The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #801

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    Week 18. Day 5. "Angel Eyes" in D minor. This should be called Angle Eyes because it's very angular to my ears.
    This would make a very interesting challenge, to take something and play it for mood, to bring out the unexpected aspects of a chord. If you have a minor chord, you have two major chords within there, more if you want to toy with different scales, and y'know, they're there for you. You can also cross the bar line for great effect, especially at the speeds we're now using. This tempo allows you to work a brighter major type sound over a minor chord and that "blurring" effect actually just sounds like upper tensions. Also, on the dominant sections, you'll find more flowing uses of the Symmetrical diminished chord and you can just play them over the dominant chord structure. I know it seems "wrong" or counter intuitive, to defy the changes so blatantly, but as we increase speed, you're not playing for chord detail as much as opening up your note palette for "washes" of sound that fit over the changes.
    If you're in an aolean -VI type situation, playing major from the 3rd of the chord can really inform the change.
    If you're in a dorian -II part of the tune, that lydian on the 3rd of that chord is going to bring you out of the realm of cliche II-7 sounds.
    This is a great opportunity to play around with and discover moods within moods, break old habits and uncover those other sounds that lurk beneath the surface of the things you've come to be comfortable with (and fixed to).
    Also once those angular dominant changes are put down in the ear of the listener (by comping or backing), there's no need to actually play anything. I know the books say you play the 3rd and the b7 on a 7 chord, but it's THERE already. YOU create a line that hints at a sense of movement and learn to thing dynamic line, whether or not you want to make it angular.
    I'd listen to Paul Desmond, and he'd made his own note choices that were SO him, and he often opted for the unexpected angle on a tune. That 9 on a minor chord, that comes so easily if you are thinking, say, major 7th from the 3rd, well it's an entirely different sound he owned.

    It's your solo. Look for ways not to be trapped by the changes. The notes are there.

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  3. #802

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    Week 18 Day 5.
    Realizing that the real strength of this program is in learning to hear new sounds on the fly. If I can hear it, I can play it. These 18 weeks have been a steady reenforcement of that ear to hand connection. Breaking the cycle of letting thinking get in the way.
    I'll have to work with this Saturday. Maybe this is the real point of these 20 weeks for me. I thought it was about moving my fingers faster but it's really about hearing faster. And you can't do that without serious time on the instrument.
    On to day 6 tomorrow

  4. #803

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    Week 18 Day 6 Saturday
    Angel Eyes, minor and dominant sounds study
    Tempo to your limits
    eighths and triplets with right and left hand articulations
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2021-04-09-9-47-41-pm-png

  5. #804

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    Week 18. Day 6. Angle Eyes in A minor. Long week. A bit sleep deprived. I stumbled my way through the first ten minutes. The second and third sessions were better. Per JBN's great advice, I really tried to let go and make this my improvisation. There were some very enjoyable, successful moments. Sometimes I felt like I was floating over the changes too vaguely, so I would ground myself with 3rds and 7ths again. Those last couple measures of the form always sound odd to me. Hard for me to make that musical. Wow. I just realized I only have 2 weeks left. It will be interesting to see what transpires next. On to week 19!

  6. #805

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    WEEK 19!!! I can't believe we're nearly to the bell lap!
    This week is a review, polish and really "Musicization" of these projects. That means with the integration of eighth note techniques and linear speed executed through a combination of left and right hand techniques, we can really begin to put together a toolbox of sophisticated techniques, combined with projects that present many of the fundamental structural and harmonic challenges in the jazz repertoire.
    So Day 1. Monday
    Speed to your edge of thought, hearing and movement.
    Project 4-A ATTY in Ab. Modulations, key and tonal shifts and the HR smattering of dominant approaches.

    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2021-04-11-10-39-36-pm-png
    Monday ATTYA in Ab
    Tuesday ATTYA in Eb
    Wednesday Blues for Alice in C
    Thursday Blues for Alice in G
    Friday Modal Madness F dorian
    Saturday Modal Madness in C dorian
    Here's Monday's Project:
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-4-attya-ab-png

  7. #806

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    Week 19. Day 1. ATTYA in Ab. I decided to get a jump on the week after taking yesterday off from Super Chops and focusing on other guitar pursuits. It was nice to jump back in this week with a familiar tune, albeit with Howard's cool and sometimes slightly eccentric changes. I continue to try to push myself with the tempos, but not to the point where my mind can't keep up and I'm unable to play anything musical. I also try with each pass of the form to get off book and really follow my ear. Following my ear often is the best way for me to navigate some of Howard's surprising dominant alterations/subs, rather than slavishly chasing after them.

