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So I've been practicing all kinds of melodic ideas and approaches over the 12 bar blues since I will be playing it during the entrance exams as I intend to start studying jazz on local university. We will be playing 12 bar blues and a jazz standard of my choice. From harmonic point of view what songs would be ideal to start practicing melodic improv over? Like I said I ve been trying to do this with blues only so far. I can comp to songs like What is this thing called love, ATTYA, Star eyes, How high the moon, Cherokee etc to a certain extent but the amount of key changes and chords moving just halfstep up etc. makes me believe I should start with something simpler when it comes to playing over a song. On the other hand I cant imagine practicing all of me right now because it bores the living hell out of me. What songs come to your mind that would not be neck breaking yet interesting?
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10-20-2017 09:29 AM
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Autumn Leaves
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Watermelon Man
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From what you're telling us, it seems like a next step would call for something like A Train or the boilerplate Satin Doll. The tonal centers these two tunes use seem like the next step - plus you can actually hear the changes to either of these "in your head"... Know what I mean?
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Autumn Leaves
Originally Posted by T1mothy
Black Orpheus
Satin Doll
Night and Day
So What
All Blues
John
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The common first tune in many improv classes is Autumn Leaves. I don't know about now but in past a lot of improv programs would start first timers with a a modal tune, before moving to changes with Autumn Leave or Blue Bossa.
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Do you actually listen to any standards? The usual recommendations are as other people have already said, but if there are any standards you know well (can hum the melody, maybe a bit of the solo) then it's probably easier to start with them.
I started with Song for my Father, God Bless the Child and West Coast Blues just because I knew them so well from repeated listening.
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How about "Tune Up"? a succession of ii-V - Is with an interesting turnaround....
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I recommend one move from I\IV\V blues to jazz blues, where one can still just use the blues scale but can add other scales\notes over the II\V parts. E.g. Blues in the Closet in AB; Originally Posted by docbop
Ab7, Db7, Eb7, Ab7, Cmin7\F7, Bbmin7\Eb7, Ab7 (Bbmin7\Eb7).
Then I would move to modal tunes. On these tunes one can use the blues scale as well as mixolydian scale associated with any Dom7 chord, or the Dorian scale associated with any Min7 chord.
Really old standards like Sweet Georgia Brown tend to use non-functioning Dom7 chords. On this song one can hang on the D blues scale but also use the mixolydian scale over the associated Dom7 chord.
After this move on to a more traditional II\V\I standard like Autumn Leaves. Here the G blues scale is still 'home' (a place one can't go wrong), but there are many other scales\notes outside of G blues that can be used over the various changes to keep the solo melodic and add interest.
After all of this a song like Satan Doll is a good next step. There are 3 key changes but they are very 'pronounced' (?); I.e. one knows they are coming and they don't come too quickly and last 'long enough'.
Note that I used the Jamey Aebersold material Maiden Voyage, which uses this approach. Once one gets the songs down here, moving on to jazz standard with multiple key changes becomes easier.Last edited by jameslovestal; 10-21-2017 at 05:08 PM.
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You might look at an older tune "I Had the Craziest Dream" by Harry Warren.
It's not blues based or modal, like some of the other suggestions. Stays pretty diatonic, with some secondary dominant stuff, and then the B part has a couple of quick modulations to related keys (one flat; one sharp). There is a nifty little sequence idea in the B part. It's very well written, IMO.
Strong melody line, built off arpeggios, so pretty easy to learn. Typically played as a ballad, so you can really take it apart without killing yourself on the tempo.
There are good e.g.'s of it by Kenny Dorham, Al Hirt, and Joe Pass. You can hear Joe Pass get a little more adventurous with it, but it offers a lot of flexibility.
Maybe for an audition, you might play it pretty straightforward for at least the first chorus, and then get a little more intricate.
You might want to find out how many choruses you'll be allowed to play in the audition. You want to be able to show you can cover the basics, but maybe also have an understanding of some different approaches.
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Try thinking about Form ... a 12 bar blues is a 12 bar blues form. There are also 8 bar and 16 bar Blues Forms.
If your heading in the jazz direction, you need to start becoming aware of II V's and I VI II V's
As mentioned above... any Blues tune can use II V's and I VI II V's
The next step would be tunes with more than one section... A Blues is just "A"
A bop style tune is generally 4 sections, A A B A, with each section being 8 bars. The "A" sections are generally an 8 bar blues with the "B" being III VI II V... extended Dominants.
So can you play over I IV's... say Bb7 to Eb7. If you can, just change the Bb7 to Bb-7, and you'll have a II-7 V7.
The basic trick to playing jazz is becoming aware of CHORD Patterns, With Bb reference....Bb7 to Eb7 is a Chord Pattern, a I7 to IV7, Bb-7 to Eb7 is a Chord Pattern, a II-7 V7, Bb7 to G7 to C-7 to F7 is a Chord Pattern, a I7 VI7 II-7 V7.
All tunes are just collections of Chord Patterns with melodies... or melodies with Chord Patterns. Same thing.
While your trying to learn tunes... You need to work on your technical Skills.... or you'll never really learn to play in a Jazz style.
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Angel eyes. It's doable almost by ear if you know your blues well but also you could go the hard way if wanting to dig into those chords. Then it's not a piece of a cake anymore
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I've always felt Autumn Leaves was a great tune to learn improvisation.
onimprovisationaprimer.zohosites.com
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I heard somewhere long ago to jump into Donna Lee, because it uses every type of bebop change known in it's song structure. Of course, this tune provides for a journey that could consume years...
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I often suggest “All the things you are” as a first jazz tune.
I also like to suggest:
Autumn Leaves
Satin Doll
Take the A Train
Misty
Blue Monk
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Summertime isn't difficult and it's fun because there are different versions. Another step you should take is playing the Blues in all 12 keys using the jazzier turnarounds. Autumn Leaves is good because of the minor b5 chord and it's mostly diatonic. All the things you are is similar but more difficult.
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Let me just say thank you for the suggestions, I checked all the songs mentioned and enjoyed the fact that autumn leaves is very diatonic so I am really getting to know the key of Bb / Gmin. So far I can scat Chet's solo and got all fingerings of the phrases (as in on all the different places on the neck where I can play the lines) down. Right now I am halfway through being able to sing Miles' solo over the song from the record with Cannonball after which I will go for the Hank Jones solo which is beautiful too and hope to be ready for Cannonball's take. As the album title hints, that one is really Somethin' else!
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how 'bout learning a tune you love? Makes everything much easier (or harder if it's 26-2...)
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There is well enough songs that I love for me to ask the forum which ones would be more suitable to start with. Which I did and got my answer :-)
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Very nice version of Autumn Leaves. Adderly is hitting some nice outside notes without getting crazy. Nice swing at a slower BPM than other versions. Beautiful solos by all.
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That's a big jump there .... Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
Maybe ..... All of me ?
Proper arpeggio melody , learn the arps
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Oh.. Full house. Can use some of that blues there I think.
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