The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1
    I am still relatively new to jazz as a student.

    I like a lot of modern jazz, but I really don't like solos sounding like a regurgitation of generic scale formulas, if that makes sense.

    Can anyone would recommend a method of memorizing jazz scales on the guitar that may help down the road to avoid this. Maybe a more "musical" method of memorizing and practicing scales.

    Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

    Jim

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Hi Jim
    Good point! While the scale is useful as a selected catalog of possible notes, it's not music until you hear the music within, know the notes that mean something and should be emphasized and the other notes that get you there. It's a three dimensional realization of a flat selection of notes.
    Rhythm is going to help you. Rhythm creates weight in a phrase, and dynamics create light and dark. Play with different rhythms.
    Take the scale in sections, and find the meaning within each dyad. 1 3 2 4 3 5 4 6... can help you unfold a scale, things like that can give you useful options when using a scale's potential in a phrase. (1 3 4 2 3 5 6 4 and you can make your own lexicon of combinational sounds)
    Find the relationship of chord forms within the scale. Try triads, in arpeggios of as linear structures. Then try triads over the bass note root of a chord. This'll really open up melodic possibilities and harmonic options.
    Sing a line to get it out of your fingers. I also find I'm more likely to find a rhythmic take on a scale if I'm singing.
    Find a tune, or tunes that are more spacious in harmonic areas, and use your scales within that harmonic structure combining them with the melody of the given tune. Autumn Leaves is one example. Do it as an exercise to internalize the sound and feel of a scale and the sound.
    Change directions when you're playing the scale. Where you change and how often can have a nice illuminating impact on the way you hear or perceive a scale.
    Play that scale in different positions. It'll surely give you a different feel and it'll also enforce the idea that a scale is not to be limited to one "home" location.
    Play the scale up and down the fingerboard, one string, one string connecting different locations.
    Keep track of the root of that scale an alternate it with other notes, like a pedal point. This'll put an intervallic spin on your scale.
    These are just a few things off the top of my head.
    I'm sure there're lots of members here that'll know a lot more, but this can get you started.

    Good luck and make if fun!
    David

    Here's a Kurt video on some ways to make the ordinary come alive


  4. #3

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    To get a bit of musics going, learn your scales and chords together. At first it's not very easy but the improvement is very observable. And there are so many different ways to do this. The easiest example - learn 2 or 3 different voicings for V7 in the same position, start with the chord, play the scale in the same position for 2 measures and try to land on the next voicing so it sounds like you really meant it. Then the harmony feeling gets a bit more vivid and eventually your scales and chords should become buddies as bonus. There are so many combinations (infinity tbh). so - no reason to think you must do them all. Just get one of them good, then move on.

    Also, for more musical approach - just simply try to figure out a cool sounding passages on your scale. Simple as that. If you're trying and cant do one, no worries - trying this is already way better than a monotonous run... most of the time

  5. #4

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    Don't forget the metronome.


  6. #5

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    Use the sustain pedal on a piano/keyboard - or use a Freeze pedal - to hold a chord, and play over it.
    Last edited by destinytot; 08-06-2017 at 02:23 PM.

  7. #6

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    Great example link from Doc above.

    1.
    Practice scales in 1-2-3 octaves, modes too.
    Play with full, even tone and rhythmic control. If too challenging at a certain speed, slow them down.
    Play them in 12 keys. Traverse the circle of fifths in reverse (counter clockwise), or play chromatically, or up by whole step. etc.

    2.
    Once you are a bit comfortable with that you can start playing "scale patterns" or "patterns for jazz" (123, 234, 345 etc. and 1234, 2345, 3456, etc. and 1231, 2342, 3453, etc. and 1-3, 2-4, 3-5, 4-6, etc. and keep going. There are endless sources for this (Jerry Coker, David Baker, Bert Ligon, Mike Steinel, and then many famous jazz musicians have their favorite patterns and advice too). Be choosy with your patterns, some are far more useful than others!

    3. Don't forget to play transcribed solos

    4. Don't forget to work on your own improv.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by destinytot
    Use the sustain pedal on a piano/keyboard - or use a Freeze pedal - to hold a chord, and play over it.

    Something some horn players and others will use is an Shruti Box from India. No, no you don't need to book a long flight and learn to play in 17/8 there are Youtubes of Shruti drones and if you look around can find full sets of all twelve notes that can be downloaded. Below is a link to a C drone. What I think is cool with the Shruti is can really focus on specific notes to learn the sound and FEEL of a b9 or demented 13th.