  8. #807

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    Week 19. Preparation for Monday and the week ahead
    I'm working on specific phrases or "licks" combining adjacent scale notes with HO and PU that lead to a wide leap or slide. This is a challenge to pull off (ha ha) but well worth it. This disciplined shaping of linear techniques is really expanding my sound.
    So I have scale notes and between two adjacent strings I can get lots of permutations. I practice them and immediately after a run, a leap to a note either two or more strings over or slide up or down the neck where the line continues in time. I feel like I'm truly "authoring" or owning some very unique sounds, and this new technique flows very smoothly with left and right hand coordination.
    I am looking forward to applying these to a tonal context. If feels like a lexicon breakthrough and I've been playing with this for hours tonight. SO much fun.
    Then I can hear things like this in other guitarists' sounds and I think AHA! That's how it's done.
    Gonna be a good two weeks!

  9. #808

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    Week 19 Day 1.
    Great workout. It's all coming together. These weeks of constant daily workouts for the hands, ear and ideas is starting to taste like soup. All the pieces are coming together.
    Gotta say the pieces and quirky obstacle dominant passages and all are feeling second nature. With both hands being very active I can hear the upcoming passages and easily shift to them. This lets me take the attention off of anything distracting (like the page, the changes or the world) and play the piece. It's almost as if I'm watching a familiar landscape go by, I can decide what I want to do with it, if I want to run a lyrical line, or a fancy figure with embellished chord tones, or make a melodic commentary off of that idea I played 4 bars ago, or even playing counterpoint.
    If I could have seen ahead 18 weeks ago to find this within my abilities, I'd have been pretty excited. I can say that I'm in the payoff part of this course right now and it's feeling really nice.
    I'm also comping with much less cumbersome chords, doing all I want with dyads and triads with the occasional bass accent obligato.
    I worked with Just Friends and I'll Remember You as my "tunes" today and what I'm doing with them, well I'll just say I'm pleased.

  10. #809

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    Week 19 Day 2 Tuesday's Project
    Suggested study piece Project 4-B ATTYA in Eb
    Speed set at the edge of the comfort zone
    All left and right hand techniques available
    Steady eighths and triplets.
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-4-b-attya-eb-png

  11. #810

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    Week 19. Day 2. ATTYA in Eb. JBN's progress reports are inspiring. I wish I could say I'm having breakthroughs like him. Not that I don't see progress. I certainly do. I find myself playing more freely through the form while still outlining the changes, especially Howard's special sauce changes. I think what I'm struggling with a bit is the "Super Chops" physical portion of the program. My tempos aren't nearly as fast as Howard's target tempos, yet still I get tripped up with my inability to shred. If I dialed it way back, obviously I'd have a lot more time to really navigate my way through the changes. Now this is going to contradict what I just wrote, but sometimes when I get to my top speed of the night on pass #3, it feels like I'm able to play through the form a bit more effortlessly. Or maybe I just think I am. I certainly don't want to skate ambiguously over the changes for the sake of speed. Anyway. Onward and upward!

  12. #811

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    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    I think what I'm struggling with a bit is the "Super Chops" physical portion of the program. My tempos aren't nearly as fast as Howard's target tempos, yet still I get tripped up with my inability to shred.
    This brings up a very interesting and unexpected line of thought for me. I'm curious, do you think your linear thinking has changed as we've increased in tempo?
    I used to think there were certain parameters of soloing and they're certainly discussed a lot: scales, arpeggios, approach tones, and those related things. I can have a real awareness of those things and at lower tempos, they make up a lot of what constitutes my decision making process. It's what I think of as the lexicon of slow to medium tempo.
    One thing I noticed about speeding up, and being able to hear more ideas as I became more proficient, is how horn players change the emphasis from definable lines to a lot of intricate figures that defy identifying at high speeds. I'd often be left with an impression, an impression of how well things go together, but not what notes make up those constructions. "How do they DO that?" and more importantly, how do I change my thinking to practice larger lines at high speed.
    So what I've begun working on are what I see as "micro figures" or clusters of notes that give an impression yet aren't necessarily stand alone lines in of themselves. These micro figures as I've been working them out, can be changed on the fly in subtle ways, and I'm collecting groups of them as I practice them. In the way that working with sketching or line drawing in the graphic art world shows great detail and subtlety in a smaller area, brush craft and learning to paint with paints cover larger areas. It's a matter of scale...and scale, ha ha.

