The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #276

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    Sigh. Kids and a practice room in the basement without a door not a good combo for recording. I ordered a 10’ headphone adapter cable just now, which I suspect should give me some isolation. I will give day 1 another go tomorrow.

    Not a total wash for me today, though: I did make significant progress internalizing the progression and can play the chords largely without looking at the chart. This is huge for me compared to Superchops 2017. Unlike then, I’m keeping the chords simple—three-note voicings except where it feels really important to add some color...for example the two bars of C7 that move from altered to non-altered sounds. I’ve been working with these three-note voicings a lot in my lessons, trying to organize my melodic approach by tying my improvisations to the physical location of the three-note voicings I am playing. Will see how it goes.

    I also really want to internalize the key centers with the changes. I imagine that internalizing the key centers will get faster with time. Even today, I started to hear beyond the chords on the page...trying to hear, for example Dm7 | Gm7 as a certain pair of “reflections” of Bb major tonality rather than two chords that are thought of rigidly and independently.

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  3. #277

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    I'd like to try and jump in on this. I just played to Cherokee on iReal Pro at 40 bpm. I'm hoping and assuming it's okay to use iReal Pro or Band in a Box as a backing track?

    Thanks!

  4. #278

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    I'd like to try and jump in on this. I just played to Cherokee on iReal Pro at 40 bpm. I'm hoping and assuming it's okay to use iReal Pro or Band in a Box as a backing track?

    Thanks!
    Welcome! Yes of course it's cool to use a backing track. I'll try to identify the pieces (or their equivalent) at the start of each week or you can look through the earlier running of this thread so you can identify the pieces and be ready.
    This format really allows a player to focus on the area(s) they want to become strong in. I wish I had backing tracks the first time I ran this study myself, but now I'm ready to work on comping as well, yeah it fits for me to see if I can turn this into a comping exercise as well.

    I want to also address some questions about creativity vs technical proficiency. Does a program like this have the potential to stifle or adversely effect one's sensibilities and make a player less creative? And this is a real and very serious issue. I say Yes...if this is where you stop.
    This is a 20 week study that gives a player a (more) solid foundation of tools, aural (in your ears), kinesthetic (in your hands), and mental (in your mind, imagination and confidence). You may come out of here with the ability to play on a level you didn't think you could, and stay there for your whole life, playing fast notes and never stumbling or breaking your time. Is this music? That's a question that only you can answer. As we go through these weeks, I'll also have discussions here about using space, syncopation, developing vocabulary and ideas...things not in the HR book, but things you are free to work on outside of the hour you dedicate to proficiency building. Why not? I hope this will be a fun time for us all and this course is only ONE PART of a balanced act we call artistry. But not being afraid of eighth note lines and having really solid and fearless lines; that's our goal HERE.

    So that's our focus, ostensibly building a solid foundation, no matter what level you play on. And to elevate the things you want to be able to do, through becoming closer with your best abilities on the instrument.
    Hope you have fun. Fun and satisfaction are truly the key to expressing your love for the instrument.

  5. #279

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    Count me in.

  6. #280

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    Day 2. 50BPM Climbed out of the Kiddie pool and immediately fell in over my head. I was a bit short on time so again went with the ireal pro version. The ireal pro form I could keep clear last night was suddenly slipping through my fingers as I tried to make real phrases instead of the simple patterns I used last night. The cadences in the A section seemed all out of sync for me. The cycle of the bridge was the only place that felt comfortable. (You are what you have been practicing...). Oh well...

    Tomorrow I will make time to resolve the recording/playing of the "official" backing track and start again at level 1-2 from there.

    Time for some tea...

  7. #281

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    This is as icky as a fudge-dipped hot dog, but what the hell. So, so, so many warts at 48 bpm—time, getting lost in the form, getting lost on the fretboard, getting lost in my own basement—but definitely better than my first take 3 years ago, which I barely managed to stumble through at like 35 bpm. I'll post another take at the end of week 1 to see if there's much improvement. At this point, I'd settle for not getting lost in the form.