  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by docbop
    Something some horn players and others will use is an Shruti Box from India. No, no you don't need to book a long flight and learn to play in 17/8 there are Youtubes of Shruti drones and if you look around can find full sets of all twelve notes that can be downloaded. Below is a link to a C drone. What I think is cool with the Shruti is can really focus on specific notes to learn the sound and FEEL of a b9 or demented 13th.

    Thanks, docbop!

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jim_alexander
    I am still relatively new to jazz as a student. I like a lot of modern jazz, but I really don't like solos sounding like a regurgitation of generic scale formulas, I'd that makes sense. Being I'm still starting out, I wondered if anyone would recommend a method of memorizing scales that may help down the road to avoid this. Maybe a more "musical" method of memorizing and practicing scales.

    Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

    Jim


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Hi, I don't normally reply because I'm still learning also but instead of getting into scales I recommend learning to read music first. Here is the only book in America I have found that teaches you how to read music.

    Music Reading for Guitar (The Complete Method): David Oakes: 8601404993978: Amazon.com: Books

    Luckily, it is a real good one and it got me up and running in two months of consistent studying. Keep in mind you will have to practice reading longer than that to be proficient; it may be a long term course of study for me and most people.

    The reason I recommend reading music is because you will learn the notes on the fretboard without some form of rote memorization which in my opinion is not helpful. Also, reading is a skill. At the end you can always take away you know how to read music now if nothing else. But ,most people will take away more than that.

    As for scales, I go back and forth on their value. I started out learning the seven fingering patterns of scales. Then I stopped and just played as best as I could by ear. I did this because music finally became fun instead of work through playing by ear. Instead of as they say, "Chopping Wood." Remember, if you read my previous posts you will see my ears are average and I'm improving them with EarMaster 6. But even with my average ears I could get places on my own and on backing tracks.

    At this point, I do see value in scales but it may not be what you think. When I practice scales now (remember after learning to read music) I feel it is just away to learn the notes better and the positions of reading better. Also, I hear the Keys now (each Key has it's own sound). But outside of that I don't see much value. I'm not saying I'm correct in my views, but at this stage that is how I see it.

    Also, I took Clarinet in Band when I was a kid from Fourth Grade to Senior year of High School. The first thing you do is learn to read music and play a variety of songs. I'm sure in very competitive high school programs you go into scales, but in my high school program we did not. So, I suspect the normal course of things is to learn to read music and then you can better appreciate the concept of the scale.

    I hope my comment was able to help you in some way.

  11. #10

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    Hi:

    I wrote an offshoot thread that may help you.

    My advice is the three books you are going to want are:

    1. David Oakes Music Reading for Guitar

    after you are done with that book

    2. Modern Method by William Leavitt

    and at the same time you are working with that book

    3. Tonal Harmony by Koska and Payne

    Tonal Harmony book by Stefan Kostka

    It's a textbook used in college to teach theory. It is not abstract but very concrete. It's the only theory book you will ever need and a great, user friendly job of teaching it.

    If you are getting into Jazz

    1. All Time Jazz Standards (you may want a Sibelius First Program or a Guitar Pro program to hear what the songs sound like. I use Sibellius because it is very user friendly although I own both. The beauty of Guitar Pro is you can legally get transcriptions online and there is a way to remove the tab and just read music from notes)

    This book, like all of the series, is Chord-Melody; my bias is that I really love Chord-Melody. My idea of Chord Melody is Chords not as Harmony or background Accompaniment but instead as the Melody or the Heart of the Song.

    At this point the reading of it is too difficult. So, what I do is learn it completely by tab at first. Then I break the song down into the Chord Names, Chord Progression, and Notes. At the end I just read the music and ignore the tab. So, it helps to read music, learn the idea of the song as well. Also, I do make it my own by embellishing on the main song.

    I hope this can help you in some way.

  12. #11

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    This is how I teach my students how to practice scales in the first bit of their studies, and expand upon this as they progress


  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by jim_alexander
    I am still relatively new to jazz as a student. I like a lot of modern jazz, but I really don't like solos sounding like a regurgitation of generic scale formulas, I'd that makes sense. Being I'm still starting out, I wondered if anyone would recommend a method of memorizing scales that may help down the road to avoid this. Maybe a more "musical" method of memorizing and practicing scales.

    Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
    Hey Jim... I definitely have some thoughts on this that I'll get to in a second... but first I just want to point out that I love that you're talking about how to get to the "musical" stuff... so important. Everybody has their own ways to deal with that problem, but the most important thing is recognizing the problem. I played for about 25 and went all the way through getting my masters in jazz guitar and teaching as an adjunct instructor and guest lecturer at NYU before getting sick and then injuring my hand. I had to stop playing for about a year and a half, and now due to the injury I only have a very limited time frame that I can practice on any given day... so this has forced me to get rid of any and all fluff from my practice time and get straight into the things that will help make music.

    I developed a lot of these ideas while working on my masters and used them very successfully on my own playing and with my students while teaching... sometimes watching beginners get into beautiful, melodic improvisation within just a few weeks to months. Now that I only get about 20-30 minutes a day of playing before my hand flips out... this is all I work on regarding scales. I have versions of this for tunes, complex harmonies, etc... but this is what it looks like with tunes. This type of practicing has allowed me to get back into making music with very limited practice time relatively quickly.

    Let's say I'm working on the C scale...

    I begin with a C major triad. I'll play through an entire position just using CEG notes. I'll even force myself to improvise within this attempting to create "music" JUST with these 3 pitches. Very difficult. Then I'll go through and add one note from the scale at a time.

    1-3-5
    1-2-3-5
    1-3-4-5
    1-3-5-6
    1-3-5-7

    The 1-3-5 notes are essentially the resolution points (in the most basic applications of this stuff). The other 4 notes offer tension and melodic momentum. Practicing each one of these offers our ears, our eyes, and our fingers the chance to really get to know each individual tension note... what it sounds like, how it feels, the emotion and energy of it, where and how it wants to move, where it sits on the fretboard, etc.

    It's sort of like culinary arts school. The 1-3-5 is like learning basic knife skills and how to use the stove and the oven. Then the scale offers us 4 different spices. I think it's worth testing out each spice on its own and really getting to know it. That's all this is. It's not about learning to shred through sequences or patterns... it's about learning to dig inside the scale and connect with each sound individually so that it becomes personal and intimate... so that you can express an emotion with it.

    And it's just the starting point. From here, there's a near limitless number of ways to expand and stretch out. If you can do it in one position, can you do it in two or in three? Can you see the triad notes all the way across the fretboard? Can you combine two or three or all four of the tension notes? Try using different triads to create modal ideas within the same scale. Try bringing in non diatonic tension notes. How about non traditional, but still diatonic triads. What would it sound like if you based the scale around a Csus2 triad instead of a C major triad? How about a Gsus2?

    Each variation will bring about an entirely different sounding approach to a basic C major scale.

  14. #13

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    Hey Jake,

    I learned a similar approach via Ted Dunbar at Jazzmobile workshops back in the 70's.
    My orientation is based on 5 frets which offers 2 1/3 octaves of the chromatic scale + one unison note.
    Ted would often say that the whole musical universe was contained in 5 frets.
    For me too, this pursuit was greatly reinforced greatly by the Mick Goodrick book.
    In 5 frets, there still are fingering options because of the one unison note and a few awkward fingerings
    even with the options. I also played "full range" from the lowest to the highest note within the position.
    In teaching though, I have found sometimes necessary to do as you did to help orient the students ears,
    to play the scale starting from the root and then adding the remaining lower notes.
    I also applied the same methodology to all 7th chord arpeggios.

    When I dug in with this approach, two areas of my playing immediately improved, sight reading
    and playing over changes. This was a consequence of my increased awareness of all the notes
    in the neighborhood.

    Nice to see you again.

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by jordanklemons
    Hey Jim... I definitely have some thoughts on this that I'll get to in a second... but first I just want to point out that I love that you're talking about how to get to the "musical" stuff... so important. Everybody has their own ways to deal with that problem, but the most important thing is recognizing the problem. I played for about 25 and went all the way through getting my masters in jazz guitar and teaching as an adjunct instructor and guest lecturer at NYU before getting sick and then injuring my hand. I had to stop playing for about a year and a half, and now due to the injury I only have a very limited time frame that I can practice on any given day... so this has forced me to get rid of any and all fluff from my practice time and get straight into the things that will help make music.

