project. You will find it’s great to have inspiring players like these back you up.What is # solo? There are many ways to answer this question. By definition, a solo is a piece of music ‘executed by one performer with or without accompaniment, An improvised solo, particularly in a jazz context, is much like the art of story telling. There is an event (the song), and we the story teller want to convey our per- sonal interpretation of that event to the listener. The deeper our understanding of the event, the more back- ground and interest we can bring to the story. However, this is not enough to keep an audience spellbound ‘There is also the element of style, or how you say it, There is your intent, why you say it, and your level of con- viction, how much you mean what you say. And of course, a certain amount of technique is necessary to convey 2 story effectively. When all of these elements combine seamlessly, we have the perfect conditions to create a captivating tale Soloing requires several skills. First, we must have an understanding of the raw materials needed to ere- ate a solo. Since we are talking primarily about soloing over chord changes in a jazz style, we need to know the structure of each chord in a particular tune. We need to know the scales that correspond to each chord structure, and how all this information interacts as a whole. We need to know the melody of the song we are playing. The melody’s relationship to the harmonic structure gives us important information. By knowing, | mean an intel- lectual understanding, an instinctual (aural) understanding, and a physical understanding. It must be in the hhands as well as the head, ears, and heart, Soloing is truly an integrated act. Once we have an understanding of the raw materials, we must have a sense of how to put the informa- tion into action. This entails several elements. We necd to learn the language if we want to speak to the jazz lis- tener. How many of us took years of a language in school, only to be utterly helpless when asked to use it? For a variety of reasons, most of us can't remember much more than “My name is...”” and “How are you?” from our high school language class. While these two questions will help you get by in a foreign country, you won't be communicating with anyone on a deep level. To communicate in jazz, you must familiarize yourself with the language, not only the grammar, but how it sounds. ‘As there can be many dialects of a language, there are many dialects of jazz, There is traditional jazz from the 1920s, the swing era of the thirties and forties. There is the bebop era from 1945 through 1955, fol- | lowed by the hard bop of the late fifties. Then we have the innovations of the post bop era, the 1960s, which brought in new harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic ideas. In the mid-sixties, two distinct schools emerged, , jazzirock fusion, and “free” jazz. It is argued by some there have been no major stylistic innovations in jazz | since the 1960s, and while 1 am hard pressed to name any myself, all of the aforementioned stylistic periods hhave been reinterpreted and deepened by the generations of musicians that followed. There is a lot of great ‘music out there to listen to, old and new. [f you are going to be a jazz soloist, you'd better get busy and start lis- tening heavily! While it would be impossible for me to make a complete required listening list for jazz, I can suggest some names of the best known artists on their instrurtient. I recommend listening to all instrumentalists, not only bass players. Naturally, | will include as many of the significant bassists as possible, listed in roughly chronological order. | apologize in advance for any omissions. Acoustic Bass Jimmy Blanton, Milt Hinton, Oscar Pettiford, Slam Stewart, Major Holley, Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter, Scot LaFaro, Charlie Haden, Gary Peacock, Eddie Gomez, Rufus Reid, Dave Holland, Niels Henning Orsted Pederson, Ron McClure, Miroslav Vitous, Harvie Swartz, George Mraz, Mare Johnson, Ratso Harris, Ray Drummond, Christian MeBride. Electric Bass The electric bass was not considered a “true” jazz instrument for many years, therefore some of the leading players are rooted in R&B and Rock music; James Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmot, Jack Bruce,EET John Paul Jones, Jack Casady, Phil Lesh, Michael Henderson, Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, Paul Jackson, Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, Will Lee, Marcus Miller, Victor Bailey, John Pattitucei, Michael Manring, Victor Wooten Guitar The bass and guitar are both string instruments, $0 special attention should be paid to the great guitarists in jazz, particularly if you play electric bass; Django Rheinhardt, Charlie Christian, Tiny Grimes, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, George Benson, Jim Hall, Lennie Breau, Jimmy Rainey, Pat Martino, Latry Coryell, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Alan Holdsworth, Bill Frissel, Mike Stem, Tuck Andress, Wayne Krantz, Charlie Hunter. Piano Includes organists, and electronic keyboardists; Jelly Roll Morton, Eubie Blake, Duke Ellingion, Count Basie, Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Tommy Flanagan, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Cecil Taylor, Joe Zawinul, Joanne Brackeen, Benny Green, Marcus Roberts. Vibraphone Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, Gary Burton, Bobby Hutcherson, Jay Hoggard, Steve Nelson. Violin Special attention should be paid to violinists if you are interested in developing jazz arco solos on acoustic bass; Ray Nance, Stuff Smith, Joe Venuti, Stephane Grappelli, Zbignew Seifert, Joe Kennedy Jr. Trumpet Louis Armstrong, Bix Biederbeck, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Ray Nance, Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw. Randy Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton. Saxophone Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Johnny Hodges, Illinois Jaquette, Charlie Parker, Serge Shallof, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderly, Joc Henderson, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Omette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, David Leibman, Maceo Parker, David Sanbom, Michael Brecker, Brandford Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Trombone Slide Hampton, JJ Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Kai Winding, Bill Watrous, Phil Wilson, Steve Ture, This list is not complete, but it will give you an idea of who to listen to. There are many other brilliant players. You will hear about them from friends, magazines, radio stations, etc. Be open minded, and check out everyone you can. Everyone has something to say, and you can learn from all of them, even if you find you don't like what you hear. Once the sound of jazz has planted itself in your inner ear, you will start singing ideas to yourself, This is the beginning of your ability to create a solo. While you must know a lot of background information to play intelligently over chord changes, the guiding principle of soloing is to play what you hearIf you want to solo over chord changes, you have to know chord structures. A chord structure is vertical, it starts on the root and moves up in thirds to the top note of the chord. Each chord has a corresponding scale Scales are horizontal structures, they start on the root and move in a linear fashion to the last note of the scale. At first we will look at the chord structures that are diatonic to the major scale. Diatonic means all the notes belong to the key of the moment. If we take a major scale and build vertical structures off of each note, using only the notes contained within that particular scale, we get the diatonic chord structure for that key. Here are the diatonic chord structures for the key of Bb major Bbmaj? Cm? mba? pr GmT mths Bbmaj7 Inaj?— im? iim? 1 aj VI vim? viim5 maj? Underneath the chord name is a Roman numeral with a chord type. These numbers represent the scale degree each chord type is built from. These numerical assignments are important to learn, they are the generic ‘code” that will translate to any key. Using the major scale, we will always get Imaj? off the first note, iim? off the second ete. The names of the actual notes will change from one key to another, but the numerical structure remains the same. Notice that after viim7b5 comes Imaj7 again, The octave and the root are the same note, so ‘we call the structure built from the octave Imaj7. In general, as bassists we will not play chordally (though it is possible), we play single note lines. Here are some ways to practice the diatonic major chord structures that will prove usefull for improvis- ing, While they are written out in the key of Bb major, you are advised to practice these in all keys. Pay particu- lar attention to the keys of C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and G, as these are the most common in jazz. There are several ways you can finger these examples, I suggest finding at least one way that is comforable and fool-proof. You'll need to have a default fingering that lays well In addition, you will benefit greatly from exploring other pathways. Sometimes we must simply make it happen even if it is inconvenient to do so. Each fingering, as well as each position on the bass brings with it a unique set of possibilities. The more familiar you are with the options, the more opportunities you will have to create something relevant. Bhmaj? am Gm? =F? Ebmaj? Den? cm? Bomaj? eeBomaj? Cm? Dm? Bhmaj? | Ams Gm! F? Ebmaj? Dm? cm? Bbmaj? eft Pe, Next we will look at the diatonic major modes. Modal scales are the horizontal counterparts of their cor- responding diatonic chord structures. Modal scales use only notes from the home key. If you start a Bb major scale on it’s second note (which is C) and continue up an octave to the next C, you will have the C Dorian scale. Here are the diatonic major modes in Bb. Bhai? (er, eee = 1 he ore! - | eS Bb tonian € Dorian DPhrygian EbLydion 2b F Minoyian 6 Aeolian A Loeran onion fe fee ~ee fe cee tee £ tee 2 fee 2 eg OE fs Bb onian G Aeolian F bixolyian Bb Lydian D Phrygian © Dorian Bb lonian Understanding the diatonic major realm is an important first step to improvisation. However, very few tunes are strictly diatonic major. Modes and chordal structures are also built from the harmonic and melodie minor scales. First we will look at the chord structures built from the harmonic minor scale. This scale has a very unique character due to the minor third interval between flat six and major seven scale degrees. This o ‘makes for some very interesting chord and modal structures. Here are the diatonic chord structures in the key of no =p ees it. Bbin(mnaj7) Cm7kS—Dimmaj7* ebm? FT Ghmaj? 