The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #351

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    I'm looking out on a lot of snow here in New England, glad to be inside and relishing the time with the music. It's easy to look out and see one all encompassing blanket of white with the landscape bearing little resemblance to what I saw out my window just 24 hours ago.
    I'm thinking that finding one's way through a solo might not be so far from navigating through a snowstorm. First, I'll say that there are LOTs of ways that soloists solo; the process is as varied as any field of people. That being said, once we look below the surface, there are a number of essential things that can not only inform what you play, but make it possible to be really expressive and personal.

    Know the lay of the land. A song is not just a series of changes on a page you play scales or arpeggios over, it's a landscape that has a distinctive contour that you sometimes have to climb, sometimes allows you an opportunity to create a beautiful memory, and sometimes gives you an exciting downhill run. Each of these things challenge you in different ways.
    Quote Originally Posted by guido5
    It would be wonderful if you could explain the numerical system. Thanks!

    The diatonic scale and the chords assigned to each degree give you the essential geography of harmony. Ground level I chord is most often where you begin, it's certainly where you want to return to in order to feel complete.
    II- chord, created from the second degree has a close kinship in to home because it's a step away from home but doesn't contain any common notes. It's a scale rich in consonance and has a modal sound. Get to know it through practice in a non linear way (find the music in it).
    III- chord, full of sharp edges and contours, it's got strong associations with the moorish music of Spain and benefits strongly from the b9 and b13. Get to know this and find the music in it.
    IV Major chord, is more than just a major scale with a #4, it's also a bright sounding mysterious sound that's strong on character. You hear it a lot in Hollywood scores. It's got a lot of notes in common with the II- so they're like brother and sister and can often be used interchangibly. Get to know this and find the music.
    V chord contains the notes of the dominant 7 chord. In jazz, this is the strongest "take me home" chord; it's like the doorway back to the I chord. Really get to know this and find the music in it. (This chord has such a strong take me home tendency that any chord can have its own "doorway" that partners with this chord. Secondary dominant).
    VI- chord, our strongest stand alone minor chord in western music. We call this the natural minor. A piece is written in minor? It's likely to be built from the VI degree. Get to know this and find the music in it.
    VII-7b5 chord is the most angular, most overlooked, most dissonant and darkest of the scales in a diatonic scale. You can get a lot from getting to know this one, but most often it's used as a door to the natural minor. It has a great character in itself but it also has a sound that wants to find some kind of home.
    This is basic geography and if you know harmony in 7 degrees, you can melodically chose some juicy and meaningful notes from the time you practice them and find the music in them. Learn and practice these chords in combinations and learn how they "talk" with one another. And learn where they are on the fingerboard.

    Know the possible features of the terrain you will encounter.
    I see most standards and melodic tunes as being made up of the above diatonic chords. Now each of these individual chords can be made way more interesting if they're partnered with some chords that make the chord into an event. Ex: II- chord. Yeah nice sound. Cool. But why not find some chords that add some texture to the landscape? Take that II-, and it can have its own II V7 chord combo that forms a stronger sound. This is the landscape feature known as a Secondary Dominant. You see this a LOT and practicing these "event combinations" will give you more interesting things to work with when you see them. (Look at the tune All Of Me).
    When you see these secondary dominant combinations, they can create events that lead to other secondary dominants and these chains are really cool and used a lot. This is a feature called a sequence or a series of II V's. Yup, learn these and when you see them in a piece, you can play through them as a whole segment. They are not diatonic. They're something unto themselves. Practice them and find the music. Bridge of Cherokee? The tough part of Miss Jones? If you've learned that sequence, it's a fun downhill slalom in the terrain.
    Embellishments are the spices that make your melodic lines sound jazzy. As terrain features, they'll form their own "shadows" of notes by working with a note. Ex: try taking a chord tone and don't just go to it outright, put a chromatic or scale note below or above it and then the note. It's note foreplay. It makes your landscape more interesting and it gives your contour something remarkable.
    These chord movements, if you get to know them separately, will create treasures of melody. Think of creative practice as a treasure hunt for melody that resonates with you. It'll take time. It'll make you rich.

    Know where you are in the world you are.
    In the snowscape of a song solo, always know your key, and where you are in relation to it. Pieces are built around the comfort of a home key and will often have little "day trips" into other tonalities. Know these twists. Know where they are, what they are, what they sound like and meet them with anticipation. This is the character and the map you go into the piece with. Knowing and feeling a piece this way allows you to get Off Book and INTO the piece easier. Make a map in your head.