    I developed a lot of these ideas while working on my masters and used them very successfully on my own playing and with my students while teaching... sometimes watching beginners get into beautiful, melodic improvisation within just a few weeks to months. Now that I only get about 20-30 minutes a day of playing before my hand flips out... this is all I work on regarding scales. I have versions of this for tunes, complex harmonies, etc... but this is what it looks like with tunes. This type of practicing has allowed me to get back into making music with very limited practice time relatively quickly.

    Let's say I'm working on the C scale...

    I begin with a C major triad. I'll play through an entire position just using CEG notes. I'll even force myself to improvise within this attempting to create "music" JUST with these 3 pitches. Very difficult. Then I'll go through and add one note from the scale at a time.

    1-3-5
    1-2-3-5
    1-3-4-5
    1-3-5-6
    1-3-5-7

    The 1-3-5 notes are essentially the resolution points (in the most basic applications of this stuff). The other 4 notes offer tension and melodic momentum. Practicing each one of these offers our ears, our eyes, and our fingers the chance to really get to know each individual tension note... what it sounds like, how it feels, the emotion and energy of it, where and how it wants to move, where it sits on the fretboard, etc.

    It's sort of like culinary arts school. The 1-3-5 is like learning basic knife skills and how to use the stove and the oven. Then the scale offers us 4 different spices. I think it's worth testing out each spice on its own and really getting to know it. That's all this is. It's not about learning to shred through sequences or patterns... it's about learning to dig inside the scale and connect with each sound individually so that it becomes personal and intimate... so that you can express an emotion with it.

    And it's just the starting point. From here, there's a near limitless number of ways to expand and stretch out. If you can do it in one position, can you do it in two or in three? Can you see the triad notes all the way across the fretboard? Can you combine two or three or all four of the tension notes? Try using different triads to create modal ideas within the same scale. Try bringing in non diatonic tension notes. How about non traditional, but still diatonic triads. What would it sound like if you based the scale around a Csus2 triad instead of a C major triad? How about a Gsus2?

    Each variation will bring about an entirely different sounding approach to a basic C major scale.

    @jordanklemons, I am really interested in your approach. But I don't know that I understand in a practical way what you are talking about. I don't know what you mean by "I play through an entire position". Are you playing these triads + note over a progression or with a looped backing chord. What do you consider a "position". Are you playing two octaves or more octaves or just the triad?

    I won't list out all the possible permutations of what you mean, but I wonder if you could flesh that out a little.

  16. #15

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    Pasquale Grasso has a good series on My Music Class (the videos are # 3 and 4).

    In his particular series, he discusses techniques for rhythm, and intervals, and chromaticism, all while using scales.

    Now that I think about it, he just uses the major mode, so it might not be what you are looking for if you need to learn the actual scales and their modes. However, if you want to make them sound musical, he's your guy.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by rlrhett
    @jordanklemons, I am really interested in your approach. But I don't know that I understand in a practical way what you are talking about. I don't know what you mean by "I play through an entire position". Are you playing these triads + note over a progression or with a looped backing chord. What do you consider a "position". Are you playing two octaves or more octaves or just the triad?

    I won't list out all the possible permutations of what you mean, but I wonder if you could flesh that out a little.
    Hey, I thought it would be far easier and more aurally informative to just throw down a quick video. Hope this hits all your questions...


  18. #17

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    Thanks @jordanklemons, that helps a lot. One quick question: When you say that you will try to "improvise" using just the triad are you playing that against a static Cmaj chord, against a diatonic Cmaj chord progression, or are you taking a progression and improvising using only the triads of the key center.

    For example, would you practice this against Rhythm Changes? Bbmaj triad over the first two beats, Gmin triad over next two beats, Cmin triad over next two beats, etc. Or would you practice improvising using the Bbmaj triad over the entire diatonic I-vi-ii-V? Or would you practice improvising using the Bbmaj triad over a static Bbmaj chord?