7 Bb Im(maj?) fim 7S bittmal7+ vm V7 bVImaj7— wi? Imi Here are some ways to practice the diatonic harmonic minor chord structures. Bhm(maj?) C75 Dhmaj* bm? Fr Ghma? A Bbmmaj?) be, Blm(maj?) Ae? Ghma? FP Bim? Dbmaj?*—Cm75Bbmimaj?) Ete Zt b Bbm(maj?)Cm?'s Dimaj™* Eb? Fr Gbmai? ag Bbm(msj7) b beta, Bbm(maj?) | A°? Ghai? FP Eom? Dbmaj’* = m5 Bhima”) b ‘The modes derived from harmonic minor are unusual structures. They all contain the distinctive minor third interval originally found between scale degrecs flat six and major seven. With each new mode, this inter- val pops up in a different location, creating some unique sounds, and some challenging fingerings. The names of these scales are altered versions of the major modes. Here are the diatonic modes in the key of Bb harmonic minor 19 7Bbn(maj?) cms Domaj?+ Bbharmonic minor CToerian 85 Eb Dorian #11 Fr Ghmaj? o, : sae “| yom" i a Eee ether. Pet tiees, Et theme, fphee ¢ — | ‘ Diamoricmine Admini chtyaan’s Fao ar Dbmaj™* cms Bbm(maj?) | __ fire ey Af 0 ol, tebe STR = ; 1 Eb Dorian #11 Dblonian #5, C Locrian 313 Bb harmonic minor The next scale we build structures from is the melodic minor scale. The “traditional” version of this "scale ascends as the melodie minor, and descends as the natural minor scale (otherwise known as the Aeolian mode), Bb melodic minor Bbnatural minor While the traditional melodie minor scale makes sense from a melodic standpoint, it would be confusing to build chord structures from it, as it is different going up and down, To simplify things, we ascend and descend using the same scale. This is commonly referred to as the “jazz” melodic minor scale. Bbmelodie minor €Now lets look at the chord structures built off the Bb melodic minor scale. Bbnmaj7) Cm? Db+tmaj7) BB? PT Gms Am75_—Bhmimaj7) lan(enaj?) ion? HILNGmaj) V7 Vi virm745—viim7S—_Ien(onaj7) Here are two exercises to practice playing the chord structures from Bb melodie minor. Bbm(maj?) Cm? Db+(maj?) Eb? 7 Gm75 Amt Bhm(maj?) b b Bhm(maj?) Am™ = Gm75— BT BW Db+(maj?) Cm? Bbm(maj?) b, be be. Bbm(maj?) Cm? Dit(maj?) Bb F Gms Ams Bhm(maj?) b fb Bhm(maj?) Ams Gm? By D+ (maj?) CmT ——_Bhm(maj?) b,‘These are the modes built from the B> melodic minor scale. Bbm(maj?) 2 om? b+ (maj? pT G tea atee teers oes Bbmelodiemino Corian DoLydiands Eb Lyiant7 Gms Amis 2 Bbm(maj?) * oe ebeete beet te bee e E ep terete f nee 2 : 2 F { F Miclyian3 Goins Aahered Bb melodieminor ' Bbm(maj’) Am75 Gms Fv fe ERP ebe feb, Bhmelodie minor Aaltcred GLocriant9 F Mixolydian 13 Eb? Db+(mgj7) cm? Bbm(maj?) Re eee ttt pet Lo, Ba 7 + fi Pee teas] \ : S E EbLydian 7 DbLydian #5 CDoriant9 Bbmelodic minor Nb All of this information presents quite a lot of work on your part. As I said earlier, it is very important that you can play these chord structures and modes, understand them intellectually, and hear thera. Don't skimp {on the basics, it will come back to haunt you later. You will probably need to refer to this material several times 8 We start to put it to use later in the book. As you start to utilize this information, it will start to become part of your integrated understanding. Be patient, itis @ lot to remember. As if you didn’t have enough to do already, there are a few more scales that must be learned j Fortunately, these are easy in comparison and already famitiar to anyone with a background in rock and blues Lomusic. I'm referring to the pentatonic scale. There are only five notes contained in this scale instead of the seven used in major or minor scales. This scale is widely employed as a vehicle for improvisation in the rock idiom. It is used in two basic shapes, major and minor, although we will later see they are actually the same scale, starting ftom different points. xz 3 :Here is the C minor pentatonic scale. I'm sure this sounds familiar to you. The minor pentatonic scale is popular in rock, blues, jazz, and all sorts of world music. Here is a pattern to give you some ideas and challenge your fingers. This paitern extends into the next octave. In general, remember any scale or arpeggio must be leaned in at least two octaves. be bee ite ree arth e7F bp pre F ee == s Now let's examine the C major pentatonic scale. This scale is widely recognized as the opening guitar riff to “My Girl” by the Temptations. Here is a pattern using the major pentatonic scale9 Another scale we will look at is the proverbial “blues scale.” The nature of the blues progression allows 1} one to play this scale throughout the entire form. So, in a C blues progression, itis possible to play the C blues seale over cach chord. The repeated use of the blues scale over the shifting chords creates a tension and release pattern that is elemental to good improvising. This scale is similar to the minor pentatonic, except for the chro- matic passing tone in between the fourth and fifth oa Often, the blues scale is played with another chromatic passing tone between the flatted seventh and the octave. f The last scale to leam for now is the symmetrical diminished scale. There are two versions of this scale, the whole step/half step pattern, and the half step/whole step pattem, Here is the half step/whole step symmetri- cal diminished scale, symettical diminished scale halfwhole t ‘The other version is the whole step/half step diminished scale. symetrical diminished scale whole/half ' The previous material will take some time to sink in. You will need to spend a lot of time playing | through the scales and arpeggios to get them in your head, under your fingers, and in your ears, This brings us to our next topic, ears. b1's preity obvious music is an aural phenomenon. To create spontaneous composition, you must be able to hear what you want to come out. Sure, you can blindly throw your hands around the instrument and hope for the best, many people committed to the “avant garde” have made a career of this. I'm not discounting the poten- tial for music to occur with that method, but you will find within the “outside” community of musicians, the most musical players are the ones that hear what they play. If we are looking at improvising “inside” jars, we want the music coming Out to reflect our understanding of the harmonic and melodic properties of the song being played. How do we understand this? With our brains, with our hearts, and with our ears. If you can't heat the song you're playing, how in the world will you create a musical statement based on it? [This said, you will now realize you are on a lifelong journey into the realm of ear training This journey started long ago, well before you ever had the iden of being a musician, Pieces of nursery chymes, TV commer, cials, pop songs, patriotic songs, and the like have all embedded themselves in your musical memory banks. AI] it takes is someone making reference toa particular chain of fast food restaurants, and suddenly, you are singing in your head the jingle that you heard on TV five thousand times. Ask any person on the street to sing the alphabet, they can, even if it’s been 50 years since they've done it So, the brain has an infinite capacity for musical storage, the key to accessing itis to develop your own Personal series of “tags” for musical events. A “tag” is a memory device that enables you to recall a sound, In Uris case, it could be a song you know. For example, remember the alphabet song? (“Twinkle, Twinkle. Little Star") This is @ perfect tag to help you remember the sound of a perfect fifth interval. Before you ean expect to hear complex harmonies, we need to start with the core elements of harmony, intervals. An interval is the space ereated between two notes. The way we identify them is to use the major seale as a reference point. Bach note in the scale is numbered one through eight, The first note played, or the bottom note if the notes are played simultaneously becomes the root. From there we count up or down the major scale (0 find the size ofthe interval. Ifyou count up three notes inthe scale, it’s called a third, four notes a fourth ete Of course, not all intervals are within the major scale, Some intervals occur in between seale tones. Firat ‘we will look at the intervals that are diatonic to the major scale ‘The intervals are divided into two groups, major intervals and perfect intervals. The major intervals are seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths. The perfect intervals are unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves, When you lower a major interval by a half step, it becomes a minor interval. When you lower a perfect interval by a half Step, it becomes a diminished interval. If you lower a minor interval by a half step, it becomes diminished as well. IF you raise a major or perfect interval by a half step, it becomes an augmented interval Are you confused yet? Most people are at first.For the sake of simplicity, most jazz musicians refer to the intervals with alternative names like “flat two,”flat seven,” or “sharp five.” It gets the meaning across, and saves valuable brain