    For instance, at slower tempos, I might be thinking of a melodic idea, and use the chord tones either as arpeggios, scales or triads to convey the substance or the meaning through a line, where I might play do, fa, sol, la, do... now each note can be the focus of a group of notes I'd practice, (ex fa: I can play a note above, a scale note below, chromatic approach and then fa) a micro figure of above and below. For more angular, I use more chromaticism. For more melodic, use more scale tones. The point is at high speed, this above and below micro figure is FAST, especially when using Hammer Ons and Pull Offs, and it coveys a brushstroke with one gesture (that I've practiced and catalogued.) Follow this with an approach note to my next sol note, and I can really convey a feeling of movement, move at very high speed, let the left hand do the articulation and with some practice I'm playing very fluid lines.

    This is the way I'm starting to hear/play upper tempos. It's also a LOT of fun to be playing so fast and decisively with shifts becoming much more natural out of necessity.

    It takes a bit of work to come up with ideas, and to internalize them through practice, but for me, a new micro figure every other day, I've already got enough little devices, brush strokes that when put together, they make some tasty unexpected licks.

    Just thought I'd share this.

  13. #812

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    Week 19, day 3. Wednesday's project.
    Suggested Project 5-A Blues for Alice in C
    The diatonic study
    Tempo at the upper end of your comfort zone
    Using steady eighths and triplets, articulating with the left hand as well as picking.
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-5-blues-alice-c-png

  14. #813

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    Week 19. Day 3. Blues For Alice in C. Tonight was pretty similar to the last number of practice sessions. The first pass is a getting to know you attempt. The second and third passes I'm able to get off book and be more free with my playing. Thanks, JBN for the great post above about playing in clusters at faster speeds. To some degree, I think instinctively I'm trying to do that. Even though I know your tempos are faster than mine. As always, I'm conscience of not drifting over the changes too much for the sake of speed. Not that I'm implying you're doing that by any means. Anyway, it was a good night. Time to get some more playing in before bed!

  15. #814

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    It’s been a while since I checked in, so I thought I’d pop into the forum with a progress report. As you may know, I’m a few weeks behind everyone, having started late, so right now I’m in the middle of Week 17. I’m proud of myself having made it this far without any breaks or interruptions in the practice schedule.

    Back in Week 12 I hit a real plateau, and was stuck, tempo-wise, at a range of between 108 and 114 for nearly 3 weeks. I could play triplet bursts at faster tempos but trying to maintain constant triplets at faster tempos for any length of time was beyond my abilities. It was frustrating, but I kept at it, and by the end of Week 15, I had creeped up to 122bpm, and the plateau seemed to have passed. That said, I’m still playing at the very edge of my abilities these days, and these faster tempos do not seem comfortable yet.

    Currently I’m at 131 bpm, and I crank the metronome up 1 beat per day. For my first 10-minute session, I actually play through the tune at 1 bpm slower than the previous day’s tempo. The second pass through, I play the tune at the same tempo as the previous day; and the third time through, I play it at 1 bpm faster than the previous day. The progress is slow, but steady. If I don’t hit any other significant plateaus, then I should make it to 150+ bpm by the end of Week 20.

    A few observations I’ve made:

    1) Clearly, triplets at 131 bpm are not ‘super-chops’ by any stretch of the imagination. It might be easy to be disillusioned with the HRSC program because of this, but that might be looking at it the wrong way. If I look at it strictly from the perspective of what I’ve achieved compared to where I started 17 weeks ago, then I’d have to say it was time well spent – I could not have played triplets at 131 for 10 minutes straight back when I started. Now I can.

    2) You get out of this book what you put into it. For this time around, all I was interested in, and focused on, was improving my picking speed and accuracy. The next time I go through the book, I’m planning to focus on outlining chord tones and arpeggios. I see this book as a template for practicing whatever concepts you wish to apply to it. It is a procedurally rigid structure that is substantively fluid to the needs of the practicer.