  8. #282

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    Just curious about tempos. I see that the end of week tempo for week 1 on Cherokee is 60 bpm. Therefore, I started at 48 bpm tonight to move up 2 bpm a day for the next 6 days and reach 60 bpm as I believe Howard originally outlined. Is this correct? I totally get starting very slowly. I just want to make sure I'm doing the course correctly. Oh, and I'm using iReal Pro.

    Still need to internalize the A section a bit more. I've played lots of standards over the years, but somehow I've avoided Cherokee. Probably because the breakneck tempos have scared the hell out of me!

  9. #283

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    Just curious about tempos. I see that the end of week tempo for week 1 on Cherokee is 60 bpm. Therefore, I started at 48 bpm tonight to move up 2 bpm a day for the next 6 days and reach 60 bpm as I believe Howard originally outlined. Is this correct? I totally get starting very slowly. I just want to make sure I'm doing the course correctly. Oh, and I'm using iReal Pro.

    Still need to internalize the A section a bit more. I've played lots of standards over the years, but somehow I've avoided Cherokee. Probably because the breakneck tempos have scared the hell out of me!
    HR indicates to determine your personal starting tempo by finding out how fast you can play without making any mistakes. For me to play eighth-notes consistently over these changes with zero mistakes would be probably 20 bpm, but then I know for sure I’d be running into all sorts of time issues, then the subdividing would take over and I’d get lost in the form again. So yeah... this reveals a ton of gaps in my knowledge and skills, but in the interest of actually (trying to) make music I’ll just push on through.

  10. #284

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    I think more jazz guitar players are stopped at the first step out the door than at any other time.
    First of all, congrats to everyone for even picking up your beautiful instruments and taking on the task of making music.
    Playing slow is the hardest thing. Really. It is. You're doing the hardest thing about playing guitar, so stay psyched and stay with it.
    I was talking with a guitar player, Ben Monder, and he's gotten comfortable with his instrument so he can play pretty fluidly at some pretty fast speeds, but it's always a long process for him to warm up before a performance. He said the key to playing fast is to play REALLY SLOW. Like even slower than what we're doing here. Why? Because all the things that are hanging us up right now, like where is the chord? What am I trying to play? Where's the key centre? Where can I go? Why can't I hear it? Why does this feel so weird? Why can't I play anything that sounds like anything-like when I'm playing faster? or What is this crap; I can play much better and avoid this if I just transcribe a piece of a solo and play that?
    All these issues are things that create impediments to creative soloing at normal playing speeds and those snags are the very things we can cover up with a few well placed licks, habits and cliches.
    This is pulling the rocks out of the soil before we have the basis of a garden where we can choose to grow anything we want. So stay with it!
    A few hints. Keep a journal of goals, techniques, progress, revelations (small and large), and things that seem impossible at the moment. That last one is a good one for me, because it keeps me focused on what is real.
    What is real: Hitting a note accurately in time with a specific not in mind and meeting that point in time with confidence and conviction. What prevents this? Not knowing where you want to be ahead of time.
    Train your ear when you're warming up. This is the sound of a scale going up. This is the sound of a scale going down. Skip a note and the arpeggio moves you faster and defines a chord. Patterns that you can hear are like dance steps you don't need to think about anymore. You get over the confluence of panic and disorientation at each note by hearing the larger picture. At this speed, you can decide what the next 2 or three notes will be, and focus on making a beautiful attack on the note. Listening and hearing are going to be the strongest abilities when playing faster. You get them now.
    Hearing the progression: The A section begins on I in Bb. Good. You will play in a familiar space, and with the sound of the chord, you can play off that.
    But right away you're launched into some very interesting territory, moving out of safe Bb and a minor chord with its root on the V of the Bb. Cool sound, hear it and embrace it. Learn NOT to be surprised by this moment. Meet it. Anticipate it with a pickup note on the last eighth note of the I chord if you'd like, but know that you're jumping into the sound of V minor. If you practiced your II V I sounds, this also is familiar territory. It's a water slide into the IV chord, that Eb in the second system. You can highlight that chord, it's a target for you to aim your ear to.
    The 7th measure is an alternative to a II V, it's a turnaround that approaches from bVII. Get this sound in your ears; put it in your toolbox, you'll be using this A LOT.
    Now you're back to the tonic Bb area, familiar territory. You can start a scale from the third, right? There's the D min you see in the third system. THe rest of the A section is playing around in a Bb area and turning you towards the start of the A section again.