activity, which is better reserved for the task of creating music. Here is the F major scale in two octaves. For this example, the F on the fourth line of the staff will be our Ground zero.” The scale will extend up and down an octave fiom this point In addition to numbers, we will also use the (hopefully) familiar solfege syllables; Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do. Undemeath the notes, you will see a row of numbers, then the syllables, and another row of numbers, ‘ {he top row of numbers indicate the interval number from the middle F which is the starting point for each direction. The syllables are named for each appropriate scale degree, starting in either direction, The bottom ‘ow of numbers are the scale degree numbers. Notice these numbers run in an opposite order with the descend. ing interval numbers. >Ascending Intervals >> «22 £ yy — = = et eS Hj = ee = ae << Dsscendiag Ince : eo ie soa ie ccn 16 -What you need to do now, is lear to hear each interval ascending and descending. If you have access to a piano, use it, if not, the bass will do just fine. Play the F in the middle, then play the next ascending note Listen carefully to the sound of the interval, then sing it using the appropriate solfege syllable, Continue this process until you have played and sung each ascending interval, then repeat this process with the descending intervals. T understand some people may have a little problem with the singing, The range of the bass is lower than ‘most people can sing, so sing up an octave. If you have a bass with a two octave neck, or ate using a piano, play everything up an octave. Still, many people will hit a stumbling block over being asked to sing, I totally under- stand. I can remember very well the sheer terror of my first day as a student in Eer Training 1 at Berklee College of Music. Being asked to sing out loud, in front of all my class mates (who were equally terrified). The pathetic quavering in my voice as I nervously attempted to hit something within a barn’s door of the given pitch. Years Jater as a teacher of Ear Training | at Berklee, I saw this scene replayed over and over. For those of you that are nervous and insecure about your ability to sing out loud I have some very good advise. First, take five deep, long breaths to help yourself relax, then, GET OVER IT! Do you want to impro- vise or not? If you do, learn how to sing what you hear! There will be more of this later on, so get used to it You do not have to sing like Pavarotti, for now, just get close enough to the pitch that it is discernible. Don't worry about tone, just do it! If you must, wait until no one is home, After you have done this for a while, you'll be amazed at how easy it was to get through this “stumbling block.” Once you have practiced singing the intervals with an instrument to guide you, do it without one. Get your pitch from the bass or piano, then sing each interval unaccompanied, using the solfege syllables, Practice this @ lot, There are no words to describe how important this training is to your musical development. Now we will work with the chromatic intervals. In between the scale tones are chromatic pitches that are necessary to hear as well. These chromatic pitches are used to form all the various minor and modal scales used in jazz. Again, we will use the F major scale as our reference point. I will show the F major scale with the chromatic pitches that occur in between. Again, you will see the interval numbers, the syllables, and the scale degree numbers. Keep track of which direction the numbers run. When ascending, the vowel in the major syllables change to 2 long “e” sound. “Do” becomes “Di,” “Re” becomes “Ri,” between “Mi” and “Fa” is already a half step, so it can't be raised, “Fa” becomes “Fi.” “Sol” becomes “Si,” “La” becomes “Li,” and between “Ti” and “Do” is a half step. When descending, the vowel changes to an “a” sound. Some syllables use a long “a” sound, others use “a” as in “mama.” Between “Do” and “Ti” is a half step, “Ti” becomes “Te (tay),” “La” becomes “Le (lay),” “Sol” becomes “Sa (saahh).” Between “Fa” and “Mi" is a half step, “Mi” becomes “Me(may)”, and “Re” becomes “Ra(rah)”. As with the diatonic major intervals, practice playing and singing these intervals ascending and descending. > Ascending Intervals >> 2 aap ote ‘<< Descending Intervals < - 87 w 6 bb Ss 43 2 BIH? BI 4H SH 6 7B Do Ra Re Me Mi Fa Sa Sol Le La Te Ti Do Di Re Ri Mi Fa Fi Sol Si La Li Ti Do > 2 Bo 3 4 bs Sw OO TH 2 RS AMS BS 6 OH TOR Ear training does not end here, I will list some more car training activities for you to pursue, but for the sake of moving on, I will not go into great detail about them. There is much more to learn. If you practice major and chromatic intervals, as well as the upcoming suggestions, you will have a lot to work with. There are many car training programs commercially available on tape and computer. I have no experience with them per- sonally so I can’t make any recommendations. I believe it is totally possible to learn this on your own. It will take determination and inventiveness, both qualities you will need to become an effective improviser 7Here is a list of suggested ear training activities 1. Leam to sing the diatonic chord structures and modes from the major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor scales. 2. Learn to sing other chord types not found in the above scales. 3. Carry around a chromatic pitch pipe at all times. Practice tuning your ears to a particular note. Most people tune themselves to A, but learn to recall all the other notes as well. Emphasize the notes of your open strings, G, D, A, and E. During the day, periodically test yourself against the pitch pipe. 4, Pick notes from the pitch pipe and sing scales, intervals, and arpeggios in those keys, 5. Listen to the radio and determine what key the song being played is in 6. Listen for random sounds throughout the day, car horns, screams, passing radios, etc. Identify the pitches you hear. 7. Find out what keys you favorite songs are in. Find out what the first melody note, and first interval in the song is. Use this to help you recall pitches and intervals. 8, Have someone play notes on a piano, identify the pitches, and play them back on the bass. 9. Have someone play chords on a piano, identify the chord types, and play them on the bass. 10, Have someone play short chord progressions on the piano, identify the progressions and play the root motion on the bass. 11. Turn on the radio, and play bass to whatever comes on. Switch around to different types of music. ‘There are many other activities you can do to help develop your ears, if you actually do all of the ones listed, you'll be well on your way to having those much coveted “big ears.” Every great jazz musician will tell you, if you want to play jazz, you must play the blues. Jazz was born from the blues feeling and articulation and it’s marriage to the harmonic structures of popular and classical music. We must learn to use the basic elements of the blues in order to make sense of the more complex ingre- dients found in other forms of jazz. The blues scale is widely used because of it’s ability to function over an entire blues progression, It sim- plifies the intellectual process of selection. Blues in C? C blues scale! It sounds simple, and it is. However, as with many simple things, there is more going on than meets the eye, or in this case, the ear. Mindlessly running up and down the blues scale does not make you an effective improviser. As with all improvisation, the key ele- ments are structure, execution, and perhaps most importantly, soul. Structure and execution can be practiced and learned, soul must come from within, I will not presume (o teach you about soul, let it just be said that everyone has it, Some people may have a greater challenge connecting to it than others, but trust me, it lives in everyone. If you want to hear soul, listen to John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Wes Montgomery, Dexter Gordon, James Brown (The Godfather!), John Lee Hooker (pre-Pepsi commercial), Bill Evans, Jaco Pastorius, the list goes on forever. If you want to play with soul, listen to yourself. If you don’t like what you hear, you and you alone have the power to change it. Without soul in your playing, you can eventually become one of the legions of well schooled, technically proficient, boring players there are far too many of. With it, you can transcend technique, theoretical cleverness, and play one note and bring an audience to it’s feet. Soul will come through as your commitment to making music deepens. In it’s essence, the blues is all about soul. The great blues masters were not necessarily technical players. ‘The ability to shape a phrase, to play with a certain articulation, and most importantly, to put themselves into the music is what makes them stand above the rest. Since you will have to find your own soulfulness within, we can occupy ourselves in the meantime with the pursuit of the external elements of the blues, Phrasing is the balance of melody and space. If you never left space in your playing (many people don’t) your solos would be an endless assault on the listener. I'm sure at some time you have had the experience of lis- tening to somzone talk at you endlessly, without pause, and without consideration for your understanding. This is the same effeet a solo can have without phrasing, 108 bn7 We need to frame our ideas with open space so they may sit with the listener and create a picture. Pu Imagine going to an art museum where all the paintings were painted directly on the wall with no delineation of where one painting starts and another begins. (Of course, now someone will do this and be called a genius!) Not only does the need for phrasing make musical sense, itis a practical way to start out improvising effectively. As @ new soloist, your ability to