    3) I definitely want to do this again, and soon. I like that I’ve gotten into the SuperChops habit, and making it part of my daily practice schedule can only be beneficial. Does anyone want to go through the book with me again – say, starting either in June or July? Let me know.

  16. #815

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    Quote Originally Posted by Socraticaster
    It’s been a while since I checked in, so I thought I’d pop into the forum with a progress report. As you may know, I’m a few weeks behind everyone, having started late, so right now I’m in the middle of Week 17. I’m proud of myself having made it this far without any breaks or interruptions in the practice schedule.

    Back in Week 12 I hit a real plateau, and was stuck, tempo-wise, at a range of between 108 and 114 for nearly 3 weeks. I could play triplet bursts at faster tempos but trying to maintain constant triplets at faster tempos for any length of time was beyond my abilities. It was frustrating, but I kept at it, and by the end of Week 15, I had creeped up to 122bpm, and the plateau seemed to have passed. That said, I’m still playing at the very edge of my abilities these days, and these faster tempos do not seem comfortable yet.

    Currently I’m at 131 bpm, and I crank the metronome up 1 beat per day. For my first 10-minute session, I actually play through the tune at 1 bpm slower than the previous day’s tempo. The second pass through, I play the tune at the same tempo as the previous day; and the third time through, I play it at 1 bpm faster than the previous day. The progress is slow, but steady. If I don’t hit any other significant plateaus, then I should make it to 150+ bpm by the end of Week 20.

    A few observations I’ve made:

    1) Clearly, triplets at 131 bpm are not ‘super-chops’ by any stretch of the imagination. It might be easy to be disillusioned with the HRSC program because of this, but that might be looking at it the wrong way. If I look at it strictly from the perspective of what I’ve achieved compared to where I started 17 weeks ago, then I’d have to say it was time well spent – I could not have played triplets at 131 for 10 minutes straight back when I started. Now I can.

    2) You get out of this book what you put into it. For this time around, all I was interested in, and focused on, was improving my picking speed and accuracy. The next time I go through the book, I’m planning to focus on outlining chord tones and arpeggios. I see this book as a template for practicing whatever concepts you wish to apply to it. It is a procedurally rigid structure that is substantively fluid to the needs of the practicer.

    3) I definitely want to do this again, and soon. I like that I’ve gotten into the SuperChops habit, and making it part of my daily practice schedule can only be beneficial. Does anyone want to go through the book with me again – say, starting either in June or July? Let me know.
    Great post. I dropped out of the regular routine a while back, but have adopted the basic template of soloing slowly over changes 3x for 10 mins as a way to help internalize new tunes. While the rigor of the program reaps benefits I just don’t have the availability these days to stick with it. Some day I will do it again though.

  17. #816

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    Week 19 Day 4 Thursday
    Suggested project 5-B Blues for Alice in G
    Diatonic and dominant study
    Speed at the edge of your comfort zone
    Eighths and triplets using right and left hand articulations
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-5-b-blues-alice-g-png

  18. #817

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    Week 19 Wednesday
    In my search for interesting lines that can be tactile-y organized, today I started a way of creating lines based on strict Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs. Starting on any note (today I began on the 7th string, I'm a 7 string player) I'd pick the note and use a hammer on or pull off. On the next string up, I'd alternate (if I hammered on, then this string I'd pull off). This lets me essentially sweep pick with alternating HO and PO. When I came across a combination that worked well, I'd mark it, then alternate it for different chord qualities.
    I could even change chords mid sweep across the fingerboard and the up and down texture of the line is maintained.
    As I was doing this, I was reminded of a column Howard Roberts once wrote for Guitar Player magazine. One of the columns that month talked about playing shapes across the neck, and seeing what shakes out. This exercise I was doing today certainly makes some cool sounds, and I end the sweep with a lyrical ending and resolution and it all makes sense.
    Certainly makes pushing the speed easier.

  19. #818

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    Week 19. Day 4. Blues for Alice in G. This was one of the best nights I've had in awhile. Socraticaster's post motivated me to push myself a bit more. Thank you! Of course these changes are more easily negotiated. It's simpler to get off book right away and really let loose. I was also concentrating on longer phrases over bar lines to avoid boxing myself in. It felt very good. Tonight all the hard work seemed to pay off. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Time to get back on the guitar for the rest of the evening!