    What I've outlined is a topographic map of the piece. Once your ear guides you so you can have this awareness, it'll guide your note choice. See if you can hear the A section this way so you eliminate the element of surprise. The ear gives you the big picture.

    Noble goal: Get off book ASAP. Seriously. If you're playing from the page, you're tying your shoelaces while you're learning to drive. Get it in your ear. Those bracketed key areas above the changes, they're guides to the important topographic areas.

  11. #285

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    Suggestion of the day:
    While the speeds are slow, learn to hear the key and tonal areas, and learn what fingerings work well to bring out the strongest ideas. Find all the roots of those areas (tonics) all over the neck. Use this time to familiarize yourself with where your ideas come across the strongest and easiest for your hand.
    Learn to shift smoothly from one linear chordal position to the next. Shifting is an overlooked skill and those who never master it either force themselves into choppy phrasing by staying in positions or they sound awkward going from one spot on the neck to another.
    Strong position, playing up the string and making fast and fluid shifts. It's a good thing to get under your belt before we move the speed up.

    A final thought: When you play, do you think about where you're going? A phrase that has a sense of purpose, leading to a note or a chord, sounds intentional, articulate and thoughtful. This will also help you with note choice when you're playing. Where will you go and how will you get there?

  12. #286

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    Suggestion of the day:
    While the speeds are slow, learn to hear the key and tonal areas, and learn what fingerings work well to bring out the strongest ideas. Find all the roots of those areas (tonics) all over the neck. Use this time to familiarize yourself with where your ideas come across the strongest and easiest for your hand.
    Learn to shift smoothly from one linear chordal position to the next. Shifting is an overlooked skill and those who never master it either force themselves into choppy phrasing by staying in positions or they sound awkward going from one spot on the neck to another.
    Strong position, playing up the string and making fast and fluid shifts. It's a good thing to get under your belt before we move the speed up.

    A final thought: When you play, do you think about where you're going? A phrase that has a sense of purpose, leading to a note or a chord, sounds intentional, articulate and thoughtful. This will also help you with note choice when you're playing. Where will you go and how will you get there?
    Thank you for the suggestions and encouragement. I'm about to dive back in!

  13. #287

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    Day 3. 50 BPM Another crazy day so I split the difference and edited an ireal pro song to match the HR changes. The A section has a much more interesting flow now without the static chords the original ireal pro version. I am definitely hearing the key centers more easily now.

    Once I got the backing track resolved I took a few times through to get the revised form under my fingers and mostly sticking the the level 1 rules. Much smoother than yesterday but still having occasional lapses of attention, loosing place and needing to get back into place as quickly and seamlessly as possible without waiting for the next chord change. Being fully present at this tempo was quite a challenge tonite.

  14. #288

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    Like guido5 I'm on day 3. And like guido5 I inputted the Howard Roberts changes into iReal Pro to give it a little more movement. Although I was often playing some of Howard's "chords" over the original more static version of Cherokee in iReal Pro. I bumped the bpm to 55. Concentration really is key with these slower tempos. I sometimes forget if we're going to the first or second ending or the bridge. I record myself doing a final pass for a few minutes so I can critically hear what I'm playing. I'm certainly trying to target chord tones. I'm thinking more chords than key centers and scales, although I'm certainly utilizing the key center and scales, too. It's interesting to hang out on a specific note and repeat it. This slower tempo makes me more inclined to do that than playing at faster tempos, I believe. Of course, I'm trying to create motifs and ideas and carry them across a number of bars. It's a luxury to have more time to compose on the spot. I'm enjoying the process.

  15. #289

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    Day 2 for me. Then I realized after I recorded my backing track tonight that I forgot to increase the tempo to 50—so two days in a row at 48 for me. Feeling pretty confident that I can get this entire form in my head before the end of the week and the (spoiler alert) key change in week 2. Still feeling pretty noodly, but unlike my first pass at Superchops a few years ago I can hear most of the movements so much better now which is leading to the first inklings of intentionality when moving to the next chord. Definitely some actual lines being played now. Overall super stoked.