create long complex phrases is still undeveloped. Learning to work with short phrases and space is a necessary step on your path to mastering Coltrane's “sheets of sound” concept. In order to get an understanding of effective phrasing, let’s first take a look at ineffective phrasing. Here is a { blues progression in Bb. I will demonstrate the Bb blues scale without consideration of phrasing and space. Before you start playing along with the CD, let’s get in tune. ® Tuning note G. Have you ever heard people play this way? Don’t let it happen to you. It's easy to see what’s wrong with this picture. The lines run on way past the point of making sense, never reaching a logical conclusion. The placement of the melodic ideas does not effectively use the concept of tension and release, the rhythmic place- ment does not give you a feeling of moving forward, and while there are some rests, they are too little, too late. Here is the same Bb blues, using the exact same scale. This time, I will incorporate effective use of the above mentioned principles, which will then be examined in detail 3 Bit Dm? acm Fp BIT 5 a Cm? F7 Why does this example work? Just by looking at it, we can see several reasons. First, there is much more space. The phrases are shorter, with space between them, not placed at the end of the line like an after- thought. There is more rhythmic diversity, there are quarter notes, eighth notes and eighth note triplets. Most of the phrases start on an upbeat. This element is a key principle of a concept called Forward Motion, which has been taught for many years by the great jazz pianistleducator Hal Galper. ‘The essence of this concept is music moves forward from beginning to end. Ideally, we want our impro- vising to reflect this forward movement by utilizing the natural tendencies of certain beats in a measure of music. It is a common understanding beats 1 and 3 ina measure of 4/4 are considered “strong” beats. Beats 2 and 4 are considered “weak” beats, For eighth notes, the down beats are considered stronger than the up beats. Mr. Galper has noted starting your phrase on a “weak” beat gives it more propulsion due to the weak beat’s ten- dency to lead into a strong beat. The downbeats are heavy and grounded, while the upbeats are lighter and have more forward momentum. To get a better understanding of how this works, we will examine a phrase two ways. First we will see how it sounds played from a downbeat, going against the principles of Forward Motion. While this doesn’t sound terrible, it doesn't feel like it wants to go anywhere. The phrase just sits there. Now we'll take the same phrase and place it on the offbeat 20There is no doubt this version swings more than the first example. The line has momentum due the the rhythmic placement of the notes. Notice the phrase now ends on the “and” of beat 4 instead of the following downbeat. This gives the phrase more “top-spin.” Another idea from Forward Motion is to lead into the next chord change. Instead of waiting for the chord change and reacting to it, lead into it with material relevant to the new chord change. Out of context, you may have notes occurring over the old change thet may not “work,” but as the line leads up to the new change, it all makes sense to the ear when the change occurs. We will take the previous example and use this idea to fill out some of the spaces. oo . Dm? a7 c ar Dm? a Let's examine this “solo.” The main phrase is the same as before. However in measure 4 we use an idea starting on the “and” of beat 3 which leads into the F7 in measure 5. [n measure 7 we start a phrase on the “and” of beat 3 that leads into the Em7b5 in measure 8 and anticipates the A749 on the “and” of beat 2. The following sliort phrase anticipates the Dm7 chord of the next measure with a chromatic idea. Starting in measure 11, we anticipate each chord change for the next two measures. There is nothing earthshaking going on here, but the phrasing does Keep the line pushing ahead instead of stagnating, or sounding like you're reacting to an event that has already happened, Forward Motion involves much more than this, we will talk more about it later. For now, keep these ideas in your head and let them develop. Pay attention to where you start and end your phrases, be conscious of leaving some space in your solos, look ahead and play towards the next chord change. Now comes your opportunity to work with the blues scale. Here isa blues in F. Obviously, the F blues scales the appropriate choice here, You will have dee choruses to work with® Bot FP cm? oF? Bi? F? Am™5S pt Gm? oF Fv pb? Gm? cr A popular method for determining suitable improvisational material is the chord/scale concept. Essentially, we determine what key center a particular chord belongs to, then play the scale that corresponds tol it. This method in itself leaves many stones untumed, but it is an important first step toward understanding, all the many possibilities. [ The first step is to determine the key center. One way to determine the key center of a song is to look at! the key signature. Another way to tell is to see what chord the song ends on. Most tunes resolve to the tonic (the, “1°) chord. Ifa song is in a minor tonality, the key signature will be that of the relative major key. The relative! major key can be found by going up a minor third from the root of the i minor chord. For example, the key of C minor has the relative major key of Eb major. Inversely, the key of Eb major has the relative minor of C minor, This relates to the fact in a major key, the sixth mode is the Aeolian mode which is also called natural minor. | Most jazz tunes consist of more than one key center, although there will be one key in particular the’ song resolves to. In determining what the chord/scale relationships are, you will have to learn to recognize what is the “key of the moment.” For now we will look at one key at a time. Here is a short progression, [-vi-ii-V in the key of Bb. We take the mode built from the same scale degree as the chord number, and we arrive at the first level of the chord/scale concept. The root of the chord will match the root ofthe scale, D ins ow cm? # Bb onian Gacolian CDorian F Mixolydian Imaj7 vim iim? vi i This is not particularly exciting, nor is it musical to run up and down a scale every time you see a chord. However, you do need to know about these relationships. They will become the building blocks forthe music inf your fature. An important idea to incorporate now is the use of shorter melodic fragments Using the entire scale is mechanical. and becomes very predictable. By working with smaller portions of the scale, we can create ideas that are more interesting. Simple four note groupings can be very effective, 22particularly when combined with the concepts of Forward Motion phrasing we discussed earlier, Here is th same progression in Bb using some typical four note groupings with Forward Motion o® Bhmaj? Gm? Cm FT Bb lonian segment GAcolian segment —_C Dorian F Mixolydian segment Bb lonian In the previous example, notice how the mode segments start prior to the chord change. This anticipate the upcoming event and Keeps the listener’s ears engaged in the solo. It also times the melodie segment out s wwe are not on the root of the chord when the downbeat arrives. Musically this is much more interesting. Th segments themselves are just partial explorations of the mode, starting on the root. Nothing fancy, yet whe positioned this way, very effective. There are many books that will show you different melodie segments to ust | prefer to leave you with the idea of them, and let you experiment. I will continue using these short melodi fragments throughout the book, so with a little analyzation, you can figure them out. Now take the opportunity to practice on this short progression in the key of F major. Use the sam Process as the previous example. First determine what the “numbers” are for each chord, then match it up wit the modal scale that starts on the same number. Start by playing the entire scale, then boil it down to a shot melodic segment. Remember to use Forward Motion in your rhythmic placement of the scale fragment. D ita Bima? Am? Dm? Gn? Gi Fmaj? c The previous example stayed in one key, F major. Most jazz tunes will not be so cooperative. A tun: may modulate several times before it is over. This next example will have two different keys, F major and ¢ major. The modulation starts in the seventh measure with the ii-V to A major. In measure 15, we modulate bac! to F major, using the ii-V. Again, figure out the correct “numbers” for each chord and their corresponding scales, Remember to relate the numbers to the Key of the moment, when in F major the numbers belong F, whet in A major, the numbers correspond to that key. As before, play through the entire scale first, then find shor melodic segments using phrases that have Forward Motion Dem Dnt Gat ©Amaj? Bm? Cam? Dmaj? EI Fam? Gm cr Here’s another new idea to throw into the mix. So far we have only looked at scales built from the roots of their chord structures. However, since the modes and the chords are all in the same key, we can actually use ‘any mode from that key over the chord structures. We will occasionally have some rough spots, the Imaj7 and V7 chords prefer not to emphasize scales starting a fourth up from the root. The major third in the chord struc- ture tends to rub against the fourth in an unsettling way, more so on the Imaj7. Even still, I will include them in this next example, It would be easy to say you should just avoid using them, but you need to experience them for yourself, and then let your ear be your guide. ‘The following example will be the I-vi-ii-V in Bb again, played six times. Each time, we will use a mode built from a different scale degree. Since we have already used the root of each chord, the first time through will use the second note up from the root of each chord, then the third, fourth, and so on. CDorian ‘ALoerian D Phrygian Gacolian D Phyrgian Bb Ionian EbLydian ALoerian Gm? Cm? FT Bhmaj? ebLydian Dorian F Mixolydian Bb onian 24 | It FMixolydian DPhysgian| G Aeolian Dorian Bimaj? 