  20. #819

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    Quote Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar
    At the risk of being an interloper, I bought this book years ago and am not sure if i own it anymore but..

    How is this book working for you guys? Is it what you expected/hoped for? Would you recommend it to others? Anything you would add, change, or delete?
    Quote Originally Posted by Socraticaster

    A few observations I’ve made:

    1) Clearly, triplets at 131 bpm are not ‘super-chops’ by any stretch of the imagination. It might be easy to be disillusioned with the HRSC program because of this, but that might be looking at it the wrong way. If I look at it strictly from the perspective of what I’ve achieved compared to where I started 17 weeks ago, then I’d have to say it was time well spent – I could not have played triplets at 131 for 10 minutes straight back when I started. Now I can.

    2) You get out of this book what you put into it. For this time around, all I was interested in, and focused on, was improving my picking speed and accuracy. The next time I go through the book, I’m planning to focus on outlining chord tones and arpeggios. I see this book as a template for practicing whatever concepts you wish to apply to it. It is a procedurally rigid structure that is substantively fluid to the needs of the practicer.

    3) I definitely want to do this again, and soon. I like that I’ve gotten into the SuperChops habit, and making it part of my daily practice schedule can only be beneficial. Does anyone want to go through the book with me again – say, starting either in June or July? Let me know.
    Quote Originally Posted by D'Aquisto Fan
    It's simpler to get off book right away and really let loose. I was also concentrating on longer phrases over bar lines to avoid boxing myself in. It felt very good.
    Now that we're getting to a point that I can really see the payoff and the method to this madness, I can make some observations about Mr. Fumble's question posed a little while back.
    There's a LOT that goes into developing facility on the instrument (chops) and this book takes you from where you are and pushes you to the next level.
    It's a big commitment, 20 weeks of dedicated concentrated work on the instrument. Truth is, this kind of dedication is what separates those who go on to master the instrument and those who speculate on what it would be like.
    Jazz improvisation is a complicated process of compositional awareness (theory), kinesthetics (fingers), navigation (fretboard awareness), ear awareness (how much you hear so you can know where you can go) and semantics (making your notes mean something). These things you bring into the program beforehand. Howard Roberts makes the assumption that you have some ability to play and the more you have, the more you'll come out with.

    If you're still working on playing a melodic line over a I chord and not yet able to connect it with what the II chord coming up next means, then you'll meet your limitations as the speed increases. But a huge part of this program is self diagnosis. It shows up real world limitations, and with that, you can put aside the delusions of what it means to play, and get down to nailing all the pieces in place. That's why I went through it several times. Each time I learned that speed is an integrative process. What I need to PLAY faster and IN TIME, is total ease with all the parts. That is not in the book.

    Speaking of the book in specifics, it does a really good job of covering pieces that address diatonic situations, diatonic with turnarounds, key changes, speed differences, extended chordal vamps (modal), minor tonalities, a wide variety of keys, chordal arrangements in different keys, several well used and tricky dominant chord situations, and the most important thing: The elusive product of good, hard, unforgiving and relentless WORK.

    That's why I started this during the pandemic. I knew people would be locked up, and I knew people would be losing touch with their instruments, and I knew people would have blamed all sorts of things for not being the musicians they really have within themselves. So with just time, a good comprehensive guide and the ALL important support of each other, we might emerge from the COVID lockdown as musicians we never imagined we could be. I do think this program is much better with the support of others. We encounter things we think are our own obstacles, and we think "I was not meant to be a jazz player" but with others we say "Oh yeah? You too?" and someone might say "Hey I began to see it this way..." and it's just a problem we can solve on the way up the tempo ladder.

    I see this as a good program that is, like working in music, teaches you that making music is the greatest teacher. It brings up questions and answers them. I took this template and at one time worked on one piece a week this way, slower to faster, no excuses and no endless speculation on what I might be if I only put the time into the guitar (instead of being a KILLER typist on the computer, or a KILLER burger flipper, or a KILLER driver on the streets from hours behind the wheel...).

