melodic improv
Funguitar@aol.com
Sun, 25 May 1997 12:23:47 -0400 (EDT)
On Sat, 24 May rodseth <rodseth@wolfenet.com> wrote:
> Subject: My Romance
>
> I've been following the discussion of chord/scales vs soloing in a key
> with interest, and Reed brought up My Romance, which I was playing (on
> piano) a few minutes ago, as follows:
>
> Bb Cm7 | Dm7 Dbdim | Cm7 F7 | Bb Dalt / Gm Gm#7 / etc.
>
> Reed wrote:
> >All the great jazz players when playing over standard tunes are
> >essentially playing in one key (or at least in large key centers).
>
> In experimenting with different slow melodic lines, I took this to heart
> and started noodling away on the Bb major scale, until I got to the Dm7.
> On the Dm7, the notes Bb and Eb are the ones that differ from D Dorian. I
> was certainly able to generate some reasonable melodic lines that
> included these, but I found one that I liked that centered around A
> Bnatural C, reintroducing the Bb on the Dbdim chord, and another that
> featured C D Enatural, reintroducing the Eb on the Dbdim chord.
>
> So what am I to make of this? What thoughts went through my head? What
> would help me learn to do this in closer-to-real-time with fewer duds?
> Though I certainly wasn't thinking "Cm7 Dorian" in the second half of the
> first measure, it did seem helpful in the second measure that I knew that
> one pool of notes for the Dm7 was the notes of the D Dorian scale. Maybe
> I should have been, but I wasn't thinking "Oh I'll just sharpen the Bb",
> or "I'll approach the C from a half tone below". With hindsight,
> admittedly, it felt more like, "Oh let's add some tension by leaving the
> key centre briefly for one chord. On the other hand, I also wasn't
> thinking "Let's switch to the key of C for one chord".
>
> So I don't feel that the time I've invested in practicing different
> scales and learning about chord/scale associations has been wasted. I
> think I've always known intuitively that I wasn't going to be improvising
> by switching mental gears from scale to scale on every chord. But perhaps
> it would be helpful if jazz education did place more emphasis on
> analysing the harmony of tunes. Could we do some more of that here? Any
> experts willing to dissect My Romance step by step?
>
> Also, does anyone know of a nice solo piano performance of this tune that
> a novice transcriber may be able to tackle?
>
> Thanks
>
> Richard
Many times when I would ask a player what were you thinking about while
improvising, I would ask because I heard something in their plaaying that I
liked and I thought if I knew what they were thinking I could think that too
and I would then improvise better. As time went by and my own playing got
better, people would ask me THE question: what were you thinking about... It
was then that I realized that when I was playing my best, I WAS NOT THINKING
ABOUT ANYTHING while soloing. Instead I would be relaxed and letting the solo
flow without thought or judgement. If anything my state of consciousness was
dominated by LISTENING to the sounds, especially of the other players.
I recognize that has nothing to do with chord scales. When I play thinking
about chord scales my solo sounds stiff and lifeless, a flurry of
not-wrong-notes that really lead nowhere - uninteresting. I have seen many
players develop their skills at this approach by concentrating on chord
scales. They often appear to me to be driven to play the scales ever faster
so they can fit even more notes in the same space. They value the sound of
lots of notes cascading over the changes at breakneck speeds regardless of
what they are saying. This is the main problem I have with the chord scale
approach. This is too often the product of treating the physical patterns as
the end goal. It takes away the essence of what I want to do - make melodic
musical solos that sound good.
There are only two kinds of music. And however you reach the point of playing
good music is right for you. But in my opinion the evidence is all around us,
telling us what chord scale zealotry yields. Just listen to it, it is bad
music. I say focus on melody, listening, composing solos and transcribing
good music. If I never play another chord scale, I won't miss it.
Frank