6th ot + Gaeolian Eb Lydian ALocrian DPhyrgian Bima? @ Gm? cm? Th eeeet ALoerian F Mixolydian Bblonian EbLydian This last example is quite a lot of material to digest. Again, using the scales this way is not a musical approach. It is important you get this information into your hands, head, and ears, So practice this until you feel it coming together. As with the other examples, take the next step and find short melodic fragments from each scale and work them into ideas that look ahead to the upcoming change. It will take some time, but don't gloss over anything, Pay attention to how it sounds, and of course give yourself permission to make plenty of mis. takes Another valuable approach to this example is to simply play only the first note of each measure, Let it ring through the entire measure. This way, you get to hear the color of each note as it plays with different chords in the background. Imagine the color blue against a red background. Now, take that same blue and-put it against a yellow background. Even though the blue is the same color, the interaction with the background cre- ates a totally different effect. This is the same idea as playing a G against a Bbmaj? chord, or against an F7 chord. This concept is the first step toward developing a goal oriented ear. As you learn to hear the different textures created by these melody/harmony relationships, yon will find yourself going for the sounds instead of trying to remember all the theory surrounding them. Up to this point, all the examples have had one chord change per measure, As you know, many jazz tunes have some measures with two or more chords in them. With one “change” per measure, it is easy to figure ‘out what scale works with it, however with two changes per measure, which one do we use? The scale for the first change or the scale for the second change? The answer will depend on what the chords are, how they relate to each other, and the key center. Let’s keep it simple. If you have two chords per measure and they are both functioning diatonically in the same key, then you can use any scale from their key center. It is not necessary to switch scales in the middle of a measure if both chords belong to the same key. OOD erage ast artery ieee as tpt Clonian D Donan E Phiygion F LydianThe technique we have been using is playing the key cemer more than the actual changes. This is anoth- €t approach to improvising. It can free you up from the anxiety of having to “make the changes,” particularly when you have more than one per measure. When you realize you have any scale from the key available to you, your mind has less to do and you can work within a larger space, even when faced with the cramped quarters oF two changes per measure, This technique works well. However, it is best to use it in balance with other approaches. When players rely too much on playing only key centers, their playing may lack the interest creat. ed by using the specific information contained within the chord changes. However, the same ean be said for any improvisational technique, too much of any one idea will make your soloing monotonous. Now it's your tum fo put this concept into action. Here isa sixteen measure progression that functions in more than one Key center. It will be up to you to figure out what key you are in at any given place in the pro. gression, Then determine what scale material you will use to construct your melodic fragments, The only hint Hil give you is to look for i-V's that don't belong to the existing key center, they will be your pivot points to the new Key of the moment. This example will be played twice through. | will solo over the progression on the CD. However, | will not confine my improvisation to the techniques discussed so far. Instead, | will solo as I usual: 'y do, giving you an example of what is possible when you have integrated many concepts © maj? Dm? Em? ar Dm? a Fmaj? Em? al Gm? oO Fig? Dm? Gm? c Fmaj Fm? Bi Up to this point, we have worked exclusively with scalar concepts. This information will lead to devel- oping a linear style of improvising. Another side of the process is learning to usc the chord structures them. Selves, Playing the arpeggios of a chord progression will lead you to developing a vertical concept for improvi- Felt When this is combined with the horizontal approach, you have a strong foundation to build your solos from, As we are sill working within the confines of diatonic major harmony, the main source of our material Will be the chord structures derived from the major scale, This information was presented earlier inthis book. If you need to, reacquaint yourself with this material 26L oo They"re not just for breakfast anymore! I know it’s a bad pun, but the name for this concept came to me while eating hominy grits at a Waffle House somewhere in Georgia. When you play the chord structures of a tune, you very effectively outline the harmonic content. As we have leaned with scale material, if a progression functions within a given key center, all the modes from that key center are available for improvisation. The same is true with chordal structures. The first piece of information I will present is a chart outlining the different layers of diatonic harmony, otherwise known as “the harmony grid.” The column on the far left is the “root column.” Going from the top line to the bottom, we have the diatonic chord structures in order from Imaj7 to viim755. As the columns move to the right, they will outline the chord structure, starting from the root column to the third, the fifth, the sev- enth, and then the upper extensions off the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth, It is possible to use this chart in a mechanical, unthinking way by simply connecting point to point on the grid, This is not in your best interest. I have used the generic chord names, and written in their corresponding structures in the key of C major. Here is an example of how this grid works. Let’s say you have two measures of Cmaj7 in the key of C If you want to build chord structures from other levels of the harmony grid, look up the Imaj? chord (Cmaj?>, then look to the right. Off the third of that chord, we can use the iiim7 (Em7) or from the fifth we can build a V7 (G7) chord, and so on. There are some special options I will mention after you have examined the grid Root 3rd Sth 7h 9th uth 13th Imaj7 iim? viien 737 im ivinaj7? vin 7 Dm7 Fmaj7 Am7 Cimaj7 Em? a Bm7bs iiim7 v7 viim7b5 iim? 1Vimaj7 vim7 Imaj7 Em7 o7 Bm7b5 Dm7 Fmaj7 Am Cmaj7 Tvmaj7 vim7 Imaj7 iim? v7 viimIbs iim? Fmaj7 Am7 Cmaj7 Em7 @ Bm7bs Dm? vr viim7bs ima Ivmaj7 vim Imaj7/ iiim7 iim(maj7) | 1V+(maj7) vi7 Fim7s G7 Bm7b5 Dm Fimaj7/ AmqAT Cmaj7 Emi Dm(maj7) | F+(maj7) Chm 75 vim? Imaj7 iim? vi viim7b5, iim? 1Vmaj7 Am? Cmaj7 Em? G7 Bm7b5 Dm7 Fmaj7 viim75 iim? 1Vmaj7 vim? Imaj7 itim7 vr Bm7b5 Dm7 Fmaj7 Am7 Cmaj7 Em? GT 27‘The options occur on the Imaj? and V7 chords. If you remember from the scale material, when you have ‘a major triad in the chord structure, it is a challenge to use a fourth from the root in a “pleasing” way. On the imaj7 chord, building off layers that contain the fourth (F in the key of C) can sound just plain wrong. The fourth creates a dissonance with the major third in the chord structure, either a half step, or a flat nine if up an ‘octave. Most people will say “avoid it”, and I tend to agree. It takes a lot of skill, conviction, and nerve to pull it off musically. Dissonance is not a bad thing, it makes music interesting. Jazz in particular has a fairly high “dissonance - quotient.” However, using a natural fourth (or eleventh) on Imaj7 is a choice you may not want to make. The accepted option for this situation is to raise the eleventh up a half step, thus creating the more pleasing #11 (F# in the key of C). When we use this alteration on the Imaj7 chord, we produce options like Vinaj7 (Gmaj7), viim? (Bm7), and II7 (D7). These are not diatonic structures due to the introduction of the #4. However, if we look at the actual chords, you will notice they are borrowed from the key of G. The key of C is closely related to the key of G, they have three chord structures in cormmon, Let’s examine this: G major C major Cmaj7 1Vmaj7 Imaj7 Em7 vim? iiim7 Am? iim7 vim7 By making these substitutions, we avoid a potentially unfavorable sound and add a new “color tone. the Ff. Since we are borrowing chord structures from the key of G, we can also use the modal scales from G with these substitutesBefore I yet into showing you examples of this concept in action, I have a little written assignment for you. Below is a blank harmony grid with only the generic chord numerals in it. I want you to make at least 1d copies of this grid. Next, I want you to fill in the proper chord names for all the remaining keys. You have the key of C as a guide post, now do the others. Pay special attention to the common jazz keys of F, Bb, E>, Ab, Db, and G. Don’t forget about the “guitar” keys of D, A, and E. Then there are the less common keys of Gb, B. Fil and the dreaded enharmonic nightmare keys of C# and Cb. It may seem like alot of work, but believe me, you need to know this information, Root 3rd Sth 7th 9th 1th 13th maj? iim? Vir vim 757 iim7? ivmaj7 vim? Vmnaj7 viirn? 