    Pick a strategy and work it.
    Be aware of the steps you take into the snow. If you take a long step and follow it with two short ones, that's an interesting shape. Don't leave it and forget it, develop it. That's the start of motivic playing. Don't just follow scales blindly, think ahead with what you've made behind you. Consciously create contrast, and then bring yourself back to something strong. This is composition as opposed to note noodling. It's fun and it's creating something. Develop elements and strategy of contrast: Intervals, space (when we're beyond straight eighths-but repeat notes for now...contrast by repeating! Neat!), dynamics, direction, melodies...

    Know the appropriate attire and equipment, but figure out how to use it efficiently and elegantly.
    If you go out in boots, your trip is going to be different than one on cross country skis, snow shoes or downhill skis. When you have a songform in front of you, you also have choices that will make a difference in the way you get from one place to another. This means be aware of scale options and how you use them (try not to play more than 3 notes in a row, or discover how using arpeggiated notes change the mood, or change direction, quote another song and see where it leads...)

    Know when to rest so you can respect your sensibilities and the form of the terrain.

    Have fun!

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #352

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    Week 2 end of the week 70bpm
    Putting chords down with the metronome on 2 and 4. Chords as sparse as I can play them (in violation of Mr Roberts' guidelines..sorry) and I'm taking advantage of the slower speeds to develop new techniques and get them into my ear.
    I'm taking the existing harmony and finding places to superimpose a tritone substitution, and even a small chain of secondary dominant approach lines to chords. Normally this is awkward and I wind up missing opportunities, but for this course I'm able to try these devices our and hear them, and use them.
    THis course is proving to be really remarkably fruitful for me. I've even written out a solo on paper (talk about being able to find the time to think at slower speeds) and (head slap) I find that the things that shape my lines on paper, I have in my consciousness in real time. Pacing, development, tension and release over several bars, crossing the bar lines, ...just some of the things I'm getting comfortable with by writing out a solo. Note: I'm not playing my "written" stuff during my HR hour but it's definitely there!
    I'm having a ball.

  4. #353

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    I'm looking out on a lot of snow here in New England, glad to be inside and relishing the time with the music. It's easy to look out and see one all encompassing blanket of white with the landscape bearing little resemblance to what I saw out my window just 24 hours ago.
    I'm thinking that finding one's way through a solo might not be so far from navigating through a snowstorm. First, I'll say that there are LOTs of ways that soloists solo; the process is as varied as any field of people. That being said, once we look below the surface, there are a number of essential things that can not only inform what you play, but make it possible to be really expressive and personal.

    Know the lay of the land. A song is not just a series of changes on a page you play scales or arpeggios over, it's a landscape that has a distinctive contour that you sometimes have to climb, sometimes allows you an opportunity to create a beautiful memory, and sometimes gives you an exciting downhill run. Each of these things challenge you in different ways.

    The diatonic scale and the chords assigned to each degree give you the essential geography of harmony. Ground level I chord is most often where you begin, it's certainly where you want to return to in order to feel complete.
    II- chord, created from the second degree has a close kinship in to home because it's a step away from home but doesn't contain any common notes. It's a scale rich in consonance and has a modal sound. Get to know it through practice in a non linear way (find the music in it).
    III- chord, full of sharp edges and contours, it's got strong associations with the moorish music of Spain and benefits strongly from the b9 and b13. Get to know this and find the music in it.
    IV Major chord, is more than just a major scale with a #4, it's also a bright sounding mysterious sound that's strong on character. You hear it a lot in Hollywood scores. It's got a lot of notes in common with the II- so they're like brother and sister and can often be used interchangibly. Get to know this and find the music.
    V chord contains the notes of the dominant 7 chord. In jazz, this is the strongest "take me home" chord; it's like the doorway back to the I chord. Really get to know this and find the music in it. (This chord has such a strong take me home tendency that any chord can have its own "doorway" that partners with this chord. Secondary dominant).
    VI- chord, our strongest stand alone minor chord in western music. We call this the natural minor. A piece is written in minor? It's likely to be built from the VI degree. Get to know this and find the music in it.
    VII-7b5 chord is the most angular, most overlooked, most dissonant and darkest of the scales in a diatonic scale. You can get a lot from getting to know this one, but most often it's used as a door to the natural minor. It has a great character in itself but it also has a sound that wants to find some kind of home.
    This is basic geography and if you know harmony in 7 degrees, you can melodically chose some juicy and meaningful notes from the time you practice them and find the music in them. Learn and practice these chords in combinations and learn how they "talk" with one another. And learn where they are on the fingerboard.