    What I might change? I might introduce more tunes, more harmonic concepts, like a "I'll Remember You" or All Of Me" dominant exercise, or introduce more modern harmonic possibilities, but all those things can be done if you unplug a specific Project and insert a lead sheet you make on your own.
    I did that with a few examples here. It was a great experience.
    Super Chops also doesn't do much for the comping side of things. The voicings are cumbersome and sometimes, to my ear, get in the way. I recorded my own dyads and triads voicings on the given changes. Much better, and it made me a much better soloist and comper.
    At first I thought the steady eighths were not a good way to go, but now in week 19, I have facility that I wouldn't have gotten had I allowed myself the "space to retreat to" through rests. It's brutal but I can see.
    I don't play with a pick so the picking emphasis is not so hot, but adapting what he says to do, that's become a key for me to developing my own way around the challenges each project poses.

    I think most of all, it's a terrific diagnostic tool. It shows me so many things that trip me up in real life playing. And it says "I'm not gonna tell you what you have to do", but when you do the work outside of the hour a day, then you come back next day, or next week, or next time around, and you are doing things you never knew were even things you could imagine. It's a way of confronting yourself. And it doesn't forgive.
    If you want to learn your own abilities, you have to find your own limitations and push them out of the way. Jazz is about the music, the pieces and what you compose with them. Super Chops knows this and I think it's a really good way to address the things you MUST know to play in real time.
    My opinion anyway.

  21. #820

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    Now that we're getting to a point that I can really see the payoff and the method to this madness, I can make some observations about Mr. Fumble's question posed a little while back.
    There's a LOT that goes into developing facility on the instrument (chops) and this book takes you from where you are and pushes you to the next level.
    It's a big commitment, 20 weeks of dedicated concentrated work on the instrument. Truth is, this kind of dedication is what separates those who go on to master the instrument and those who speculate on what it would be like.
    Jazz improvisation is a complicated process of compositional awareness (theory), kinesthetics (fingers), navigation (fretboard awareness), ear awareness (how much you hear so you can know where you can go) and semantics (making your notes mean something). These things you bring into the program beforehand. Howard Roberts makes the assumption that you have some ability to play and the more you have, the more you'll come out with.

    If you're still working on playing a melodic line over a I chord and not yet able to connect it with what the II chord coming up next means, then you'll meet your limitations as the speed increases. But a huge part of this program is self diagnosis. It shows up real world limitations, and with that, you can put aside the delusions of what it means to play, and get down to nailing all the pieces in place. That's why I went through it several times. Each time I learned that speed is an integrative process. What I need to PLAY faster and IN TIME, is total ease with all the parts. That is not in the book.

    Speaking of the book in specifics, it does a really good job of covering pieces that address diatonic situations, diatonic with turnarounds, key changes, speed differences, extended chordal vamps (modal), minor tonalities, a wide variety of keys, chordal arrangements in different keys, several well used and tricky dominant chord situations, and the most important thing: The elusive product of good, hard, unforgiving and relentless WORK.

    That's why I started this during the pandemic. I knew people would be locked up, and I knew people would be losing touch with their instruments, and I knew people would have blamed all sorts of things for not being the musicians they really have within themselves. So with just time, a good comprehensive guide and the ALL important support of each other, we might emerge from the COVID lockdown as musicians we never imagined we could be. I do think this program is much better with the support of others. We encounter things we think are our own obstacles, and we think "I was not meant to be a jazz player" but with others we say "Oh yeah? You too?" and someone might say "Hey I began to see it this way..." and it's just a problem we can solve on the way up the tempo ladder.

    I see this as a good program that is, like working in music, teaches you that making music is the greatest teacher. It brings up questions and answers them. I took this template and at one time worked on one piece a week this way, slower to faster, no excuses and no endless speculation on what I might be if I only put the time into the guitar (instead of being a KILLER typist on the computer, or a KILLER burger flipper, or a KILLER driver on the streets from hours behind the wheel...).

    What I might change? I might introduce more tunes, more harmonic concepts, like a "I'll Remember You" or All Of Me" dominant exercise, or introduce more modern harmonic possibilities, but all those things can be done if you unplug a specific Project and insert a lead sheet you make on your own.
    I did that with a few examples here. It was a great experience.
    Super Chops also doesn't do much for the comping side of things. The voicings are cumbersome and sometimes, to my ear, get in the way. I recorded my own dyads and triads voicings on the given changes. Much better, and it made me a much better soloist and comper.
    At first I thought the steady eighths were not a good way to go, but now in week 19, I have facility that I wouldn't have gotten had I allowed myself the "space to retreat to" through rests. It's brutal but I can see.
    I don't play with a pick so the picking emphasis is not so hot, but adapting what he says to do, that's become a key for me to developing my own way around the challenges each project poses.