7 tiv 7bS iim? 1Vmaj? vim? Imaj7 iiim? vi viim7b5, iim? vi vim 7S iim7 1Vmaj7 vim7 Imaj7 1Vmaj7 vim? Imaj7 iim \7 viim7b5 iim7 va viim7}5 IVmaj/ vim7! itim7 Ivs(maj7 viv vim? Imaj7 iiim7 v1 viim75, iim? IVmaj7 viim7b5 iim? 1Vmaj7 vim7 Imaj? iim? vi Now we will look at some examples of this concept in action. We will use the familiar [-vi-i-V progres- sion in Bb as our foundation, For these examples, I will be using the principles of Forward Motion (o create musical phrasing. I will use some concepts we haven't discussed yet, like chromatic approach for example. Play through the example and figure out what is going on melodically. First we will use the arpeggios built from the root level of the harmony.Gmt Cm Now lets see what happens when we build off the third & Bhmaj? Gm? Cm? bee ite. / Deep sf Eo rete ce = This example builds off the fifth. We will use the optio that contain the #4 t0 make everything sound. “coo! & a Gm? cm? F Fimaj7_ Dan ge Cmemaj7) — Now, from the seventh a Bimaj7. Ebs(anaj7)_ ‘The upper structures built off the ninth, eleventh, and thirtcenth can be used as well. They are tricky to ‘work with, but can lead you to some interesting sounds. Check into them when you feel you have a handle on the sounds built from the chord tones. As you can see, there are quite 2 lot of possibilities to work with Eventually, you will have all this information at your fingertips. Here is another strategy for using the Harmony Grid concept. When a bassist sees a set of chord changes, the first thing that registers in the mind is the root. It is what we ae trained to do as an accompanist, outline the root motion. While it is totally possible to create interesting solos by relating to the root motion, many bassists end up over emphasizing the root in their solos. This results in bland melodic choices, and a lack of movement. When you look at a chord symbol, there is a wealth of information in front of you. To maximize the melodic/harmonie potential, you must learn to see the various layers of the harmony being represented. 30,7 As we have seen, each chord is really attached to every other chord in it’s diatonic realm. An easy way to start using this information is to practice “seeing” the chord changes from different levels. When you have a set of changes, practice looking at them from the thirds. For example, here is a short progression, ii {Evin Cmajor, First [ will write it out from the roots. Practice soloing over this progression, Dow o En? Am Dm? or maj? Am? play 3 times Now I will take the same progression and write it out off the thirds of each chord using the harmony grid concept. What we end up with is a totally different chord progression. As it stands, it may not make sense as a progression. The root motion is awkward in places, and it doesn't really hang together in theory. However, it changes what you see when you look at the progression, and because it is directly related to the original chords, you will be playing within the parameters of the key center. It will automatically throw you into the sec- ond layer of the harmony because you are actually looking at the thirds instead of the roots, Practice soloing off this version of the changes, the accompaniment will still be using the original chord progression. It will feel strange at first. Give it some room and you'll find it opens up a new set of melodic 1. choices Fmaj? Bm" a Cmaj? E ‘maj? m5 7 aj? ie Bi bis Gms play 3 times ‘This process of rewriting the chord changes can be done with each level of the harmony grid. It is possi- ble to take any tune and have seven different reharmonizations, all built from what is diatonic to the key center, ‘That is quite a lot of work, and a lot more information than most people can use, However, the time you spend doing this will translate into a fuller understanding of what is possible. It will give you the chance to get new sounds under your fingers, and teach you to see some of these choices immediately, If you can learn to see a progression built off it’s thirds, you have doubled your choices for improvisa- tional material. Take the short progression you just played from the thirds and write it out off each level of the £{ harmony grid. Then play along with the track and see how each level feels, pay attention to how it sounds and Ls make notes about which ones you like the best. 8 a aWe have looked at several ways to deal with diatonic major harmony. All of these concepts will work for the diatonic minor chord and scale structures as well. As I said earlier, most jazz tunes do not stay strictly diatonic. They may change keys centers frequently, and they may also borrow structures from minor harmony. Of course, there are also entire tunes written in minor keys. Due to the myriad of choices, and their characteris. tic feeling of openness, minor key tunes are a big favorite for jazz improvisation Now we will look at the most common chord structures borrowed from minor harmony, with their eorre~ sponding scales. The first chord we will look at is the i minor chord (i). If a song is in the key of Cm, then Cm is our i chord. However, we have three possible minar scales to choose from. The chord symbol will usually give you the needed clue as to which scale to use. If you see the i chord is Cm, then itis indicating use of the C harmonic minor scale, ci cm 4 Charmonie minor 3 C melodie minor If you see a im(maj7) chord, you have a choice of either the melodic or harmonic minor scales. Often, the im7 chord is used. The scale indicated here is the natural minor (Aeolian mode). El CC natural minor A common practice on im7 chords is to use the Dorian mode. While Dorian is not one of the 3 basic minor scales (harmonic, melodic, and natural) it has a very pleasing quality jazz players like. Scale degree flat three combined with scale degree natural six and flat seven creates some great opportunities for melodic inter- est. Some tunes you will see the Dorian mode is specified, but most often, the improviser takes it upon them= selves to make it DorianHere is an example of Dorian on a im? chord. Dorian As stated earlier, with minor key tunes, we can choose from a variety of scales to improvise with. The ‘minor tonal center has a whole step between the flat third and scale degree four, so we don't have the potential clashes that can occur with major harmony. This gives minor keys a very open feeling, you can throw virtually any scale on it and it will work, To hear this idea in action, check out John Coltrane's playing around the “Equinox” era. His explorations of minor tonalities are not only thoroughly inspiring, but very complete. Here is an example of expanding on the minor tonality, using many of the possible minor scales, ine!yi!~ ing some of the minor modes from the diatonic major realm. The first half of this example are written ideas. she second half is open for your experimentation. I will play the written example once, then improvise freely over the Cm chord. Once you have leamed the written material, you can transcribe the rest of the example to get more ideas, © m Fm? (iv? of C minor) natural minor. EbLydiants Gm —A common progression in minor tunes is iim7b5 to V7 to im. The iim7b5 can be treated with the Locrian mode. If we're talking about the natural minor scale (which is the Acolian mode, built from scale degree six of the major scale), then the iim7s is really the viim7eS from the relative major key. This is why we would use the Locrian mode. For example, in the key of A minor, the iim7>5 is Bm7bS. A minor is the relative minor key of C major. The Bm7bS is viim7b5 in the key of C, understand? Here is an example of using Locrian on iim7b3. Notice in the next example the B Locrian mode has a G natural, When the chord changes to E7, a G# is introduced as a chord tone. When the E7 resolves to the Am?, the G# goes back down to a G natural. This cre- ates an “internal melody” we can use. By targeting this resolutional pattern at the points of change, we can cre- ate some interesting ideas. 7 Bm Another option for the iim7b5 chord is to use the Locrian natural six scale, built from scale degree two of the harmonic minor scale. The natural six in this scale becomes the natural three of the V7 chord in the ii/V. For example, in a B Locrian natural six scale, the natural six is a Gt. This note is also the third of the upcoming, E7 chord. This common tone ties the two chords together neatly, allowing you to freely use any scale or chord structure from the A harmonic minor key center:[ed 7 - 7 Ge Ahvoughou Locrian 86 Bis Em Am a Abarmonieminor— — — In the previous example, you'll find a Df on the “and” of beat 4 in measure 2. This note is not scale material. It is a chromatic approach note added to keep the line working. Also notice in measure 6, we build a diminished seventh chord off the third of the E7. This is good to remember, you can always build a diminished seventh chord off the third of any dominant seventh chord. Now that we ate talking about dominant chords, you'll notice in the minor tonality, most V7 chords have a9 next to them. This comes from the harmonic and natural minor scales which have a flat six. The flat six is a half step above the five, which becomes the flat nine of the V79 chord. The melodic minor scale has a natural six, so you may see a V7 chord with a natural nine, but with b13 next to it. This would be the Mixolydian b13 scale. Dominant chords are a world unto themselves. As the name implies, they are very strong chord struc- tures that can stand up to quite a bit of tampering. You can throw virtually anything at a dominant chord and it will work, When you look through fake books, you will see dominant chords with all sorts of tensions (b9, #9, 613, etc) listed. These tensions indicate alterations in the scale that will ft the chord structure to the intended harmonic “landscape.” Here is a “laundry list” of the various dominant chords you will encounter with their corresponding scales. For the sake of clarity, [ will continue to refer to these chords as “V7s” although in context, it may not actually be built from the fifth of the given key. First of course is the regular V7 which would take the Mixolydian scale. Mixolydian ‘The V7sus4 chord also takes the Mixolydian mode, the natural three in the scale becomes a tension, D vont crue (Qu - = Wi oe Lo Mixolydian as67 scale from