    Know the possible features of the terrain you will encounter.
    I see most standards and melodic tunes as being made up of the above diatonic chords. Now each of these individual chords can be made way more interesting if they're partnered with some chords that make the chord into an event. Ex: II- chord. Yeah nice sound. Cool. But why not find some chords that add some texture to the landscape? Take that II-, and it can have its own II V7 chord combo that forms a stronger sound. This is the landscape feature known as a Secondary Dominant. You see this a LOT and practicing these "event combinations" will give you more interesting things to work with when you see them. (Look at the tune All Of Me).
    When you see these secondary dominant combinations, they can create events that lead to other secondary dominants and these chains are really cool and used a lot. This is a feature called a sequence or a series of II V's. Yup, learn these and when you see them in a piece, you can play through them as a whole segment. They are not diatonic. They're something unto themselves. Practice them and find the music. Bridge of Cherokee? The tough part of Miss Jones? If you've learned that sequence, it's a fun downhill slalom in the terrain.
    Embellishments are the spices that make your melodic lines sound jazzy. As terrain features, they'll form their own "shadows" of notes by working with a note. Ex: try taking a chord tone and don't just go to it outright, put a chromatic or scale note below or above it and then the note. It's note foreplay. It makes your landscape more interesting and it gives your contour something remarkable.
    These chord movements, if you get to know them separately, will create treasures of melody. Think of creative practice as a treasure hunt for melody that resonates with you. It'll take time. It'll make you rich.

    Know where you are in the world you are.
    In the snowscape of a song solo, always know your key, and where you are in relation to it. Pieces are built around the comfort of a home key and will often have little "day trips" into other tonalities. Know these twists. Know where they are, what they are, what they sound like and meet them with anticipation. This is the character and the map you go into the piece with. Knowing and feeling a piece this way allows you to get Off Book and INTO the piece easier. Make a map in your head.

    Pick a strategy and work it.
    Be aware of the steps you take into the snow. If you take a long step and follow it with two short ones, that's an interesting shape. Don't leave it and forget it, develop it. That's the start of motivic playing. Don't just follow scales blindly, think ahead with what you've made behind you. Consciously create contrast, and then bring yourself back to something strong. This is composition as opposed to note noodling. It's fun and it's creating something. Develop elements and strategy of contrast: Intervals, space (when we're beyond straight eighths-but repeat notes for now...contrast by repeating! Neat!), dynamics, direction, melodies...

    Know the appropriate attire and equipment, but figure out how to use it efficiently and elegantly.
    If you go out in boots, your trip is going to be different than one on cross country skis, snow shoes or downhill skis. When you have a songform in front of you, you also have choices that will make a difference in the way you get from one place to another. This means be aware of scale options and how you use them (try not to play more than 3 notes in a row, or discover how using arpeggiated notes change the mood, or change direction, quote another song and see where it leads...)

    Know when to rest so you can respect your sensibilities and the form of the terrain.

    Have fun!
    That was a fabulous post, Jimmy Blue Note! Sticky worthy! Thank you very much!

  5. #354

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    Awesome work! You should write a book Jimmy.

  6. #355

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    Hi all:

    It's been a while since I've been active on this site - life gets in the way sometimes. I'll start by saying that the pandemic shutdown has really taken a toll on my chops. Prior to the shutdown, I had a weekly quartet gig, and I played with a Big Band that rehearsed weekly and gigged occasionally. I also had a group of friends that I would jam with on a very regular basis. That all ended back in March, obviously. Quite frankly, I can be a bit lazy at times, and with all of the steady playing I was doing, I didn't really feel the need to practice beyond learning whatever new tunes were on the performance horizon - my chops were well sustained. Long story short - without the gigs and rehearsals, I've barely had the guitar in my hands for the last 8 months, and my chops suck.

    So I've decided to dig out HRSC and tackle his 20 week programme again. I did make an attempt a few years back but, for a myriad of reasons, I never got past the 4th week. This time I'm going to make a real effort to see it through. I'm also using this as an opportunity to attempt to learn how to Benson pick. Since my technique currently sucks anyway, I might as well try to unlearn 35+ years of poor picking technique. This part of the challenge intimidates me a bit. Any and all advice on how I can unlearn 3 and a half decades of poor picking technique in 20 weeks would be very much appreciated, lol. Seriously though - help!

