I (maybe it's just me) couldn't get very far with this approach.
It was never clear to me how one progresses from playing these patterns to
actually making music. My improvisations sounded like arpeggios and
digital patterns, not like melodies. That's why I was intrigued by
Amadie's book (I haven't had time to work with it yet--been squandering
all my time on family and career--but I have skimmed through it). Amadie
claims that his method helps the student learn to improvise melodic lines
by emphasizing the concept of "tension and resolution." If I recall
correctly, he says the notes of the chord should be thought of as "target
notes" and the other notes of the scale and the chromatic notes are the
"active notes" that create tension. The musician's job is to create and
resolve tension by moving from inactive tones to active and back. The book
has exercises that demonstrate this technique.
I hope that brief summary is fair to the book. As I've said, I
haven't worked through the book yet, so I don't know if it will actually
help me. I just liked the idea that this book doesn't just say "these
notes fit this chord," it claims to show how to use notes to create and
resolve tension. I don't see this book on Reed's list of recommendations.
I wonder if anyone has used this book, and if he/she could tell us it was
helpful?
Richard Cotenas
Calif. State Univ., Sacramento