    Just a thought, too. In direct contrast to the Superchops approach, I watched a video of Peter Farrell last night talking about the important of practicing parts of songs—just two chords at a time—to really dig in to what is possible. Something to think about if you have time to work on stuff outside the Superchops regimen—just come up with sounds over two chords at a time before laying down the whole piece.

  16. #290

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr

    Just a thought, too. In direct contrast to the Superchops approach, I watched a video of Peter Farrell last night talking about the important of practicing parts of songs—just two chords at a time—to really dig in to what is possible. Something to think about if you have time to work on stuff outside the Superchops regimen—just come up with sounds over two chords at a time before laying down the whole piece.
    Yes. I'm looking at this as a really focused exercise, but for me it forms a really great complement to other things I'm doing. For instance, now I'm listening to Clifford Brown's solo on the form, and not for transcribing, but rather to see just where he breathes, how and when he forms an idea, what he does with it and how successive phrases work with and against it.

    And check this out for kicks

    Cuz singing is the real deal!!!
    I am taking individual phrases and finding the unembellished "bone structure" of these lines, and they are what I try to hear as I'm doing super slow superchops. Building a strong foundation. I can feel a purposeful playing already.

    One thing I also like to do is, like you've mentioned, take a few chords and loop them. Really get to see the piece as smaller segments to be mastered.
    I'm having a blast because the more I'm doing supplementary to the Superchops hour (as I see it), the more I actually get out of my time both in eighth notes and in hearing other things too.
    And I say Wow! Why didn't I do this before? And (headslap) cuz last time I didn't have a lockdown to give me the opportunity!
    Be safe you all. Keep the comments coming in.

  17. #291

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    Wow! Ashley Pezzotti is amazing! Thanks for that tip. Clifford Brown was an amazing treasure lost way too soon!

    Slow improvising, singing solos. Is that the ghost if the Tristano method I see?

    All good stuff...

  18. #292

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    How deeply do you guys want to get into each piece and each session? If we wanted, I could do in depth harmonic strategies for each piece. Understanding the topography of each piece is key to creating a plan of how to create meaningful statements on your solo.
    I look as a piece as another player, with its own personality you should know and respect, certain quirks you need to take into account, certain difficulties you need to work with and certain points of beauty and drama you can bring out so YOU sound like you are a writer as much as the composer.
    If you think this would be a worthwhile aspect to your practicing of these (well thought out) Howard Roberts exercises, we can do that.
    In that spirit, here's something I found on why we're doing this:

  19. #293

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    How deeply do you guys want to get into each piece and each session? If we wanted, I could do in depth harmonic strategies for each piece. Understanding the topography of each piece is key to creating a plan of how to create meaningful statements on your solo.
    I look as a piece as another player, with its own personality you should know and respect, certain quirks you need to take into account, certain difficulties you need to work with and certain points of beauty and drama you can bring out so YOU sound like you are a writer as much as the composer.
    If you think this would be a worthwhile aspect to your practicing of these (well thought out) Howard Roberts exercises, we can do that.
    In that spirit, here's something I found on why we're doing this:
    I’d welcome it personally, also recognizing that it probably also benefits your own playing in some way as well!

  20. #294

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    In that spirit, here's something I found on why we're doing this:
    Just real quick while on lunch break. Thanks for this video. The 60 bpm section is great example of hearing where in the measure an experienced player places places his eighth notes. Setting aside the triplets for now, after two quick listens, I heard streams of eighth notes with two distinct time feels: coming out of the triplets with a lightly swung 8s then moving into a noticeable straighter and perhaps a bit behind-the-beat feel. Going to work on this tonight.

  21. #295

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    If you have the time to do it, analysis would be very helpful! It was a really wonderful feature of the song a week thread... Sheesh can't type!
    Last edited by guido5; 12-10-2020 at 10:02 PM.

  22. #296

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    Day 4. 50bpm. Using the modified ireal pro backing. A whole lot less drama. Focused on alternating arps and scales, changing direction each tonal center change. Still zoning out occasionally but less often. Stopped a bit early to catch the Jerry Bergonzi/Phil Grenadier live stream.