    I think most of all, it's a terrific diagnostic tool. It shows me so many things that trip me up in real life playing. And it says "I'm not gonna tell you what you have to do", but when you do the work outside of the hour a day, then you come back next day, or next week, or next time around, and you are doing things you never knew were even things you could imagine. It's a way of confronting yourself. And it doesn't forgive.
    If you want to learn your own abilities, you have to find your own limitations and push them out of the way. Jazz is about the music, the pieces and what you compose with them. Super Chops knows this and I think it's a really good way to address the things you MUST know to play in real time.
    My opinion anyway.
    I hope you’ll give some thought to the idea of collecting your writings from the various Superchops sessions into a companion guide.

  22. #821

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    Quote Originally Posted by wzpgsr
    I hope you’ll give some thought to the idea of collecting your writings from the various Superchops sessions into a companion guide.
    That's a fabulous idea, wzpgsr! I totally concur! Thank you as always, JBN!

  23. #822

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    Week 19. Day 5. Modal Madness Part I. It was a very good session tonight. It's amazing how more freely I play over these changes than the first time around. JBN's post above was wonderful. So many great, salient points. I sometimes wonder if I'm missing the boat a bit by not doing constant 8th notes or 8th note triplets. For the most part I am, but I still create some space to play phrases and ideas. Anyway, that's been a continual question in the back of my mind during this program. Maybe if I do the course again, which I may very well do, I'll religiously stick to the steady barrage of picking!

  24. #823

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    Week 19 Day 5 Friday
    Project 6-A Modal Madness in F
    Speed to the edge of your comfort zone
    Steady eighths and triplets in the right hand augmented by left hand articulations
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-6-modal-f-dorian-png

  25. #824

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    Expanding your dominant chord facility
    Symmetrical scales part 2. The whole tone scale.
    We've come to see that in making a solo, there's a breathing process that puts tension, or breath intake, with a sense of purposeful resolution or breath release.
    If you're just playing the changes, or the notes you've been taught or just running the scales and arpeggios, you're not fully investing your note resources in building meaning, emotion and a journey with those resources.
    So you see 7th chords, and you encounter pretty much everything else in conveying your story. Breathe in, breathe out.
    At its most rudimentary and essential is the dominant chord, its unique 3 and b7 relationship. That's the bite your remember. But being a slave to that "bite" is really limiting. So as a lifetime's process, we can learn to expand that essence into and through the use of other scales. Altered scales of many varieties derived from the melodic minor and harmonic minor scales; we've encountered a few. REALLY get to know them so you can play something different every time you play. Set up motifs with these scales and carry those motifs over the bar lines into the diatonic resolutions; it'll impart a sense of unity. Learn to set up a contrast between the dominant and diatonic sections of the piece. Find the opportunity to break out of notes and into a picture of interest.

    Symmetrical scales are a unique take on the dominant harmonic function. They don't really FIT within the given harmony of diatonic, and there's the strength. They give you juice in the "wrongness" and they give you real meaning in the resolution.
    The Whole Tone Scale is made up of every other note of the chromatic scale. You get your 3 and b7, but you also get a 2 (9), a #4, an augmented 5th too. Run any combination of notes and you can move that combination to any degree and it'll create motiv that always creates tension. This is the sound of Monk. This is the sound of Debussey too.
    If you open it up to wider leaps, you'll start to get some really angular sounds.

    Suggestion: Find the pattern on your fingerboard first. Find the sound of the scale.
    Then take a root note and find out how the other notes sound against it, either as an interval or a dyad.
    Start creating phrases and then resolve them to the target chord.
    Build up facility and use in any situation where a 7th is called for.
    Take a phrase, and move it up a whole step. You'll get movement and it's easy.
    Play around. There's a LOT in there.
    Have fun!
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2021-04-16-6-35-42-am-png Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-screen-shot-2021-04-16-6-35-12-am-png

  26. #825

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    Week 19 Day 6 Saturday
    Project 6-B of the recap review section
    Modal Madness C dorian and more
    Speed to the upper edge of your comfort zone
    Left and right hand note articulations
    Howard Roberts Super Chops: study group for a tune based practice routine-project-6-b-modal-c-dorian-png