melodic minor (this scale also works with a regular V7), ‘The V7#11 chord gets the Ly } vin C7 gece Lydian b The V+7 is also written as V7#5 or V7aug. This chord takes the whole tone scale, which as the name implies, is made up entirely of whole steps. © vs7 C#7 Now we look into what are commonly referred to as “altered dominants,” dominant chords with b9"s,t9’s and bi3’s. Remember, wherever you see a b9 listed on a chord symbol, #9 is also available, and visa versa, First we'll look at the V7 from melodic minor, the V749,b13. The scale we usc is the Mixolydian b13. Remember, as with major harmony, all modes and chord structures from the tonic center are available, in this case, anything from F melodic minor is fair game, 0 0 Mixolydianbl3 Next is the V7 from harmonic minor, the V79)13. The mode for this chord is the Phrygian natural 3. In a i-VI-ii-V progression, the VI chord is often a dominant instead of a minor 7th, In these cases, we can use the Phrygian natural 3 scale. Because }9 and #9 travel together, I will use them both in the next example, even though the #9 is not included in the original scale, This also indicates this scale and an example of it’s use would be appropriate for the V749b13 chord as well \ D vty cv, ‘gu Phrygian 83oma ‘Another commonly found dominant chord is the V7alt. This chord symbol indicates the use of the iored scale. the seventh mode from melodic minor. This scale is sometimes referred to as the “diminished- vrhate tone” scale because the bottom four notes are part ofthe symmetrical diminshed scale, and the last five yotes spell out part of the whole tone scale. The altered scale is also called the “Super Locrian’” by some. This eale is unusual because it has both b9 and #9 in it. The fourth note in the scale is actually the major third of the Valt. chord. there is no real “fourth” in the scale, The seale construction is as follows: 1-b2(b9)-42(49)3-b5-b6- 7-8. Due to the occurrence of b9 and 49 together, this scale becomes an ideal choice for any dominant chord with “altered” tensions, Vrant. C7al oe altered The symetrical diminished scale also works on a variety of Dominant chords. There are two versions of this scale, the half step/whole step and the whole step/ half step. If you start on the root of the altered dominant chord, you would use the half step/whole step version. The scale construction is 1+b2(L9)-b3(#9)-3-44-5-6-b7-8, iis scale has an “outside” quality that has become associated with the post-Coltrane style of jazz. Here is an example of the symetrical diminished scale over an altered V7 chord Posy V7alt a eet aetna ge EEE symetrical diminished One more type of dominant chord you will see is called the “substitute dominant” or “sub V7." These sre dominant chords that resolve into a target chord from a half step above. For example, in the key of F major, the sub V7 of the Imaj7 chord is a Gb7 or bII7. It is called a sub V7 because it is substituting for the V7 of the Ima? chord, in this case a C7 chord, If we examine the structure of these chords, we will see that the C7 (V7) is built C-E-G-Bb. The Gb7 (sub V7) is Gb-Bb-Db-Fb (E). These two chords share the same tri-tone which is a flat fifth interval between the third and flat seventh, although they are in reverse order. The roots are also a tri-tone apart. This half step root motion into the Imaj7 chord 1s very strong, and since the sub V7 has the same tri-tone as the primary dominant chord, you have a per- fect resolution pattern. The sub V7 chord takes the Lydian b7 scale from melodic minor. There are also sub V7 chords that resolve to the ii chord (biii7), and the V chord (6VI7). These sub V's also get the Lydian b7 scale. Here is an example of the sub V7 in action Fa? ayn b Gm? GhTwo other dominant chords that take the Lydian 67 scale are the IV7 and bVII7. This example illustrates these two chords in use. } Fr Br FT 7 Qe throughout bab: Bb Lydian b 3 Eb Lydian $7 Fv By ro EL? Bb Lydian b7 Eb Lydian $7 This covers most of our alternatives for dominant chords in minor harmony. As I said earlier, minor har- mony is very open due to the existence of several minor scales to choose from. This leaves us with the opportu- nity to mix and match scales when playing in minor tonalities. You don’t have to be a slave to the harmony, become familiar with all the possibilities and make your choices based on what you hear in the moment. Here is a minor tune to practice on. It is in the key of D minor. Measures 5, 6 and 7 modulate to the rela. tive major key of F, then measure 8 pivots us back to D minor. The Bb? chord shows up in several places. This is a sub V7 to the V chord, so the Lydian b7 scale works here. Remember to ‘experiment with the different minor tonalities. The form will repeat two times. It is a good idea to transcribe the solo I've played on these changes, analyzing it will give you some ideas about putting these concepts into action. oe) Em7s ate Dm Gm? c Fmaj? Ems Ae Dm Gm? Bir Ems ame Dm gr Em75 An 28Ems ane Dm Gm? c Fmaj? Em Dm Gm? BST Em7s a7 At this point, I want to get away from this mode of thinking. Learning chord/scale relationships is an important step toward your understanding jazz improvisation, you need to have this information in your hands and in your ears. However, having it all in your head, while necessary at first, can become paralyzing in the moment when you need to act. While there are many other chord structures used in jazz, they are mostly derived from the harmonic or melodic minor seales. You have this information laid out earlier in this book. If there is a question about a particular chord type, where it comes from or what type of scale it takes, look for it there. If you don't find it in the book, then use some common sense, look at the chord in the context of the sur- rounding tune and find some options for yourself. We have not yet dealt with melody as a tool for improvisation. Before we look specifically at melodies and melodic development, we need to discover the hidden internal melodies built into the chord changes. This is a concept [ have used for many years. However, I would like to thank Hal Galper for his valuable insight on this subject. His article “Melody and Embellishment” in Downbeat Magazine (April 1991) greatly helped me clarify how I wanted to present this information. The ability to look at a set of changes and automatically see the “juice” notes is a much needed skill. ‘An important place to look for these melodies is the guide tones. Guide tones are the thirds and sevenths of a chord structure, the third tells us if a chord is major or minor, and the seventh combines with the third to determine if the chord is dominant, major seventh, minor seventh, etcetera. The guide tones, along with the root motion gives us a very complete picture of what is happening in a chord progression. If we examine the guide tones of a chord progression, we will discover resolutional pattems. In the common ii-V- progression, a very predictable resolution occurs when the flat seventh of the iim7 chord resolves down a half step to the third of the V7, The flat third of the iim’ is the same note as the flat seventh of the V7, so as a common tone, it can be held across the chord change. The flat seventh of V7 resolves down a half step to the third of the Imaj7, and the third of the V7 is held as a common tone with the major seventh of the Imaj7.Here is how this looks and sounds in the key of C. P09 Dm! oy maj? —, === een 7 ae With these two resolution patterns occurring, we have a choice of two intemal melodies for this progres- sion, Here is the first one, Rais Dm? G7 cma? Quan eears eee Here is the second one. Q Dm? GI cmap ‘These guide tone resolutions sound good because they are built directly into the chord progression. Here is an eight measure progression using several key centers. I will outline the resolutions that occur between the | guide tones. There will be times when half steps occur, other times whole steps. There may be times when no resolution occurs, if the root motion makes large jumps, or moves to a new key. At those times, I will use the closest choice. The progression will repeat twice so I can write a line through the changes utilizing both guide tones. There are other possible combinations, look for them P43) Fm? Bi Bhma? Cm? Am? pb? Gimaj? Gm? cr Fmaj?) Dm? Bm? ET Aunaj? Fm? Bb Ebmaj? Cm? Am? bp? Gmaj? t 40Gm? c Fmaj? Dm? Bm? E? Amaj? Here is another progression for you to practice. Find the melodies starting from each guide tone, look for several options. Am? D? Gmaj? Cai? Fym75 7 Em? ar Dm? G7 Cmaj? FP Fmaj? Bhai? Bm’ gE? Internal melodies are not limited to guide tone lines. Other chord tones, scale tones, and chromatic pass ing tones can be used as well. Here is an example of other choices we have over a I-vi sion. V-iii-VLiiV progres- } Bhnaj? GT cm? Fv Dm? o Cm F? Bbmaj? oo cm? Fv Dm? a Cm? FP Bbmaj? at cm? Fl Dm? G? Cm? FI Bhmaj? G7 cm? F? Dm? a cm? Fr Be =Take this progression and find as many internal melodies as you can. Use the guide tones, roots, fifths, scale tones, even chromatic passing tones to create a melodic line that weaves through the changes using halt and whole notes. A Fmaj? Fe? Gm? Ge? Fmaj? Cm? F7— Binaj? EM Fmaj? Dm? Gm? c ar b? a c Fmaj? FY? Gm? oe? maj! Cm? F7—Bbmaj? BT i Ema? Dm! Gm? c? Fmajl BB Ebm? ay Dbmaj? Bh? Bim? A? Fw? Bi? Bhn? ab? Dbmaj? DWC Bhm? ——Bbm7/Ab_— Gms c Fmaj? FP? Gm? Ge? Fa? Cm? EF? Bbmaj? EW maj? Dm? Gm cr Fa’ Dm? Gm? cr 4a &fn Once you ean find the intemal melodies of a progression, the neat step is to connect the notes with sup= ie porting material that tells more about the changes and exhibits a forward moving rhythmic concept. Here is a short example of an internal melody. > Fmaj? Dm? Gm? = ar bt a? cr Uroughout FT Bhmaj? Gm? @ Am? pb? Gm? ct —<—+—= Now here is an example of how to “flesh out” this melody with connecting material. Notice how the internal melody notes still show up on beats one and three of the measure. Because we are using forward motion, you will occasionally see the internal melody note anticipated on the eighth note before the chord change. f f Fi pe throughout Dee Ar pt Now it’s your turn, Take this progression and write in an internal melody. Better yet, make several copies of the blank example and write a few, there are many possible lines that run through the changes. Then write in a “fleshed out” version of your melody line. Play your solos along with the CD, and for extra, credit, transcribe the solo I played. | > i - 2 LFmt By Ebmaj? Av Bbmaj? Ems ane Dm? Bh? BV Fmaj? Em™s a7! Ams pn ay Bbmaj? Ems Ano Dmvs Gow cm7s FI Bbmaj? Now that you have some experience working with melody, you can learn how to embellish and develop the melodies of tunes. When jazz improvisation first came about in the Traditional Jazz era of the 1920s, the ‘main source of improvisational material was the melody. Musicians would improvise (often simultaneously) around the melody of a tune and create new melodies and harmonies. Often these improvisations became new tunes themselves, and jazz composition was born. The “fleshing out” process used with the internal melodies is ‘one way you will approach the melody of a tune. We will use the same changes from the previous example and add a melody, then we will look at ways to embellish and improvise based on that melody. First, here is the complete tune with melody. 