  23. #297

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    I just finished my session for the night. Day 4. Up to 60 bpm. I feel like I'm doing a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Although as I get to the second and third time around I have a little more awareness to try different things. Maybe I should focus on just playing straight arpeggios like guido5 said he did this evening. Ultimately I find myself trying to make music. Trying to come up with melodies, motifs, ideas. Something that resonates with me and something that would hopefully resonate with another player or listener. I need to get the first and second endings to be more interesting and more musical. Bars 9-12 lack definition or something for me as well. Using the Dm7-Gm7 in bars 9-10 per Howard's chart is cool and I get it, but I find myself chasing those changes sometimes at the expense of just focusing on the Bb tonality. Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging posts, insights and information!

  24. #298

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    I just finished my session for the night. Day 4. Up to 60 bpm. I feel like I'm doing a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Although as I get to the second and third time around I have a little more awareness to try different things. Maybe I should focus on just playing straight arpeggios like guido5 said he did this evening. Ultimately I find myself trying to make music. Trying to come up with melodies, motifs, ideas. Something that resonates with me and something that would hopefully resonate with another player or listener. I need to get the first and second endings to be more interesting and more musical. Bars 9-12 lack definition or something for me as well. Using the Dm7-Gm7 in bars 9-10 per Howard's chart is cool and I get it, but I find myself chasing those changes sometimes at the expense of just focusing on the Bb tonality. Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging posts, insights and information!
    I find just *hearing* the cadences and turnarounds in general to be challenging at this tempo. I have gotten so used to hearing, say, Clifford Brown whipping through this tune at 300+ bpm.

    That Dm7 Gm7 is hard for me, too. It just seems to float there without, to my ear, really suggesting Bb.

    I’m not shying away from sitting on the same note for several beats in a measure. It’s a good way to let some space into the non-stop stream of 8ths. During a break this morning I played the actual melody from the first several bars at this slow tempo but using all 8th notes.

    I’m noticing this thing where I feel compelled to always hit the b7 at some non-resolving point in a measure of dominant chord. But damn. That sounds really immature when I really listen to it. Why not just hang on the upper structures? Sounds so much hipper.

  25. #299

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    All of you: Thanks so much for being so active and really giving this your all! Your comments and thoughts are so absolutely spot on in bringing up so many of the things that secretly sideline so many aspiring jazz players. I'm going to just share some thoughts that might or may not be of use, but they're things that have helped me and you can take it for what it's worth.
    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    I just finished my session for the night. Day 4. Up to 60 bpm. I feel like I'm doing a lot of the same stuff over and over again. Although as I get to the second and third time around I have a little more awareness to try different things. Maybe I should focus on just playing straight arpeggios like guido5 said he did this evening. Ultimately I find myself trying to make music. Trying to come up with melodies, motifs, ideas. Something that resonates with me and something that would hopefully resonate with another player or listener. I need to get the first and second endings to be more interesting and more musical. Bars 9-12 lack definition or something for me as well. Using the Dm7-Gm7 in bars 9-10 per Howard's chart is cool and I get it, but I find myself chasing those changes sometimes at the expense of just focusing on the Bb tonality. Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging posts, insights and information!
    Perfect! First of all, always remember these are the exercises that develop your skills, so if you're feeling frustrated, that's GOOD. Here's a secret. More often than not, performers will hit the stage with something they've totally warmed up for, so they can open up their creative minds with something inspiring and catch the wave. That rush will often not come for the first number, or the second, or longer even...but there's a lot of searching.
    So we're learning not to psyche ourselves out here if you're not feeling it at the start. That's perfectly normal. But what can you do? How do you find your creative self when everything sounds boring, and you want to give up after two notes? Turn off your brain and turn on your ears.

