Developing Jazz Vocabulary

Transcription

1 Developing Jzz Vocbulry For the Jr. High nd High School Jzz Plyer Your er is the finl judge s to wht sounds right nd wht sounds wrong Big Nic Nichols August 1994 Tim Price Jzz Lesson

2 The Ply nd Lern Process for developing jzz vocbulry is; Listening to jzz vocbulry ptterns Imitting jzz ptterns immeditely fter they re plyed Evluting the wy jzz ptterns re herd nd plyed Repeting nd memorizing ech jzz vocbulry pttern Applying jzz vocbulry ptterns to vriety of jzz forms Jzz Vocbulry Jzz vocbulry results from combining vriety of melodies with ny number of rhythms in the jzz swing style or more contemporry roc style. Jzz music hs borrowed musicl concepts from every single style of music. Its rhythmic vitlity nd unusul nunces of sound nd dynmics gives jzz music its flvor. Next we will bre down the vocbulry into smll simple res. Study these res of Jzz:

3 Rhythms One must lern nd develop fcility with rhythm much in the sme wy one lerns other spects of instrumentl technique. It is importnt to introduce nd integrte rhythms sequentilly, strting with simple jzz swing nd roc rhythm ptterns tht grdully develop into more complicted rhythmic forms. 4 4 n m m n Melodies Penttonic (5 note) Scles form n integrl prt of the ditonic melodic nd hrmonic system. These nturl penttonic melodies my be quicly nd successfully combined with simple rhythms by most beginning jzz students. The minor penttonic scle with the ddition of n dditionl note; the flt fifth (b5) hs become widely recognized s the trditionl blues scle. The minor penttonic scle is extrcted from mjor scle in the following mnner; The Mjor Scle is built on 7 scle tones. You should lern ll mjor scles in ll 12 eys. C Mjor Scle L 3 L 4 L 6 L 7 The number below ech note indictes the number tone of the scle from 1 to 7

4 The Minor Penttonic scle is built on 5 Chord Tones 1 b3 4 5 b7 of the mjor scle (flt 3) (flt 7) b3 = the #3 scle tone of the mjor scle lowered ½ step (b) b7 = the #7 scle tone of the mjor scle lowered ½ step (b) i.e. C Mjor Scle - #3 Chord Tone = E i.e. C Mjor Scle - #7 Chord Tone = B The Flt 3 (b3) = Eb The Flt 7 (b7) = Bb C Minor Penttonic Scle L f b3 L 4 f L b7 The Blues Scle is creted by dding 1 note to the Minor Penttonic Scle. fltted 5 (b5) of the mjor scle i.e. C Mjor Scle - #5 Chord Tone = G The Flt 5 (b5) = Gb C Blues Scle L f b3 L 4 f L b5 f L b7 By combining these two components of rhythm nd melody we see how we cn quicly crete simple jzz phrse. Simple Blues Vocbulry py especilly close ttention to the stylistic qulities of ech note, the ccents or stccto mrings will help give you the swing feel of the rhythm being plyed. 4 A z n m fa z m fa f C z n

5 This Simple Blues Vocbulry cn be expnded into longer pttern. Longer Ptterns 4 4 n n A fa A f f A z m The Cretive Process IMPROVISATION is the cretive process in jzz music nd it is ccomplished by lerning to sillfully combine, rerrnge, mnipulte nd pply wide vriety of memorized jzz ptterns to selected jzz forms. Ech of the following exmples combine ey jzz vocbulry ptterns into blues choruses tht exemplify this process. 4 4 Try this chorus, which is built on 12 br Blues chord progression. LC7 A z n fa C z m A fa A f fa z l fa f C z n fa C z m A z n fa z l L G7 A z n fa f fc z n A A A f fa z L G7 m

6 4 4 4 Processing Rhythms Quic rhythm response when improvising cn be developed by processing vriety of melodies through series of fixed rhythms. L(1) A z n m f A z n m fa z n m A f z n m L (2) fa z m L (3) fa f C z n fa fa z m fc z n A f z A m fa f z m f C z n fa C z n 4 4 L5 L6 L1 A 4 f A L5 Lb7 L1 Chining the Blues Melody chins help students quicly her nd crete mjor vocbulry ptterns through the I7-IV7-V7 chords used in the trditionl blues form. These mjor ptterns cn be esily chnged to minor (blues) ptterns by merely rising the 6 th nd 2 nd penttonic scle steps to the b7th nd b3rd of the blues scle. There is n exception on the IV7 penttonic pir when the 2 nd scle step is lowered ½ step to the flt five (b5) scle step. C fc L b3 z o L5 L6 A z o L5 Lb7 A A L b5 C f C f z z o z o z f z o A C o f A fc z

7 Guide Tones When dominnt seventh chords move up fourth or down fifth, the thirds nd sevenths (tri-tones) invert nd my be effectively used in guiding blues melodies through the blues hrmonies. fi f i C7 to F7 (both Dominnt 7 th Chords) C7 to F7 is move up 4th The following ptterns re esily memorized nd quicly developed. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!! 4 4 f A j f A jj f A j f A j f A jj f A jj f A j f A j L G7 A jj f A jj f A j L G7 A jj

8 Plying Chnges Melody chins provide n excellent jzz vocbulry source for structuring nd building melodies through the chord chnges. These simple sets of whole-step pirs ct s hrmonic coordintes tht ssist students in eeping their plce s they lern to ply the chord chnges. The following 5 steps outline the Ply nd Lern process for developing these simple melodic seeds into the trditionl jzz lnguge. Step 1 Identifying, hering nd plying the whole-step pirs through set of chord chnges. 4 4 L Dm7 o L G7 o L Cmj7 o d L A7 o J Step 2 Embellishing the whole-step pirs with chromtic leding tone L1 d L 4 d d d L 3 d L 6 d f

9 Step 3 Connecting whole-step pirs with chromtic hlf-steps L ii m 7 d L V7 L V7 f e d L Imj7 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) EMBELLISHED PAIRS CONNECTED BY CHROMATICS d f e d d ( ) ( ) L D7 Step 4 Setting up nd plying off the seventh scle steps on the ii7-v7 (b7) nd the V7-I7 (#7) chord chnges L Am7 L 6 L 6 L Gmj7 d L (#7) d L D7 (b7) e L 3 C Mjor Penttonic L 3 G Mjor Penttonic L 6 L 6 L 7 d L 7

10 Step 5 Setting up nd plying the diminished scle off the b7 of the V7 L Am7 d L (b7) e L D7(b9) f L Am7(b5) d d L (b7) e L D7(b9) f d d e f NOTE; More complicted ptterns cn be redily developed for the ii7b5 V#9 combintions with this system built on the diminished seventh. L Em7 (b5) d d L 3 e f L A7(#9) f f f f L Dmj9 e L 7 HAVE FUN. WORK HARD Tim Price