    I understand we are talking about practicing and developing the ear and sense of this, not how you would use these triads in a performance improv.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by rlrhett
    Thanks @jordanklemons, that helps a lot. One quick question: When you say that you will try to "improvise" using just the triad are you playing that against a static Cmaj chord, against a diatonic Cmaj chord progression, or are you taking a progression and improvising using only the triads of the key center.
    At this stage of the game, I'm not really talking about using it in any particular context. It's just about learning to be creative with it at this point. Being able to see it and navigate it entirely instinctively. I joke with my private students that it should be to the same level of comfort as our bedroom and bathroom are. We wake up in the middle of the night, half asleep, stuff on the floor, and yet somehow are able to get to the bathroom to pee without turning on the light. I want that level of comfort navigating any triad type built from any root note. Then I worry about application and placing it over things.

    But you could put it over anything at this point if you wanted to. I just don't feel it's essential. Yet.

    Quote Originally Posted by rlrhett
    For example, would you practice this against Rhythm Changes? Bbmaj triad over the first two beats, Gmin triad over next two beats, Cmin triad over next two beats, etc. Or would you practice improvising using the Bbmaj triad over the entire diatonic I-vi-ii-V? Or would you practice improvising using the Bbmaj triad over a static Bbmaj chord?
    All of those are options. This is where things get a little different than just using this method to internalize the sounds and functions of the diatonic notes of a scale. It's great for that... but applying this to chord progressions, to me, is really where it shines. It really becomes a game of choose your own adventure at that point. I usually prefer to analyze the melody of the tune and try to figure out what triads best harmonize the movement in the melody (which is sometimes the root harmony, but not always... especially as tunes become more modern). But we can also use the basic, harmonic triad (Bb triad over a BbMaj chord, G minor triad over G minor, etc). And then we can also use a static triad... like Bb over the entire 1 6 2 5 like you mentioned.

    If that were the case, as my starting point for playing melodically, I would likely add the 2 to the Bb triad over the Bb chord, the b2 over the G7 chord, and the 4 over the C-7 and F7.

    That would create a sort of
    Bb(add2) -> G7#9 (or Bdim7) -> C-11,9 -> F13sus
    type of a vibe. Check out Anthropology, a good portion of that melody is just dancing around the Bb triad... right? It uses the 4 and the 2 as tension notes. But a lot of it stays close to home. Still sounds cool. But if you analyze another rhythm changes, it'll be totally different. What's the name of the Monk one that starts by outlining the Bb chord and the immediately outlines the Eb chord? There's another melodic pathway. Each can be used and can teach us something and create different options.


    Quote Originally Posted by rlrhett
    I understand we are talking about practicing and developing the ear and sense of this, not how you would use these triads in a performance improv.

    We improvise the way we practice. What we put into the meat grinder is the same stuff that comes out the other end...
    That's why I am hesitant to shed scales during my practice time. Though I'm not trying to push for anyone to stop. This is a thread about scales. I still work on them some... but it's always in the way described above... which is less about patterns and more about becoming intimately personal with each note and how it sits against a triad.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by jim_alexander
    I am still relatively new to jazz as a student. I like a lot of modern jazz, but I really don't like solos sounding like a regurgitation of generic scale formulas, I'd that makes sense. Being I'm still starting out, I wondered if anyone would recommend a method of memorizing scales that may help down the road to avoid this. Maybe a more "musical" method of memorizing and practicing scales.

    Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

    Jim


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Listen to your favourite players and try to puzzle out what they are doing.

    Hard but endlessly rewarding.

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jake Hanlon
    This is how I teach my students how to practice scales in the first bit of their studies, and expand upon this as they progress

    Thanks for this. I also think that being able to play all 12 keys in a single position (plus or minus a fret) is an important skill. I don't make it quite so important to anchor the inner fingers to two specific frets. I find it easier to shift up a fret and shift back for certain notes in major scales. But, that's a quibble. I appreciate your approach.

    I'm writing to suggest something that I learned when I got interested in classical guitar technique. There is something (can be downloaded for free, I think), called the Segovia Scales. His fingerings, developed, reportedly, when he was a teenager.

    What I found interesting was his choice of major position shifts.

    Try this, for example. Starting on the low E, first fret, start playing an F major scale, 3 notes per string.

    So, that's F, G and A on the low E string. then Bb, C and D on the A string. Get those 5th fret notes with your pinkie.

    At that point, you can easily play E on the D string, but instead, play E at the 7th fret of the A string with your index finger. Awkward at first. To be clear: you play the D at the fifth fret with your pinkie, then you move your hand 7 frets and play the E with your index on the same string.

    This is, arguably, the worst possible way to play the E.