    Here's a copy of my minimum daily practice schedule, starting Monday. I'll most likely do more per day, as there are a few Scofield songs I'm trying to transcribe for the quartet as well, but this is what I've committed myself to doing 6 days a week. I've only set aside 40 minutes for SC, as I'll be using the iRealPro tracks to play over. As usual, any and all feedback and advice is welcome.

    -Travis
    Practice Schedule 2021.pdf
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-practice-schedule-2021-jpg

  7. #356

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    Quote Originally Posted by Socraticaster
    Hi all:
    It's been a while since I've been active on this site - life gets in the way sometimes.
    ...So I've decided to dig out HRSC and tackle his 20 week programme again.
    ...As usual, any and all feedback and advice is welcome.

    -Travis
    Hey there Travis. Welcome. I remember you from the last time, and when you tried to get your thread threading. Let's do a run at it again!
    I was going to make a shout out to all the lurkers who may be thinking about some planned program like this: Speak up! I'd like to see how different people on different levels overcome the bad effects of stagnation or uninspired playing. It'd be great if we all exited these 18 weeks better than we thought we could ever be.
    Keep in mind, this is about an hour of your time each day. It doesn't mean there are other areas of study or progress that aren't informed by and inform our eighth note battering ram approach. I love hearing how we're finding the music (again) and how we can make a gig-less eternity into something we'd always promised ourselves, namely taking it to the next level.
    I'm looking forward to the fresh battles on the home front-heh heh!

  8. #357

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    I have a meeting that will gobble up all my practice time tonite so it is an off day for me.

  9. #358

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    Day 5 of Db Cherokee. I must say I'm getting a little tired of these changes and Db. Perhaps it's my ears, but Db doesn't seem to lend itself to the spark I hear in the tune when in Bb. I do believe specific songs can sound better in particular keys. Anyway, I'm looking forward to knocking out day 6 tomorrow and moving on. Not knowing what the next song is, I hope I don't regret these words!

  10. #359

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    Day 5 of Db Cherokee. I must say I'm getting a little tired of these changes and Db. Perhaps it's my ears, but Db doesn't seem to lend itself to the spark I hear in the tune when in Bb. I do believe specific songs can sound better in particular keys. Anyway, I'm looking forward to knocking out day 6 tomorrow and moving on. Not knowing what the next song is, I hope I don't regret these words!
    Some songs are easy to love. Others are like going to the gym. Cherokee is definitely a work out. Good for you for sticking it out. If you ever get bored working on a piece, mentally mark where all the possible roots are for a particular chord and as you pass into a "convenient" melodic position, actively pack it up and move to a completely different region of the fingerboard and take your idea with you. You'll be surprised how refreshing that kind of a kick in the pants can be.
    When you feel uninspired, look for trouble, look for disaster, look for weakness and go for it.

    If you're so inclined this weekend, have a listen to the song Bauble Bangles and Beads, maybe sung by Frank Sinatra. See if you have any feelings about that tune.

  11. #360

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    Here is take 3 from tonight to keep me honest. Lots of warts, but I am really enjoying the occasional wart-free moments. I've been holding down the fort on this Db version in the lower regions of the neck, but tonight my hands wanted to drift, so I let them go where they wanted to go.


  12. #361

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    Some songs are easy to love. Others are like going to the gym. Cherokee is definitely a work out. Good for you for sticking it out. If you ever get bored working on a piece, mentally mark where all the possible roots are for a particular chord and as you pass into a "convenient" melodic position, actively pack it up and move to a completely different region of the fingerboard and take your idea with you. You'll be surprised how refreshing that kind of a kick in the pants can be.
    When you feel uninspired, look for trouble, look for disaster, look for weakness and go for it.

    If you're so inclined this weekend, have a listen to the song Bauble Bangles and Beads, maybe sung by Frank Sinatra. See if you have any feelings about that tune.
    Hey, JBN thanks for the response. Regarding moving to a less convenient part of the neck. that's what I've been doing a lot with this program since the slower tempo allows for this. You're right on that it's a great way to find fresh ideas. I try to look for trouble and paint myself into positional corners. It's great when I work my way out. When I don't, it's still an excellent learning experience. I'll check out Bauble, Bangles and Beads. Thanks again!

