Improvising with scale fragments?

[Smitty]

Of course I mean UC Berkeley.

Everybody gets into Berklee. I was accepted as a junior in high school.

Oh, gotcha. Though the competition's really risen...it went from, like 75% acceptance to 20% acceptance. It's not so common any more.
Alex

[franco6719]

"Everybody gets into Berklee. I was accepted as a junior in high school."

Used to be true. Not anymore! (Well, hopefully anyway). And thank goodness they have gone back to some standards there. When I was there, I remember meeting a girl who had been playing guitar for six months. She said she went to Berklee to meet guys. Of course, almost none of these people stayed around long.

[Smitty]

"Everybody gets into Berklee. I was accepted as a junior in high school."

Used to be true. Not anymore! (Well, hopefully anyway). And thank goodness they have gone back to some standards there. When I was there, I remember meeting a girl who had been playing guitar for six months. She said she went to Berklee to meet guys. Of course, almost none of these people stayed around long.

Exactly. Berklee is quite prestigious now. A total 180 from its old days.

[franco6719]

Exactly. Berklee is quite prestigious now. A total 180 from its old days.

That's good to hear.

[gravitas]

I don't think at fast changes you're restricted to sale fragments. You might play them, but it's not as if you have to ignore the changes and only focus on the key of the tune rather than the chord of ther moment. A couple weeks with some arpeggios and a metronome will clear that right up

[mr. beaumont]

not the key of the tune, the "key of the moment." i'm definitely not advocating not playing the changes.

giant steps is a great example of a tune where this approach works very well.

[Jazzarian]

"Everybody gets into Berklee. I was accepted as a junior in high school."

Used to be true. Not anymore! (Well, hopefully anyway). And thank goodness they have gone back to some standards there. When I was there, I remember meeting a girl who had been playing guitar for six months. She said she went to Berklee to meet guys. Of course, almost none of these people stayed around long.

Great story. One of the best Berklee Stories I've ever heard.

[gravitas]

not the key of the tune, the "key of the moment." i'm definitely not advocating not playing the changes.

giant steps is a great example of a tune where this approach works very well.

Oops, just some miscommunication on my part. I meant key of the moment as well. For me though, I feel like I have more freedom when I think of the tune chord by chord. It's easier for me to judge where and when it'll be appropriate for me to go outside, and which tones will provide the most direct route back to the tonic.

I did Giant Steps and Countdown back to back for my jury last semester, and for both of them I found it easier to think chord by chord. The only time I feel completely comfortable thinking key instead of chord is on modal tunes

[timscarey]

Exactly. Berklee is quite prestigious now. A total 180 from its old days.

Berklee is too big to be prestigious, they've gotta pay the bills. The reason it's at 20% acceptance is that every single potential music major in the world applies to that school.

[derek]

Berklee is too big to be prestigious, they've gotta pay the bills. The reason it's at 20% acceptance is that every single potential music major in the world applies to that school.

They certainly charge a prestigious price!

[franco6719]

Berklee is too big to be prestigious, they've gotta pay the bills. The reason it's at 20% acceptance is that every single potential music major in the world applies to that school.

It was always that way. Everyone applied 20 years ago as well. Everyone also GOT IN 20 or so years ago. Your explanation does nothing to explain the enormous statistical difference between 75% TO 20%!! Something has changed RADICALLY and that is all for the better. Beside that, Berklee was ALWAYS prestigious and always will be prestigious for its history, the people who studied, taught and/or passed through there at some point. And that is WHY people apply to get in there in the first place. Nothing more to be said.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm a bit slow eh? Hear tell there's some distant Canadian relatives in the bloodline.

Ed Bickert, Lenny Breau or Oscar Peterson?

[Smitty]

It was always that way. Everyone applied 20 years ago as well. Everyone also GOT IN 20 or so years ago. Your explanation does nothing to explain the enormous statistical difference between 75% TO 20%!! Something has changed RADICALLY and that is all for the better. Beside that, Berklee was ALWAYS prestigious and always will be prestigious for its history, the people who studied, taught and/or passed through there at some point. And that is WHY people apply to get in there in the first place. Nothing more to be said.

Well said, thank you. I hate to hijack a thread like this, so hopefully this will be the end of it. Berklee is actually an extremely small school. I believe it has around 2000 students per year. If no one believes me about how amazing of a school it is, just go check out any of its summer programs or even any of its labs or classrooms, or meet some faculty. You absolutely get what you pay for there.
And, not many people apply to it any more, either because of money or because of fear. I know lots of people that chickened out of their audition! Not exactly a good attitude to have, but whatever!

So...back to improvising talk.

[franco6719]

Yes, Berklee was a tiny little school with basically two buildings and a small student body even when it was open admission. Someone must be thinking of UC Berkeley or Harvard or something like that.