    But if you spend a few minutes on it, you're likely to find that you can make a 7 fret shift with the scale sounding perfectly normal -- no audible impact of the shift. And, with practice you can get that pretty fast.

    Now, suddenly, you're in position to get all the way to D (high E string 10th fret) without any more shifts. That's why it's of interest. That's almost 3 octaves with one shift.

    Next time you play the head to West Coast Blues try to do it the way Wes did (afaik), with no pinkie. (He used his pinkie for octaves, not single note lines, apparently). It requires position shifts, but they can be made so smoothly you can't hear them.

    I mention this, because I can't recall ever hearing a jazz player teach it. I'm sure some have, but maybe it's worth mentioning.
    Last edited by rpjazzguitar; 08-17-2017 at 06:56 PM.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
    Thanks for this. I also think that being able to play all 12 keys in a single position (plus or minus a fret) is an important skill. I don't make it quite so important to anchor the inner fingers to two specific frets. I find it easier to shift up a fret and shift back for certain notes in major scales. But, that's a quibble. I appreciate your approach.
    Indeed, I tend to never play the positions which involve pinky stretches. However, I practice them in order to warm up my hands and I get my students to work them out since they are going to be so strange to them.

    I am familiar with the Segovia concept, it's hard to argue with how that Man did anything considering the impact of his teaching. Adam Rogers practices those passages as do many Guitarists as they just work. Also, they are difficult, some of them counterintuitive.

    I think there's a difference between what you practice and what you play, however, they are always connected to each other.

    Additionally, once my students get this together I teach them several other approaches to scales, including position shifts built into the patterns in an effort to get them to discover the fingerboard, since that is fundamentally the weakest skill any guitarist has once they get serious about the instrument in Jazz, unless they come from a Classical background.

  23. #22
    jordanklemons, Thanks for the great information (this has been a great discussion!). I have a limited practice time as well, due mostly to the demands of the day job and the family, I have several youngsters to keep up with.

    If you don't mind me asking, could you share your practice routine? I got my BA in classical guitar sixteen years ago, but wound up an electrician, and am just now starting to play again, but more for pleasure this time around. My tastes have completely changed, i don't even like listening to classical anymore! I have about an hour a day I can give to guitar right now, and while my theory is coming back to me quickly, i think i am almost starting from scratch moving into jazz. I have been meaning to come up with a regular practice routine, this looks like a good time.

    Thanks to you, and everyone who has responded to the thread!

    Jim

  24. #23

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    Wow, yeah I'm sure you've had way more on your plate than I have on mine. Happy to hear you're finding time again... what a joy to be able to make noises, right?! Amazing.

    My practice routine is 'relatively' simple once the basic approach I take is understood (which I've mostly explained already above).

    I do a VERY basic and quick warm-up. At this point, it's got almost nothing to do with speed or technique. My hand muscles can't handle that stuff... and anyways, at this point, I've really been falling in love more with the "say more with fewer notes" thing anyways. But my feeling is it takes a lot more than just fingers to make music. I want to wake up my mind, my heart, my ears, my creativity on top of what my fingers can handle. So I do a very quick warm up that's basically just improvising with a single triad (I pick it at random every day). Again, not about speed or patterns, just patience, creativity, limitation, etc. So I'll improvise with that a bit... then I'll run whatever triad type I'm using through a 'secret' chord progression I wrote that just moves through all 12 keys in random order. Sounds like modern jazz piece, but it's just a way to force myself to be able to navigate through all 12 keys with no pattern or cycle and to immediately try improvising and making music. Then I run some chromatic stuff at the end to get my fingers moving.

    As for actual practice stuff... I have 3 main topics I cover at this point.

    1) Tunes. This includes everything from practicing the melody and phrasing a lot, to comping basic shell voicings, to Barry Harris-esque shell voicing movement, to outlining the basic harmonic progression, to analyzing the "melodic progression" (the triads hiding in the melody) to improvising with those triads, to solo guitar, etc. I try to stick to one tune for about a month at this point because of how far back my issues took me... forgot a lot of tunes. But they come back.

