By Vince
One of the most difficult issues sucite when learning to play and improvise in jazz is how to study . The number and variety of topics make you wonder “where do I start?”, Perhaps feeling some despair when contemplating the enormity of material to study.
Ideally, choose a small number of topics, and daily study to master fairly well, or for a specific amount of time (eg 3 months), and then replace them with others. It is important that you choose the topics are varied together to give a break to the head, thus avoiding boredom reach within minutes.
This section is divided into smaller topics progressively advanced in difficulty, as ever following the criterion of the historical evolution of Jazz. Of course, we begin with the Blues.
Motivic improvisation with the Blues Scale
The first exercise is to improvise, with the right hand on the way to 12 Bar Blues, short phrases of 4 bars, respecting the structure A – A – B. This involves touching a line of “submission” (to say the least), repeat, and finish with a different and more conclusive statement, using only the blues scale. To avoid complicated to use only the scale of the first degree of tonality, regardless of the chord or functional class is happening at every moment. Being a very primitive style based on the phrasing, the Blues we allow this. Later we can not do, and we stick to the range for functional grade line there at the moment.
Duration: To start with you can repeat the way without stopping for 5 min. It is important to renew the ideas at every turn, this allows us to exercise the muscle of creativity and keep trying, listening and internalizing the effectiveness and richness of different reasons.
If we do this exercise in 3 different colors (say, C, F and Bb), in just 15 min. we will study how to Blues and improvisation with the Blues Scale in 3 colors. I recommend adding shades go by quarters or fifths (eg, after playing in C, go to F or G), so changes will be added one at a time, making it more progressive and easier to study. I invite you to try 3 different shades distinas per week (eg, the first week C, F, Bb, the second week G, D and A) at a rate of approx. 4 weeks per month and 3 tones per week, a month will easily studied 12 keys.
To not let the left hand side will do something simple, which consists of playing the tritone, ie the 7th and 3rd grade of each chord (or the 3rd and 7th, no matter the order). To be all dominant chords, tritone chords have all.
Speed: the speeds, we can make this year different speeds, the speed also determines the character of a single. We will use 3-speed in this case every day for a week to 80 bpm (beats per minute), the following week at 100 bpm, and the third week to 120 bpm. It is very important to use a metronome or rhythmic base for studying these exercises, in jazz rhythm is very important .
Note : Remember “Swinger” eighth notes (in English “swing-eighths”). This is not to touch the strict values (in English “straight”), but playing the second eighth to 1 / 3 the value of time. This is achieved by sub-dividing the time into 3 parts, of which the first note lasts 2 / 3 of the total and the second the remaining 1 / 3.
As we can see in the picture, the first phrase is repeated, then there is a conclusive’s phrase, which results in the form A – A – B. After a while doing this exercise we noticed as we improve our ability to improvise original and compelling phrase, which comes only with practice, trial and error. Do not be discouraged if at first you feel that your words are not convincing.
Note also that the left hand does not give many breaks and chord changes are given by step, it helps to have a good voice leading. Note that each chord change the conduct of the voices is 7 to 3, 3 to 7. That is, the 3rd of a chord becomes the 7th of next chord and vice versa.
If you do this exercise thoroughly every day, I assure you that in just one weeks notice some positive results, and that investing only 15 min. day, which is very convenient if we have busy lives. If you have more than 15 min. per day to study Jazz, I invite you to add more exercises.
This was guest post from my friend Vince who has no blog so he shared this article he was published somewhere else I would love to write my own posts but as my grandma diabetes is going worst every day, I had to take care of her. Some how I had to buy for her a pair of diabetic socks women.
I feel just compelled to add that just for following those exercises you will do good in jazz improvisation. I really apologize for the awful English from my friend Vince. Actually this article was written in a different language.