4A\ $ } Cellar by Flashlight Gea throughout oe ee Cm? 2 o Fm? Bb Ebmaj? Ay Bbmaj? Ems 479 Dm? Bby m? Eb? Fmaj? m7 ato Am?S pis -¢ F Abi Bbmaj? Em? An pms on mts Fre Bhmaj?Notice the melody is not too active. This is typical of tunes that were originally vocal numbers, When jazz players improvise on these melodies, the end result is more active, like the majority of bebop heads. Now examine the embellished version of this melody. You will see most of the key melody notes are in place, the “ler” material is drawn from the scales and arpeggios that work with the chord change. The rhythmic place- nent of these ideas uses forward motion. After you've examined this solo, learn to play it, and then create your own embellished melodies. Bbmaj? Ems ane Dm? Bbm? eT Fmaj? Ets Ame Am? pm alr Bomaj?a f 1 € cms Fv Bbmaj? The best advice | can give you at this point is to lear as many melodies as possible, Understanding the chord changes is a big part of knowing a tune. However, the melody unlocks information you need to Know if you want to improvise musically. The melody is the real “fingerprint” of a tune, otherwise, it’s just chord changes. Make it a point to learn the melody and use it in your improvisation, With all this discussion about jazz improvisation, we must take a look at the language of Bebop. The Bebop era was approximately 1945 through 1956. Of course, it has never really ended, and traces of it were showing up in jazz before 1945, the dates are merely cited as a reference point. Bebop grew out of the swing era when musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and many others started to advance their improvisational skills beyond the melodic and harmonic vocabulary that was in use at the time The concept of fleshing out melody really went into overdrive, and the use of reharmonized chord changes added even more material for improvisation. A popular song would be altered in such a way that players unfa, miliar with the innovations couldn't even play them. At the time, this music caused a revolution within jazz, Polarizing the musical world into two camps, the hipsters and the squares. Now, the language of Bebop hac become so ingrained in jazz, that itis hard to imagine a time when it didn’t exist. The best way to understand this language is to leam the classic melodies that defined Bebop. An excellent source for this purpose is 50 Essential Bebop Heads for Bass available from Hal Leonard Corporation, The melodies of bop are full of infor. mation, Fear to play them to get the pattems under your fingers, and analyze them to uiderstand how they came about, and why they work. For leaning purposes, I will write out a solo using as many Bebop “truisms” as possible, As a solo, it may be too active, but as an etude it will contain many elements for you to analyze. Pay careful attention to how chromatic passing tones and approach notes are used to fill out the melodic ideasFai? D7 Gm cr Am? pT Gm? cr It is not possible to fully understand the scope of Bebop simply by learning and analyzing one solo. It takes years of listening and playing to really get it. By now, your ears have grown accustomed to the sound of jazz. Check into great bop soloists like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Charlie Mingus, Wes Montgomerey, Kenny Burrell, and many others. You can buy transcriptions and analyze them, but better yet, transcribe some solos on yout own. This is the best way to get inside the music. The actual transcription process is the best thing for your cars, When you analayze something you've taken off a record and learned how to play it, you not only get a fuller understanding of the music, you get a real feeling of satisfaction. JUST DO IT! I wamed you earlier in the book to be prepared to sing, now’s your chance. One very good way to learn to connect with your improvisation is to sing along. By now, you have worked through alot of material, you have learned many strategies for implementing this material, and even have picked up some “jazz licks.” Hopefully the end result of all this is you are starting to actually hear jazz. Singing along with your soloing will connect what your hands do to what your ears hear, it completes the eyele. The eventual result is the ability to do this internally so you don’t have to annoy those around you with your “interpretive caterwauling,” Some players have taken this concept to very high levels of artistry. If you have heard George Benson _f scat along with his playing, you know this can be very interesting and musical. If you start singing like Keith Jarrett, maybe it’s a good idea to do it internally (with all due respect to Mr. Jarrett). Doing it is easy, just play and sing. Singing along will have a positive effect on your phrasing. ARString players and keyboard players often don’t consider breathing a part of their improvisation. Horn players must consider it, or else they run the risk of losing their air in the middle of a phrase. This necessity is in part responsible for why good hom players have good phrasing. If you sing along with your playing, you'll have to stop sometimes to catch your breath. This will force you to consider more musical phrasing Another benefit is you will find yourself playing different ideas, After you've been improvising for a while, you may find yourself getting into little ruts. When you see a G7 augmented chord, you always yo for the same thing. This can be dangerous. It is not bad to have a certain amount of things under your hands, this is your “storehouse” of licks. They can come in handy at times, but be aware that running your “stuff” up and down is not improvising in the tuest sense, On those occaisions when I am not connecting naturally to the source of divine inspiration (it happens), I start singing along, internally, or externally if I fect so inclined (qui- eily). This instantly snaps me back to the moment, and I no longer just pull licks out of my “trick bag,” Do this, you'll find it really changes things for you, ae :Now we have three tunes for you to practice soloing over. Be sure you learn to play the melodies first, then you can run all the various processes you've learned for working with the chord changes, internal- melodies, scales, and arpeggios. : Bull, a Lie of Lird Band Boa) Fm ot Em Bin? gs? Gv throughout maj? 4? engi? a _AAimag BH Abmaj PF? hm? Bim? BY Abmaj? F7 Bb? Abmaj? Fm? Bbm? eT Abmaj? ET Abmaj?Eat a Melatonin BL? EW Abmaj? bm? ay Dhinaj? oe Domaj? be Abmmaj?/Eb FI Bu? FT Bi ET Abmai? Ebm? Ay Dhmaj?Blasé Bhnaj? Amis bp? throughout ‘ Gm cr Fm? By Ebm? Ab Dbmaj? x ps Gi This book has explained a lot of things about soloing, yet it is not complete, The art of improvisation is too vast to be contained in any one book. Hopefully, this method will give you enough ideas and strategies to get you well on your way. It will probably raise as many questions as it will answer. ‘The nature of improvisation is part science, part magic, with a little bit poker thrown in. It will take you quite some time to get to the point where your solos are well formed and musical, be patient. As time passes, these elements will naturally be there. As you mature musically, your solos will reflect a deeper understanding of what you know about the songs, you will naturally choose the best notes at the right time, and your tone and phrasing will ripen As you play the same tunes over many years, they become as much a part of you as a close friend or family member. When you play over an old familar tune, it will be like telling a story about someone you love. New tunes will have the thrills and challenges of new romance, with all the opportunities for self discovery. In time, improvising will become as natural as breathing, you'll no longer be concerned with the mechanics, the ales, the chords, etc. you will simply hear, and play, Best of luck to you on your journey! ient Recorded Versions for Bass Guitar are straight off-the-record transcriptions done expressly for buss guitar. This series features the best in bass lichs from the classics to contemporary superstars. Also TTT ToT poy wmllable are Recorded Versions for Guitar, Easy Recorded Versions ELS LXE] and Drum Recorded Versions, Every book includes notes and tab, Tho Best Ol Ee epton ‘Aarosith~ Poop ‘Beatles Bars Book Best Boss Rede His wane /s1088 asm / S38 een /S435 tosses /S1295 ‘Stust Ham Bess Sook The Bud Hally Bese Book et OF Ket. yay Sey Mich! 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