    Your brain processes information two ways. You have a critical mind that analyzes and judges, watches out and puts things in their place. And you have a mind that finds a flow and a larger picture, senses sights, sounds and the world around you all at once and can be aware of options and paths of imagination. These are two separate sides of our thinking that are always at war and an experienced player learns the balance of these two sides.
    There's a book written by Jill Bolte Taylor called My Stroke of Insight that changed my life. She was a neurologist who had a sudden stroke and through it she met two very different sides of herself, the critical orderly left side of her brain and the observant right side. You can check this book (or TED talk) if you feel like it. But the takeaway is you have a voice that will be there judging you, stopping you, telling you that you suck, and seeing everything wrong with the first note you play, telling you to stop and go back til you get it right, til the magic appears. And you have a voice that says "Hey I can play! This is great! This is fun! I can do anything!" but without guidance, that can lead you into being lost and in serious nowhere. We are, in the end, finding a balance.
    More on this in later posts. I have a good friend who used to teach at a big school in town here. He'd have students draw before they played, so they could open up the right side of their brains, see some perspective before they threw themselves into judging their playing. There are different strategies for letting your guard down. Another is to focus on a beautiful sound, LISTEN to the sound and not the note, strive for beautiful notes and you'll start to hear how they form music.
    Think about this and see if it helps your awareness. Playing is a large part listening.
    For example: You have a key area. You start on a tonic note. You play a scale ascending and it sounds ordinary so you try to shake it up, anything but being a boring scale. Now you're thinking "I just DID that one. This is BAD". You stop. But that was exactly the note sequence you were listening to and digging in that Christmas tune Little Drummer Boy, and I LIKE that song. But you stopped before it had a chance to be music. Start from DO and come down? BORING. But wait, that was Joy To The World. But you missed it cuz you judged the note.
    We're learning strategies for finding the flow and that's why we have 10 minutes, that's why we do it again, and again, and that's why we rest between takes. Keep at it. You'll find the music. And in that moment, you find the door to making music. It gets easier each time after.

  26. #300

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    I find just *hearing* the cadences and turnarounds in general to be challenging at this tempo. I have gotten so used to hearing, say, Clifford Brown whipping through this tune at 300+ bpm.

    That Dm7 Gm7 is hard for me, too. It just seems to float there without, to my ear, really suggesting Bb.

    I’m not shying away from sitting on the same note for several beats in a measure. It’s a good way to let some space into the non-stop stream of 8ths. During a break this morning I played the actual melody from the first several bars at this slow tempo but using all 8th notes.

    I’m noticing this thing where I feel compelled to always hit the b7 at some non-resolving point in a measure of dominant chord. But damn. That sounds really immature when I really listen to it. Why not just hang on the upper structures? Sounds so much hipper.
    When you listen to music, you hear a larger flow and it makes sense. Playing slow demands something you may very well have never done: listening AS you're creating. That's a skill we're acquiring. It helps me to play the changes at a more "normal" speed, so I can hear how they connect, but then go back to ultra slow to be able to work on options of sound. Soloing is a process of options in sound. Keep a notebook, I'll say this over and over again. Create options and keep them accessible. An accomplished player has a huge library of options, sometimes called a "bag" they can choose from. We'll build ours, now with shape and note choice, later with rhythm and dynamics, quotes we hear and quotable phrases we'll make. Mastery of movement that's what it's about. Right now we're learning movement as a dance with harmony. Respect your partner, and listen.

    That 9th measure. In theory those are called Tonic Chords, cuz they share notes and a vibe in common with your I chord. But that don't mean a thing if you can't hear it. Try this: you can hear your parent key, so try starting a phrase from the third note of the scale. Then build on that. If you arpeggiate from there, you'll get your I chord with a nice 9th sound too.
    Hey you might try this: If there's a way to hold down a pedal tone, (you can get sruti apps for your phone, you can hold down a note on a piano, you can use an open string to pedal or drone on...) and try those chords, the III and the VI while you're holding a Bb tonal tone. See how they work together, see how they change the way you hear, and yeah, just let yourself go and vamp and play on that. See if it helps.

    Repeated notes. Excellent idea. That adds gravity to a note. Put that in your book of "Ways to make a note more important". This is a goal of a meaningful solo, to find things that you want to bring yourself to, and get there and "frame" those moments. This is making a solo into a journey that a listener can relate to. If you find something that works in your first 10 minutes, file that in your awareness library and see if you can get it and use it in your next 10 minute segment. Welcome to the world of the developing guitarist!