  13. #362

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    Here is take 3 from tonight to keep me honest. Lots of warts, but I am really enjoying the occasional wart-free moments. I've been holding down the fort on this Db version in the lower regions of the neck, but tonight my hands wanted to drift, so I let them go where they wanted to go.

    Very nice, wzpgsr! Way to tackle Db! I really like a lot of your "outside" sounds Sounded like cool diminished stuff. I don't do enough of that. It gave it a nice angular feel, but you would effectively release the tension with something melodic and pretty. Really tasty note choices over all. Thanks for sharing!

  14. #363

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    Here is take 3 from tonight to keep me honest. Lots of warts, but I am really enjoying the occasional wart-free moments. I've been holding down the fort on this Db version in the lower regions of the neck, but tonight my hands wanted to drift, so I let them go where they wanted to go.


    Really nice take on this! No polka there! just really nice flow of ideas!

  15. #364

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    Here is take 3 from tonight to keep me honest. Lots of warts, but I am really enjoying the occasional wart-free moments. I've been holding down the fort on this Db version in the lower regions of the neck, but tonight my hands wanted to drift, so I let them go where they wanted to go.

    Gosh, meeting the slow beats with fresh, interesting and musical phrases that bring out the form. You're getting some listening chops there! Impressed!

  16. #365

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    PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR OUR LITTLE GROUP HERE
    Hey all you regulars, lurkers and curious active guitarists:
    It's Winter where I am, they're puttin' up the trees and the heat is on in the living space. That means HUMIDIFY YOUR GUITARS!
    All guitars but especially solid wood guitars, especially those precious archtops, they'll all undergo big changes this time of year.
    Humidify the room. It's good for your health too.
    Humidify the guitar. A simple damp sponge in a perforated soap dish in the case works. Commercially available humidifiers are great.
    Do adjustments to your action as the woods change. This will help eliminate buzzing and unplayable actions. The guitar will just feel more inviting to play when it's set up nicely.
    Keep the guitar away from close proximity to direct heat, a baseboard, a radiator, a space heater, they all dry the air a lot. A guitar set by them will get kiln dried.
    Cracks are very expensive to repair and they're heart breaking.

    Play your guitar. Love it. Respect it.
    Thanks for being a part of this thread.

  17. #366

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    Day 6. Final day of Cherokee in Db. It's been a strange day. I've felt out of it most of the day. I did Cherokee at 70 bpm in the morning. Didn't feel too inspired. Then I had an opportunity to play with another guitarist who is a friend of mine. We socially distanced, of course. I really struggled this afternoon. Part of it may have been my general ennui. But I think more was going on. Doing the Howard Roberts program at these slower tempos allows me to be much more conscious and decisive with my note choices. Today playing with my friend, I felt like I was much more outside the music. My playing felt stale and predictable. I glossed over too many changes. It was a stark contrast to the opportunities we're given doing the Howard Roberts program where we really have time to embrace that next chord. I imagine the goal is for these exercises to migrate into our "normal" playing. I'm confident that will happen. As I said, today was a weird day. I went back and did Cherokee again when I got home to try and "un-stuck" myself. I may even do it one more time after dinner. Looking forward to the start of next week and the next song on the agenda.

  18. #367

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    Day 6. Final day of Cherokee in Db. It's been a strange day. I've felt out of it most of the day. I did Cherokee at 70 bpm in the morning. Didn't feel too inspired. Then I had an opportunity to play with another guitarist who is a friend of mine. We socially distanced, of course. I really struggled this afternoon. Part of it may have been my general ennui. But I think more was going on. Doing the Howard Roberts program at these slower tempos allows me to be much more conscious and decisive with my note choices. Today playing with my friend, I felt like I was much more outside the music. My playing felt stale and predictable. I glossed over too many changes. It was a stark contrast to the opportunities we're given doing the Howard Roberts program where we really have time to embrace that next chord. I imagine the goal is for these exercises to migrate into our "normal" playing. I'm confident that will happen. As I said, today was a weird day. I went back and did Cherokee again when I got home to try and "un-stuck" myself. I may even do it one more time after dinner. Looking forward to the start of next week and the next song on the agenda.
    Personally, I am hoping for an explosion of creative rhythms after 20 weeks!

  19. #368

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    Personally, I am hoping for an explosion of creative rhythms after 20 weeks!
    I'd take just being able to put a triplet in there somewhere...