    2) Melodic Structure "shortcuts" (I hate the name... but it's the best term I've come up with yet). This is similar to analyzing the melodic progression of a standard and improvising on it, but instead of doing an entire tune with tones of different triads and things happening, I'll come up with a really basic V -> I or ii V I or I IV7 iv6 or whatever... just a basic chord progression and decide upon the melodic progression I want to explore over it. I usually do this by picking a small 2-4 bar section from a tune, or analyzing a riff that I hear and dig. Then I'll just sit and, rather than try and memorize a specific riff, I'll just spend time improvising through this "shortcut".
    So maybe it's a ii V I in C, and I might utilize a melodic progression like C to E to G. So over the D-7 I might improvise with a C triad with the F note (4) added, over G7 I could use the E triad with an F added (b2), and over CMaj7 I would use the G major triad with the E added (the 6). I'll work on never repeating any ideas and just improvising all over the fretboard using these melodic structures, and then I'll try and develop some voicings the lean primarily on the melodic triad.
    Example:
    D-7 (C triad)
    xx3(553)
    G7 (E triad)
    xx3(454)
    CMaj (G triad)
    xx2(433)

    3) The last thing I focus on is in-depth studies of static tonalities... chords that don't move. I use the word tonality to describe what happens when we approach a chord relying on some type of triad first. It's not always upper structure or polytonal... but it can be. I'll dig pretty deep into what this means for that tonality. Big 5/6 note chords, 4 note, 3 note, and 2 note chords, what notes work really well when added against the triad to create strong sounding melodies. 4 note scales, 5 note scales, 6 note sometimes... this is where I'll sometimes get into speed and patterns. But I try not to too much.
    Example, if I'm using an F# major triad over E7 this gives an E dominant chord where the F#, A, and C# notes become the melodic stable notes. I call this an E13#11,9. If we add the 3rd and 7th of the E7 chord (G# and D) to the F# triad, we get a pretty killing sounding pentatonic scale. So I'd shed that for a while. Then I might create some 3-note chord voicings by skipping every other note within that pentatonic scale. It would yield something like this
    E13#11,9
    056(676)
    0xx15.15.16
    0xx13.14.14
    0x16.15.15x
    0x12.13.14x
    0x11.11.11x
    0x879x
    0x667x
    0x433x
    0x012x
    0443xx
    0121xx
    444xxx
    210xxx
    056(676)

    Sorry, I know that was a lot. But it's essentially all the same thing... taking a triad that I want to prioritize, and then adding other notes to it to create voicings and "scales" (melodic structures) based on the hierarchy of importance of the notes in any situation (like the 3rd and b7 of the E7 chord being at the top of the hierarchy to be added to the F# triad to make this function like some type of E7 chord.

    I've found this one basic approach down to three different topics (tunes, shortcuts, static tonalities) pretty much covers all of my bases.

    I generally start with a few minutes of a warm-up, and then I sort of treat it like the gym. If I did a tune yesterday, I'll let those "muscles" rest and work on a shortcut, then the next day a tonality, then I'll come back around and hit the same tune again the following day. This way I never take TOO much time off from any of these topics, but I also never feel burnt out on them. If it take 3 days to get through, we could assume that I roughly give 10 days of full attention to any of these topics during the course of the month... and then I try and switch to a new tune, a new shortcut, and a new static tonality... rinse and repeat.

    Sorry... I know that was an encyclopedia

  25. #24

    User Info Menu

    I've been working diagonal scale positions like this and I think it works well.

    Scale practice is massively important to learn your instrument - technique, reading etc.

    If you are trying to come up with music from scales alone you are going to struggle.

    As a result some teachers are rather anti scale.

    I'm not though - I think scales are an important resource and you will see them 'in the wild' but you need to combine them with arpeggios and chromatic embellishments, at least for bop material.

    Modern scale use is another bag.

    So that's the context for my earlier comment. If you struggle to develop usable language from scales you aren't going to advance by practicing more of the same. In fact I always find my playing jumps up a notch in creativity and flow after a session of listening to and repeating phrases of a great soloist.

    (BTW Some people might tell you that this will damage your creativity. Don't listen to them. No one ever became a worse musician by checking out music.)

    In short - USE YOUR EARS!
    Last edited by christianm77; 08-18-2017 at 06:53 AM.

  26. #25

    User Info Menu

    Jordan's excellent advice and video about triadic expansion could also be applied to getting a handle on the sounds and fingerings for scales. Maybe try progressively transitioning between related arpeggios and scales. Here are a few possibilities for G major:

    How to practice scales?-gmajor_-arps-scales-jpg
    Last edited by PMB; 08-19-2017 at 08:05 PM.