  20. #369

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    End of week two. Still blazing along at 50BPM. Used the revised ireal pro background again. Tonite I was inspired by wzpgsr's really nice use of thirds in the last solo he posted, so I tried to integrate them more into my phrases. When it worked it was nice but it gave me a whole new way to create train wrecks when it didn't.
    I'm also feeling a bit bruised by Cherokee. It will be really nice to dig into something different next week.

  21. #370

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    I hear you!!! This is an issue.
    I have had the great honor of working closely with (guitarist/teacher) Mick Goodrick. We spent a lot of time developing tools to think "on the right side of the brain". It's a huge topic, but if it's of interest, maybe I'll do another "off topic aside" and explore the attitudes we find ourselves in and learning to control how we access all the stuff we know that goes into music, and how to find ways to stay fresh and creative.
    Let me know if this might be something to explore in this (very fun and interesting) thread.
    That would be great! When I was playing with my friend today I kept thinking "I'm glad this isn't a gig!" Sometimes you're just not feeling it for whatever reason. My day job is a creative profession. There are days when I wake up and it just isn't clicking. But I keep moving forward anyway!

  22. #371

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    Quote Originally Posted by guido5
    I'd take just being able to put a triplet in there somewhere...
    Just wait—hope I’m not spoiling anything by revealing that in few weeks all we’ll be playing is triplets.

  23. #372

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    Just wait—hope I’m not spoiling anything by revealing that in few weeks all we’ll be playing is triplets.
    Nothing succeeds like excess...

  24. #373

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    Quick question - are there any current forum member who have made it to the end of Superchops and met the 192 bpm goal? I'd love to hear a clip of someone playing through one of the project lessons at that tempo. Post 'em if ya got 'em!

  25. #374

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    I cheated and played through both the BB&B chart HR provides and the ireal pro version (transposed to D). This time I like the ireal pro version a lot more. The cadences are clearer without the chromatic movement HR uses. I think this is going to be a more comfortable form for me to work on then Cherokee. I'm excited to get going on it tomorrow!

  26. #375

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    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2020-12-20-5-36-35-pm-pngHoward Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2020-12-20-5-47-35-pm-png
    This week's work piece is a real exercise in key shifts. Each 2 system segment is lettered A,B,C,D and reads generally like A A' B A with A and A' being quite similar but a major third apart. That's a tough jump and is a shift for the ear. The B section, the bridge of the piece is another shift up a third (or down a sixth) but in a shorter duration before shifting back to the original key. Then the last segment labeled D is a return to the original form for a turnaround back to the home chord.

    A section largely in the key of D watch for the last measure, that's your doorway up to what will feel like IIIMaj. (The next section begins with its II- chord so the Secondary Dominant of that chord going to be a 7th chord half step above the present root. THink about this, it will help in the key modulation. The changes in the HR are a variation of this but you can find your own way into that modulation, just remember your're starting with the II of Ab)
    A' labeled B is largely in the key of Gb. Watch for the last measure, that's the doorway to the approaching bridge in Bb, it'll feel like III Maj. (again, The next section begins with its II- chord so the Secondary Dominant of that chord going to be a 7th chord half step above the present root. Think about this, it will help in the key modulation)
    B is the bridge section labeled C. This has one system (line of measures) in Bb and then a bunch of changes back to the key of D, our starting key for the last system of the Bridge.
    Final A is back to the key of D which is where the bridge left us off. Turnarounds in the last line bring us home.

    That's the general landscape. Listen, get to know the flow and twists and turns and then try to hear the ways the piece moves before you jump into it.
    We will look at the form, the approaches, the strategies, the subtleties of the changes and the snags we hit as we get to know it.
    If you want to see a similar piece that uses many of these harmonic movements, you might find a recording of Baubles, Bangles and Beads and familiarize yourself with a similar landscape.
    I think of the piece this way and then getting off book is much easier for me, not to mention that soloing follows a roadmap I've internalized.
    I will note that it's not an exact replication with BB&B, this project lesson has built in twists. Feel free to make your own comping track with your own chords, and make your own notes on soloing strategies and your building lexicon of devices and phrases.
    Are you keeping a notebook of your progress and deepening solo techniques? We are building up our personalities which will become "glued together" as the speed picks up. So mindful note choice leads to smart and articulate phrasing when we reach real time tempos.


    Have fun!
    Last edited by Jimmy blue note; 12-20-2020 at 11:57 PM.